← Scripts

ANDREW…. VERSE ONE…then keep playing under for a bit

TIM: Easter was always a fun time at my house while I was growing up.  Often there were several families sharing our table for Easter dinner.  Being raised an only child, I was always in 7th heaven when other children were around.

LUKE: I grew up a Missouri Synod Lutheran and went to St. John's Lutheran School, and we always had big Easter Sunrise Services. Sometimes the Sunrise Service was held at the drive-in theater, so you could throw the kids in the car in their pajamas, go to the drive-in for church and you didn’t have to get out of the car. 

TIM: At least one year, maybe more, I remember my Dad had a treasure hunt made up for two teams to try to find the treasure.  Adults and children were mixed on each team   and the team finding the treasure first was the winner.  The treasure was a keg of homemade ice cream all packed with lots of ice, and old rugs on top, to keep it frozen, and treasure was hid way out in the timber.  I never learned how he pulled that off.

GRANGER: I remember growing up and Mom putting Dad, Lynn and I on the front porch in a row to take the annual Easter picture in our new Easter outfits.  Every year Mom would get Lynn and I in the picture perfect and poor Dad would get us from the chest down.

MIKE: But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

GRANGER: I’ve been getting up at 4 am and cooking Easter breakfast at church for as long as I can remember.  My little church in Bluffs was the only breakfast in town so they had about 300 people in attendance each year.  I even sang a few times and I remember this much of one hymn.... "As the sunrise breaks upon a hill, 3 crosses yet are there still.”

MIKE: I remember my mother would make a small basket of goodies for us kids
and it usually had a small prize in it. We always rushed in to see what
was what before going to sunrise services, and we usually tried to sneak some
chocolate to church. The men would always take pocket change and place in one special plastic egg and hide it with several dozen eggs. Of course at least one or two of us 
would end up getting into something we were not supposed to be doing and had
to get our own hickory switch. TIM: It seemed we always went to Sunrise Worship Services.  Often to a Country Church just off of the Poor Farm Rd. named, "Grace Chapel."   I remember one of my two 1st cousins was baptized on Easter Sunday in that Church.  And I always had a new dress to wear for Easter Sunday, made by my Mother.

GRANGER: Following the Sunrise Service, we would go
home and hunt Easter eggs and eat out share of chocolate bunnies!   For the
2nd service, we always dressed up in our best clothes, every Sunday, but
especially on Easter. We usually had new clothes and new shoes twice a year. We lived next to Millard's Florist and they always gave us corsages to wear on Easter Sunday. 

LUKE: I remember the light bulbs seemed brighter on Easter Sunrise morning.

TIM: Sometimes we went to Sunrise Services out in the bluffs, but I’m not sure where.  That was fun too, to watch the sunrise while we were up on the bluff.

MIKE: As a little girl, Easter meant a new Spring dress usually pastel in color, often 
sleeveless, which required a sweater when the temperature was still brisk.  As a side 
note - I never remember the sweater working with the dress. GRANGER: And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? "He is not here, but He has risen.

MIKE: My mother always liked to attend sunrise service and I remember one at Lake Jacksonville when the minister arrived in a small boat, he came through the mist just as the sun came up.  Really!

TIM: Sometime later we went to interdenominational Sunrise Services at the, Drive-In-Theater south of Jacksonville.   I remember going there once with girl friends in our pj's and robe, or coat over them.  When I got home my Dad was not too happy.   He and I had a long discussion about that.  He did all the talking, and I did all the listening.  I never did that again. LUKE:  I remember that mom would always wake me with this song or so I thought...... "This is the day that the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it" It seemed such a loud chant! But somehow it sounds better now in my mind’s memory with my mom smiling as she sang! GRANGER: Wilber & Willa Maye, Bea Plunkett, Raymond & Mable Beard, Lois Hansmeyer, May Beets, Martin Burrus, Roland & Phyllis Beard .. with the same annual smiles that early in the morning. Were they really that happy? Weren’t they tired? Year after year still present with that same smile. I still wasn’t sure, but decided that it interested me enough to not baulk at my mom about going. She wouldn’t have given it a thought anyway; like I could talk her into sleeping through Easter Sunrise Service. MIKE: My brother and I were in charge of ringing the bell one hour before church. Easter was a treat because the bell really did wake people up. We had to wait until 5 o’clock but my brother couldn’t wait and he pulled the rope at a quarter ‘til. From two blocks away we could hear dad’s Buick tear out of the driveway. He tried to convince dad that his sleeve had just brushed against the rope.

