Gospel Pres sentation Idea - String Magi ic A piece of string - PDF document

Gospel Pres sentation Idea - String Magi ic A piece of string illustrates that s sin entangles us and that we need Jesus to f free us. Materials  String (about 5 - 6 feet; 1.5 t to 1.8 meters long) Preparation  Tie the 2 ends of the string t together to form a loop.  Practice the steps below sev veral times with a friend to make sure you can do this s smoothly. Age Group  5 to 12 (Guidelines on What to Say can be e found below.) Step 1 Hold up the string to show that it’s a a loop. Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 1 of 10

Step 2 Hold up the string around the Pinkie es and Thumbs of both hands. Step 3 Using your Right Middle Finger , re each across to hook the string from your left ha nd. Step 4 Using your Left Middle Finger , rea ach across to hook the string from your right ha nd. Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 2 of 10

Step 5 Ask the child to put his hand inside the centre diamond. Step 6 Ask the child to keep his hand insid e the diamond. Ensure that both your thumbs have a grip on the string. Then release the string from your ot ther fingers. The child’s hand should be caught i nside the loop. Step 7 With the child’s hand caught inside the loop, repeat Steps 2, 3 & 4 to form another diamond. Note: The order of the steps is ve ery important; right hand first, then the left. Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 3 of 10

Step 8 Ask the child to raise the same hand d that is caught inside the loop up through the d diamond. Step 9 Ensure that both your thumbs have a grip on the string. Then release the string from your ot ther fingers. The child’s hand should be released d from the loop. Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 4 of 10

Here are some key points to cove er as you Use Questions to enga age your listener present the gospel. and to check understan ding. You may need to tailor your gosp pel presentation to suit the age of your audience. Use Bible Verses wher re appropriate, but be careful not to overloa ad your listener with too many verses. Can you tell where the e ends of this string are? Do you know who God is? What is your favorite an nimal? What are some other th ings that God created? 1. A circle has no beginning and no ending.  It just goes round and round Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and the O Omega, the First 2. We can use a circle to represe nt God because and the Last, the Beginn ning and the End. God is eternal.  God has no beginning and en nding Gen 1:1  God exists from the very begi nning and he will In the beginning God cr eated the sky and continue to exist forever the earth. 3. The Eternal God is also the Cre eator God. Gen 1:25  God made the world and ever rything in it So God made the wild a animals, the tame  He created the sun, moon, sta ars and the earth animals, and all the sma all crawling animals.  He created the land, sea, plan nts and animals  The most special thing he cre ated was you Gen 1:27 and me So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 5 of 10

1. We can also use a circle to rep present the type of life that God wants to give u us – Eternal Life. What do you think heav ven is like?  Eternal life is like a circle  Eternal life never ends Would you like to be wit th God in heaven? 2. Eternal life begins when we ha ave a John 10:28 relationship with God. I give them eternal life, a and they will never die. 3. When we have a relationship w with God,  we become children of God  we can call God our father Rev 21:4 He will wipe away every y tear from their  we can one day be with God i in heaven eyes, and there will be n no more death, sadness, crying, or pain n. 4. Heaven is a wonderful place  There is no sickness, no pain and no hunger  No one ever dies  Everyone is perfectly happy  The most wonderful thing abo out heaven is that it is God's home  God wants us all to be with hi m in his home. Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 6 of 10

1. But because of the wrong thin gs we have Do you know what "sin" means? done, we can't be with God.  We have all done things that h What are some things y you have done that have made God may have made God un nhappy? unhappy  These things are called sins  Telling lies, disobeying your p How do you feel about b being tangled up parents, hurting like this? others and being selfish are e examples of sin 2. Sin entangles us.  When we sin, we get caught u up in it.  We are unable to break free fr Rom 3:23 rom sin on our Everyone has sinned an nd fallen short of own. God’s glorious standard d.  Just like this... Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 7 of 10

1. But God loves us very much a nd wants us to Do you know who Jesus s is? be with him. 2. So God sent his son, Jesus, to o earth. When do we celebrate J Jesus’ birth?  Jesus was a man who was dif fferent from any other person  Jesus is God and never sinne John 3:16 ed God loved the world so much that he gave 3. Jesus came from heaven to ea arth to take the his one and only Son so o that whoever punishment for our sins.  Instead of us being punished, believes in him may not t be lost, but have he took our eternal life. place  Jesus died on the cross so tha at all the wrong Rom 5:8 things that we have done can be forgiven But God shows his grea at love for us in this  And on the third day, Jesus be ecame alive way: Christ died for us w while we were still again sinners. 4. Jesus is the only way for us to o get out of this tangle of sin. Rom 6:23 The payment for sin is d death. But God gives us the free gift of l life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord. Acts 13:30, 31 But God raised him up f from the dead! After this, for many days, thos se who had gone with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem saw him. Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 8 of 10

1. But before Jesus can help us g get out of this Do you think you have s sinned? tangle of sin we need to  Admit that we have sinned an Do you believe that Jes us died on the d ask God to cross to take our punish hment? forgive us  Believe that Jesus died on the e cross to be Do you want to ask God d to forgive you? punished instead of us, and  Invite Jesus into our lives to h elp us turn away How do you feel about f finally being from sin released? 2. When we do these things since erely, we will be released from the tangle of sin n.  Just like this... Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 9 of 10

1. When we are released from the e tangle of sin, we can have a relationship wit h God. Do you want to invite Je esus into your life?  We can become children of G God  We can call God our Father Would you like to have a a relationship with  We can one day be with God God? in heaven. 2. Invite the child to sincerely pra ay for forgiveness and for Jesus to c come into John 1:12 his/her life. But to all who did accep pt him and believe in 3. Saying this prayer sincerely m means:  You are truly sorry for all the w him he gave the right to become children of wrong things you God. have done  You truly believe that Jesus to ook the 1 John 1:9 punishment for your sins But if we confess our sin ns, he will forgive  You truly want to start a relatio onship with our sins, because we ca an trust God to do Jesus to help you turn from al l the wrong what is right. He will cle anse us from all the things you have done and do what is right wrongs we have done. Sample Prayer Dear Jesus, Thank you for loving me. I know t that I have sinned. I have done things that ar re wrong. I believe that you died on the cross s to pay the price for my sins. Please forgive all of my sins. Please come into my life and help p me turn away from doing wrong. Thank you tha at because you paid the price for my sins, I can h have a relationship with you and will one e day be with you in heaven. Gos spel Presentation Idea – String Magic, Page 10 of 10