This article is fourth in a series that answers the question "What are we doing?" You can read Yes, Jesus Loves Me to understand the big picture.

One simple phrase causes a child to fill with joy: You're Invited!

Maybe to a birthday bash. A pool party. A summer sleepover. Whatever the occasion, kids love an invitation. Why? Two reasons seem most likely. First, kids love feel excited with anticipation for what will happen as part of the celebration. Whatever the reason for the party, kids love to celebrate. In fact, when you open an invitation you can almost hear the revelry begin. Okay, you might not be able to—but a child can in their joy-stoked imagination.

The other reason kids love an invitation is because it's personal. They've been selected. They've been included. Somebody wants them. They've heard about how amazing a party can be, and now the real person planning all this wonderful stuff has said, "This includes you."

Let's press pause on the party for a moment, and bring this concept into children's ministry.

As children grow and develop through early childhood, the foundation is laid for children to understand that Jesus is a real person and the Bible is full of stories about the amazing things Jesus said and did. Preschoolers can fully understand that Jesus loves everyone, and he showed his love in many different ways; he healed blind men, made people walk and spent time with people no one else wanted to. Yes, Jesus becomes someone they want to know about.

And it gets even better when an invitation arrives.

As children enter Kindergarten and first grade (ages five to seven), the time has arrived for Jesus to be more than just someone they can know about; he becomes someone they can know personally. In our ministry, this is the age level when we first invite kids to enter a personal relationship with Jesus. For many kids, this is a very natural step in their spiritual journey. When they hear that the same Jesus they have learned so much about now wants to be their forever friend, wants to take the punishment for the sin that they have, and wants to help them through all the things they face in their life, and wants to eventually live with them forever in heaven, it's no surprise that many say "YES!"

In Promiseland, we are very careful in how we craft and communicate the salvation message. Kindergarten and first grade kids are still in the early stages of their development emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually; so it's important for us to communicate this message in a clear, concrete, and age-appropriate way—while remaining biblically sound.

We start by teaching the concept that Jesus can be someone's forever friend. Friendship is something kids at this age understand and it is a relevant way to explain a relationship with Jesus to a six-year old. We explain that Jesus isn't just someone you only read about in the Bible—he is real and wants to be your friend. His love isn't meant only for the people in the Bible stories they've heard; it's also meant for us today, meaning it's personal. And not just for moms or dads, either. He loves you and he loves me.

Jesus himself desired for kids to encounter him in a personal way. Remember the story in the Bible when a bunch of kids tried to meet Jesus? Picture the scene—an easy task for those of us in children's ministry. Kids clamber to sit on his lap, jump all over him, tug on his robe, and everyone tries to talk to him at the same time. The disciples watch this scene unfold and think "We've got to put a stop to this! We didn't volunteer for this kind of ministry. These kids don't know who their dealing with. He's Jesus, the Son of God. He doesn't have time for this nonsense!"

But Jesus doesn't agree with the disciples' philosophy that kids aren't important. He simply says, "Let the little children come to me." Yes, Jesus loves kids. He even goes on to tell his disciples that unless you become like a child you can't enter the kingdom of heaven. Think about that. Jesus understands that kids haven't developed a list of reasons not to believe; they just simply believe. In ministry today, we can follow Jesus' example of inviting our children to come to him personally.

We can also become intentional about communicating the message in an understandable-if-you're-six way. To achieve this, our teachers learn to communicate the salvation plan using few, simple words that all kids can understand. I remember when one of our large group teachers described how Jesus takes the punishment for our sins. He said, "It's kind of like if you did something really bad, like took your sister's new CD and broke it. So your parent punished you by saying you had to stay in your room instead of going to out to play with your friends. Tough punishment! Now, can you imagine if your sister came up and told you that she would take the punishment instead of you? She would stay in your room and you could go out and play." Of course there was a murmur of surprise in the room as all the kids tried to imagine a sister taking their punishment—an amazing concept to a child! But a true one to communicate as a teacher. Bottom line: the message of Jesus must be kid-sized in terms and language they understand.

After kids hear the message in a clear, simple, age-appropriate, and biblically sound way, the time has come to offer them a chance to respond to that message. One way many ministries do this is by using the time-proven ABC prayer to ask Jesus to be your forever friend. "A" stands for admit your sins. "B" stands for Believe in Jesus. "C" stands for Choose Jesus to be your forever friend. The teacher prays a short, simple prayer asking the kids who want to make a decision to follow Jesus for the first time to say the ABC prayer quietly and in their own words. It could sound like this:

Dear God,
I ADMIT my sins to You.
I ASK for your forgiveness.
I BELIEVE Jesus died to take the punishment for my sin.
Thank You for sending Your Son to die and rise again.
I CHOOSE You to be my Forever Friend.
Amen.

There is nothing more moving than being in a room full of Kindergarteners and first graders during a salvation message. You can hear the quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) prayers of the kids making that decision for the first time. You can almost hear the party starting up in heaven. Okay, I've never really been able to hear the party.

But it happens when kids accept the invitation.

"In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Luke 15:10

Mindy Stoms is the Large Group/Small Group director for Promiseland, the children's ministry of Willow Creek Community Church.

Copyright © 2007 Promiseland.

Read more from 'Leadership'

Words Kids Need to Hear To Help Them Be Who God Made Them to Be by David Staal If you could choose just seven statements to share with children, what would they be? Each chapter in this compelling book focuses on a single statement elementary-age kids need to hear from parents, children's workers, and other close adults. These seven statements are simple to share, yet guaranteed to profoundly impact children. They are: I believe in you. You can count on me. I treasure you. I'm sorry, please forgive me. Because. No. I love you. will educate, equip, and motivate parents and children's ministry teams to carefully choose words that building up kids' hearts, to say them frequently, and to do so in creative ways. What children hear from trusted adults significantly influences their self-image, their current relationships, and future relationships—including that all-important relationship with God.