TIM: Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. MIKE: My uncle Herman was the Baptist preacher at our little church in Plainview. It seemed like he saved up for that extra long sermon for Easter, and the nicer the weather for baseball or kite flying after church, the longer he preached. It wasn't until some years 
later I fully understood and appreciated him. I found Christ in his church and he 
Baptized me in a farm pond one Easter Sunday many years ago. LUKE: When I think of Easter, I think of breathing. I had asthma and 
spent the cooler months sounding like bagpipes. I learned early on that Easter was 
associated with warmer weather and normal breathing. TIM: The first treats I can remember the Easter Bunny bringing to me were yellow marshmallow peeps.  Yes, we had the Easter Bunny in the 1930's.   I can still remember the thrill I felt when I looked out of the front door and saw those yellow marshmallow chicks hiding in the green grass. GRANGER: My grandpas [Ernie Strickler & Tom Crawford] made my Easter special. They both made it known that they believed in Christ, yet didn’t make me believe, rather by them just living life, made me to want to be like them, so part of that was believing. TIM: Still love those peeps today.  My Grandchildren give them to me every year as soon as they begin to appear in the stores.  Elly gave me the first ones this year. MIKE: Easter meant corsages for Mom, Gail and I  - special ordered by my Dad to match the color of our dresses.
As a little girl, Easter seemed to mark a change in my outward appearance. It was the 
beginning of a new season so I dressed differently on Easter. The dress and shoes were 
new and spotless.

LUKE: Appropriate, I think, because as I learned later, Jesus' death and resurrection would provide me a way to be new and spotless again and again. Easter remains for me a reminder that God's forgiveness continues to allow me a new season, a fresh start. ANDREW…. VERSE TWO…then keep playing under for a bit

GRANGER: We had this old Baptist preacher over in Indiana. He was a plain-spoken man. He’d say, “These here are the Ten Commandments. It tells what you’re supposed to do and how you’re supposed to do it and that’s about it. I suspect that some of you may be in hell before the week’s out, but that’s your choice.” I like a guy who lays it out plain.

TIM: Easter, Christmas, and nearly every Sunday, we had dinner with both sets of grandparents after church. I was in shock the first time I went with Joe to a "Stinson clan gathering. And I can remember the Sunday that the organist still had her hair in rollers.

LUKE: Of course none of us can deny a God-fearing mother as THE most special. It took a few years to realize, but there is nothing that can replace a mother who rears a child on God. MIKE: We always dyed eggs the night before Easter Sunday and had an Easter egg hunt before church.  My brother and I always commented that Mom and Dad needed to change their hiding spots from year to year.

TIM: Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.

