The Gospel Is a Children's Story

By Elliot Alexander

Rediscovering the simplicity of the greatest story ever told.

Jesus never intended His gospel message to be difficult to grasp. He preached to the little children, and they understood what the learned of religious law completely missed: God gave His only begotten Son to love and redeem lost humanity.

In The Gospel is a Childrens Story, E. Alexander returns to the raw truth of Jesuss message. Jesus isnt just a guy in a book; he is real, relevant, and concerned with every detail of your life. Completely God, yet no stranger to the human plight, Jesus suffered, died, and rose again so He could spend forever with those called to be Gods kids.

Told with wisdom and humour, The Gospel is a Childrens Story is a must read for anyone who longs to encounter the Jesus who is full of joy and acceptance, who lets us cry on His shoulder, and takes the mess of our lives and turns it into something beautiful. Discover afresh the joyous, fulfilling simplicity of the gospel. Enter the adventure of The Gospel is a Childrens Story and be set on fire to share the excitement of this message with your world. It is time that we all return to the cross.

I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure...I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

Matthew 11:2526 and Mark 10:15

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512714784

Elliot Alexander

I’m not a pastor or leader of any church. Not a scholar, writer, or comedian, and even my real name is relatively insignificant. Although, I love Jesus and cherish every chance I get to serve Him whilst being overwhelmed by the fact that I get to be a part of His mission and His message. I’m not an international preacher or acclaimed teacher, although I strive to glorify and honor God in the humble opportunities I am blessed to have. I am a general sports fan, although convinced that basketball is God’s sport. I live in South Australia on the coast with my mother and three sisters during the winter and at the beach with mates during the summer.

Book preview

The Gospel is

a Children’s

Story

Elliot Alexander

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Copyright © 2015 Elliot Alexander.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1479-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1480-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-1478-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015916490

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/02/2015

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Gospel is a Children’s Story

Chapter 2 What’s the Problem?

Chapter 3 Confused Christian

Chapter 4 The Good News

Chapter 5 The Notorious Prisoner

Chapter 6 There is No God

Chapter 7 Your Dad, your Brother and your Best Friend

Chapter 8 Living in Greener Pastures

Chapter 9 The Hunger Games make me Sick!

Chapter 10 Dirty Grace

Chapter 11 The Happiest Place on Earth

Chapter 12 The Forgotten Go

Chapter 13 Come Back to the Cross

About the Author

Introduction

A man is imprisoned in China for his faith in Jesus.

Whilst in jail he seizes the opportunity and witnesses to his fellow inmates, leading several of them to Christ. The authorities, in response to their obvious dilemma decide this is a good enough reason to send him to solitary confinement. To their dismay, the man strikes up what I can only assume is a gripping conversation with his prison guard, resulting in yet another saved soul.

Have you heard stories like this one? A teenager who started playing marbles with a few youth and eventually brought them to Jesus, or the old woman who made cupcakes every week for a young family and did the very same thing, or the middle-aged fellow who simply brought Jesus into a conversation and someone got radically saved.

Have you ever wondered why those around you aren’t welcoming the Gospel as well, or as much as you would expect? Or maybe it’s you; maybe you have gone through the motions of Christianity but never really felt the so-called power of the Gospel.

It’s such an amazing, life-changing message—you understand this—but for some reason it’s not being grabbed onto, and it’s not changing your world like it should.

It happened for the man in prison, with no resources or phone a friend options left, so why isn’t it regularly happening for you?

Can I propose this idea in my opening comments: maybe there is something wrong with how we view the Gospel, with how we receive it, and how we reveal it to others.

Do not expect some sophisticated measure of literature. I would like to think of this book as though I’m sitting with you having a one-way conversation. I just want to write to you as if I was saying it to you. Therefore, I use the word like similar to a 13-year-old talking about what they did on the weekend. I may possibly hashtag like a 13-year-old showing you what she did on the weekend through social media.¹

I’m not a pastor or leader of any church, nor a writer or comedian. I may not be seen as having enough wisdom or knowledge to be regarded as an authority on this, as I’m not a scholar of any sort. I’m not an accomplished teacher or preacher, although I try to bring excellence to the opportunities God gives me. I’m not a known person; you haven’t heard my name. In fact, my name is somewhat unimportant. A simple title thought up on the day of my birth to describe a squirming, pale skinned, seven-and-a-half-pound human. It merely allows the people around me to relate to me, to label me and, unfortunately, gain my attention to get me to help with housework.

