Children's Sermon-Good news...it's empty!

Preparation: gather some items which would be disappointing if empty....e.g. an empty jewelry box, a candy wrapper minus the candy bar, etc. Keep some actual candy in wrappers out of sight. Alter the dialogue to fit your items.

Have you ever been riding in a car when it started to sputter and then stopped? Maybe the driver looked at the dashboard and saw the gas gauge pointing to "E" and said, "Oh, no! We're on empty!" That's bad news, isn't it?
What do you think would happen if your Dad gave your Mom a small pretty box that looked like it would have a piece of nice jewelry in it, but when she opened it, it was empty! (show box) Big trouble, bad news!
What about this....here, Kyle, have some candy. (Hand him the empty wrapper and use his response to indicate that it is empty.) Uh, oh....once again empty is bad news.
I want to tell you today, that being empty is also the best news in the world.
As Christians we often talk about how Jesus died for us on the cross. We say that He took all our sin and guilt in order to save us. We have crosses in our churches and wear them on necklaces. But the truth is, that if the story had ended at the cross, it would be a very sad story. If Jesus had remained dead and in the tomb, we would have no hope. If Jesus wasn't strong enough to win out over sin and death, what chance do we have?
But here's the thing...the tomb was empty!
Jesus was powerful enough to come back to life. Sin and death could not hold Him. Because he won that battle, we have hope that we can win our battles with sin, and that after our bodies are dead and buried, the part of us that makes us who we really are will live on with Jesus in heaven.
So...the very best news in the world is that IT'S EMPTY. The grave where Jesus was buried is empty. HE IS ALIVE, and that is what we celebrate today.
Oh...and here is something else that isn't empty. (pass out candy in a wrapper)