Since it was released in 2009, the booklet Helping Children to Understand the Gospel has been used in a number of creative ways. Although the booklet and family devotional guide were written to help parents explain the gospel to their children in an accurate and child-friendly manner, God has multiplied its usefulness to bless the church.
Understanding and meditating on the truths of the gospel is not just for children, but for families, teachers, youth, young adults and grandparents, too!
Summer Sunday School for Families
In 2009 Bethlehem Baptist Church planned a four-week Summer Sunday School designed to help parents lead their children through the Ten Essential Truths of the Gospel presented in the family devotional guide portion of the booklet.
For the first four Sundays of the summer, families were invited to visit different rooms to study the truths, pray, worship, and read Scripture. Elders were available to bless and to pray for families individually. Parents were encouraged to complete the remaining six Truths at home. One family shared,
The weeks spent on this study were a gift from the Lord. They were joyful and, we pray, profitable eternally for our family. We appreciated the biblically solid, sequential material which spanned the comprehension levels of our children and winsomely and effectively presented gospel Truths.
In addition to learning, the eldest children were able to either help teach the lesson or reinforce the object lessons when necessary. The younger ones stayed very engaged due to the interactive teaching. Most significantly, each week the study built on teaching God's great gift of salvation. We thank the Lord that Desiring God has this study available for families.
All Church Study
In January 2010, Riverpark Bible Church in Fresno, California, used Helping Children to Understand the Gospel to begin a church-wide, 10-week “Ten Truths” study. After encouraging parents to read parts one and two of the booklet on their own, they kicked off the study with a sermon outlining the ten truths.
In this video Pastor Dave and Sandy Parker share what they did and what happened:
At the end of the ten weeks, the church hosted a potluck and invited people to share the joys and challenges of the study, and to share what they learned:
"It has been amazing to have the gospel forefront in our family’s everyday living. We are learning 'everyday talk' and to keep the gospel central."
"This is not just truth our kids need to learn. We are learning, too!"
"We've been keeping the 10 Gospel Truths on the dining room table to talk about during dinner. In the last few weeks, my husband and I have noticed just how much more we talk with our kids. (We'd been getting away from sit-down family meals for awhile and made a new commitment to all be there.) We've had great conversations with the kids about God as Creator, tried some of the activities about the crayon saying to the designer 'I don't want to draw,' and we've seen the kids really 'get' the idea that God made our world—not evolution! God made them—and is the Boss! God wants them to obey—every day!"
This resource is available from Children Desiring God in English and in Spanish. The content contained in this booklet was summarized from two workshops delivered at the 2007 Children Desiring God Conference: Preparing Children to Hear the Gospel and Presenting the Gospel to Children. You can stream or download audio from both workshops in English and in Spanish.
If by now you are curious about the Ten Essential Truths of the Gospel presented in the booklet, here they are:
- God is the sovereign Creator of all things.
- God created people for His glory.
- God is holy and righteous.
- Man is sinful.
- God is just and is right to punish sin.
- God is merciful. He is kind to undeserving sinners.
- Jesus is God’s holy and righteous Son.
- God put the punishment of sinners on Jesus.
- God offers the free gift of salvation to those who repent and believe in Jesus.
- Those who trust in Jesus will live to please Him and will receive the promise of eternal life—enjoying God forever in heaven.
