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Child Evangelism
“First seek the counsel of the Lord.” SHARING THE SAVIOR WITH A CHILD
1 Kings 22:5
BY JUNE HUNT
Can a child to grasp the reality of an unseen God?
Can a child understand salvation and the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross?
Some people say you should wait to talk with children about faith, salvation and
other spiritual issues until they can think abstractly. Later in the teenage years
you can reason with them . . . mind to mind, intellect to intellect. Yet parents who
wait are often dismayed as their children grow up with no spiritual roots . . . only
because of failure to plant seeds of truth in the earlier years.
“Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
(Proverbs 22:6)
I. DEFINITION
A. Child Evangelism
When Jesus called the disciples to become “fishers of men,” some of them
mistakenly took Him literally—Some disciples thought the gospel was only for
grown men old enough and wise enough to fully understand God’s plan of
salvation. But, as the song says, “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” and He clearly
delights in having them come to Him!
“People were bringing little children to Jesus to have Him touch them,
but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant.
He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not
hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these’ . . .
He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them.”
(Mark 10:13-16)
• Child evangelism is sharing with a child the good news of how to receive
the full forgiveness of God by entering into a personal relationship with
Christ Jesus.
• In Greek euangelizo means “to bring good news” (glad tidings).
• Evangelism means declaring the good news of the gospel.
B Gospel
A messenger holding a telegraph indicates a significant message needs to be deliv-
ered. But what if the messenger needlessly delays the delivery? The messenger who
withholds spiritual truth from a child may lose a golden opportunity . . . the timeli-
ness may be lost. The heart that was once ready to hear may no longer be open.
God is the Message-Giver, you are the messenger, and children are the ones
who need to hear.
“How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
(Romans 10:14)
• In Greek euangelion means “good message, good news.”
Eu—means good Angelion—means message
• The gospel is the good message of salvation through Christ, which is
received by faith and which is on the basis of Christ’s death, burial and
resurrection.
“By this gospel you are saved . . . Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures . . . He was buried . . . He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures, and . . . He appeared to Peter, and then
to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred.”
(1 Corinthians 15:2-6)
A. Responsiveness
MYTH: “Young children are intellectually incapable of
responding to salvation.”
TRUTH: Young children are more capable of responding to the
message of salvation than adults.
“The disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child
and had him stand among them. And He said: ‘I tell you
the truth, unless you change and become like little chil-
dren, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. There-
fore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the great-
est in the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 18:1-4)
CHILDREN HAVE:
CURIOSITY Children eagerly ask questions about everything.
“How did God make the mountains?” “Where did I come
from?” “Who wrote the Bible?“ “Where does God live?”
“What happens when people die?” “What is heaven?”
What an opportunity to answer questions correctly
with the truth of God’s Word!
EAGERNESS TO RECEIVE GIFTS Children find it more natural to receive a gift without
feeling they have to earn it.
Children can receive a gift without assuming strings
are attached. They look forward to receiving a gift,
and that is exactly what salvation is—a gift of God.
75 percent of those who receive Christ do so before they are 14 years old.
90 percent of those who receive Christ do so before they are 21 years old.
A. Surface Causes
ARGUMENT: “I don’t think my child is a sinner.”
ANSWER: All people inherit a sin nature, a natural bent to sin.
“Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are
wayward and speak lies.” (Psalm 58:3)
P lace throughout your home pictures and plaques with a spiritual emphasis.
• In your child’s bedroom and bathroom
• In the living room and hallway
• In the car and on the refrigerator
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength. . . . These commandments that I give you today are
to be upon your hearts. . . . Impress them on your children. . . . Write them
on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)
Provide a regular time to read and talk about Scripture—a daily family
devotional time.
• Character studies—David, Daniel, Ruth, Esther, Jesus, Peter, Abraham,
Moses
• Selected Proverbs, parables, the fruit of the Spirit
• Plan activities such as plays, skits, draw pictures about Bible stories.
“Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,
because you know those from whom you learned it. . . . and how from
infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make
you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:14-15)
P repare Scripture memory verses on cutout forms or cards.
Pick simple verses for younger children:
• Place 1 John 4:16 on red paper in the shape of a heart—“God is love.”
• Place John 3:16 on blue paper in the shape of the world—“For God so
loved the world.”
• Place John 15:5 on brown paper in the shape of branches—“I am the vine,
you are the branches.”
