Categories
church cartoons Easter holiday

A Very Different Palm Sunday

It’s Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week for Christians across the world. It is a very different Palm Sunday for almost everyone. Frequently, our day would start out with wrangling kids, passing out palm branches and marching them into the sanctuary with a triumphant flair.

Palm Sunday reminds me of what a difference a week makes. Jesus goes from riding into Jerusalem triumphantly as the crowd shouts “Hosanna! which means save now! They are expecting a king which will abolish Roman tyranny and establish a new kingdom.

By the next Sunday, Jesus had been arrested, convicted, crucified, died, and resurrected from the grave. No wonder the disciples’ heads were spinning! A lot can happen in a week.

This Palm Sunday, there won’t be spring breakers going to Florida. There won’t be churches with boys and girls bugging each other with palm branches. What there will be are faithful people gathering together around a computer or television to worship. We will remind each other that things can look bleak, then turn in an instant. We will encourage each other with the hope that things are rarely what they appear and they will be better someday.

We will also implore God to Hosanna!: Save now!

Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.

Psalm 118:25-26 King James Version (KJV)
Cartoon of two children with palm branches
Categories
Easter holiday The Gospels

Easter Sketch Talk

Yesterday morning, I learned a valuable lesson about the church at Easter, technology and children’s ministry. On an Easter morning, it doesn’t matter how fast your Internet is. It probably won’t be able to handle the scores of people that are connected to your wifi. 

The first hour of children’s church, I drew the lesson on a whiteboard. The second hour, I was able to use my cell phone hotspot to draw the lesson on my iPad.

If you are presenting a lesson wirelessly, always have a backup plan. I am thankful a whiteboard easel was handy. I am also thankful my cell phone hotspot answered the call.

I drew these sketches in Air Sketch Pro

Here is the end result from my iPad. Happy Easter!

Sketch of Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The Triumphal Entry
© Copyright 2017 Kevin Spear

Sketch of Jesus before the Sanhedrin trial
© Copyright 2017 Kevin Spear

Jesus Before Pilate
© Copyright 2017 Kevin Spear

The empty tomb
© Copyright 2017 Kevin Spear

Sketch of the end of my presentation with the word, "Alive"
© Copyright 2017 Kevin Spear

Categories
Easter holiday

Happy Easter Sunrise!

Cartoon of boy and mom with sunriseIt is 6:58 AM in Dayton, Ohio and the sun has officially risen! While I am not at a Sunrise service this morning, I am at church and helping my fabulous wife get ready for a busy day. My guess is there will be a few kids looking like the kid in my cartoon. It won’t matter whether they arrive at 8:00, 9:30 or the 11:00 AM service. Some kids just won’t be ready to face the day.

Categories
children cartoons Easter holiday

More Jelly Beans Prayer

cartoon of a mom and boy with jelly bean basket. The boy says, "I had a jelly bean prayer that you would buy more jelly beans."
I love jelly beans. There! I’ve said it! I loved them ever since I bit into my first licorice jelly bean. They gave me great satisfaction because I soon learned many kids didn’t like them. So I would happily collect all the black licorice jelly beans while my classmates would gladly hand them over.

Categories
church cartoons Easter holiday

No Easter Egg-stravaganza here

Cartoon of a pastor and a boy with an Easter egg basket. The Pastor says, "Eggstravaganza was yesterday. There's no Easter eggs up here."
Judging by this cartoon, perhaps I have Egg-stravaganza PTSD. I have been through my fair share of Easter egg hunting events. It can take over a church before you know it.

In fact, if the egg hunt was inside, the pulpit would undoubtedly be used as a hiding spot. I am guessing the pastor knows that is the case and he his hiding the really good chocolate, peanut butter eggs inside the pulpit. I know that is where my grandfather hid the really good treats from his grandkids. 

I drew this cartoon for the Church of God ENewsletter.