The purpose of these devotions is for you as a leader to have some powerful thoughts from God’s Word to encourage your team members. Please feel free to adjust or adapt as you see fit.

Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (English Standard Version)

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

Devotion

Have a bag of 3 normal objects (examples would be a pencil, watch, dollar bill). Get 3 volunteers to secretly see one of each of the objects. Their role is to describe that object to the rest of the group and get them to guess what it is as quickly as possible. They just can’t say the name of the object. Group members should be able to guess pretty quickly.

Explain that the gospel really needs to be this way. We don’t need to put some kind of cutsy explanation to it, we just need to be clear about what the gospel message is with kids.

Read the passage from I Corinthians and note a few things:

  • Paul notes that the gospel message was of “first importance.” Our ministry should never get to the point where we lose sight of the fact that this message drives everything we do.
  • The message focuses on the DBR–Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus as prophesied in the Scriptures. The message is simple and it includes those three vital components. Children need to understand that Jesus took their place in his death. They need to believe that Jesus was buried helping us to understand that he suffered death for sin so we don’t have to. Kids need to be taught the resurrection. Paul later says in chapter 15 that if Christ is not raised, your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins” (v. 17).
  • When we leave out the resurrection in our gospel presentations, we leave the hearers with a dead Jesus. But that’s just half of the message. He is a risen Savior, proving that He has the authority to offer us new life in Him.

Since the gospel message is so simple, this is probably a good time to speak to some ways we communicate the response to the gospel that are not so simple. Let’s be very clear with abstract thinking children about how we lead them to salvation for fear that they misunderstand and don’t experience salvation in the first place.

  • Ask Jesus into your heart–This one is not right on so many levels, yet it is probably the most popular way used to talk to children about salvation. If you would like to see an argument against this terminology from a practical and theological perspective, go here.
  • Ask God to forgive you–Don’t forget the message. This one can easily leave out Jesus. I can get a kid to pray and ask God to forgive them without any effort. The problem is that they are simply asking for a favor and have not directed their faith toward the work of the cross and resurrection.
  • Confess your sins–Many base a salvation response off of I John 1:9. The problem here is that I John was written to believers, and this verse speaks to confessing individual sins at the moment of commission so that your current fellowship with God can be restored. No unbeliever can actually confess ALL of their sins. They need to repent of their lack of faith and turn to Jesus in faith.
  • Believe in God–James says that even the demons believe in God. Demons are monotheists. Simply being a monotheist leaves you no better than one of Satan’s minions! Again, don’t leave out Jesus!

Let’s allow I Corinthians 15 to be a great encouragement to the way we choose to share the gospel with kids. Make the presentation clear and to the point. Let’s be careful not to allow any hindrances to a child understanding and accepting the gospel!