Text: 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 3:7

Prop: Red and blue play dough

Summary: This demonstrates how God makes us a new person when we accept Jesus as Savior.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians that when a person accepts Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior that God makes them a new creature. It says:

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:7) Have you ever wondered how God can make us new all over? God knows our heart. When we believe in Jesus as Lord for the first time, God sends a portion of His Holy Spirit to live in us forever, sealing us as His children. We cannot see it, but we see how that person is changed by the way they live from that moment on.

Let me demonstrate it with this play dough. What color is this? [Red] And what color is this other piece? [Blue] Let’s pretend that this blue piece is us. Each of us has a spirit when we are born. It is what makes us a living person. Now this red piece: we’ll pretend that it is the Spirit of God. God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. He shed His blood on the cross for us and rose from the dead three days later. When a person believes this, and asks Jesus to be his Savior, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to live in that person’s heart.

Now look what happens when I start to mix the red and blue together. At first can you tell much has happened? No, God has to work in each person’s life to start to make changes. As new Christians we still behave with some of our old habits and ways. But little by little God starts to change us from the inside out. Now I’ve mixed them together all the way. Now what color do you see? [Purple] Yes, it’s a whole new color. Purple is the color of royalty: now you are a child of the King! That’s the same way God makes us a new creature. We are not the same person we used to be. We have been born again and are a new creation.

©1997 by Jim Kerlin. All rights reserved.

Testimony

Author’s note:  Special thanks to Sister Beatrice Driscoll for sharing a testimony of how she used this sermon to lead 15 children to the Lord.

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I write to tell you first that we are still keeping you in prayer. Also to say to you thanks once more for such a God-Inspired and Blessed Children’ site.

You may not remember but I had wrote to you once before to tell you how your site has helped us many times in teaching to the children. I teach to inner-city children here in Pittsburgh, PA and also have just started a similar program in Brooklyn, NY (Bedford-Stuy section) to the kids there…once a month. When I went to Brooklyn in December I went with a heavy heart. The night before I left I received a call from the lady there that I stay with and who assists me with this Ministry. She told me that a mother of three of our children (brothers and sister) was murdered since I was there the month before. She was coming up out of the subway early one morning after having worked all night as a nurses aide. Someone slit her throat and killed her.

The children came to our Christmas party though. I taught the children on the Nativity. I read to them the story of the Nativity and stood behind a large crèche.  They were each holding a character of the nativity story and one by one as I told the story they came quietly and put their character into place. They were so blessed and when we were done.  They wanted to do it again.

These children live in extreme poverty and horrific circumstances. Not one of them believes in Santa.  Only one of them had a Christmas tree. So, we sang Christmas Hymns, and we taught on the CHRIST of Christmas…no use even mentioning old Santa and Rudolph. The only decorations in our classroom was the Crèche and Nativity scene. We also had received a Cross on a pedestal that was given to us a gift for the classroom. The children loved it.

After the Nativity teaching we used one of your sermons.  We used the one on being Born Again. We used the blue and red play dough to make the purple, etc. We knew the Holy Spirit had fell. We told them that where we know it is hard for them to see things on TV and want them but not be able to get them for Christmas, and not have a tree, etc. that here was ONE gift that was just waiting for them to open, that nobody could ever rob them of and is by far the best gift they could ever want to receive. We told them if they wanted to receive this gift they need only ask…but they must want it…and not for Sr. Bea or anyone else…but because they want to ask Jesus into their hearts. I told them if any of the would like to receive the gift of Jesus and would like myself and Miss Pebbles (the other teacher) to pray with them, then just quietly raise their hand and we would be around to do so.

EVERY hand in the class went up. EVERY little hand. Fifteen children. And one by one, we prayed with each child.  And there was the difference in them immediately. Little shining faces carrying light out into the dark streets of Bed-Stuy. There was joy in that little classroom in the YMCA that day. We celebrated Christ for Christmas…what a blessing…and Blessed are the Poor! I give all the glory and honor to HIM. But He who I give this glory to…says to you…’thank you my good and faithful servant’! We brought that message across that day for HIM…and He used you as an instrument to help me get the job done.

We continue prayers for you and thank you again from the bottom of our hearts.

Sr. Beatrice Elizabeth and the Children’s Outreach Ministries of: Pittsburgh and Brooklyn!