Show Them Jesus: Teaching the Gospel to Kids

I loved Show Them Jesus! It was inspiring because it helped remind me of the importance of showing kids how every story of the Bible connects to Jesus. Klumpenhower makes great application suggestions for parents, kids' ministry leaders, and student ministry leaders. I loved it so much that I bought 30 copies for all of my leaders!

I thought this was very informative. So many takeaways. Can't wait to implement so of these suggestions.

Useful book on teaching kids the Bible! His main goal is to help teachers teach the good news and not mere moralism. The book has a really deft balance of the why behind gospel teaching, the author’s own experiences as a teacher, and practical application points.

VERY impactful. The intersection of the set of all education and the set of all Christians ought to read this book. It was so good that I read it twice in succession. I plan to reread it next year.

Feeling so convicted but also encouraged by this book. I realize I’ve been teaching my children morality more than the beauty of Jesus. Love the helpful steps he gave on how to help your “lessons” focus on Christ!

I wish I had read this before I taught the youth group at my previous church. It’s a fantastic book on teaching the gospel, and it should be considered by all who are called to that role. But beyond that, this book was surprisingly profound to me. It held up a mirror to my soul, and revealed a lot of the baggage I unknowingly harbored from my particular upbringing. I didn’t realize the extent to which the church community I grew up in emphasized good behavior over Christ’s sufficiency until reading this book. To be clear, I love my childhood church dearly. They did many things well, but they definitely could have taken some notes from Mr. Klumpenhower with regard to teaching the heart of the gospel. As a result, I’ve carried around a works-based theology for years, operating like a modern day Pharisee. This book shocked me back into an authentic dependency on a Jesus crucified for my sins, rather than a mere acknowledgement of a Jesus who simply sets an example for me to follow.

This was so so so good! So helpful and practical for the ministry circles i find myself out, even ones without kids. Was a sweet reminder that everything really does point back to the Gospel. I thought the authors claim that teaching kids to do good things without the Gospel is just behavior modification, what we should do is lead people to the cross and allow the power of Jesus to change them. So many practical tips i can definitely implement!

Great book to encourage veteran Children’s Ministry workers or to give to brand new believers looking for where to faithfully start and for everyone in between. Loved it.

This book was a stellar read. It helped me refresh my love for pointing other to Jesus. Klumpenhower has the same theme throughout the whole book: Show them Jesus. It's a good mantra. Don't point them towards themselves. Their good deeds. Their desire to do better. Their fight against sin. Nothing about them will make them better. Only Jesus makes them better. Jesus transforms lives. And we can teach that in Sunday School classrooms, or at home as we love the kids under our care.

Excellent book on teaching the gospel to kids. A must read for Sunday school teachers

Will be purchasing a hard copy of this. Lots of great teaching material and practical examples. A great reminder in ministry to keep all teaching centered in the work of the cross!! Really enjoyed the section talking about kids’s misconceptions of the gospel and how to explain it to correct those.

I’m thankful our children’s ministry volunteers read through this - a helpful and practical guide to teaching the gospel and not just morals to our kids.

I think this book is summed up well by this quote from page 109. “Don’t: Look for a moral lesson about human character. Instead: Look for the worth and work of the main character, God.”

“Without constant revival from the good news, kids—and adults—start trying to obey God under their own strength and willpower. The good news was never meant to be background. It's foreground—THE source we look to for the power to do everything else.” Honestly so good. Practical & helpful. Great resource for anyone trying to disciple kids. I was reminded to keep the main thing (the Gospel) the main thing. It was also just encouraging on a personal level. The Gospel is amazing. A lot of this felt pretty straightforward and what I was expecting, but some of it was actually really profound. This quote, in particular, in his chapter about positive reinforcement, left me really thinking: “A classroom culture built on rewards for performance wouldn’t fit the good news I planned to teach. It wouldn’t do to teach that God’s rewards in salvation come freely, by grace, but that rewards in the church come by being good and memorizing verses. Nor would it work to teach that God values faith over superior churchy behavior, and then give prizes to kids who excel in churchy behavior. I couldn’t say that Jesus is better than absolutely anything else, but reward what kids learned about him with a slip of paper redeemable for candy.” I am still processing the book, but I am certainly re-considering some things in the context of teaching in Sunday school and public school settings: What does rewarding positive behavior communicate to kids about the Gospel? What does making church (or even school) “fun” as a way to draw them in communicate about the Gospel? Am I really preaching the Gospel of Jesus or the Gospel of Good Behavior? Really just a great resource. I was very impressed! If you work with kids, I would highly recommend.

My thought progression as I read. “These are good points. I can definitely see how there can be too much moralism in Sunday School teaching.” “‘Focus on Jesus and the Gospel.’ Where have I heard that before? That sounds great on paper, but how does that actually play out in real life?” “Ok, cool, some good illustrations of when it works out. But really? I bet it’s not always so picture perfect. But no one talks about all the times when it doesn’t work.” “Wow… Negative personal illustrations? You don’t hear that very often.” “Addressing and recognizing objections? Wow. Usually people just dismiss or ignore objections.” “So good… ” I started off a little skeptical. Not trying to be, but it’s easy to say “Let’s emphasize Jesus and gospel more!” How could anyone disagree with that? It’s easy to write a book that is idealistic and presents your method as flawless. If it doesn’t work for you, that means you aren't doing it right. But that is not what I found here. This book takes a serious and evaluative look at the current typical model teaching the Bible to children. “Is this really how we should be teaching the Bible?” It then highlights some serious dangers and pitfalls that are easy to fall into with the current model, and proposes a way that we can do a better job at making the main point, the main point. That’s all well and good, but what makes this book stand out is the humble and realistic approach. It recognizes that it will not always work out perfectly. The author shares stories of times when things didn’t go the way he would have liked. How he has failed and regrets he has. He recognizes that this is no silver bullet. However, he shows clearly how this is a much more Biblical approach to teaching the Bible than the current popular alternative.

