An Egg Hunt Devotional: The ABC's of Salvation
You’ve planned your Egg Hunt, you have the whole schedule put together. You know people are coming and you want to tell them about Jesus. But you only have a limited space to tell them because of time constraints and attention span.
So how do you present the Gospel in a compelling way in just a few minutes?
I’ve had this conundrum before. When I first started doing Egg Hunts, we’d meet inside and do an hour long kids service. Then we’d all head outside for the hunt. It worked… ok. But that’s not why people come to your event. They come to hunt eggs. You don’t want to give them a bait and switch.
So, over the years, I’ve experimented with several different options. My goal was to get my time and to the hunt faster. Because an Egg Hunt is a stay and play event instead of come and go, I can ask for a little bit of the audience’s attention. I don’t try to do this for my fall festival.
Today, I’m going to share with you my quick and easy Gospel presentation that I use every year. It’s called the ABC’s of salvation.
Supplies
Large box
Cardboard letters ABCD
Paint
Because most of my hunts are held outside during the day, I don’t have a screen as a visual aid. So, I need large props that people can see from afar. I get the biggest cardboard letters can find at Hobby Lobby. You could make even bigger ones out of insulation foam from your local hardware store. But they may be hard to fit in a box.
The letters were big and relatively sturdy. I held them up while making my whole point.
For my box, I used an old shoe box, but you can use any kind. I like that it has a lid, so I can easily open and close it like a gift for each letter.
I paint the box and the letters bright kid-friendly colors. The brighter the better. It makes it easy to see and keeps everyone’s attention.
Introduction
Start by saying: How many of you like presents? We all do. Look here (pick up box). It looks like someone left me a gift. Do you want to see what’s inside? I can’t wait!
You know when we celebrate Easter, we’re celebrating a gift God gave us. The gift is Jesus. He took the punishment for our sins so we wouldn’t have too. Now, because he took that punishment, we can be saved.
I think what’s in this box can help me explain what I mean.
A -Accept that you’re a sinner
Pull the A out of the box. Say this: This A represents what all of us have to do. We have to accept that we are all sinners. Now what is a sin? It’s something that hurts God or someone else.
Who has ever lied? Show me your hands! Who has ever taken something that wasn’t theirs? What about have you ever cheated at a board game or on a test? Has anyone disobeyed your parents?
If you raised your hand for any one of these things you have sinned. We are all sinners. In fact, the Bible says in Romans 3:23 that “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
The Bible also says in Romans 6:23 that “The wages or payment for sin is the death…” Who wants to die just for telling a little white lie? Or not obeying their parents when they asked you take out the trash? I don’t. No one does.
So, God had a plan to save us. And that plan is Jesus!
B – Believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior
Put the A down and pick up the B. Say this: B is for believe. In order for us to follow God’s plan for salvation we have to believe that Jesus is our savior. 2,000 years ago, Jesus came and lived a perfect life. He never lied. He never stole. He never cheated at a game. He always obeyed his parents.
Even though he never did anything wrong, he was killed on a cross. And when he did, he took all of our sin. Everything bad that you’ve ever done. Every lie, every disobedience, on himself. He took my place. He took your place. He took everyone’s place and paid the price for our sin.
It’s a free gift for all of us. But in order to receive this gift, we have to do something first. We don’t have to do anything to earn it. All we have to do is believe. We have to believe that Jesus died for us. We have to accept the free gift of his salvation. We have to believe that he is the Lord of our lives, and we will follow him for the rest of our lives.
But how do we do that?
C – Confess with our mouths
Put down the B and pick up the C. Say this: Believing is not enough. We have to confess with our mouths. The Bible says in Romans 10:9 that “if we confess with our mouths.” Another version says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
When we say Jesus is our Lord, we mean he is our leader. We choose to follow him.
I’ve talked a lot about Jesus’ death on the cross, but that’s not why we celebrate Easter. We celebrate Easter because his death was not the end. It was only the beginning! Three days later he rose from the dead and came back to life!
So, if we recognize that we’re sinners and confess that we believe, we will be saved.
D – Decide today
Put down the C and pick up the D. Say this: We have to decide. In a moment, I’m going to give you a chance to decide. But some of you may not be ready and that’s ok. But for those of you who are ready, let’s decide right now. Because we don’t know how much time we have. We only have this life to make a decision. So, it’s better to decide right now. If that’s you, and you’re ready to decide to follow Jesus, we’re going to pray.
We’re all going to pray and repeat after me. There’s nothing magical about these words. I’m just helping you to know what to say. And we’re all going to say it together. And if you believe it in your heart, you will be saved. Let’s pray.
Dear Jesus,
I’m sorry for the bad things I’ve done.
I turn from them today.
I accept you as my Lord. As my Leader
I accept you as my savior.
I believe that you died for me and rose again.
I believe that you still live today.
Thank you for saving me.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Now if you said that prayer and really meant it, I want you to shoot your hand up right now. (Take a quick scan of the crowd and count.) That’s awesome! Let’s celebrate the new people who have accepted God’s gift!
Conclusion
At this point, I go into announcements and talk about how the Egg Hunt is going to go. I focus on inviting them to church the next Sunday so they can learn more about the decision they made. I usually have some kind of incentive on the card for them to cash in when they come to church.
Feel free to use this script and props for your own Egg Hunt. It’s worked well for me for years. I can do it without notes and under 10 minutes. Make sure you practice and time yourself so you can do the same.
For me, the Egg Hunt was the biggest crowd I talked to all year. I don’t want to waste it because I was ill-prepared. I hope you feel the same.
Egg Hunts may seem to be all about the eggs. But for me it’s an incredible opportunity to present the Gospel to willing crowd. This presentation is a great way to do it.
What do you use to present the Gospel at your Egg Hunt? Let me know in the comments!