O riginal S in
“There is a problem between you and God, and it is called sin.
Sin is anything you think or do that does not please God. Sin
is going your own way, not God’s way.”
• Explain inherited sin.
“We are born with a natural desire to please ourselves instead
of a desire to please God by doing what is right. Babies cry
for attention even when they aren’t hurt. They just want their
own way.”
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother
conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5)
• Explain enacted sin.
“As we grow older, we all choose to sin. We choose to disobey
our parents. Anything we think, say or do that doesn’t please
God is sin.”
“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do
it, sins.” (James 4:17)
O ffering
“Jesus came from heaven to earth, lived in a body and grew . . . just like you
and I grow.”
• “God the Son came to help us because He loves us.”
“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.”
(John 3:16)
• Jesus is holy . . . which means different from us. We don’t always
have good thoughts but Jesus does. He is always perfect. Jesus has
never sinned because He is God.
“But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins.
And in Him is no sin.” (1 John 3:5)
Copyright 1998 HOPE FOR THE HEART Child Evangelism - page 10
D eath and Resurrection
“The Lord Jesus Christ died for your sin, but He also did something
no one else has ever done—He came back to life!”
• “Jesus knew our sin would separate us from Him—that is the
punishment for our sin.”
“Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have
hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
• “Jesus didn’t want us separated from Him so Jesus died for our
sins. They put the Lord Jesus in a tomb (cave) and He came back to
life. He lived His life on earth where people saw Him and talked to
Him. Then He went to heaven.”
“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, . . . He was buried,
. . . He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and . . .
He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared
to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of
whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He ap-
peared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to
me also, as to one abnormally born.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
N eed
“We all need a Savior because our sin is a problem.”
• “We need to trust and rely on the Lord Jesus Christ for what He
has done for us.”
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
(Romans 10:13)
• “Your part is to believe that He has done this.”
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not
believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:17-18)
E ternal L ife
“God’s part is found in three promises to us.”
• “We will not be condemned to hell for our sin.”
“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
(Romans 8:1)
• “We will live forever in heaven.”
“Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” (John 11:26)
• “Meanwhile, God will cause us to live a different kind of life now
while we live on earth.”
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”
(Philippians 1:6)
S alvation P rayer
“God invites us all to come to Him.”
Give an invitation for the child to receive Christ.
• Remind them again of their need of a Savior.
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own
way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
(Isaiah 53:6)
• Review what Christ has done.
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by
the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)
• “Would you like Jesus to be your personal Lord and Savior?”
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in
your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
(Romans 10:9)
Dear God,
I know I do things You tell me not to do, and You call that sin.
I realize that my sin has separated me from You.
Please forgive me for my sin. Lord Jesus, thank You for taking
the punishment that I should have had—
You paid the price for my sin by dying on the cross for me.
Right now I ask You to come into my life to be my Lord
and my Savior. I want to be what You want me to be.
And I want to do what You want me to do.
Amen.
To order tapes, resource books and Counseling Keys on Salvation, Assurance of Salvation,
God: Who Is He?, Atheism & Agnosticism, Jewish Evangelism, Unbelieving Mate and other
related topics, and to request a copy of our Product Catalog,
write HOPE FOR THE HEART • Box 7 • Dallas, TX • 75221 • FAX 1-972-239-0122
or outside Dallas, call toll-free 1-800-488-HOPE, in Dallas call 972-239-9999. www.hopefortheheart.org
Copyright 1998 HOPE FOR THE HEART NCHIL/09/28/98 Child Evangelism - page 12
Child Evangelism
G OD’S LOVE
FOR YOU
Visual Aid Projects
Children learn by doing! The following simple activities will help you communicate
God’s love and His plan for receiving the gift of eternal life. These five different
colors are used to represent the gospel message to a child.
PROJECT #1
Help your child make a small book out of construction paper. Get a pattern for a
heart (about four inches tall) and cut out five different heart-shaped pages in the
five different colors listed above. Cut one extra red heart to be the cover of the
book. Title the cover page “God’s Love for You!” and bind the book by stapling
the top in two places.
PROJECT #2
Purchase beads in the same five colors as above. Cut a heavy cord or a leather strap
long enough to make a bracelet or a necklace. String the beads on the leather strap
in the order mentioned above, then tie to fit. Extra bracelets could be made to give
as gifts to friends.
Explain the pages in the book (or each bead) to your child in the following way: