The Gospel In A Nutshell!

 

THE NUT

This is no ordinary nut. This nut has a wonderful life changing message. A message that can cast away all worry and stress and fear. A message of a heaven, a hero and a hope that he has given! 

(An innovative children’s presentation)

HEAVEN

A gold ribbon! Ah, this reminds me of a place!

Does the colour gold remind you of anywhere?

It reminds me of Heaven.

Do you know what Heaven is?

Heaven is God’s home. The God who made everything, the sky, the sea, the grass, all the people… He lives in Heaven. It is full of His glory and shining brightness.

What is Heaven like?

Well there is no night! So you’ll never have to go to bed! The bible says that “God is light and in him is no darkness at all” (1John 1:5). There is no school, so you’ll never get homework. There is no time, so no one ever feels bored. There is no sickness, no one is crippled or blind. No one ever dies in Heaven. No one ever gets bullied. No one ever feels lonely in Heaven. No one ever feels angry or frustrated. Everyone is perfectly happy all of the time, forever! (Psalm 16:11, Revelation 21:4) What a wonderful place where nothing ever goes wrong and nothing bad ever happens! The most wonderful thing about Heaven is that God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus will be there. God made Heaven. He made you too. He made you! He loves you very much. He wants you to be with Him in Heaven. (John 14:2-3)

Who would like to go to heaven?

BUT… There is one thing that can not be in Heaven. Sin! Sin can not be in Heaven. You and I, we are sinners. We want to have our own way. We want to please ourselves and we don’t want to please God. Wanting our own way is sin and sin separates us from God. Doing, or saying, or thinking bad things is sinful. Sin is anything that does not glorify God. Sin makes people nasty, selfish, hurtful, violent, lazy… The bible tells us that everyone has sinned (Romans 3:23). That’s every one of us. Me and you.

DARKNESS

This dark ribbon reminds me of our sin (Proverbs 4:19). When it’s dark you stumble to find your way. Because of your sin you can not find God. God, who is light cannot allow the darkness of sin to be anywhere near Him (1John 1:5). That is why God can not allow us into heaven with dark sin in our hearts. I’m sure you can think of a sin that you have done…

Has anyone ever lied?

Has anyone ever been cheeky to their teacher? To their mummy or daddy?

Has anyone ever said something nasty about someone?

Have you ever hit somebody?

Have you ever been naughty and not done what you were told?

These are all sinful and God cannot allow sin into Heaven. In fact, God says that sin must be punished and the punishment is death!! To be separated from God forever and to never go to wonderful Heaven (Romans 6:23). What a horrible, sad thing. Nobody can go to Heaven if the story stopped here. This world is so full of sin which is why so many people are so unhappy, people are sad, lonely, bullied, sick and unsatisfied…

Who would rather be in heaven?

THE BLOOD

Well let me tell you that God, because He loves us so much, made a way for us to go to Heaven! This red ribbon reminds me that God made a way for us to have our sins forgiven and taken away! God loves you so much that He sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven to take the punishment for your sin (John 3:16) Because of your sin and mine the Lord Jesus had to die. He was nailed by his hands and feet against a cross and all of our sin was placed onto Him. God The Father took all your sin and put it onto Jesus (Isiah 53:6). All your bad temper, all your lies, all your meanness, all your hurting, all your hate and jealousy… It was put onto the dear Lord, Jesus. Jesus died in our place (2Corinthians 5:21)! We should have died! We should have been on the cross! And when He had suffered and suffered He cried out “It is finished!”

When you finish a job, how much is left?
Nothing! But what did the Lord Jesus come to do? He came to save us from sin didn’t He! And He finished the work.
But when Jesus was nailed to the cross, what came from His hands and from His feet?
His Blood. God calls it the “precious blood of Jesus Christ” and God says “… the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1John 1:7). There is no other way to Heaven. There is no other way to have yours sins washed away. Without Jesus blood there is no forgiveness, no payment (Hebrews 9:22). But Jesus didn’t only die. He was buried and then rose again!! Jesus is alive!! A living Saviour from sin!! God showed His love for us by sending His own Son to die for us. And now He says that there is only one way to be saved from sin!!
Who wants to be saved from sin? Who wants to have their sins washed away?

 SNOW

This white page is clean. It’s like snow! White as snow! This is how our hearts can be after our sins are washed away!

And what can wash away our sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus! Tears cannot wash away sin. Prayers cannot wash away sin. Doing good cannot wash away sin. Going to church cannot wash away sin. Only the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can wash away sin (Psalm 51:7). He washes away all the darkness making us as white as snow! This page is my favourite! This page reminds me that we can be free from sin and go to be with God in Heaven!

Did Jesus die for everyone?

Yes!

Is everyone going to Heaven?

No! This is the saddest bit of all. God loves us and wants us to be with Him and has sent His Son Jesus to die in our place, but some people still choose to go their own way! Some people do not believe that Jesus died for them! They have not received Him as their Saviour from sin. The bible says that if anyone receives Jesus and believes in Him, then we have the power to become sons of God (John 1:12)! God has promised us that when we stop living our own way and ask Jesus to come and show us how to live then He will come and make us into His children! Jesus loves you so much. He wants to wash your sins away and show you how to live like Him. He wants to live in your heart and give you power to obey God.

Would you like Jesus to come and wash your sins away?

Do you want to go to be with God in Heaven?

Would you like Jesus to come and show you how to live?

Then you must understand that your sin is a very terrible thing. Jesus can come and wash it away but there is still something that we must do… We must repent, we must turn away from our sin and stop doing things are own way. We must choose to live like Jesus. Jesus wants you to say sorry for when you’ve been naughty, when you’ve been cheeky, rude, nasty and proud. If you truly say that you’re sorry to Jesus and you ask Him to come and live in your heart so that you can live with Him… Then He will come and He will give you the strength to live as He does. He will lead you and keep you. And, as long as you talk to Him and seek to obey Him with all of your life, He will never leave you on your own! He will never let you down! If you do sin and make a mistake then you can ask him to forgive you straight away (1John 1:9). Ask Jesus and trust Him to help you not to do it again.

GROWTH

And finally the green ribbon reminds me of new life. It reminds me of leaves and grass and flowers and bushes and springtime and summer. Green is for growth and maturity. When we look to please Jesus with all of our hearts he promises to give us eternal life! Abundant life! God sees us as new born babies in His family. The bible tells us to grow up with Jesus and to get to know Him. There are two great commands that the bible gives us to follow in this new life:

1 – Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.

2 – Love your neighbour as yourself.

And if we seek to do these and continue in reading our bibles and obeying them then God will be very, very happy! No one cares as much for us as He does! He has never let me down and He has taught me so many good things. I hope and pray that you may experience much better things as you look to know him!! 

And that my friend, is the gospel in a nutshell!!