Talking to Kids About the Good News
Have you ever been intimidated to talk to your kid about the Good News? Or even a friend of your kid or a kid in your Sunday or Wednesday small group? Maybe thoughts run through your mind like,
“What if I don’t say the right thing?”
“What if I say too much?”
“What if I say too little?”
“What if they know more about God than I do?”
“What if I’m convicted about my own walk?”
Thankfully, the Lord knows our hearts, and through the Holy Spirit, He gives us the words we need to say when we ask Him. Sharing the Good News with kids is a great way to practice too!
Here’s a helpful method in sharing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with kids…or really anyone for that matter!
We’ll use four images, along with the Scriptures listed below, to explore God’s love for us, the reality of our sin and the separation it causes, the gift of Jesus and His suffering on the cross, and the receiving of forgiveness we can experience here on earth, as well as life everlasting!
GOD LOVES – John 3:16 (HEART)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
WE SIN – Romans 3:23 (BROKEN HEART)
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
GOD GAVE – Romans 6:23 (CROSS)
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
WE RECEIVE – Romans 10: 9-10 (GIFT)
9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Can you imagine God, our perfect Father, loving us so much that He would sacrifice His one and only Son so that we could have a relationship with Him? And that His Son, Jesus, was the only One that could and would also willingly die and take the punishment for our sin (which He did not deserve in the slightest, because He did not EVER sin) so that we would not have to?
At this point, the kid you are talking to might be a bit shocked because death seems like a pretty harsh punishment. But this is a helpful way to show us the weight of our sin and how serious it is because it separates us from God. Sins are ways we miss the mark. We ALL have disobeyed God. In Romans 3:23, we read, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
And Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So, we know we all fall short of God’s glory and have a price to pay for our sin, but we can’t pay it on our own because we aren’t perfect…only Jesus is. That’s why Jesus died on the cross for our sins because He was the only one who could pay that price, and He loved us enough to take that punishment for us!
Wow! That truly is amazing news! But that’s not where it all ends…it gets even better!
Three days from His death, Jesus rose from the grave! We celebrate this historical event on Easter. Not with bunnies and eggs but with an empty tomb showing us that Jesus was no longer dead but truly alive!! And Jesus is still alive today, preparing a place in heaven for those who believe in Him.
So, since Jesus is alive, we have a choice to make. Remember earlier how we read in Romans that we all fall short of God’s glory and we all sin? And all sin deserves punishment, and that punishment is death…BUT the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!! If we choose to believe what Jesus did and put our trust in Him and follow Him, we receive that gift!! And do you remember what that gift is from John 3:16? Right! The gift of eternal life!!
But what good is a gift all wrapped up and tied with a bow if you never open it and receive what’s inside?! That’s why Romans 10:9-10 says, 9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
When we believe and profess our faith, we no longer have to be separated from God by our sin, but instead, we are forgiven by our perfect Father and brought back into a loving relationship with God through His awesome Son, Jesus! And one day, when He chooses, we will be with Him again in heaven! But for now, while we still live on this earth, as believers in Jesus, He gives us His Holy Spirit to help us and guide us when we need it most. (Which for me is all the time.)
Isn’t that the best news you’ve ever heard?!
Go and share it with somebody! Maybe even a kid. 😉
