“I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 9.13
As Shabbat or Sunday school teachers, our chief aim and desire is that our children would be saved and develop a personal relationship with God. It’s important that we take advantage of every opportunity to present the gospel in our lessons.
An effective tool in presenting the gospel to the children is “the wordless book”. In 1866, the famous speaker Charles Spurgeon preached a message called “The Wordless Book”. In his message, he shared the idea of an unknown preacher who used three colors to illustrate the main points of the gospel. Over the years, many children’s workers used “the wordless book” (to which over the years colors were added), in order to simply and clearly present the gospel to children.
“The wordless book” is a book that has only colors. Each color represents a truth/one step in the path of salvation.
How to tell the story:
Show the book to the children as you turn its pages so that they can see the colors in it. Tell the children that it is a special book. It’s a wordless book that has only colors in it. The book describes a true story based on the Bible. While you’re telling the story, show each time the color that represents what you are sharing:
Gold
Gold reminds us of the heavens, where God dwells. What do you know about heaven? Heaven is where God lives. The Bible says that in heaven “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21.4). There is no sadness in heaven. There is only love, joy and peace in heaven – heaven is a wonderful place! God, who loves us so much, dwells in heaven. God is pure. That means He does only good. Because God is pure, heaven is a pure place. The Bible shows us that “God is love” (1 John 4.8). God created all human beings and He loves us. Because He loves us, He wants us to be with Him in heaven. But there is a problem – there’s something that keeps us from being with God in heaven. Who knows what is the problem?
Black
The color black reminds us of sin. Sin is every bad thing that we do, say, or even think. Who can give examples of sins? In the Bible it’s written that “all have sinned” (Romans 3.23). You and I and all the people around us, all of us are sinners. When we don’t obey our parents or our teachers, if we lie or steal or insult others – these things are sin. In the Bible it’s written that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6.23). The result of sin is death and eternal separation from God. Because God is pure, He does only good and there is no evil in Him. He can receive in heaven only people whose hearts are pure and without sin. Because the place where He dwells in heaven is pure, God can’t permit anyone who has sin in his heart to be in heaven, because then heaven would not be a pure place with no sin in it. We can’t take the sin out of our hearts and clean and purify ourselves. Because God loves us so much and wants us to live with Him in heaven, He provided us with a way to clean and purify our hearts of sin. Who knows how we can purify our hearts of sin?
Red
The color red reminds us of the blood of Yeshua. Yeshua is God’s Son. Yeshua lives in heaven with God the Father. What do you know about Yeshua – who is He?
Yeshua is God the Son, so He is pure and there is no evil in Him. In the Bible it’s written: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3.16). Because of God’s great love for us, He sent His beloved Son into the world to purify us from the sin in our hearts so that we could be with Him together in heaven. In the Bible it’s written: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5.8). Yeshua didn’t have to receive punishment for sin. Because He’s God, He’s the only one who lived a life without sin. God sent Him so that He would carry the penalty of our sins. After three days, Yeshua resurrected! Death could not control Him – but He is the One who controls death. Yeshua returned to heaven to be with God the Father, and He’s preparing there a place for those who believe in Him. In His death, He gave to all human beings the opportunity to have their hearts purified from sin. But the Bible says there’s something we must do if we want God to purify us from the sin in our hearts. Who knows what we must do so that God can purify our hearts of sin?
White
The color white reminds us of something very clean, good and pure. What else can the color white represent?
Because of God’s love for us, He wants to clean our hearts of sin. Instead of our hearts being “black” and full of evil, God wants to purify our hearts “whiter than snow” (Psalms 51.7) – our hearts will be whiter than snow! In the Bible it’s written that for God to purify our hearts, we must:
- Understand that we are sinners and need God’s forgiveness.
- Believe that Yeshua, God the Son, died for us to bear the penalty of our sin, and after three days He rose from the dead.
- Ask God to forgive us of our sin and clean and purify our hearts from sin.
In the Bible it’s written that
“if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1.9).
Which of you has already made a decision to repent: to believe and receive Yeshua as his Savior, saving him from sin and from the punishment of sin, and asking God to forgive him of his sin and purify his heart?
Who would like to do that today? (Take time to pray with the children who are interested in doing so). Who knows how God calls each one who has decided to believe in Yeshua and receive from Him forgiveness of sin?
Green
The last color is the color green. Who can guess what the color green stands for?
The color green is the main color in nature. Vegetation is green, and vegetation represents growth. Just like the leaves, flowers and trees in nature grow, so God wants us to “grow and grow”. What do you think that means? To all who receive Yeshua, God calls him His child. In the Bible it’s written: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3.1). God wants us as His children to dedicate our lives to Him, and that we would grow day by day to know and love Him more. How can we grow in our faith and love towards God?
Bible reading: God provided us with the Bible that we would know Him better. When we read His Word, God teaches us about Himself and reveals to us His will.
Prayer: Prayer is turning and talking to God. The more we talk to God in prayer, the more we’ll grow to know Him better.
Fellowship: When we participate in a church gathering or lesson, or in fellowship with other believers, we learn to know God better.
God wants to reveal Himself to us. He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. In His Word He promises His children: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews13.5). If we ask Yeshua to forgive us of our sin, God will purify our hearts! Sin will no longer separate us from Him and so we can also live with Him in heaven. What joy!
The Wordless Book
Prepare a wordless book together so that the children can use it to tell others God’s story.
Necessary Materials
- Bristol board in the colors gold, black, red, white and green
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Stapler
How to Prepare:
- Cut each bristol board in half.
- Fold each bristol in two in order to create the shape of a book.
- The green bristol board will be the cover. Fold the gold bristol board in two. Open up the green bristol board and glue to its inner left side, the left side of the gold bristol board. Fold the black bristol board in half, and glue its left side to the gold bristol board. Fold the red bristol board in half, and glue its left side to the black bristol board. Fold the white bristol board in half, and glue its left side to the red bristol board and its right side to the green bristol board.
- Practice telling “the wordless book’s” story with the children, and encourage them to tell the story to friends and family.
A Wordless Bracelet
Necessary Materials
- Elastic string
- Green, white, red, black, and yellow (or gold) colored beads
How to Prepare:
- Cut the elastic string to a length of 14 centimeters (or about 5-1/2 inches).
- String a green bead and tie it approximately one-third from the end of the string.
- String the yellow bead, and after it the black bead, then the red bead, then the white bead, and at the end another green bead (the bead sequence can be repeated to fill the entire length of the string, or have it remain just with one set of beads). Tie the bracelet around the child’s wrist. Tell “the wordless bracelet’s” story together.
- Practice together telling the story. Encourage the children to tell the story to friends and family.