"Bank robbers sin."
The little girl was adament on that point.
"People who rob banks. Bullies at my school. My big brothers; they're mean to me."
Those were her answers to our question, "Who has sinned?" Over the course of Good News Club, we went through the gospel five or six times, and each time the girl replied, "bad people have sinned." Whenever that happened we told her, "the Bible says in Romans 3:23 that ALL have sinned. That includes me and you." It seemed she was beginning to understand, so Mrs. Weibel asked the little girl if she could tell US the gospel. The little girl picked up her Wordless Book bracelet and began.
"The gold is like some roads in heaven where God lives. The dark is like bad things that bad people do."
I stopped her a second and asked, "Who has done bad things?"
"People who rob banks." ...OK, so we weren't there yet.
The last lesson in this summer's 5-day club series was about the Apostle Paul, who thought he was doing just great... before he had an experience with Jesus. He even thought something as messed up as arresting and killing Christians would make God pleased with him. Once you've met Jesus and accepted what he did for you, you're changed and on your way to heaven... but sometimes, in your walk with Christ, you feel that there's something you're doing just a little better than everyone else. You can become a little like Paul before he was Paul.
"I know God's law and I follow it. That makes me amazing." "l'm in ministry; and I'm only a teenager! I'm more spiritual than people twice my age!"
Maybe you haven't thought those exact things, but maybe you've gotten that attitude of being a "better Christian" - it's hard not to do when people praise you for your service to God or your heart for the lost or fill-in-the-blank.
But when you and I become proud of who we are - who we are in Christ, if we're honest with ourselves - we're ignoring the point of the gospel. The gospel is only good news if Jesus really saved us, and he only saved us from sin if... we've actually sinned. And there's no problem there.
As the Bible says, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags, we all shrivel up like a leaf and like the wind our sins sweep us away" (Isaiah 64:6). But it also says, "blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him..." (Psalm 32:1-2).
It took this little girl at Good News Club a long time to figure it out, but by the end of club she was ready to tell us the gospel again.
"The gold is like roads in heaven, where God lives. God loves you. The dark is like sin, which is doing naughty things."
She looked up from her bracelet and added, "The Bible says you and me have sinned. That's why Jesus gave his blood."
That's the best news I ever heard!
UPDATE: A couple weeks after the events in this post, I went on a road trip to Minnesota. While I was on the road, my sister sent me a text: "Couldn't wait for you to get back, just had to tell you -- the little girl from Good News Club accepted Jesus as her savior this week. Looks like all that Gospel review paid off."
Praise God! :)
The little girl was adament on that point.
"People who rob banks. Bullies at my school. My big brothers; they're mean to me."
Those were her answers to our question, "Who has sinned?" Over the course of Good News Club, we went through the gospel five or six times, and each time the girl replied, "bad people have sinned." Whenever that happened we told her, "the Bible says in Romans 3:23 that ALL have sinned. That includes me and you." It seemed she was beginning to understand, so Mrs. Weibel asked the little girl if she could tell US the gospel. The little girl picked up her Wordless Book bracelet and began.
"The gold is like some roads in heaven where God lives. The dark is like bad things that bad people do."
I stopped her a second and asked, "Who has done bad things?"
"People who rob banks." ...OK, so we weren't there yet.
The last lesson in this summer's 5-day club series was about the Apostle Paul, who thought he was doing just great... before he had an experience with Jesus. He even thought something as messed up as arresting and killing Christians would make God pleased with him. Once you've met Jesus and accepted what he did for you, you're changed and on your way to heaven... but sometimes, in your walk with Christ, you feel that there's something you're doing just a little better than everyone else. You can become a little like Paul before he was Paul.
"I know God's law and I follow it. That makes me amazing." "l'm in ministry; and I'm only a teenager! I'm more spiritual than people twice my age!"
Maybe you haven't thought those exact things, but maybe you've gotten that attitude of being a "better Christian" - it's hard not to do when people praise you for your service to God or your heart for the lost or fill-in-the-blank.
But when you and I become proud of who we are - who we are in Christ, if we're honest with ourselves - we're ignoring the point of the gospel. The gospel is only good news if Jesus really saved us, and he only saved us from sin if... we've actually sinned. And there's no problem there.
As the Bible says, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags, we all shrivel up like a leaf and like the wind our sins sweep us away" (Isaiah 64:6). But it also says, "blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him..." (Psalm 32:1-2).
It took this little girl at Good News Club a long time to figure it out, but by the end of club she was ready to tell us the gospel again.
"The gold is like roads in heaven, where God lives. God loves you. The dark is like sin, which is doing naughty things."
She looked up from her bracelet and added, "The Bible says you and me have sinned. That's why Jesus gave his blood."
That's the best news I ever heard!
UPDATE: A couple weeks after the events in this post, I went on a road trip to Minnesota. While I was on the road, my sister sent me a text: "Couldn't wait for you to get back, just had to tell you -- the little girl from Good News Club accepted Jesus as her savior this week. Looks like all that Gospel review paid off."
Praise God! :)
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