How to share the gospel with kids

In the book of Acts, chapters 24-26, we read of God appointing the right time for the Apostle Paul to share the gospel about Jesus Christ to several Roman leaders, in particular: Governor Felix, Governor Festus and King Agrippa. Pastor Dave mentioned in his sermon this past weekend (watch it here), that Paul was clearly God’s chosen messenger to these high-powered leaders. In our personal context, God will choose us to be His messenger to others at appointed times as well! We know this because of Jesus’ command to His followers in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (NLT).

All nations means all people, and all people include all ages! According to a series of studies by George Barna (founder of The Barna Group, a Christian research organization), “the probability of someone embracing Jesus as his or her Savior was 32 percent for those between the ages of 5 and 12; 4 percent for those in the 13-18 age range; and 6 percent for people 19 or older. In other words, if people do not embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior before they reach their teenage years, the chance of their doing so at all is slim.” ¹ While sharing the gospel to adults is important, it’s even more critical that we share the gospel to kids! You may be a parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, godparent, family friend or kids volunteer. God is likely appointing you to be His messenger to kids with the message of the gospel! How do we do this? We share the gospel with kids by being clear on our own understanding of the gospel message, being led by the Holy Spirit, using illustrations, and keeping it simple.

Understand the gospel message

A helpful resource from Child Evangelism Fellowship, is The Wordless Book (download the book with instructions here), which uses colours to help kids remember the key concepts about salvation.² There are 5 colours: gold, black, red, white, and green. Not only can this tool be used with kids, but it can work with adults too!

• Gold = We were created by a Heavenly God to have a close friendship with Him. (Genesis 1:26-27; John 3:16)
• Black = Sin is thinking, saying, or doing things that God says are wrong. Sin keeps us away from God. (Romans 3:23)
• Red = Because of His great love, God made a way for us to be close with Him again by taking care of our sin. He did this by sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and come back to life. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
• White = When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died on the cross and came back to life for us, our sins are forgiven and we can be close with God again. (Acts 16:31; John 1:12)
• Green = When we put our trust in Jesus, we can grow to know God better. When we do wrong, we can admit this to God and He will forgive us. (John 17:3; 1 John 1:9)

It’s a good idea to review the above concepts on your own and practice talking about them before sharing them with others. The gospel must first be clear in our own mind before we can confidently share it. This is true not only for speaking with kids, but with anyone, any age. The key difference with kids is that you will need to use language/vocabulary that they know or are familiar with at their age. That being said, teaching them a new word and explaining it is possible too. Just be careful to not introduce too many new words so that you’re not constantly having to define new terms for them.

Be led by the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is an incredible guide! It’s by His power that we are able to be effective witnesses for Jesus in the world (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts people of their sin and need for God (John 16:8). He is the one who brings freedom and removes the veil that blinds us to God’s glory (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). The Holy Spirit is the one who gives wisdom and insight so that we can grow in the knowledge of God (Ephesians 1:17-18).

When sharing the gospel with kids (or anyone), ask the Holy Spirit to help you listen well, express God’s love for them, and speak with confident clarity. Ask the Holy Spirit to also be at work in the child’s heart too, as you want to partner with what He’s already doing in their lives. Even while speaking with the child, you can be in communication with the Holy Spirit, pausing to check-in with Him in the quietness of your heart. You can trust that He will give you His words and thoughts in the moment that will be just right for that child in that moment (Luke 12:12).

Use illustrations

Similar to adults, kids will engage better when concepts are attached to stories or with object lessons. The Wordless Book is one simple illustration when sharing the gospel to kids. Another one that I have found helpful and that can be done anywhere with no advance preparation, is the following:

1. Use any 3 people or objects around you. One person/object represents God, the other person/object represents you and I, lastly the final person/object represents Jesus.
2. Using the people or objects, explain how we were made to be close with our Creator God (hold both objects close together), but then sin separated us from God (separate both objects). There was no way for us to come close to God again because of our sin problem. We need help! We need a Saviour. That Saviour is Jesus!
3. Introduce the 3rd “Jesus” object by placing it in between God and us. God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and come back to life so we could have new life by God’s power and be close with God again.

Another way to illustrate the gospel message is to share your own story of how you came to put your trust in Jesus and the amazing difference He has made and continues to make in your life. Notice this is what the Apostle Paul did too. He shared his personal experience encountering Jesus and then proceeded to explain about faith in Jesus.

Keep it simple

There may be the temptation to explain every concept in detail or give more information about Biblical context. While this may be good and beneficial, it isn’t always necessary or helpful when a child (or any person) is just learning about God and Jesus for the first time. Avoid overcomplicating the gospel message, as this can be overwhelming for people. Once again, with a personal clear understanding of the gospel and with practice, you will be able to speak more confidently, succinctly and effectively.

Conclusion

We share the gospel with kids by being clear on our own understanding of the gospel message, being led by the Holy Spirit, using illustrations, and keeping it simple. Remember to also keep the conversation a dialogue that is interactive with kids. This will help to keep them feeling involved and interested in your sharing. You can do this by asking questions and allowing the child to make comments.

Remember that each child (and adults too) is on a journey faith. As the child matures, you may likely share the gospel message with them several times, each time perhaps in a more deep or thoughtful way, before they finally come to a personal decision to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. And when they do, be ready to help them take next steps to grow their faith (e.g. Bible reading, prayer, worship, church small groups, serving etc). How exciting that God wants to use us as His messengers and representatives in this world! Even more exciting is the incredible evangelistic opportunity we have to reach younger generations for Christ so that they can burn bright for Him all their lives.