Empty tomb, full church, Easter joy everywhere

It was the end of term service in church for St James's School today, the second service to be planned by the Junior Faith Committee, and the time to announce the winners of the Easter Egg Competition that the children had been taking part in over the Easter weekend. Judging was hard because the standard was so high, but in the end we chose four winning entries from Key Stage 1 and four from Key Stage 2, with prizes for the most artistic creation and the best representation of the true meaning of Easter.

There were some very imaginative entries including a beautiful tortoise made from an egg box - lift up the shell and you could see eggs inside - and an envelope with a picture of Jesus's tomb including a stone with the words 'Open me!' written on it.

It was so good I used a bigger version for my talk.

So what happened when we followed the instructions to 'open me.' 'What was inside the envelope? Who wants to come and see?' I asked. Five hundred hands shot up.

I chose a girl from key stage one. What's inside it? I asked. 'Nothing' she replied 'it's empty.'

'What's that got to do with Easter?', I asked the school.

They got it immediately. When the women went to the tomb, it was empty. Jesus was alive. Hallelujah.

During an action packed service there were prayers by the children, a memory verse from Paul, and an amazing set of songs by the school Gospel Choir (right) that had everyone tapping their feet and praising the Lord with Easter joy.

It was a great end to the term and now everyone, teachers and children alike, can enjoy a well-deserved REST.

See you all on 18th April.

St James Gospel Choir