LUKE: I remember there was a time when the congregation felt that my gift for gab could best by harnessed by putting the gospel in front of it.  For a while, during my high school years, whenever the reverend was out of town, I would be called on to preach a sermon.  That also applied to Sunrise services on at least one occasion that I can remember.   I spoke extemporaneously, without notes, hoping to be guided by the Holy Spirit.  I think it is important, when you seek to be guided by the Holy Spirit, never to ask for feedback from the audience, unless it’s your mother. MIKE: My kids insisted on having the Easter egg hunt…even when they were in college. LUKE: But one particular morning, and I remember it being a sunrise service, Don and Shirlee Wessler showed up.  Any Lutheran's appearance in the church were normally cause for wild speculation and suspicion of scandal.   But Don and Shirlee had been in church when I had done the sermon before, and that, coupled with the fact that their church didn't have a sunrise service, led me to believe that my previous eloquence was earning me a small cult following. GRANGER: I grew up on the Mexican border.  The Easter tradition there was to make cascarones.  These are empty egg shells, dyed and filled with confetti.  For many weeks before Easter our family would save empty egg shells.  My Mom would prick the flat part of the whole egg and pick away at the shell to make a hole the size of about a dime. A small pin prick at the other end of the egg helped it to come out of the larger hole. LUKE: During the sermon, I was fascinated by Don's immediate smile as I approached the podium, and continual smiling during the message.  Without notes, I have no idea what I said, though I am sure I mentioned love, but Don seemed enraptured. 
Some time later in school, his son Jay and I were talking, and I mentioned to Jay that I had seen his father and mother at a service I preached.  He said that his dad loved it when I preached.  At that point, I believe anyone looking at my face would believe that I had gained the Kingdom of Heaven through my works.  But Jay continued, "He says you give the shortest sermon's he had ever heard, and church, when you preach, can be over in a half an hour." Granger: Then, after collecting however many dozen we wanted, the dying would begin. Then we'd put confetti in them and tape the end shut. Some people painted lovely pictures on their cascarones.   Then - the fun part.  These were hidden, to hunt, along with the plastic ones with candy. So then a kid gets as many cascarones as he can and you go and break them on people's heads!! It doesn't hurt at all. LUKE:  Breakfast was always well staffed as it offered the male part of the congregation an excuse to get out of the service itself.  One Sunday my father was involved in making scrambled eggs.  The dispute erupted because, as he was whipping the eggs, Joe Stinson offered him the milk to add to it.  Dad made it very clear that he did not use milk in his scrambled eggs, and did not need it.   

TIM: But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at that which had happened.

LUKE: Joe acted like Dad was denying the resurrection, as he had never heard of not putting milk in eggs.  Dad refused, and continued with his preparations.  When his back was turned, Joe added milk to the eggs.  Dad resisted his urge to throw out the now defiled eggs and proceeded to cook them.   
I helped clean up the kitchen, but Dad made an early exit.  When I got home, he was in the kitchen, cooking eggs his way, which he made his breakfast.

GRANGER: I remember the empty cross.  In southwest Texas, during Easter, flower gardens were well in bloom.  Our church had a big wooden cross-6 1/2 feet tall maybe. It had big rubber bands all up and down it.  On Easter morning we would go out to our garden and cut a couple of bouquets of flowers----one for my brother, one for me.

MIKE: And there was this old guy…Cricket. He always wanted to sing in the choir but he had a voice that was kind of hard to listen to. When he died the preacher said, “Cricket is singing with the best choir in heaven today and he’s got the best voice.”

GRANGER: We would bring these to church.  The cross would be in the center aisle, up close to the altar, with its back to the congregation.  There would be two or three ladies with the cross and a couple of laundry baskets.  The children would file in, carrying their flowers and drop them in the baskets while everyone sang hymns.

TIM: One of the earliest memories I have of Easter Sunday is of me wearing a new
dress, white patent leather shoes, white shawl, Easter bonnet, white gloves,
and carrying a white leather bound bible that my Granny had given me.  The
white gloves did not stay white.  I recall them being all the colors of jelly beans and a nice chocolate bunny brown. GRANGER: The ladies would put the flowers on the cross.  It took a few minutes, and they worked feverishly.  Then, when there were no more flowers and the cross was full, it would be picked up and turned around by a couple of men.  It was so beautiful!! This big cross-taller than a man-filled with beautiful colors.

LUKE: My sister and I got in real trouble. Mom had bought us new white shoes, but they were made out of mainly cardboard. We set them outside and it rained that night. The shoes sort of melted.

GRANGER: Even as I'm explaining this it makes me smile and get misty. My Dad said this was the beauty of new beginnings, new life, a picture of a life lived forever with God because of what Jesus did for us. Beauty, freshness, vividness.

