Entrance to the recent Easter service at City Harvest Children’s Church was by a Golden Ticket, which opened the door to a wonderful message and treats galore.
By Esther She
CN PHOTOS: Daniel Poh.
On the Easter weekend of Apr. 7 and 8, City Harvest’s Children Church welcomed more than 4,000 children to their Easter celebrations, themed “The Golden Ticket”. Enthusiastic little ones packed both services each day.
The fun started even before the children arrived at the auditorium—many were thrilled at the sight of the mascots welcoming them with open arms. Cameras flashed as excited parents snapped away at their children posing with animals and superheroes. Kids being kids, new friendships were forged even before service began.
To get the children all warmed up for the day’s events, crowd games were played. The first game saw children get up on stage to do “shuffle” dance moves. One of them even attempted to break dance, a move that wowed the audience.
The next game—Wild Goose Chase—had all the children on their feet, chasing after “geese”, played by teachers with balloons tied to them The children’s mission was to burst as many balloons as they could. Screams of excitement filled the hall as they tried different means and ways to stop the “geese” from running away.
After the fun-filled games, the praise and worship team led the children in song. Enthusiastic little hands flew around as the children effortlessly kept up with the gestures that accompanied the praise songs. During worship, the presence of God filled the room as the young ones lifted up their hands and sang the well-loved song, “Jesus Loves Me.”
The highlight of the service was the Bible lesson time; the topic taught was titled “The Golden Rule.” Before the lessons began, the children were introduced to the “quiet seat band”, a wristband that would be awarded to the ones who could sit quietly and paid attention to the lesson. Children with the bands were entitled to join a grand lucky draw at the end of the service.
The lesson, taken from M
atthew 7:12, taught the children that The Golden Rule was to treat others the way they want others to treat them. A 15-minute skit, which demonstrated how a person who treated his friends badly also experienced the same treatment in the end, gave the children a clearer idea of how the Golden Rule works in their lives.
At the end of the service, the children were treated to a short story of two rabbits who were best friends. One of the rabbits was mean, always doing the wrong things and upsetting the people around; even his best friend was not spared from his wrath. One day something bad happened to the mean rabbit. The best friend did not leave the mean rabbit but continued to stay by his side. The moral of the story was that every child can have such a best friend, and His name is Jesus. With that, an altar call for salvation was given and many children responded.
Before the young ones left for the day, those awarded the “quiet seat band” were invited on stage and each was given a golden egg which contained exciting prizes. One lucky girl took home the grand prize of a bicycle.
As the day came to an end, each child was presented a gift. But more than the gift, the children brought home an important lesson. A 9-year-old named Lindy told City News she loved the skit, and that it taught her everyone should treat others the way they wished to be treated. “The skit says a lot about the Golden Rule and I will always remember it,” she said.
