Lesson Objective:
The children will learn the gospel story.
Scripture:
Jeremiah 31:3, Hebrews 9:22, John 1:12, Romans 3:23, 6:23, 10:9, I John 1:9
Arrival:
As the children arrive, tell them they will be reading a very special book. Do not tell them much about the book, but tell them that it is different than any book they have ever seen. Sing a few favorite songs. Include “Jesus Loves Me” and “My God Is So Big!” in the list.
Prayer Time:
When you pray, thank God for His gift of salvation.
Lesson:
This lesson is based on the Wordless Book. Have a large Wordless Book to display to the class. Begin by flipping through the book and asking the children what they notice (there are no words or pictures). Tell them that this is the most wonderful story in the whole world, but the book tells it without any words or pictures – just colors!
Go through the pages in this order:
- Gold (Yellow) – Ask a child to identify the color. Tell the children that the yellow color represents gold. Ask them if they have ever seen something made from gold. Tell them that Heaven, where God lives, has streets made out of gold. Tell them it is a beautiful place and that God wants them to live there with Him someday. In fact, He prepared a place in Heaven for all of his children. He loves us that much! (Jeremiah 31:3) However, there is something that will keep every person from being in heaven.
- Black (Dark) – (Be sure to refer to this page as Dark and not Black because of racial connotations with the world Black). The dark page represents sin. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned.” Ask the children what types of sins they have done. Tell them some sins you have done. Tell them that everyone, no matter how good they are, has done something wrong. God loves us and wants us to be in Heaven, but He cannot let sin in there, so we have a big problem. Remind the children that God is all-powerful, so He provided an answer to this problem.
- Red – Tell the children that sin has a consequence, or punishment (Romans 6:23). That punishment is death. Everyone has to die because of sin. When we die, we either go to Heaven or Hell. Sin cannot be in Heaven, but God provided a way for us to have our sins covered so we can go to Heaven in spite of our sin. That was through His son Jesus Christ. Jesus was born and lived a perfect life. He was the only man who never sinned. He died on the cross and shed His blood to cover our sins. The red represents His blood. Read Hebrews 9:22 and tell the children that Jesus’ blood paid the price for our sins. Then, tell them about His resurrection. Since He beat death, we can accept His gift of salvation and live in heaven when we die!
- White – This is the clean page. The Bible says in John 1:12 that anyone who receives Him (Jesus) can become the child of God. Romans 10:9 says all you have to do is confess and believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. Tell the children that becoming a child of God involves three things. First, you have to recognize that you are a sinner. Then, you have to believe that Jesus was God’s son, died for you, and rose again. Finally, you have to ask Him to be your Savior.
- (Do not pressure children to make this decision. Simply present the information and answer questions that may come up. It is very important that you do not lead children to pray if they do not fully understand.)
- Green – After we become God’s children, we need to grow, just like green plants. The way Christians grow is through reading the Bible, going to church, and praying. Remind the children that even as Christians, we will still sin, but I John 1:9 tells us to confess those sins and God will forgive them.
- Blue – Blue can represent baptism, if you have any children who are saved but not baptized. It can also represent Christ’s eventual return in the heavens. You can talk about both things, depending on the readiness of the children.
Memory Verse:
Work with the children to memorize I John 1:9.
Craft:
Make wordless book caterpillars with the children. Review the colors and what they mean when you do.
Dismissal:
Take the time to answer any questions. If a child is ready to accept Christ, find someone who can pray with him or her privately. Have the children use the caterpillars to tell the story to each other as review before you leave.