Why Children Need God’s Story, Part 1

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76–79).

This is Zechariah’s welcome to his newborn son, John. The deepest desire of his heart would be for little John to become a witness to the tender mercies and love of the Messiah, Jesus. Zechariah’s hope is for his son to help human hearts to prepare Jesus room; it’s the same hope all Christian parents have for their children. As Scotty Smith says:

“What better story could we write or what other story would we choose than for our kids to be a means by which the rising sun of grace would bring the light of the gospel to the dark places and the broken people of the world?”

Through your support over the years, our work has invested in children so the light of the gospel would go forth first in their hearts and then spill out into their worlds to reach their parents, their families, their friends, and everyone they know. To do so, we’ve used The Story at outreach events, sports camps, and VBS programs, and many children have embraced God’s redemption story for themselves.

Reaching children with God’s Story is no small task. Recent studies are finding that modern life is wreaking havoc on our relationships. We are disconnected from each other… and from God. This is the norm for our children, with detrimental results. But we believe this crisis isn’t set in stone. Our mission is to connect people—of all ages, including children!—to each other and to God. The next posts in this series will speak more to the challenges our society faces and how Spread Truth is seeking to provide a solution.

Key to our mission in reaching children is our Children’s Outreach Initiative, which will be greatly expanded in the years to come through a tool that released this week! Check out The Story Maker here:

After countless hours of work, we are extremely excited about the film’s release! But this isn’t the finish line—it is actually just the start of our vision for reaching children around the world. The Story Maker will become the cornerstone for our children’s outreach starting in the new year. And it’s also a key way that we are equipping you—parents, grandparents, mentors, and children’s ministry leaders—to reach the children your know with “the light of the gospel to the dark places and the broken people of the world.”

Our aim is to reach children with the beauty of God’s Story so they embrace it and are then equipped to share it with their friends, family, and everyone they know. What better Story could we choose for our children?

Your partnership in this mission is crucial. God’s Story goes as far as donor giving allows.

Please consider giving through Spread Truth to reach children in 2018, and pray that many children embrace this life-giving, life-changing Story.