Sharing the gospel can be intimidating. What should we say? How should we say it? What if we forget something important? Then there’s the added complication of sharing the gospel with children, using vocabulary they will understand. It’s no wonder many parents throw up their hands in surrender, leaving the task to pastors and Sunday school teachers.

Can you summarize the gospel in one sentence? The apostle Paul did. In I Corinthians 15:1-2, he wrote, “Now I make known to you…the gospel which I preached to you…by which you are saved.” What is that gospel? He tells us in verses 3-4: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

There are many ways to share the gospel. Some are comfortable following the Romans’ Road, a series of verses from the book of Romans that explains our need for salvation and the means by which God offers it. Others use the Four Spiritual Laws to communicate how God solved the problem of our sin. Or you may be familiar with Evangelism Explosion (EE), which employs illustrations to communicate the gospel points of Grace, Man, God, Christ, and Faith.

You don’t have to follow someone else’s “method,” but it is important to communicate the basic truths of salvation. They are:

1. God is our perfect and holy Creator (Isaiah 43:7).
2. Our sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:23).
3. Sin must be judged (Romans 3:23).
4. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, died for us and took our punishment (I John 4:9-10).
5. Salvation is a free gift [grace] that we receive by believing Jesus did this for us [faith] (Ephesians 2:8-9).

How have you shared the gospel with a child?