Two years ago I worked on twelve child friendly stations of the cross; places to wait with Jesus, meet with Jesus and talk with Jesus. They have had hundreds of hits on the blog and I've received lots of feedback about how they've been used and requests for them to be provided in one place as a resource. This year we're going to lead the children and young people through the Stations of the Cross at church on Palm Sunday and since I need to bring the stations together as a resource for that I thought I might as well share it here for anyone else who would like to use it. I'd also recommend you visit my pinterest board which has these stations of mine and many other images of the stations of the cross which we will use and which you might be interested in. Introduction Can you name any vehicles which use stations? How about any names of stations themselves? So what is a station? - A place where you wait to start or take the next part of a journey. - A place where you meet people on a journey. - A place where you are still. What are the stations of the cross? The stations of the cross are places in Jesus' last day when we can be with Jesus. Places to wait with Jesus, meet with Jesus and talk with Jesus. Today we will journey with Jesus on his last day to the cross. We will feel what he feels, see what he sees, think what he might have thought and experience what it means for us. There are no right or wrong ways of being or doing or feeling, it'll be different from each of us, but I hope that together we'll feel closer to Jesus. Station One - Jesus is condemned to death The crowd are loud. The priests are angry. The rulers are confused. The disciples are scared. Jesus is calm, accepting, quiet. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you feel calm like Jesus? Or do you feel angry for him? Jesus models how he'd like us to behave when we are treated badly: - be quiet and composed - rise above the person causing hurt - turn the other cheek - forgive Jesus knows we find this hard but he's ready to help us. We just need to stand at the station and ask for help and strength and peace. Station Two - Jesus is given his cross The soldiers put a huge, heavy wooden cross on Jesus, shoulders for him to carry. Still Jesus is calm, accepting and quiet. Jesus knows how far he has to carry his cross. Jesus knows it will be one of the hardest things he's done. Jesus trusts God to help him when he needs it. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Can you feel the weight of the cross? Can you feel the sharp edges and splinters which you know will cut into you as you carry it? Can you feel the dread of the journey ahead of you? We all have had times n our lives when we are burdened with sadness and fear ; at these times we are carrying a cross just like Jesus did. Jesus models how he'd like us to behave when we have a cross to carry: - trust that God will help us every step of the way - do not panic about the road ahead - just put one foot in front of the other Jesus knows we find this hard but he's ready to help us. We just need to stand at the station and ask for help and strength and peace. Station Three - Jesus falls the first time Jesus is carrying his heavy, hard cross and it hurts. Jesus is walking bare foot along the Jerusalem street made of stones and sand and rubble and that hurts. Jesus is quiet through it all. The soldiers and spectators shout at Jesus to go faster, to stand straighter and to walk taller. Jesus is calm through it all. But then he stumbles, perhaps on a stone or by loosing the balance of the cross, and he falls to the ground. Jesus falls but does not cry out loud, he cries out in his heart to God for help. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you feel the pain? Do you wish you could help? Do you feel your heart break? Do you feel alone? Does your hope fade? Have you fallen over recently? I have and I was reminded how much it hurts, physically and emotionally. It is hard to fall and even harder to get up and keep going. In life we have times when our load is too heavy and we stumble and fall; Jesus reminds us that when we fall he is with us and knows how it feels. We can ask Jesus for his companionship and support and he will provide it. Station Four - Jesus meets his mother Jesus has got up from falling. Jesus has continued walking. Jesus is carrying his cross. Then his mother comes up to him. This is the station where emotions come into play, when the human reality of the journey really come out. Jesus meets his mother on the road. Mary has always known her heart would break over her boy, Simeon told her so, but now it's actually happening. There is no detail in the gospels that Jesus does anything other than stay calm and comfort his mother, but now the emotions must be everything. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you feel the sorrow? Can you imagine the pain? Do you think about your mum? Can you feel what your mum would feel? When did you last feel great sadness? How did you cope? What did you do? Who helped you? Have you ever helped someone else in their sadness? Do you think you helped? Jesus knows sadness, has experienced sadness. He's been comforted and comforted others. In our lives we all have times of sorrow and grief, Jesus will help us if we ask. Station Five - Simon of Cyrene carries the cross Jesus is tired, exhausted, almost unable to walk. Yet still he doesn't ask for help. The soldiers know that Jesus won't make it without help, so they press gang a man to help him. This man is Simon of Cyrene who had the bad luck to just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or perhaps Simon was at the right place, at the right time; being able to help Jesus when he needed it. