NEW

2020-02-26 to 28 Pictures: Charleston, South Carolina

One of the few upsides of having to cancel our Spring Break trip last March at the onset of the pandemic is that we are "stuck" with a rather large voucher from one of those discount airlines. Last autumn, Tricia and I spent a weekend in Savannah, Georgia and had a...

A John 3:16 Craft for Kids

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and reassuring verses in the Bible. 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 (NIV) The following is a little craft I threw...

2020-03-01 Pictures: Lyndsey’s College Signing Day

This afternoon Lyndsey made it official, signing her letter of intent to play college basketball for the Hiram College Terriers starting next year. While she made the decision and committed to Hiram before Christmas, she has been looking forward to this day since her...

2020-02-13 Pictures: Lyndsey’s 18th Birthday

I am little behind on posting photos. These are some of my favorites from a couple of weekends ago when we got a chance to celebrate Lyndsey's 18th birthday. It's hard to believe that my little girl is officially an adult. It was nice to have the family all back...

What is DOCTRINE?

Introduction I love working with kids, and I love teaching them hard concepts in ways they can understand. To that end, for years I have been working on a dictionary of theological terms for kids and teens. In sharing those definitions, there seemed no better place to...

If You Want It Done Right

In all likelihood, you know how the phrase ends: If you want it done right, DO IT YOURSELF! This is a bit of a mantra for me, and frankly, something that I struggle with daily both in leadership and in my Christian walk.  In theory, this is easy to accept. ...

What Does God Hate?

This is the little and humble post that started it all. I happened to be reading through my Bible, and this passage impacted me so much that I posted a little blurb about it on Facebook. That was July 28, 2008, and I've been writing and sharing ever since. (Maybe...

#4: Man is Sinful (10 Essential Gospel Truths for Kids)

10 Essential TruthsToday we continue our detailed look at a presentation given by Jill Nelson at the 2007 Children Desiring God Conference entitled “Presenting the Gospel to Children.” In my last post, I introduced the series (including links to both the audio and the handouts.  Thus far we have looked at the following:

Today we will continue with the next Essential Gospel Truth which kids need to understand to combat false gospels and to understand the true and saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.  So, let’s get started.  ESSENTIAL TRUTH #4 IS:

Man is Sinful.

Explanation

In her talk and in the handouts to the talk, Ms. Nelson gives poignant, concise and theological sounds explanations for each of the truths which will work great with kids.  I have included my notes of these explanations below, but I would encourage you to listen to and/or read her full narratives as well.

  • If we are to live with God forever, we must obey all his rules.
  • We must never do anything wrong.
  • Have you ever disobeyed one of God’s commands?  Which ones?  Have I?
  • God’s commands show us that we do wrong things an we don’t obey God all the time.
  • All people, even children and babies, are sinners.
  • That means they are the opposite of righteous and holy.
  • Sin is disobeying God.
  • We are born with sin.
  • We are born with a sin nature.
  • That means we desire to sin.
  • Like the baby who arches his back when he doesn’t want to obey and go in the seat or the toddler throwing a tantrum.
  • We get our sin nature from Adam and Eve.
  • We show we are like them by the wrong things we think, say, desire and do.

Illustration

  • Millions of examples every day.
  • Use teachable moments
    • Like when a child envies a toy
    • Or has a fight with a friend
    • Or shows a love for things
  • What does this prove about you?
  • Illustrate sin nature with examples from the animal kingdom
    • Lions would choose meat rather than lettuce.  He desires meat.
    • Rabbits would choose lettuce rather than meat.  The rabbit desires lettuce.
    • The fish desires the worm.
  • Illustrate Romans 3:23 with mirrors
    • Take mirror and put mud all over it
    • What does the mirror reflect?
    • What changed?  The thing being reflected or the mirror?
    • Our hearts no longer show back to God that he is the greatest.

Implication

The implication of this truth to kids is:

You have disobeyed God’s commands.  You are a sinner.

Scriptural Support

Romans 3:20

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. [Romans 3:20 ESV]

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [Romans 3:23 ESV]

Previous

Next