Many resources present the gospel for kids in powerful ways. One treasure created by Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers,” is titled “Come Ye Children.” In this little book, Spurgeon contended earnestly that teaching kids the gospel is one of the most important tasks God gives to parents, teachers, and pastors.
Spurgeon writes:
There must be doctrine, solid, sound, gospel doctrine to constitute real feeding. When you have a joint on the table, then ring the dinner-bell; but the bell feeds nobody if no provender is served up. Getting children to meet in the morning and the afternoon is a waste of their steps and yours if you do not set before them soul-saving, soul sustaining truth. Feed the lambs; you need not pipe to them, nor put garlands round their necks; but do feed them.
Because teaching the gospel for kids is so important, you need a plan. Just as kids grow physically in proportion to the food they eat and the emotional support they receive, they grow spiritually in a similar manner.
Are you intentionally feeding your kids the gospel? Pastors have an estimated 104 hours per year with kids in their ministry, while parents have 8,736 hours per year.
By the end of this year, will your kids know the gospel?
Share the Gospel for Kids
According to the kids team at LifeWay, several foundational truths should serve as the support structure of a child’s faith development. These include God, Jesus, Bible, Creation, Family, Self, Church, Community and World, The Holy Spirit, and Salvation (These are charted out in Learning as They Grow).
In other words, understanding these biblical concepts is vital to the spiritual development of the next generation. How are we doing with our children? Can our children answer questions such as:
- What is sin?
- Who is Jesus?
- What did Jesus do?
- Why do we need Jesus to save us?
- How do we receive the salvation that Jesus offers?
We must be careful with our precious children. Don’t walk them into making a decision to follow Christ without an intentional plan for walking with them down the road of discipleship. Disciples, not decisions, measure our ministry to children.
Trevin Wax offers practical suggestions on teaching the gospel for kids.
- Repetition is essential.
- Choose your language carefully.
- Don’t underestimate your kids’ understanding.
So, what are we teaching our children? Are we teaching morals or the gospel? In that same book, Spurgeon writes, “The gospel produces the best morality in all the world.” As we teach the gospel for kids, we teach them how to live as disciples of Jesus.