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you feel sorry for Simon? Do you feel relief for Jesus? Did Jesus feel relief? Or guilt for having to have help? Have you ever helped someone when you didn't really want to? Was it as bad ad you imagined or did it feel good to help when you started? Have you ever needed to ask for help? How did that feel? We all need to ask for help sometimes and Jesus shows us that we can't always manage without it. He knows what it means to help someone and he values it. Think about how you can help someone this week. Station Six - Veronica wipes the face of Jesus Jesus is tired, Jesus is exhausted, Jesus is sweaty, Jesus is hot and dirty Jesus is still walking with the cross Then a woman comes out of the crowd and wipes Jesus' face Jesus leaves the mark of his face on her cloth. This is a station of surprises for us which reminds us about the way people care for each other. Again we are reminded that Jesus is God, that he leaves a mark in the world that can not be removed or washed away. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you feel Jesus' sweat and exhaustion? Do you want to go help him? Do you feel glad this woman stepped forward? Do you worry what will happen to her? Have you ever helped someone else or done something that made someone feel better? Perhaps you smiled, or shared your lunch of gave some water or helped with a heavy bag? When you help someone, you help Jesus. When you share yourself with others, you share yourself with God. Jesus loves us and asks us to love others, he leaves his face on our heart and we can share this. Station Seven - Jesus falls the second time Jesus is tired Jesus is weak Jesus is loosing all his strength Jesus is not wanting to take another step But .... Jesus keeps walking He keeps taking another step He keeps carrying the cross Until .... Jesus falls again Jesus fell once and he kept going, now he's fallen again. Will he get up? Does he have any more energy? What happens if he's too tired? How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you feel Jesus' exhaustion? Do you feel Jesus' sadness? Have you ever felt this tired? Have you ever just had to stop? We all have things in life we find difficult. Perhaps they're physically hard, or maybe we don't know how to start. Do you keep trying? Or do you give up? What will Jesus do now? Jesus fell but we know he didn't stop trying, as we sit with him ask him to bring his strength to you in something you're finding hard. Station Eight - Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem Jesus gets up Jesus takes up the cross again Jesus continues on the road Jesus passes the crowds along the road Then .... Jesus sees a group of women who are crying Jesus knows they are crying because they are so sorry for his him. Surely he expects to see people feel his pain. But Jesus can not let pain go unnoticed. Jesus acts. He goes to the women and speaks to them. He asks them not to cry for him, he tells them to look after their children instead. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you feel like the women? Do you feel Jesus' love for these women? Do you ever feel this sad for others? When we are sad or stressed or worried it can be easy to only think of ourselves. Jesus shows us that we should think about others. And Jesus helps us know how this can help us have hope as well as help the other person. Ask Jesus to help you when you are sad for yourself. Ask him to show you others who need your help. Station Nine - Jesus falls the third time Jesus was tired, now he's beyond exhausted. Jesus was barely walking, now he's stumbling. Jesus was panting, now he finds it hard to breathe Jesus can't go on anymore. Jesus falls. For the third time Jesus falls. Now Jesus asks God for help. For strength. For courage. For energy enough. For the ability to get up. God answers. Jesus gets up again. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you feel the exhaustion? Do you feel that desperation? Do you hear Jesus' need for help? Do you feel God helping? Have you ever tried hard, harder and harder than ever before but still not been able to win? What did you do? Did you give up? Did you ask for help? Did you ask God to help you? Now ask God to be there when you need His help, ask Him to remind you to ask when you are as desperate as Jesus was. God will help you. Station Ten - Jesus is stripped of his garments Jesus is finally at the hill where he will die. The horror is coming to an end. But the soldiers have plans in store. They take off his robe. They steal all his clothes except his loin cloth. Jesus is nearly naked, but he is not alone; this is what he clings to. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you cling to your stuff? Are your clothes important? How about your toys? Your gadgets? Could you so easily have everything stripped away from you? Are you jealous of what others have? Are you able to appreciate what you have? Ask Jesus to be with you and help you value your things less than people and God. Station Eleven - Jesus is nailed to the cross Jesus is nailed to the cross. Through his hands. Through his feet. The pain is unbelievable. Jesus knows this pain is the last pain for him. Jesus does not get angry. He does not react to the pain. He looks at the soldiers who hurt him and He asks for God to forgive them. He looks at his mother, at Mary. He asks her to look after his disciples and asks them to look after her. Jesus is still thinking about everyone else. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Do you feel the pain? The sadness? Would you be so selfless? Could you think of others? We are often wounded by painful words, do we think of those people and ask for them to be forgiven? Do you find it easy to forgive? Stand at the cross and ask Jesus to help you forgiving people who hurt you. Station Twelve - Jesus dies on the cross Jesus has .... been condemned Walked Fallen Walked Stumbled Been helped Beaten Stripped Nailed to the cross Now, Jesus bows his head It is done! He dies. How do you feel when you stand at this station? Jesus did this for us For you For me For us. How do you feel as you realise this? Is there anything you can do for others? Ask Jesus to show you how you can make a difference; he will show you the way in your life. This is the day we call Good Friday. This is the day Jesus gave us as a gift. This is the day of all days, the day which we thank God for every time He forgives us. And yet this is NOT the end. This is just the beginning. ______________________________________________ These stations of the cross have now been published as a book or kindle book if you would like to have a copy for yourself or your kids work team.