Kids make great evangelists! They can often go where we can’t. Still, when a child isn’t confident in their relationship with God or how to lead others to Christ, they may be reluctant to share. Still I am committed to discipling children and part of that responsibility is sharing and teaching the gospel with others. Like Jesus showed us through many parables, the principles of the kingdom of God can be likened to many things, even the common and mundane like seeds, grapes and fish.
During a recent brainstorming session, our ministry team decided follow in his footsteps. We’ve reached for the common and mundane items in our modern society and one of those was the sometimes unappreciated but much loved breakfast cereal. We’re teaching the gospel with cereal boxes and our kids are doing the same!
First, we posted a request for cereal boxes in our newsletter. My note said this:
Dear Parents and Grandparents,
It’s me again! This coming month, we’ve decided to put our focus on sharing the gospel. We want to teach your kids kingdom principles about salvation but we need your help! Please send us your empty cereal boxes! We plan to use these in an exciting teaching session at the end of the month. When we’re through, your child will know how to share his faith using just a cereal box!
I am so glad to be your partner in ministering to your children!
Pastor Mo
The boxes came flying in! We stacked them up on the welcome table and at the end of the month had more than a dozen boxes to choose from. We presented the gospel a couple of different ways. Maybe these ideas will help you teach too!
Incorporate the cereals into conversation openers. We held up the boxes and presented these cereals as conversation openers about the gospel. Here’s what we came up with:
- Cocoa Puffs: I’m cuckoo for Jesus! Let me tell you about him.
- Lucky Charms: You don’t need luck to be saved!
- Captain Crunch: God is the crunchy goodness in my life.
- Frosted Flakes: You know what? God is GREATTT!!
- Fruit Loops: God loves variety. He wants all flavors in the bowl!
- Rice Krispies: Hear that? That’s God saying, “I love you!”
Demonstrate the gospel with a cereal box. Hold up the box and chat!
Method #1: One of my favorite things about cereal is the prize I find inside. I love these little toys. However, opening a box that has no cool prize inside is kind of disappointing. When you are a Christian you are like a box of cereal with a prize inside! You have something good in you that everyone wants!
Method #2: Take a look at these ingredients. Flour, milk, sodium something or other. If I read this list of ingredients too much, I might worry about what I am eating. Still it takes all these things to make Super Crunch delicious. People are like this too. We should have some good ingredients inside of us like love, goodness, kindness and patience. When Jesus lives in us, he gives us all these good ingredients.
Have fun teaching kids about Jesus with cereal boxes!