Today begins part 1 of a 6 part series on children and the gospel message. It is proactive in some ways, but, I admit, largely reactionary. It is a reaction to the muddied language I hear in a variety of settings of communicating the gospel to children. I think it is of ultimate importance to first theologically examine the gospel message and in the 6 parts that follow, address some faulty ways the evangelical spectrum of believers communicates that gospel to children (or anyone for that matter).

Let’s start with the word “gospel.” In Greek, evangelion has always meant glad tidings or good news. After the resurrection of Christ, it came to mean the specific good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. It is used 76 times in the New Testament and several times by Jesus. Now to Paul:

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (New International Version)

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Here are a few things that I easily garner from this passage:

1. The gospel involves receiving and passing on. Evangelism should the the primary function of the church and home because as people are rescued from their sin, the creation mandate to fill the earth with worshipers can be fulfilled.
2. The gospel is of first importance. All of our life and ministry should be wrapped around this good news. We should remember it, cherish it and celebrate it.
3. The gospel is specifically Christ DYING for our sins, being BURIED, and RISING again. I teach this to kids by telling them that the DBR is the most important message in the world. We so often get the dying part right, but we forget to mention that he was buried for 3 days, making the resurrection that much more spectacular. We also very often leave people with a dead Jesus, not mentioning the gospel at all. Kids need to know the entire message because faith is preempted by the internalization of right information (see Romans 10:14-15).
4. Jesus’ death was for our sins. Let us not forget that our lying, cheating, judgmentalism, hatred, anger, malice, sexual sin, and a host of other iniquities nailed him to the cross. This is where the gospel becomes very personal. Children should recognize that their sin offends a holy God, else they will be unable to experience genuine repentance and faith (more on that at the end of the week).
5. All of this is according to the Scriptures. The entire Bible is Christo-centric. The TORAH prepares us for him, the historical books explain his lineage, the wisdom literature imparts his acumen, the prophets foretell of his coming, the gospels proliferate his purpose, Acts empowers believers with his mission, the epistles shape us to be more like him, and Revelation speaks of his return. Christ is the point to the pyramid of Scripture. It is ALL ABOUT HIM!!!!!!

I hope this has been helpful. Please join me for the next several days as I speak to the proper response we should be asking of our children. I’m sure some will be shocked, perhaps a few offended, but I hope most of you will be sharpened as we lead these little ones to Jesus!

Recently I have commented on several tools for communicating to others in rough circumstances. One was called Make a Child Smile and the other PrisonerAlert. Both of these are great opportunities for the kids and families in our churches to share love and encouragement along with the gospel message. Another one of those opportunities is called Let’s Say Thanks. It is mostly supported by Xerox, but you can see the list of partner companies here. The front page is a little difficult to operate, but it becomes easier if you choose the “View All Designs” link on the left side of the page. When I did it, I choose “other” as a message and wrote my own message thanking them for their hard work and sacrifice. I also wove the gospel message into it. It’s just another creative way that our kids and families can share the gospel with people all over the world!

KidzPlace is a website for children and CM leaders. It is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and contains tools for leaders to teach kids how to be Matthew 28:19-20 Christians as well as interactive gospel presentations for kids and games.

You will definitely want to check out the video presentation, “God’s Special Plan for Children.” You can show it to kids online, embed it into your own website, and if you call NAMB and talk very nicely to them, they will probably send you a high quality version of it on DVD free of charge (at least it worked for me about a year ago!).

See Also:

1. Free Safe Web Browser for Kids
2. MP3 Bible Stories

Do you know what the most important thing is? (Yes, I’m playing the “what is Andy thinking game!”). Let’s try again. Do you know what the most important thing is? (Insert basic Sunday school answer here…). You probably guessed it, the most important thing is Jesus! The Most Important Thing website is a great evangelism tool that is both free and easy!

You register with them, put your brief testimony on the site and then begin sending people with whom you witness to the site. From the site, they can read your testimony, see an interactive gospel presentation and respond in various ways. You can even have the site report to you when someone reads your page or makes a decision based on your testimony. It is very simple, people just go to the site and put your name in the search bar. They can click your name based on location (in case someone else has the same name on the site) and then read your testimony about how you trusted in Christ.

This site is sponsored by the Baptist State Convention of Oklahoma, but is not denominational in nature. It is for anyone who would like a new tool to effectively share the gospel. You can purchase business cards from their site for a very cheap price or have your own made at VistaPrint like I did. I put the website address, my name and some brief contact info on the card. I use these a lot at drive throughs and in grocery store lines. I usually say something quick like this: “I love to share how much of a difference Jesus has made in my life. If you get a chance would you to take a few minutes to go to this website, type in my name and see my story?” It takes all of 10 seconds and I’ve never had someone turn away a card.

Share this website with your kids and teach them about building a testimony. They can make business cards for themselves and invite their friends to view their story!