MIKE: And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place. And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. 
TIM: I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I do have some fond memories of Easter during my first decade of life. I don't remember sunrise services as a tradition, but I do 
remember Mom always wanting us to wear something new, even though it wasn't in our 
budget. Dad always said if we didn't wear something new for Easter the birds would poop 
on us. I had a brand new shirt one Easter and walking to church (we lived only a block 
away) a red winged blackbird picked me out for a timely deposit. I was afraid to wear 
anything new after that.

ANDREW…. VERSE THREE…then keep playing under for a bit

MIKE: Easter was the day to gather with seldom seen aunts and uncles. Their first words were always the same, "Oh Donnie, you've grown so much!" Mom would always tell my older brother not to get into an argument with uncle Tib about politics. This just served as a reminder for Gene to bring up the subject sooner. By the time the meal was served brother Gene would have uncle Tib so mad that Aunt Ollie wouldn't let him have the knife to carve the ham.

GRANGER: Brother Leonard also got in on the action after dinner. The tradition was pitch playing by the adults and Leonard's goal was to catch Uncle Tib cheating, which occurred many times. Obviously Easter morning was more peaceful than the afternoon for our family.

LUKE: And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He would go farther. And they urged Him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over." And He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him…… and He vanished from their sight.

MIKE: I’ve cooked breakfast so long, I have no recollection of the service.  Originally we cooked in the basement, without enough electricity to warm a skillet.  We ran extension cords from the neighbor's houses, blew their fuses, put in pennies to hold the fuse from blowing.  Huey was the leader, Mart, Rollie Beard, Clyde, Bill Cundiff, John Crawford, Todd Burrus, Gene Farmer, Joe Stinson, …we had a big time discussing the world's problems, the church problems and pick on one another Life was simpler then. 
GRANGER: When I think of Easter I always think of the Sunrise Services at Arenzville. When I was little it was the anticipation of the great big breakfast. (I guess I have always loved food) And when I was in my adolescent phase and participating in the service you could actually see the butterflies moving in my stomach. I was so nervous one year that I threw up in the bathroom in the basement. Ah memories.

TIM: The best memory of all surrounding those mornings was my dad getting the entire family up early, all of us rushing around to get ready – being extremely grouchy at him for getting us up and “making us” go to church this early, my sister and I fighting back and forth about getting in the bathroom to make sure the finishing touches were on my hair…… man I had great hair, and finally rushing into the church in a whirlwind – always being at least 10 minutes late.

GRANGER: But the thing was we were all there together, Mom looking beautiful, dad in his blazer and tie he only wore on Easter or to a funeral, little sister and I in a brand new outfit that from what I hear now had to be pinched and saved for.

TIM: As I look back I wish I would have enjoyed those times a lot more instead of worrying so much about my hair and how my clip on tie looked in front of the girls. As I now get to be a dad and get to raise my kids in the same church I grew up in I hope my kids someday are grouchy with me for “making” them go and participate in Sunrise service. Thanks Jesus for the memories and for our future.

LUKE: I was raised at the Trinity Church, Fisher, Minnesota..Missouri Synod. Church was our social life. We lived six miles out in the country and most of my cousins all attended the same church. I went to Sunday School, confirmation, and memorized, and memorized.

GRANGER: Our house was only a couple miles from the church and lots of times we’d walk. It was called Grace Chapel. I don’t know if we had sunrise services back then. We had this faction come into the church that thought eating at church was a sin. I wasn’t too brave but I stood up and said that we needed them suppers to entice people to church. Young folks like me liked ‘em and that kept us comin’. We kept eatin’ at church after that.

LUKE: Mom always had new clothes for us each Easter. She sewed most of our dresses and sometimes we would have the same dress fabric as several cousins as they came from feed sacks. When I hit seventh-grade I got my first store-bought dress and it was a pretty blue.