My identity is far more important; it’s not a mere word or name, but that which makes me, me. I am a Christian. This is my identity. I love Jesus, the Bible, my church; I love sharing the Gospel, living life, building my relationship with God and basketball.

#Jesuslovesbasketball

He just does.

As I said, this piece of writing is not the work of an accomplished person, scholar or physician. Rather, it is my thoughts on the Gospel, a basic understanding of what it is and how it may be received. As I gain more knowledge of the depth of theology and doctrine that the Bible presents I am becoming more and more aware of the simplicity of its message. This is my premise for this book: the Gospel, the Christian faith, is simple.

My testimony, like many Christian’s, isn’t drastic and extraordinary. Yet in my opinion it is still a complete and utter miracle.

I grew up going to church with my family. We were part of a small church, which had a wonderful caring community. I went to Kids Church from an early age until I was about eleven-years-old. Kids Church is what we called Sunday School. Those days are a drunken haze,² although I’m convinced to this day they were the most impacting, transforming times of my life.

Not long after this our family stopped going to church, therefore still as a minor in more ways than one, so did I.

Several years later I was going into high school; the skinniest, whitest person to ever step foot into the eighth grade. I was weak, inconsistent and had the appearance of a famished greyhound.³ A young, easily influenced lad with almost no knowledge of who I was, and therefore found myself with the wrong group of people doing the wrong sorts of things. Much like Anakin getting messed up with all that Palpatine business.⁴

Later that year a youth leader from my past church — now my youth pastor and best friend — invited me to an event they were holding at youth group that Friday. As a side note, he has been my mentor as well, and a lot of who I am and what I now know is the result of his Christ-like teaching and guidance.

Therefore, if you disagree with any of my theology or scandalous ideas, please blame him. If you do wish to do so you may find his details below.⁵

In hindsight, this was the easiest decision of my life. Not because I overly liked and respected him, or because I was blown away by how exceptionally dressed and undeniably handsome he was. I chose to experience that community again because I knew it was exactly what I needed. I knew for some reason, wherever I was, whatever group of friends I was amongst, and whatever stupid decisions I was making something within me knew I needed Jesus.

Something profoundly impacted me in my years going to Kids Church every Sunday. Hearing Biblical stories adapted for children’s ears and discovering Jesus as a five to 11-year-old child literally changed the course of my life. It allowed me to find and experience Jesus as a teenager; allowed me to find who I am and what this back and forth of life is all about. This isn’t about me,⁶ because the Gospel is about Jesus, and it is for you and me.

My proposition and reason for this book is simply this: I believe the most important lessons we can learn as Christians, as human beings, as Big Kids, are the ones we teach in our children’s ministry. Church isn’t about learning the basics in Sunday School so you can progress to youth and then onto the weekly teachings, where you hear in-depth doctrines as an adult from a preacher who has studied for seventeen years through twenty-four different Bible colleges and universities. I think as leaders, preachers, teachers and Christians, we shouldn’t be focusing on the extravagant deep theological issues, but instead be reiterating and refreshing basic kids teachings to feed big people. We should all be a part of a Big Kids Church. I think we should be a church, a people, and a person with a simple view of the most wondrous story ever told. Not a view that complicates perfection; that gets bogged down in intricate questions and life issues, but one that blows our minds each and every day.

The Gospel is a Children’s Story

Chapter One

In the Gospels we read a very interesting story about Jesus and the children that are brought to him. Mark chapter 10 presents to us, I think, a brilliant message of how we should receive the Gospel.

The Little Children and Jesus:

People were bringing little children to Jesus for Him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And He took the children in his arms, placed His hands on them and blessed them. —Mark 10:13–16

Jesus, who is being followed by a crowd at this time, is teaching them. The adults and parents notice that this man—this obscure Jewish rabbi—is not like other rabbis or teachers of this period. He is different. There is something about this man that makes them choose to bring their children to Him. All this in the hope that, from His touch, they would receive some blessing, anointing, or calling on their lives—or most coveted of all, the ability to use the Force to pull chairs out from underneath people.⁷

Instead, the disciples rebuke them. What a strong word. It literally means to exert pressure in order to keep the children away from Jesus.

