Book-With-No-Words
From SPARK
One-sentence summary
This product offers instructions for making the Book-With-No-Words and gives an appropriate script to be used when explaining the Gospel story using the book.
Description
- Many people make their own Books-With-No-Words with pieces of colored paper.
- You can make this particular book with five differently-colored pieces of paper.
- They represent:
- our possibly living with God in His town,
- our guilt for our sins,
- Jesus dying for us,
- God forgiving us, and
- our becoming more and more like God.
Considerations
Anyone may use this book to tell people about God’s love. The storyteller should relate the story in a natural way, learning the basic ideas, not necessarily the exact words. The listener is more likely to accept the teaching if the story is told in this way.
The book should be of a size that is easy to carry. If used with one or two people, make the pages about 4cm x 6cm. For a larger group, 12cm x 20cm is appropriate.
Limitations
none
Guidelines for Use
1. Script
Hello! I would like to tell you a wonderful story. I want to tell it while we look at this little book. The story is very special because it is about God’s love for us humans.
Do you see what’s different about this book? Instead of using words to tell the story, it uses colors. That is why we call it the "Book-With-No-Words".
Let’s look at this shiny page!
This page represents the wonderful possibility that we can live someday with God in his town.
The shiny color reminds me of how wonderful God’s town will be for us. God's town is called heaven. The Bible tells us that heaven is a big shining place. There was a man named John who saw heaven. He said that it was shiny and has little lights sparkling everywhere.
Do you know who owns heaven? God owns it! He wants you to be in heaven with Him some day.
You usually like to be with people you love, don’t you? That is why God wants you to be with Him in heaven. He loves you very much! In the Bible, the book that God told some men to write, He has told about His love for us. He says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love". (Jeremiah 31:3) That means God loved you even before you were born! If you say, God has loved me with an everlasting love, it would be true.
God wants you to be in heaven someday with Him, but your sin can keep you from being there.
Let’s look at this dark-colored page!
This page represents our guilt for our sins.
This page reminds us of the badness of people’s sin. We sin when we do something that is against God. We sin when we say words against God or even when we think ideas in which we want to fight God. We sin when we feel like refusing God. We sin when we do wrong actions, like lying, cheating, disobeying our parents, or fighting with our brothers or our sisters. Sin is also our action of dishonoring or mistreating others.
Sin can be actions, thoughts, or feelings.
The Bible says that everyone has sinned. It plainly says, “All have sinned". (Romans 3:23) When the Bible says, “All have sinned.", that includes you and me, doesn’t it?
Yes, you and I, and everyone in the world have sinned because we have done wrong things. The Bible says you and I were born with a desire to do wrong. Your mother didn’t have to teach you how to disobey, did she? Neither did mine.
You probably have been punished for doing wrong actions at home. Those wrong actions are what God calls "sin". God has a punishment for sin. All sinners will be put in a lonely place where they will suffer forever. The Bible calls that place “hell". But God doesn’t want anyone to go there. He offers us a way to escape hell.
Remember, God loves you and wants to be your heavenly Father right now. He wants you to be with Him in heaven someday.
God will not allow sin in heaven and everyone has sinned! If this were the end of the story, it would seem like no one is going to heaven. But God made a way for canceling our guilt for our sins. The next pages tells about that.
Let's look at another dark-colored page!
This page represents Jesus dying for us.
Jesus is God’s perfect Son. He is the same as God. Long ago, He became a human just like we are. He lived on this earth in a land far from here. He lived without sinning while He lived on earth. Jesus is the only person in all of history to live His entire life without sinning.
Why wouldn't everyone love someone like that? Yet when Jesus grew up, wicked men captured Him. They nailed him to a wooden cross. This page reminds us that they left Him there to bleed and die.
God accepted Jesus' death for the deaths of all the people who believe that Jesus is God's Son. His death canceled the punishment for those people’s wrong actions. Jesus willingly took the punishment for every sin of those who believe that He came to die for us. Jesus knew that the only way God could forgive our sin was if He would die for us. God allowed evil men to kill Jesus so that God would accept His innocent death for our guilty deaths.
As Jesus died, He said, “It is finished". He meant that He had done everything He needed to do to cancel my sins and your sins. He did it for all of us on that cross.
