Yesterday we heard how important it is to be honest with kids about an important biblical truth\u2014that is: we are all sinners. We can\u2019t do good or be good on our own.<\/strong><\/p>\nI\u2019ve been in the church literally all my life, for which I\u2019m thankful, and I\u2019ve seen a lot of children\u2019s Bible story books and children\u2019s curriculum in the church. One of the problems with some of it is that the emphasis on our external behavior. But Barbara has reminded us of the reality that we are dead in sin, and on our own, we really can\u2019t be good.<\/p>\n
Now, if we stopped right there, we\u2019d all be in a hopeless mess. And that leads to Barbara\u2019s second point, which we are about to hear.<\/p>\n
In her later years, Barbara headed up the children\u2019s outreach for Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), and we\u2019re listening to a message that she gave to BSF children\u2019s leaders. Here\u2019s Barbara.<\/p>\n
Barbara: <\/span>Here\u2019s tool number two: Teach about God\u2019s plan for sending Jesus.<\/strong> A Bible lesson or a Bible story that is gospel centered is one that teaches about God\u2019s plan for sending Jesus.<\/p>\nNow, this doesn\u2019t mean that you turn every lesson into a story about Jesus and the cross, but our kids do benefit from hearing how this slice of Scripture that you are in right now fits into the big gospel pie. They need to be reminded of the big picture view of God\u2019s plan through Christ, and it runs all the way through the Bible.<\/strong> So as you study you will find it, and you will be able to highlight it.<\/p>\nSo here\u2019s a simple way of remembering the main points of the gospel plan for sending Jesus.<\/strong> We\u2019ll just use J-E-S-U-S to help you remember that.<\/p>\nJ is for Jesus left His home with God in heaven to become a man and show us who God is. <\/strong>Jesus shows us that God is our loving Father who rightly tells us to live for His honor.<\/p>\nE is that ever since the first man and woman, Adam and Eve sinned, all of us are born into this world with sin in our hearts.<\/strong> We do not honor God because we want to honor ourselves more than anything.<\/p>\nS is for sin. Sin in our hearts separates us from God. <\/strong>We can\u2019t know or love God when we are separated from Him and deserve His just judgment of hell. Only God can help us, and He does. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus. Jesus lived a sinless life in our place, and Jesus died in our place as He took the punishment for sin by dying on the cross. And then three days later . . .<\/p>\nUp He came<\/strong>. He came back to life.<\/strong> Jesus rose from the grave and came back to show us that He is stronger than everything, even death, and God promises that everyone who turns to Him and trusts in Jesus is forgiven of the sin in their hearts.<\/strong> They will never be separated from God again, but spend eternity with Him in heaven. And He gives a special gift to them now.<\/p>\nS is for Spirit. The Holy Spirit from God is Jesus right with you all the time. <\/strong>Everyone who turns to God and trusts in Jesus has the Holy Spirit living in them. That\u2019s how close He is. And the Holy Spirit teaches you about temptation and gives you the power to say \u201cno\u201d to sin and \u201cyes\u201d to what is right.<\/p>\nSo as you prepare, ask yourself:<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat do I see about God?Okay, here\u2019s a little sidebar: Guard against just saying \u201cgospel\u201d when you want to kind of throw that in your Bible story or Bible lesson. We don\u2019t know what to say, so we\u2019ll just call it that. We assume that everybody knows it, but no, that\u2019s not it. So avoid just popping in that word \u201cgospel\u201d and letting that account for what you really want to say.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t rely on a pamphlet\u2014as good as they are and as wonderful as you want everyone to read the \u201cAm I Sure?\u201d pamphlet, because it is very helpful and a wonderful tool, but don\u2019t rely on it.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t use catch phrases like, \u201cAsk Jesus into your heart.\u201d Know the gospel for yourself so that you can teach the important connection in this passage of Scripture that you\u2019re studying this week to some truth that you know about Jesus Christ.<\/strong><\/p>\nAs you prepare to teach, ask yourself: What is it in this passage that lets me know about God\u2019s plan for sending Jesus? And it will come out. You will be able to communicate.<\/p>\n
Now, let\u2019s go on to the next part.<\/p>\n
Kids strive to be accepted. The world plays on this need by using behavior modification to create acceptable kids. We talked about that earlier.<\/p>\n
But we do, too. We do it very subtly by making kids feel that God\u2019s love and acceptance is based on whether they behave or not. Kids are wired to want to figure it all out and then just do what they have to do. It\u2019s kind of like they are saying, \u201cJust tell me what I have to do to get to heaven and avoid hell, and I will do it\u2014no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
They get into that works mentality and just figure, like with everything else in their life, they\u2019re going to have to work to earn it.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the moralistic statement that they end up saying about themselves: \u201cI obey God, and therefore, I\u2019m accepted.\u201d Or they think that they couldn\u2019t ever possibly do it right, and therefore, they will never be accepted by God.<\/strong><\/p>\nThis is how teaching can be twisted toward moralism in both our pre-school and our school program, Bible stories, and Bible lessons. Let me just give you a couple of examples, because when we go to the Old Testament, I think we find it the hardest.<\/p>\n
