Gospel Bracelet

 

Me and My "Mini-Me" Camper, Bridget

Well, in my last post I told you all I would the Gospel Bracelet.  In Junior Camp, this is the device we use to explain the story of the Gospel.  To break the Gospel down into its most simple form comes down to 3 things: We lost it all...He did it all...We gained it all.  We take this concept further on every Thursday of camp.  There are colored beads that we put on a string for the bracelet.  Each bead is a different color symbolizing the story...

First comes the yellow bead.  The yellow bead represents that the story begins with God.  He was there before the beginning of time and created us.  God created a place that was absolutely perfect.
We lost it all through sin, though.

The black bead, which represents sin, shows how we have separated ourselves from our Creator.
God loved us so much that he sent his son to die on the cross.  Jesus took our place and died so that we wouldn't have to.  He experienced the wrath of God and bore all of it in our place.

Thus, the red bead shows God's love for us and the blood of Jesus shed for us.
The story doesn't end there, though.  Jesus didn't just die on the cross.  He rose again and conquered death.  As a result, our sin, in God's eyes, has been washed as white as snow.

 Thus, white bead represents the clean heart that we have been given.  
When Jesus left, however, he didn't leave us alone.  


The blue bead is the symbol of our constant companion the Holy Spirit.  Jesus sent the Holy Spirit in his place.  As I explained to the kids, the Holy Spirit is the Jiminy Cricket of sorts.  He is always there telling us when we do right and wrong.  

The green bead is a reminder of the growth we must make once we are Christians.  There is only one person that has ever walked a perfect life upon this earth, and that was Jesus.  Thus, because of his example, we must strive to grow up more like Jesus.  Just like we grow physically, we must also grow spiritually.  In order for this to happen, we can't have the green bead without the blue bead.

Lastly, comes another yellow bead.  This story must begin and end with God.  He is the author of the Gospel.  If we believe in the Gospel when we die, we get to go to Heaven!  The world is not our final resting place, and our soul longs for something more.  Thus, the yellow bead represents Heaven where we will meet our Creator and praise our Savior for eternity.