Saved by Grace Bible Study Lesson, Lesson 2 in GEPC Series Younger Kids Mandatory Ideas: Bible Study Skills: Materials: Map, and Bibles *Have the kids say the books of the New Testament up to Galatians, then help the kids try to memorize the order of these four books. An easy mnemonic device for these four books is to say Gepc (pronounced like Gepsee), rhymes with Pepsi and may make it easy to remember the order or you could make up another one, for example, Go Eat Pie, Chris. Bible Story: Materials: Three separate puzzles, one that spells Faith, One will spell Grace, and one will spell Saved, wordless book, G.R.A.C.E. Visual Have the kids unscramble the three puzzles and then display them on the table or on your board before you begin the lesson. Say: These three words are probably the three biggest ideas of the New Testament and they are all found in today s memory verse. Let s read it. (Read Ephesians 2:8-9) Say: (Point to the words as you say them): You are SAVED by GRACE through FAITH. Let s talk about that for a moment. Say: First, SAVED. When we are saved what exactly are we being saved from? Ephesians 2:1-2a gives us a clue (Read Ephesians 2: 1-2a) Say: We are saved from sin. Our sin. Everyone sins and that sin separates us from God and it has serious consequences. There is a punishment for sin and it is death (Romans 6:23). When we are saved from our sin, we are also saved from the consequences, or punishment, for that sin. We are saved from death. We are dead in our sin. When Jesus forgives us, He takes away our sin and makes us alive. That s why we say we are born again when we become a Christian.
(Read Ephesians 2:4) Say: and, there s our next key word Grace. We are saved by grace. What is grace? Grace is God s Richs At Christ s Expense. That means that Jesus paid the price for us by dying on the cross, and because He did that, we can get all of God s Riches. That doesn t seem fair, does it? No, and it isn t, because we do not deserve it. Grace is something we do not and cannot deserve. That s what makes it so wonderful. It is a free gift that God gives to us and without God s grace, we cannot be saved. It is by His grace that we are saved. Ask: What is our third key word? Faith! What does our memory verse say again. For you are saved by grace through faith. So, we are saved by God s grace, because He is so good that He gives us things we do not deserve, but we are saved through faith. Ask: How would you explain faith? It is believing in something. In this case it is believing what the Bible says about Jesus. We can t see Jesus, but we believe He is alive, right? We weren t there when He died on the cross, but we believe that He did, right? We weren t there when He was baptized and our Heavenly Father told everyone that Jesus was His Son, but we believe that Jesus is God s Son. We weren t there, we didn t see Him, after He rose from the dead, but we believe that He did, right? That is faith. Believing something is true, even when we can t see it. When we believe through faith that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for our sins and rose again and is alive today, that is us having faith in who Jesus is. Say: Being saved sounds pretty simple, right? But people try to make it much more complicated. Some people think they have to do things in order to be right with God. They think they have to do certain things or works. Ask: What are some examples of works that people think they have to do to get right with God? (Go to church, pray at certain times/certain ways, follow the Old Testament Law.) Many of the people in Ephesus thought they had to do things to be saved. They thought they had to eat certain things, do certain things, dress a certain way, or obey the Old Testament law, but God, through Paul s letter, is making it clear there is only ONE way to be saved. By grace through Faith. We can t add anything to it. The last part of the scripture passage tells us, right. Let s look again at what it says, and this is not from yourselves; it is God s gift.---not from works so that no one can boast. Salvation, or being saved, is a free gift, we cannot earn it. God gives it and all the good works in the world cannot earn it. It can ONLY be earned by Grace through Faith. So, all of these things, Grace, Faith, and being Saved are all connected and you can t be saved without grace and without faith. These three words here are the three key words of the New Testament and the three most important words that any person can hear.
Connection to Christ & Gospel Presentation: Today I am going to use this wordless book to explain how you can be saved, if you aren t already. (Directions: Read the Bible Verses and read what is in the boxes as you turn the pages.) PAGE 1 The Black Page Romans 3:23 The black page stands for sin. The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fall short of God s perfection. Without God, we stumble our way through life struggling to find the Way. We need to be saved from our sin. PAGE 2 The Red Page John 3:16 The red page stands for the blood of Jesus. (I John 1:7) Jesus died so we could be saved from our sins. He died to take our place, but he rose again three days later. PAGE 3 The White Page John 1:13 The white page stands for our perfection after we ask Jesus to forgive our sins. When we Admit that we have sinned, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and commit our lives to Him, He cleans us up purer and whiter than snow! Page 4 The Green Page II Peter 3:18 The green page stands for the Christian s need to GROW IN HIS NEW LIFE! To do this we need to pray, read the Bible and go to church! PAGE 5 The Gold Page Rev. 21:18,21 The gold page stands for heaven. Heaven is a wonderful place made just for everyone who has asked Jesus to forgive them and made him the King of their lives. It is a place filled with joy and love. It is also a place where God will be! If the person is ready to become a Christian, have them pray this prayer: Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and am lost without You. Please forgive me! I believe you sent Jesus to die for me, and that He rose again! I ask Jesus to come into my life and transform me into the person You want me to be. Help me to live for You! Thank You for forgiving me! In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Memory Verse: Ephesians 2:8-9: For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God s gift.---not from works so that no one can boast. Materials: plastic wrap, copies of the verse printed on gift tags. Before class, make a gift ball by wrapping several gift tags up a ball of plastic wrap. Directions: Allow the kids to take turns unwrapping the ball until they come to a gift tag, then they can either lead the class in saying the verse or ask a leader to lead the class. You can consider wrapping enough tags up in the ball so each child can have a turn, or just have extra tags, so that each child can go home with one after you re done with this activity. *As an alternative, you could wrap a box with several layers of wrapping paper, with the verse written on each layer and let the kids take turns peeling off a layer of wrapping paper and then reading the verse. Optional/Extra Ideas: Craft: Salvation bracelets or necklaces. Materials: Beads (black, red, white, green, yellow) and string Have kids make salvation bracelets or necklaces with beads the same colors as the wordless book s pages. Game: By faith or by works Father May I? Materials: Permission cards--papers with different things on them, either representing faith or works and a container to put them in, and Direction cards-- papers with directions on them and another container for those papers. Directions: Beforehand, cut papers apart and put them in the container. To play, have the kids stand in a line along one side of the wall. Choose one child to be the Father (representing our Heavenly Father). Have the Father stand on the opposite wall of the rest of the kids, facing them. Let the kids along the wall choose a paper and read it or have a leader read it. It will have an example of work such as, I went to church every Sunday, Father, may I come to Heaven? or an example of faith such as, I believe in your Son, Jesus and He saved me from my sins. Father, may I come to Heaven? If it an example of works, the Father says no and the child stays where they are. If it an example of faith, the Father will say yes and then give them a direction from the set of direction cards.
Let the kids take turns and play until the first child gets to Heaven (the opposite wall) where the Father is standing. You can then choose a new Father and play again as time allows, if you want. Activity: Have the kids make a wordless book and practice using it in class or practice explaining the bracelets/necklaces they made (if you chose that craft). Materials: black, red, white, green and yellow paper, stapler and staples, directions on how to use a wordless book. Directions: To make a wordless book, simply staple 5 pieces of paper together in this order: black, red, white, green and yellow. Use each page as a visual cue to tell someone the Gospel. Paper Activities: Children s Department Sunday News