TIM: We were living in the house next to the Concord Methodist Church which was originally a parsonage. Our family made it home following total loss by fire of our country home. My Mother was sick in bed that Easter, but that was the day I was to be baptized. I skipped across the lawn wearing my new beige felt hat. …the only apparel I can remember wearing that day but I’m sure I was wearing something else, too. I guess I remembered the hat because I had to take it off to be baptized.

MIKE: And they said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" And they arose that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, "The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon." And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. And while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst.

GRANGER: Our Sunday School teacher was Goldie Braner and she was a real nice lady. Some of us boys gave her trouble, but she never minded. I remember that the preacher preached against playin’ cards. Said they was the devil’s tool. Sometimes we’d go to each other’s house on the night before Easter to play cards and sort of forget to come home. One of the boy’s dads came in after he’d just gotten some really bad prices for his hogs and threw them cards into the fire.

LUKE: My mother made all the holidays exciting and she didn’t have much money for extras, but she was a terrific cook, seamstress, and gardener. An all-around workhorse. Easter dinner meant fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. I cannot remember any serious spiritual feelings about Easter until about 13 and the church showed a movie about Jesus and The Last Supper and it showed all the suffering He endured for me.

TIM: I remember waking up to Easter Sunday with my mom saying, "Wake up, Jesus is not in the tomb!  He has risen!  We must go see!"  And then attending Easter sunrise services.  I always had a new outfit and Easter hat and gloves.  I don't remember being as excited about the service as the Easter basket awaiting me. GRANGER: One of my favorite Easter learning experiences is when Judy Rhoads and company did the stations of Easter symbols and meanings.  And I always enjoyed the Seder meal on Maundy Thursday. LUKE: It was a slow process from then on, because I didn’t know Him in my heart. I didn’t know you could pray about personal feelings. We only prayed for the sick and dying.

TIM: As I write this I feel I am missing any expression of the meaning of Easter. I don't remember any profound experiences there.    I wonder if we will really 
realize what it means until we hear our accusers when we stand before Jesus and then hear him say that He died for them all and rose again so that I can live forever with Him. 
MIKE: Mother always lined us kids up in youngest to oldest order to have our pictures taken outside.  We colored eggs, lots of them and would draw Easter 
pictures, crosses, tomb, flowers & Jesus on the eggs with crayons and then dye them.  
Mother put the eggs in a basket in center of our kitchen table, and there they stayed 
until they were all eaten, maybe 3 or more days!  We didn't think of putting them in the 
refrigerator, I don't recall any of us getting sick.

GRANGER: When I was in junior high, I remember helping with the sunrise services.  I thought anyone was crazy to be up that early!  We did all participate in the service, and yes I did give the "main message" a time or two. There were about 4 or 5 kids that participated.   I didn’t really enjoy or feel like I benefited from those services, as they were dry, and always had to be in the Methodist order.  My mother made sure I understood what Easter was all about and we did celebrate it in words, without presents or candy. MIKE: Mama always made Jennie & I dresses, different colors, but the same pattern.  We didn't get fancy dresses too often, so I was always excited.  I do recall, one dress was layered nylon, and when I held a puppy for a picture, it must have been excited about my dress, because he peed on it.  I wore it proud anyway. 
LUKE: Later in life a coworker invited me to her church, the Assembly of God. They had an altar call at the end of the service and I literally flew to the altar. I told my parents about this and I was all afire, but they were practically ashamed that I would go to that church and didn’t like my enthusiasm. 
TIM: When I was a teenager the sunrise services were just for the youth and we held them on a high bluff just west of Arenzville. We just worshipped on that high peak with our minister when the sun rose early on that Easter morning.

LUKE: It remained somewhat of a problem for my parents for the rest of my life….But I had found what I was looking for.

ANDREW…. Begins vamping under the words. 
TIM:Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them,

GRANGER: "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day;

MIKE: and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

LUKE: "You are witnesses of these things. " And it came about that while He was blessing them, He parted from them. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising God.

ANDREW…. Repeats the chorus with others singing along

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