Evangelism Training Series

Session 04 - Gospel Colors Child Presentation Training  (NIV based)
for training adult and teenage believers on how to present the gospel to children, using a color code format by C.E.F.

- - The ministry called "Child Evangelism Fellowship - C.E.F.", at the website address https://cefpress.com/ , offers numerous resources for doing child evangelism.
- - Especially in particular, C.E.F. utilizes a sequenced color code format - YELLOW / BLACK / RED / WHITE / GREEN - that is attractive, easy to comprehend and remember, and fits excellently into the gospel main points, which can readily be explained to the children in the following sequential manner, as described in the following recommended sample approach below.

- - If you are using a corresponding color-coded prop to hand out, such as C.E.F.'s gospel (fuzzy) worm, or wordless book, or a self-made variation - the gospel bracelet, tell them they can have one if they sit down and listen to what each color means.  Then, give each child one to keep, before you start the gospel colors presentation, so that they are looking at it in their hands, following the progression of explanations for each color, and then taking it home with them.
- - (This author's note:  My favorite prop to use is the gospel bracelet, which of course you have to manufacture in advance, preferably using nylon braided cord that will not break quickly, tied somewhat loosely so that as you and your helper fit one on each child's wrist before the start of the presentation, its size can be easily adjusted so that it will not accidentally fall off their wrist.  This gospel bracelet has proven suitable and very effective to use on children, teenagers, and even young adults.)
- - During your presentation, avoid using words, terminology, and concepts that are above the understanding of the age of the younger or un-churched persons in your group.
- - Also, avoid getting off-topic or too lengthy.  Children have a short attention span, and you do not want to lose them cognitively nor physically during any part of your presentation, which of course will result in them technically not getting saved at that time.

-- "The YELLOW color stands for the street of gold that is in heaven."
- - - - The presenter then briefly describes characteristics about heaven, such as:
- - - - God is in heaven and He has made a street of gold there.
- - - - Heaven is a very happy place to be and live; no sickness or pain there.
- - - - God loves us and He wants all of us to go to heaven when we die,
- - - - (transition statement) but we have a problem.

-- "The BLACK color stands for sin."
- - - - The presenter then briefly describes characteristics about and in relation to sin, such as:
- - - - Sins are the bad things that we do and say and think.  (Then, list some common sins for the ages of the children in your group.)
- - - - [ For children under 10 years old, then proceed to ask "Have you ever sinned?".  (At this point, generally observe whether they affirmatively nod their head or say 'Yes'.  An iron-clad fact is that any child or person, that denies that he/she has sinned, cannot get saved while he/she holds that position.  (1 John 1:10) ) ] ;
- - - - The Bible says that we cannot get into heaven because of our sins.  (At this point, read from a Bible and explain a sin verse, for example such as Romans 3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".  Do not skip over the reading of the sin verse, because it is God's written Word that saves them and not our words.)
- - - - God must punish us for all the sins that we do in our life, which He does by sending us to the place of fire down there (point down towards the ground, which represents hell), where we will be in very strong pain and darkness forever.  Because of our sin, we fall short and cannot get into heaven by our own ways of trying.

-- "The RED color stands for the blood of Jesus."
- - - - The presenter then briefly describes characteristics about Jesus and His crucifixion, such as:
- - - - God loves you and each of us so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to come from heaven to the earth and provide a way for us to get into heaven.
- - - - Because Jesus has the nature of being God, He lived a perfect life and never sinned.
- - - - And because Jesus loves us so much, He allowed Himself to be tortured with great pain and to die on the cross, in order to take all of the punishment for the sins of every person who believes that Jesus died to take the punishment for their own sins.
- - - - (At this point, read from a Bible and explain an 'if / then' salvation verse, for example such as John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life".  Do not skip over the reading of the salvation verse, because it is God's written Word that saves them and not our words.)
- - - - Next, the questions can be asked or proposed, "So what happen to Jesus on the third day after He died on the cross?  Did He stay dead?".  Then, briefly describe His resurrection, and His ascension into heaven, and that it proved that Jesus was successful in taking the punishment for the sins of those persons who believe in Him.

-- "The WHITE color stands for having our sins washed away, like as white as snow."
- - - - The presenter then briefly describes: that when we believe in Jesus to take the punishment for our sins, He washes away our sins, making us clean on the inside - making our spiritual heart clean, like as white as snow, so that when we die here on the earth, God will take us into heaven to live there forever with Him and Jesus.
- - - - And then God will never send us to that place of fire in punishment for our sins.  Then ask the question, "Do you want to believe in Jesus now, so that your sins get washed away and then you will go to heaven when you die?".
- - - - Then say, "If you are ready to believe in Jesus, you can pray that to God right now, with the words I will help you with, but you must be honest with God because He can read your mind and He sees if you are telling the truth in this prayer."
- - - - When dictating the prayer, try to divide and say each sentence of the prayer in short natural sections so that they do not lose any of its content and meaning as they are praying it to God.  And pause at the end of each of those sections, to give them time to repeat it to God.
- - - - Then say, "Let's bow our heads and close our eyes."  If they have their eyes open and are looking around or distracted, then they will not be paying attention to nor meaning parts of the prayer. 

Dear God,
Right now, I believe
that You love me so much
that You sent Your son, Jesus,
who never sinned,
to die on the cross,
to take the punishment for my sins,
and that He raised from the dead
on the third day.
Because I now believe
in what Jesus did on the cross for me,
thank you that You will take me
to live in heaven forever,
on the day when I die on this earth.
Amen.

