Christian education teacher training ideas can inspire you to be more creative and confident when teaching your children. This article will teach you how to present creative Gospel magic lessons.
Gospel Magic tricks are simply amazing and, once you know them, amazingly simple! My mentor and friend, Rev. Barney Kinard, is the person who got me hooked on this form of sharing the Gospel. By learning just a few “tricks”, my ministry has taken on a new level of excitement as I have now witnessed, several times, the immense impact a gospel illusion can have. I am not exaggerating when I say that the Lord has blessed me with watching many kids give their lives to Him after a proper presentation of the Gospel has been given. My three favorites, (although each new one I learn becomes my favorite), so far are “Hank’s Ugly Spots”, “The Heart Rope Trick” and the “Gospel Colors Changing Bag”. You may have seen one or more of these in my seminar.
As could be expected, magic tricks range in varying prices. Like many of you, I’m always looking for the inexpensive route. The following web sites (at the bottom of the page) are a good start for your search into this wonderful world. Some of these people have full-time ministries sharing Gospel Illusions; all of them love the Lord and learn their craft meticulously.
I think I would be remiss if I did not address some people’s concerns about the whole “magical” aspect of sharing the Gospel. To do this, I’d like to quote illusionist Eric Reamer who says, “The use of illusion serves 2 purposes: A) Attention – I can get the attention of the audience with the tricks; and B) Retention – It is a documented fact that people, young and old alike, learn far better with visual object lessons – in short, they WILL remember!” And isn’t that our goal – for the children to remember and understand the Gospel? Indeed it is!
In closing, I’d like to leave you with an explanation of the “Gospel Colors Changing Bag” trick. For the trick, you will need:
A Change Bag (This is “bag” with a handle on it. The bag conceals two different pockets that can be accessed by a small secret lever. These pockets are where you place your silks. https://www.magictricks.com/change-bag-plstyle.html sells them. They can vary quite a bit in price. I actually bought mine at a children’s conference where things tend to be a bit cheaper.)
Two “silks” of EACH of the following colors: black, red, white, green and yellow. (These also can be found at https://www.magictricks.com/silks-selection.html. Once there, do a search for “Magician’s Silks”.)
Once you have your silks and change bag, take one set of silks and tie them end to end with tiny knots in this order of colors: black, red, white, green and yellow. Now place them in one of the pockets of the change bag. The other set of silks should be nearby, perhaps in a basket or an apron you are wearing. I use an apron that has pockets of the 5 colors.
Here is the explanation for the “Gospel Colors Changing Bag” trick:
I use this trick after a full explanation of the Gospel Colors. If you are not familiar with this, I have included the following explanation:
Yellow – Reminds us of God’s love and how He has prepared a special place for each one of His children in Heaven where we will be a part of His Forever family. (John 3:16)
Dark – Reminds us of the sin in our lives. Sin is anything we thin, say or do that displeases God. God cannot allow sin into heaven. Sin must be punished and the punishment for sin is to be separation from God forever.
But God has a wonderful plan so that we won’t have to be punished for our sin. (Romans 3:23 and Romans 13:12)
Red – Reminds us of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross to take the punishment for our sins. His blood is the only thing that can cleanse us of our sins. (I Corinthians 15:3-4)
White – Reminds us that we can have a clean heart because of the price that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. If you admit that you are a sinner and believe in your heart that Christ died for your sins and call on Him to forgive you of your sins, you will be saved. John 1:12)
Green – Reminds us of things that grow. As a child of God, we too can grow. We can grow in prayer in the reading of His Word, in fellowship with other believers, and by telling others about god’s wonderful Gospel story. (II Peter 3:18)
So, after a clear presentation of the Gospel Colors, I then say, “OK, boys and girls, let’s do a little review.” At this point I pull out the black silk out of my apron and say, “Dark reminds us of what?” The children should respond with, “Sin.” After they respond, I place the black silk into the OTHER pocket of the change bag. (I do this after each response for the color of silk.) Next, I pull out the red silk and say, “Red reminds us of what?” The children should respond with, “Jesus’ blood.” Next, I pull out the white silk and say, “White reminds us of what?” The children should respond with, “He cleans our hearts of sin.” Next, I pull out the green silk and say, “Green reminds us of what?” The children should respond with, “Growth.” Finally, I pull out the yellow silk from my apron and say, “Yellow reminds us of what?” The children should respond with, “Heaven!”
At this point, all of your 5 individual silks should be in one pocket of the change bag, while the 5 that you tied together have been concealed all this time in the other pocket. Simply change the lever and reach into the bag and slowly pull out the silks that are tied together and say something like, “These colors are so amazing! They go together just perfectly to share with all of us the Gospel of Jesus Christ!”
You should get lots of “OOHs and AHHHs and applause!
Begin your internet search with these great sites!
www.gospelmagic.childrensministry.org
www.professorwonder.com/magicndx.htm
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/video/
I also want to point out that it is very important that you, as the teacher, understand that you must gain or earn your children’s respect. Sharing a Gospel Magic Trick is a powerful way to do this. Yes, many of the tricks take time to learn, but the time and effort you put into your presentation will pay off dramatically!
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http://www.mymagicrabbit.com is a great source for Gospel magic that is not available elsewhere. Also balloons, balloon aprons and magic books, DVD videos and tricks