They buried His body. Two days later He came back to life! This proved that He could pay for our sins. We can live forever because of His coming back to life! Later he returned to heaven. That is where He is today.
You can become God’s child! God will forgive your sins and accept you as His child. God does this because Jesus is His Son. God has accepted His Son’s death on earth as if you had died yourself. However, you must believe that Jesus died for you.
Let's look at this red page.
This page represents God's forgiveness.
God loves you very much and He wants to be your heavenly Father. He wants you to live with Him in heaven someday. But He also has seen all your sins. God cannot let you into heaven until you get rid of your sins. But we humans cannot do this for ourselves. That is why God sent Jesus, His Son to die on the cross for our sins.
The Bible says that Jesus will help those who believe that God sent Him to die for their sins. He will give those who believe the privilege to become God’s children. This means that you must believe that Jesus died for you. You must accept His invitation for Him to cancel your sins. Then He can change you and you will become a person who belongs to God. God can become your heavenly Father right now, and someday you will share God’s home with Him in heaven.
Do you want to accept Jesus’ invitation to become God’s child?
If you believe that Jesus died for your sins on the cross and that He rose again, you can change to become God’s child at this moment. You can pray to God and tell Him that you know you have sinned. You can tell Him that you believe that Jesus died for you. You can tell Him that you are believing that Jesus is His Son. Would you want to pray to God about this?
(You may help the person to pray. You may suggest some sentences like the following:
God, I know that I have sinned. I have done wrongs against you. I believe that Jesus is your Son. I believe that You have accepted His dying for me so that I do not have to die for my sins. His death canceled my punishment for all my sins. I believe He came back to life again. I accept His invitation that His dying substituted for my dying. Thank you for making me Your child as you promised.)
After the person has prayed, you may say:
God has heard your prayer. He has forgiven you your sins, if you meant the prayer that you said. He has also accepted you as His child! God has promised to do that, and God never forgets His promises.
You are now a child of God! Now it is as if you and I are siblings!
Let's look at this last page!
This page represents our new way of living as children of God
This color reminds me of how we can become more and more like God. Now that you have become God’s child, He wants you to live His good ways. God has changed you inside so that you are ready to obey His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will help you to live in the good ways of God. You should allow the Holy Spirit to help you.
(You may give the person a copy of the Gospel of John in your language. We recommend that you carry a copy wherever you go.)
You can learn how to become more like God by obeying the Bible. You can begin reading this little book that the Apostle John wrote. You can read here in this place (as you show the sentences of John 10:10) that Jesus said that He came to this earth that his followers might have very abundant life. That means that Jesus will help us live joyfully.
Sin can keep that from happening. But God promises in I John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". That means that if you sin you need to confess (tell on yourself) to God. "He is faithful" means He will always forgive you. And "just" means that God is fair to forgive you because He already punished all our sins when Jesus died for us on the cross.
Another way in which you can become more like God is by talking to Him in prayer.
You can also become more like God if you join other Christians when they meet together. You can learn from their telling how they have become more like God.
2. Instructions for making the Book-With-No-Words
You will want to choose colors that are meaningful and acceptable in the culture where you use this book.
Prepare five pieces of paper:
- Piece 1 (4cm x 6cm) should be the color that represents our living with God in his town.
- Piece 2 (8cm x 6cm) should be the color that represents our guilt for our sins
- Piece 3 (8cm x 6cm) should be the color that represents Jesus’ dying for us.
- Piece 4 (8cm x 6cm) —should be the color that represents God forgiving us.
- Piece 5 (4cm x 6cm) should be the color that represents our becoming more and more like God.
- Fold Pieces 2, 3 and 4 in the middle so that they form pages that are 4cm x 6cm.
- Hold Piece 1 and Piece 2 so that the folds are side by side.
- Glue the outside of Piece 1 to the outside side of Piece 2.
- Next hold Piece 3 to the outside of Piece 2 with the folds together and glue it.
- Next hold Piece 4 to the outside of Piece 3 with the folds together and glue it.
- Finally, hold Piece 5 to the outside of Piece 4 with the folds together and glue it.
Where to Obtain
Link to Producer or Source Organization
Cost
free
Producer/Owners
Author/Artist/Producer
Willis Ott
Current copyright owner
Other Information
Reviewed by
Original as of 1/23/2006 LMP
- Recent review by Joan Parce
Date
- June 9, 2008