- - - - Now, referring back to and perhaps quoting part of the 'if / then' salvation verse that you previously presented, state something like that "God says in that verse ___ that if you now believe in Jesus, then you have eternal life in heaven - forever".  But do not you yourself declare that the person is now saved, because you cannot see into their spiritual heart.

-- "The GREEN color stands for growing in believing in Jesus and God - like green grass grows."
- - - - Say something like: "For those of us who believe in Jesus, God now wants you to grow or learn in what you know about Jesus.  You can do that by going to a good church that correctly teaches the Bible, by praying, and by openly living your life for Jesus.  Jesus died for you, now you are to live for Him."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Activity Of God:
- - Whatever the kind of evangelism being used, we true believers can rest in, rely upon, and be confident in the reality that technically the proper presenting of the gospel is an activity of God - Him using His divine power to speak through the presenting believer while simultaneously using His divine power to inform, enlighten, and persuade the unbeliever to place his/her faith in Jesus for salvation.  (Romans 1:16, 2 Corinthians 6:2)
- - God has specific criteria that must be accomplished in the heart of the unbeliever in order for God to grant that person eternal life - the goal of the gospel and evangelism.
- - If any of those mandatory criteria are not accomplished, then in actuality God has not yet granted that person eternal life, even though that person has apparently listened to the gospel and has apparently responded agreeably to the invitation, but yet thereby incorrectly believes that he/she has now been given eternal life.  (Galatians 1:6-8,11)
- - Nevertheless, our evangelism task of presenting the gospel involves correctly planting the seed of the gospel in the spiritual hearts of unbelievers, watering or nurturing that planted seed of the gospel, praying for those unbelievers to respond agreeably to the gospel, and then waiting upon God to cause that planted gospel to sprout and grow in the heart and life of those persons.  (1 Corinthians 3:1-9)
- - Therefore, the crucial dynamic to aim for, during our involvement in God's activity of us verbally presenting the gospel to unbelievers, is for us believers to be speaking by means of the maximum amount of influence of the Holy Spirit upon our mind.
- - During this presentation to unbelievers, we need to say the words, in the manner, and in the timing that the Holy Spirit wants, in order to achieve the maximum effect upon the unbelievers' thinking, which God can then use to effectively move them towards believing in Jesus for salvation.
- - Obviously therefore, just prior to verbally presenting the gospel to unbelievers, we believers need to spiritually prepare in prayer, by confessing our sins (1 John 1:9) and deliberately yielding to the Holy Spirit the control of our thinking, words, and mannerisms (Romans 12:1-2) .

Gentle Persuasion:
- - Because God has designed the gospel message to effect a response of repentance and faith in the life of a nonbeliever, an integral, necessary, and crucial aspect of evangelism is to persuade or win over unbelievers to put their trust in Christ.
- - This persuasion seeks to bring about a change of mind by the influence of reason or moral considerations and to provide the necessary understanding for unbelievers to make an informed decision.
- - Thus, the persuasion of evangelism must include clarity, integrity, gentleness, and sensitivity in granting every listening unbeliever the right to decide for himself/herself.  (1 Peter 3:15-16)
- - Evangelism does not incorporate being forceful, contentious, quarrelsome, demanding, pressuring, pushy, or overbearing.   (2 Timothy 2:23-26)
- - Offer the gospel, with an invitation to respond to the gospel.  If the person does not or is not interested in genuinely placing his/her faith in Jesus during your gospel presentation encounter with him/her, nevertheless you have properly planted the gospel 'good news' message in their spiritual heart, which may sprout and grow at some time in the future.

Age Ranges:
- - Conducting evangelistic presentations with children of ages 6-10 are typically the most successful in the producing of salvations, because usually children of this age range do not yet have bondages and love for personal sins in their life that hinder openness to the gospel.  Starting at about the age of 10, the older that people get, the more generally-resistant they become to openness to the gospel, due to the effects of increasing sin in their life.
- - Children of ages 4 and 5 are usually too young to get saved because they do not adequately comprehend all of the various concepts that are contained in the gospel message.

First, Get Them Lost:
- - An important concept to remember, 'You have to get them lost before you can get them saved'.  In other words, before they can get saved, they have to realize that if they die in their current state of technically not meeting the absolute requirements of God for being forgiven of all their sins and accepted into heaven, then upon death, God says that He will immediately send them to the place of punishment for their sins, where they will be locked in, stay, and suffer forever - for all of eternity.  (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)

Watch God Change Their Eternal Destination:
- - When speaking an evangelistic presentation in which the listening unbeliever is responding agreeably and receives Christ for salvation, in those few moments it is very exhilarating to realize and watch the eternal destination of that person change before your very eyes, with God using yourself as His spokesman - as He changes that person's destiny, from heading towards horrific torture eternally, to now instead heading towards indescribable joy eternally.  What a great honor and privilege it is for God to involve yourself as He gives this unbeliever in front of you such a priceless gift!

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Works Cited:
Bible. “The Holy Bible: New International Version.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.

Child Evangelism Fellowship - C.E.F., https://cefpress.com/ .
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Copyrights:
Scriptures taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Copyright © 2026 Mel W. Coddington, and permission is hereby granted that this document may be used, copied, and distributed non-commercially to non-profit organizations, individuals, churches, ministries, schools, colleges, and seminaries worldwide, provided the copies are distributed at no charge and retain this sources documentation as supplied herein. This document is not for sale, resale, or for use as a gift or premium to be offered in connection with solicitations or contributions.
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