Life2gether

As Easter Sunday comes to an end, our meditation on the cross and resurrection of Christ should continue.  These Easter meditations by Andrew Peterson are worth printing out and putting into your heart in the days to come.

(HT: Stephen Cavness)

We’re celebrating Easter with our families in Iowa.  Today the kids woke up and got their Easter baskets from Grandpa and Grandma Wolter.  Later we’ll do the Resurrection Eggs and go for a little Easter Egg Hunt.  Hope you have a great Easter with your family!

Tony Kummer, at ministry-to-children.com recently posted a children’s bible lesson I wrote based on J.C. Ryle’s sermon for children called, No More Crying.  This sermon and other addresses to children can be found in the book, The Two Bears, (Grace and Truth Books, 2004). 

The lesson is shaped around “3 places” which kids (and parents) will easily remember:

Are you looking for some help in talking with your kids about Christ this Easter?  Here’s just a few ideas.  Feel free to share your own ideas and traditions too!

• Do these hands-on family activities the week prior to Easter
• Tell the Easter Story with a Playdough Mountain
• Make Resurrection Buns as an Easter snack
• Create Easter Egg Baskets with your kids 
• See what Holy Week looks like for John Piper’s family
• Do an Easter Bible Lesson called, “He is Alive!”
• Teach this NEW Easter Lesson with music liturgy and art project
• Read 10 Creative Ways to Celebrate Easter
• Explain the true meaning of Easter to your kids with this book
• Sing this powerful Easter hymn written by a friend of mine
• Watch this video on how to make Resurrection Eggs

In preparation for Easter I’ve been reflecting and meditating on Isaiah 53 – the most famous messianic text in the Old Testament.  Looking at this passage we see that the LORD was despised, stricken, and afflicted for our transgressions and iniquities, yet he opened not his mouth. 

Christ’s response to suffering was silence, patience, and willing acceptance.  Like a lamb led to the slaughter he was obedient.  Quite the opposite of you and me who are like stubborn sheep that have gone astray and turned to our own way.   And often, in the face of suffering, our mouths are wide open with grumbling and complaining. 

Thankfully God knows our frame and sent his ”sheep” to the slaughter to make intercession for the others … and by his stripes we are healed.

I enjoy reading books with my wife.  There’s something sweet about ending the day with a short devotional to set our hearts at rest in God.  This month during Lent we are reading through Nancy Guthrie’s book, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter.  Here are some of her opening words: 

Too many years I’ve found that I have rushed from Palm Sunday into Easter morning, from palm branches to the empty tomb, without giving my mind and my heart over to thoughtful contemplation of the cross. If you can relate to my lament, then I hope you will join me as we turn our gaze toward the cross through the pages of this book.

You can read online for free Guthrie’s preface, as well as Martin Luther’s “True Contemplation of the Cross” and John Piper’s “He Set His Face to Go to Jerusalem.”  Here are the other chapters.

Here’s a great list of questions to check out as you relax and relate with your spouse this weekend.

I tried to answer that question HERE.

The set up: the three guys are competing to see who can be the most romantic with their wives. The women are trying hard not to be impressed.

(HT: Kevin DeYoung)

Merry Christmas from Doug Wolter on Vimeo.

We’re headed out to Iowa in just a few hours to celebrate Christmas with our families … so we wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  Thanks for reading this blog and doing life together.  Enjoy the holidays with your family and friends.  We’ll see you next year!

One more thing … this year we did our first Wolter Family Christmas Worship Service.  I borrowed the idea from a good friend.  We had a fun time singing (and wiggling!) and celebrating together.  This was our order of worship below.  For the message, I used this great devotion where the kids each got to hold a flashlight.  They loved it!

You can also check out my wife’s recent blogpost entitled, “Momma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer!”