My parents had been out of the church for a long time before I was born and I was old enough to be in school when we came to Fellowship Church for a Christmas service. Being out of the church was beginning to really weigh down my mom’s heart so she used this chance to plug us into the church. I remember my younger brother and I were both old enough to be in the children’s church program.

For a few weeks following Christmas the gospel was presented and an offer to come into the kitchen in the back and talk more about receiving Jesus as your savior was made. I don’t know if he really knew what he was doing right then and there, but for some reason my little brother stood up and went back to the kitchen when they made the invitation. This is when sibling rivalry kicked in and I went back too. I wasn’t going to miss out on anything my little brother would be doing.

In the kitchen the teacher took great pains to make sure the whole message was crystal clear to everyone there. She let us all know how everyone is a sinner. Everyone does bad things, and when people do bad things they need to be punished. She connected it to our own lives. Every child knew what it felt like to do something wrong and be punished for it. That part I could understand. Instead of our parents punishing us it would be God, and God’s punishment was death. Then she told us about Jesus. How Jesus is God and how He had taken our punishment for us even though He had done nothing wrong. I folded my hands and said the prayer, but I didn’t really understand. It was a new concept and I needed more time to wrap my head around it, but at the time I thought I would look rather stupid if I walked out.

I went home and didn’t say anything about it until my little brother proclaimed that he had been saved. Then I unenthusiastically added that I had as well. Something about this didn’t add up in my brain. So next week when they made the invitation I went back to the kitchen again. The same thing happened as the week before. Kids sat attentive as the teacher told them all about the gospel, then folded their hands and closed their eyes to repeat the teacher’s prayer.

Afterwards, the teacher talked to me. She had noticed that it was the second time I had taken the invitation to go back there. She asked me if I had any questions about Jesus and we talked it all through. The concept I struggled over was acceptance. Jesus came and died so that people could go to heaven when they died instead of being punished. If it happened so long ago and was really done once and for all then what difference did it make if I accepted it now? If it’s already happened it will still have happened whether I believe it happened or not. She told me salvation was a gift. Jesus was punished on the cross for everyone’s sins; even the ones that haven’t been done yet, but just like if a person offered you a present and you didn’t take it, salvation does you no good until you reach out and accept it. You have to confess you have sins that need forgiveness and accept that gift of salvation from Jesus. Once I had everything laid out for me in that little chat it started making sense. The pieces came together and I realized what I had accepted; everyone has done bad things, and God is fair, so He has to punish them. But God also loves people, so He sent His Son to take people’s punishments for them. To do that He had to die, and then as proof that He had conquered death for us He rose from the grave three days later, alive and well. Now all we need to do is humbly accept the gift God has given us and we will not suffer God’s punishment. Accept the gift and believe in Christ.

Looking back I realize how much I’ve grown from those awkward beginnings and how Christ has changed the course of my life over the last decade toward His kingdom. I suppose I’m an example of the impact the message can have on a child. Reaffirmed, it really will set the pace for how they live their life, and sometimes you just need to hear it a few times before you can understand.

-Bryan, 18 years old