We want to teach about the characters. We want to tell them about Noah and Abraham and Moses. It\u2019s really easy to get focused with our attention on what these characters did right, what they did wrong, or use the passage to teach a moral lesson.<\/p>\n
Now, the kids translate that to mean: \u201cOkay, if I\u2019m good, like Noah, God will think of me as righteous,\u201d or \u201cGod is pleased with me, or not pleased with me, based on how I act.\u201d And what we really want to message is that God did not choose these people because of their character but because of His grace\u2014just like the rest of us.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Bible in fact is very faithful in recording the scathing sins of each one of these people. That typically makes us feel pretty uncomfortable if we\u2019d relied on these people to give us good moral lessons because: Noah gets drunk. Abraham lies. Moses gets angry. And what we want to realize is that God is faithful to tell us about their weaknesses because it underscores His grace in saving and using sinful people.<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat we really need to be messaging is that God prevails in His plan regardless of imperfections in people, and His promises prevail no matter how powerful worldly leaders appear to be.<\/p>\n
So the point is that when we teach these Old Testament passages about Noah, Abraham, Moses, whoever\u2014Joshua, whoever\u2014remember that God is always the hero<\/strong>. People are always imperfect, and God is always the hero.<\/p>\nNow, when we teach about Jesus, it may sound kind of funny to say this, but it is possible to teach about Jesus and never teach the gospel. It is surprisingly easy to talk about Jesus and connect His life to moralism instead of gospel-centered teaching.<\/p>\n
We tell kids things like, \u201cYou need to act like Jesus\u2014just love like Jesus, just forgive like Jesus, just tell the truth like Jesus.\u201d Kids end up connecting the dots that, \u201cOkay, I\u2019m right with God as long as I imitate Jesus\u2014imitating leads to pleasing God.\u201d And the reality is that we will fail on every count of trying to imitate Jesus because of our issue in our heart. Jesus did not have sin in His heart. He lived perfectly. We will not.<\/p>\n
So the gospel-centered teaching says, \u201cJesus is the one who lived the perfect life. Jesus pleased God for us. He loved perfectly. He forgave perfectly. He never lied. He never cheated. Jesus never sinned. He did for us what we can never do ourselves.<\/strong><\/p>\nWhen you teach a child about Jesus in this way, they begin to delight and glory in Jesus as their substitute. They learn to draw into your teaching about what it means to be in Christ and to be part of God\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
Now, obedience to God\u2019s commands are to be taken very seriously. Knowing that disobedience has serious consequences, we do want to be faithful about teaching that. But obedience to God\u2019s commands is based on being in Christ and living in the power of His Holy Spirit, not on trying to imitate or trying to act like Jesus on my own steam. But with God\u2019s Spirit living in us, which is what happens when I am in in Christ, I am then transformed by His Holy Spirit and given His empowerment to then live more and more like Christ with the eventual lasting changes in my behavior.<\/strong><\/p>\nThen, in the Epistles, we are teaching about growing in Christ. We have to get it straight in our minds first, or again, we will teach kids that Christianity is about what we do. Then our applications focus on religious acts\u2014Bible study, consistent attendance, church membership. Now, these are spiritual disciplines, and they are tools for growth in Christ. They are not tools to measure our spirituality or our worth in God\u2019s sight.<\/p>\n
So gospel-centered teaching says, \u201cI don\u2019t become a child of God through religious acts. But once I am God\u2019s child, He gives me His Spirit to mature me, and I grow to be more like Christ.\u201d Just as in the way healthy food helps my body to grow, the Holy Spirit uses Bible study, prayer, going to church to help me to grow in Christ.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nGod accepts me because of Jesus, and because of His love, I want to obey Him.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
So a gospel-centered statement that a student might say would be this: \u201cGod accepts me because of Jesus, and because of His love, I want to obey Him, and I have the power to do so from Him.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nSo here\u2019s tool number three: Listen to yourself speak <\/strong>and teach kids. Then ask yourself:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nHow does my teaching come across?<\/li>\n
<\/p>\n
Will my words promote moralism or the gospel?<\/li>\n
\n<\/ul>\n
How do I even begin to develop questions or comments that I would speak to my children in my classroom or my students that are more gospel centered and not moralistic?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a tip regarding application questions<\/strong>. Listen closely to a point of clarification.<\/p>\nQuestions that put an emphasis on something I must do to earn God\u2019s favor are moralistic.<\/strong> \u201cIf I do this, God will be pleased.\u201d And you can remember that by: M stands for me.<\/p>\nQuestions that put an emphasis on what God is doing in my mind and heart are gospel centered.<\/strong> So you can remember that with a G, for God.<\/p>\nSo we started with a principle: God chose Moses to be His leader.<\/p>\n