Tag: Easter

Categories
CHOG News church cartoons motivation Newsletters

Remote Work Makes Every Day Casual Friday

Cartoon of a man in a bathrobe and an annoyed women. The wife says, "When we get to go to church again, this WON'T be your new church look."
Published in the April 2020 CHOGNewsletter

If you have been working from home, have you found that every day has become casual Friday? I thought of this cartoon idea because I knew Easter Sunday was coming. It’s a time when churchgoers get dressed up. This year was quite different from the past. It was far different than Irving Berlin’s old song.

I didn’t look quite as bad as the guy in my cartoon. Still, it was far more casual than past Easters. I heard stories of people dressing up anyway for the holiday. I would say they probably felt better and it helped lift their spirits. I will have to try it this weekend.

If you have been working remotely and have been a little down in the dumps, it may help to get dressed up as if you were going to your workplace or for an event. In the meantime, I know we’re all looking forward to the day when we can get out their and parade in our Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it.

I drew this cartoon for the April 2020 CHOGNewsletter.

Cartoon of a man in a bathrobe and an annoyed women. The wife says, "When we get to go to church again, this WON'T be your new church look."
Published in the April 2020 CHOGNewsletter
Categories
Easter holiday

Easter 2020: A Resurrection Sunday Like No Other

Cartoon of a boy talking to the Easter Bunny. He says, "Do YOU count all your chickens before they hatch?"

I feel sorry for the Mall Easter Bunnies this year. They rarely get the respect a Mall Santa gets. And just when people began thinking about the holiday, all the malls were closed. Perhaps that’s why this cartoon rang true for me this year. Mr. Easter Bunny, don’t count all your eggs before they hatch!

It’s safe to say nearly all of us have had to change our plans this year.

  • Retail sales have had to pivot to online sales
  • Businesses have had to figure out if they were essential or not
  • Parents have been forced to realize how challenging homeschooling can be
  • Pets have had to deal with having no “me time”
  • Churches that weren’t streaming services online had to learn fast

My wife and I will be attending an online Easter service. For a couple that has served and worked at churches nearly every Sunday for over thirty years, this has been an adjustment. The method has changed, but the message has not.

  • It is a message of hope
  • It is a message of glorious light after a pitch-black midnight
  • It is message that resurrects the dead
  • It is a message that trumps Mall Bunnies and Santas

They said unto them, “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.”

Luke 24: 5-6 (KJV)

Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday, everyone!

Cartoon of a boy talking to the Easter Bunny. He says, "Do YOU count all your chickens before they hatch?"
Categories
Christianity holiday

The Secret Ambition of Good Friday

Cartoon of boy reading to a girl.

This is one Good Friday where we have much time to contemplate the meaning of this day. When I think of this day, I think of this song by Michael W. Smith:

Secret Ambition by Michael W. Smith

Sure, the video was shot in the eighties and shows it. But this has been a powerful song to me over the years. I love the lyrics to this song:

Nobody knew His Secret ambition,
Nobody knew His claim to fame.

He broke the old rules steeped in tradition,
He tore the holy veil away.

Questioning those in powerful positions,
Running to those who called His name.

But nobody knew His secret ambition,
was to give His life away.

Secret Ambition Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Wayne Kirkpatrick

Good Friday is a reminder that though things may seem dark and hopeless, Easter Sunday is coming. The darkest moment is never the end of the story.

Have a blessed Easter weekend.

Categories
church cartoons Easter holiday

A Very Different Palm Sunday

Cartoon of two children with palm branches

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