Let’s also acknowledge that these disciples are the same that have been with Him throughout His entire ministry. They have seen who He is and what He is about. They have experienced the love, grace, and generosity this man shows to everyone.

Matthew, who was formerly a tax collector, experienced this firsthand. If being a tax collector was a possible career choice for you today, you would be perfect for it if what you loved was getting lots of disgruntled sneers from people.

Back then, due to the fact that they stole from the citizens of Rome and from their families and friends, tax collectors were hated. Like, seriously … hated!

They were hunted and assassinated in the streets by groups of zealots (religious people) using short hand daggers just because of their occupation. Absolutely brutal.

I promise you, the Bible is more thrilling than any fantasy book you are reading.

When Jesus sees Matthew sitting at his booth, He doesn’t condemn him and doesn’t tell him where he is going wrong. Instead, He loves him. He calls Matthew to follow Him and to enjoy His presence. He gives him a way out of the job with the awful boss into a completely new, life-changing experience, transforming a disciple into a rabbi. A job that— to even be considered—takes years of study as well as arduous hours of proving yourself. Matthew experiences firsthand the love and genuine grace Jesus has for people around Him.

Yet when the children come just to be with this man, Matthew, along with the other disciples, forcefully held them back. They would have pushed them away, telling them to run back to their mothers.

Even those closest to Jesus told the children to nick off.

Why?

Because they thought Jesus was too important. They thought that even the most loving man to ever walk this Earth wouldn’t have time for them. They would have said things like:

He has too much on His plate right now.

He needs some time to just sit and gather His thoughts so he can preach another amazing sermon.

Don’t be ridiculous, man …

Woman, you’re crazy …

He is too important, His status too high; like, like, this guy is the Son of God, way too significant for your children to see.

What if they, like, messed up his robe, man? You can’t be serious sending your five-year-old, snot-filled youngsters to the Prince of Peace?

Maybe they thought that, because He was far too profound, His message was too complicated for anyone who doesn’t have three diplomas on paper. Which, considering the time, isn’t completely absurd—besides the diploma bit, at least. A rabbi would spend years and years memorising and learning the Scriptures and what we would see as deep theological messages—things far too complicated for a child.

There is no way these kids can understand and Jesus doesn’t have time to explain; why would He want to, even if they did? They are just children!

This response from the disciples—and most probably our own response if we were there—completely contradicts the heart of Jesus.

I notice here that the disciples don’t ask the teacher what He would like. They are so sure that keeping the children away is the right idea that they just go ahead and do it without a second thought.

When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He was displeased to the point of anger and annoyance towards the disciples.

This isn’t like the time when you make a mistake and your mother, instead of being angry, lets you know she is disappointed—opening up a whole new world of guilt.

Rather, this is the response to repetitively doing the very thing that is disappointing her. She becomes so frustrated and irritated to the point of anger.

Jesus is so displeased with how His disciples, His brothers and friends who He had welcomed into His life, treat these children. He becomes angry with them.

He then goes ahead and blows everyone’s entire mind, like when you find out Vader is Luke’s father (except, of course, for those who speak German).

He said to them: Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these, (Matthew 19:14).

Wow! What a massive call.

This is the Son of God. I don’t know what happened when you were baptized, but when Jesus got out of the water, the Creator of the Universe—the same One who spoke and caused light to shine out of darkness, who pieced together every single fragment of being you and I are and all that we see around us—this one-and-only, Almighty God spoke and said: This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased, (Matthew 3:17).

Jesus proclaims to all those around Him, to the crowds who follow Him—hopeful that they will hear some wisdom to free them from their adult worlds—to the disciples who rebuked these kids, and to the religious leaders who think His sermons are only for the just, right, and wise people. He says: "You know what? You guys try, oh you try, but the Kingdom of God—the thing you search so hard for, the reason you memorise all that Scripture, the reason you pray for four-hours a day—this Kingdom belongs to kids just like