How do I share the gospel with my children?

July 19, 2016

Article By: Generations

Daniel Craig: A lot of the families that we minister to have kids, and they want their kids to love God. And we can teach all of the best curriculum, we can teach all of the best concepts in terms of creation science, we can maybe utilize the best child-training techniques. But if that heart of stone is not turned to a heart of flesh, then that kid is not gonna land in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The gospel is needed for each one of the kids in our family.



Kevin Swanson: The best thing we can do for our children is to give them the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then what is the gospel? That's the next question. The gospel is very simply, the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day. The book of Matthew, the book of Mark, Luke and John tell the story. Now it's for our children to believe the story. But how can they believe a story they've never heard?

Chad Roach: That they don't know. And what a story it is.

Kevin Swanson: Tell them the story, it's a great story.

Chad Roach: It's a good story.

Kevin Swanson: It's the essential story. It's the most important story. It's Jesus Christ the son of God becoming man, taking upon himself our sins, dying on that cross and then rising from the dead in victory. That's our story, we believe it, we live it, we share it with others, we share it with our children, and that's why this Matthew study guide is so important for families, and I would really recommend it that every family that teaches their children the word of God take at least one gospel, it could be Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, and spend concerted time in that. Choose the very best exposition of the book in a family Bible study guide format, so it's something our children can understand and can follow along with, and can interact with, and give that to them. And that's why we took the JC Ryle commentary family Bible study guide that he wrote in in the 19th century and we put it in a modern format with our questions, our discussion questions and we've produced this for thousands of families across this country.

Chad Roach: And what a treasure it is, our families going through this right now, and I can just speak on Matthew 19, I can speak to the rich blessing, JC Ryle mined so much out of every passage, and in such a fatherly tone.

Daniel Craig: Very devotional style.

Chad Roach: Just very devotional, there's a heart of worship here, I'll just read a little excerpt that he has here. "Let us leave the passage with honest self inquiry as to the state of our own hearts. Let us settle it in our minds that all formal worship of God, whether in public or private, is utterly vain so long as our hearts are far from Him. The bended knee, the bowed head, the loud Amen, the daily Bible chapter, and the regular attendance at the Lord's table, all useless and unprofitable so long as our affections are nailed to sin or pleasure, or money or the world. The question of our Lord must yet be answered, 'Do you love me?'" Wow, just the richness.

Kevin Swanson: It's beautiful. And he's very application-oriented, he brings it down, and generally produces it in very simple, understandable sentences. So he said, "This is specifically written for families to use in family devotions."

About Generations

The vision of Generations (formerly Generations with Vision) is to pass on the faith to the next generation through the biblical family, discipleship, and education. We equip families and churches around the world through our daily radio programs, discipleship resources, the Christian Curriculum Project, and discipleship events and retreats.

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