As a pastor I have read a lot of books on ministry. This is one of the most important books that I have read for teaching children about Jesus for the emphasis on gospel-focused, Christ-centric lessons! I loved it and have given it to all of our children's volunteers, and encourage our parents to read it as well!

This book is so good! It is full of biblical truth that is missing in much of Christianity. The author reminds us that Jesus is the whole point of the Bible.
Go. After. Christ. Everything else will follow.
Moralism does not save us. The love of Jesus does. Just beautiful. I wish the author had been my Sunday school teacher. All my life I've known the truth of Jesus. It's right there in the Bible, woven into every story. And yet I've still always felt like love was to be earned and moralism was at the front of my faith.
This book makes me see how the cross is what I need. Jesus loves me. He is for me. Morals don't earn me points with God. The blood of Jesus paid all. And my desire to obey and be like him flows out of my love for him... and his abundant love for me. __

This book is a must read for any Sunday school teacher, camp counselor, or parent. Essentially anyone who might at some point is teaching the Bible. The author gives clear examples of how to teach Jesus throughout all of scripture making him the focus even when it might seem difficult or “out of place.” I also loved his humility and vulnerability. A lot of his examples weren’t “here’s how I did this perfectly” but instead “here’s how I really missed the mark on this lesson and what you can do that would be better.” It’s a good reminder of yes the weight of our teaching but also the grace God gives when we don’t teach a perfect lesson time to time.

Practical, impactful, super doable

Slightly repetitive at times, but true, honest and helpful nonetheless.

I read this as a parent of toddlers and I'm glad that I could get all this insight at the beginning of my parenting journey. This book gives both Gospel principles and practical applications in the context of Christian parenting/Sunday school teaching under the headings of 'Why Teach the Gospel' and 'How to Teach the Gospel'. The author has no dearth of experiences with teaching children the Gospel, and is shockingly honest with his own failures and what he has learnt from them. Some of my takeaways have been: That the Gospel should permeate every area of our lives. Children should grow in a Gospel-environment. That we ourselves should be transformed by the Gospel and live it out daily. That although it is our duty to show them Jesus, it is God who ultimately chooses them and calls them and preserves them. It is His job, and He will do it well, giving us freedom from that burden. That Christ should be preached, whether we're teaching from the Old Testament or the New, or while walking and talking with them, or while discilplining and training them. As Spurgeon said, "Oh, to speak of Christ alone!"

Re-read for me but just love this book so much! A must for volunteers who interact with kiddos in a ministry setting, parent, or just ANYONE who wants a deeper understanding on what the gospel really is and how it can change a child’s (or our) life and eternity.

This book is a surprisingly good to me! He keeps reminding the readers /teachers that the heart matters not behaviors. So, keeping sharing Gospel is the main goal for us towards kids! What he shares in the books is also good advice to any Christian.

This is such a great book! It’s easy to understand but also seemed profound in its perspective. We don’t want kids to merely obey, but to come to understand the grace, goodness, and love of Jesus Christ. I loved the practical examples and personal stories from the author. I also appreciated his honesty and reminder at the end that it starts first with our own hearts breathing in and living out the truths of the gospel. This book is for Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, parents, and really anyone who works with kids! I highly recommend! (I listened to the audiobook)

Talk to people that have walked away from the faith, and you often find bad experiences that they had as children. You hear the stories and you kind of wish you could shake the teachers and explain to them that what they were teaching is not what the Bible teaches. Well you can't do that. But what you can do is exactly what Klumpenhower is doing here: actually training teachers of children in what the Bible says. And he's good. Man, he's good. I think I let a little bit of my prejudice show by being so surprised at how gospel-centered, and practical, and theologically grounded he is. To my shame, I expected less out of a book on the teaching of children. Klumpenhower is relentless in separating morality (doing good things to earn God's favor) from Christianity (trusting in Jesus to earn God's favor). And he needs to be. I think all of our default postures is to be moral and call it Christianity. So if you teach kids, have kids, or really just want to understand the teachings of Jesus better, I would recommend this book wholeheartedly.

Simple message for those entrusted to teach youth and children - give them Christ in his fullness. Wonderful reminder and a book that needs to be read by teachers and parents alike.

This is definitely a book I will revisit as my kids get older! I love that the author gives practical tips for discipling to kids whether you’re a Sunday school teacher, in children’s ministry, or a parent. I also appreciate that a lot of those tips are tailored to different aged kids. As my kids are currently prek age, I look forward to rereading this book when they’re older to take note of the tips given to that age group. Highly recommend this to anyone who has children in their lives they’re looking to disciple to.