Here's a song I wrote for a holiday club for 7-11 year olds. We called it Shipwrecked.
We turned the church into a desert island and we were all washed ashore having run our ship aground. The Captain had put us in charge of his incredible ocean liner - he'd built it with his son. He gave us the wheel and said he'd see us when we got to Paradise Isle, all we had to do was sail straight. Of course we chose to head off to Dead Man's Cove instead and we came unstuck. Mercifully, the Captain decides to send his son through the treacherous waters to rescue us and bring us home. The question is, will we trust the son?
We based the week around John 3:16 and had studies in John each day.
One thing I really liked about the week was how sin was taught as unbelief. Basically we taught about our dire position before God - shipwrecked through not trusting Him in the first place. But then we taught salvation and then the big sin was rejecting the rescue. On the final day we had one of the castaways deciding to stay on at Dead Man's Cove and make the best of it while others go with the son. The order of teaching was essentially:
Creation
Fall (which was essentially caused by unbelief),
Rescue
then
Sin (as rejection of rescue) or Salvation (as receiving rescue)
I found this to be a refreshingly Johannine way of teaching the gospel. Note how John 3:16 goes on:
16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
There is a condemnation already for not believing in Jesus but it remains as we remain in unbelief (same thing in v36). The question we are left with is not 'what have we done with the law?' but 'what have we done with the Saviour?' See Jesus' definition of sin in John 16:8-9:
...when the Spirit comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me.
Sin is unbelief. It's not, finally, the ins and outs of how you shipwrecked yourself on Dead Man's Cove. At the end of the day, sin is your inexplicable preference for Dead Man's Cove over the Son, your Rescuer.
.
Anyway, here's the song - sound's not brilliant but you get the idea.
.
Going to a faraway country.
Sailing to a faraway land.
Captain say "See you in paradise,
I'll join you just as fast as I can."
But then we thought we knew better.
Then we thought to change our tack.
Then we sailed our ship into Dead Man's Cove
Don't think we'll ever make it back.
We are shipwrecked, Oh shipwrecked
Nothing here to make us smile
We are shipwrecked, o-oh shipwrecked
Stranded on a desert isle.
Captain send word to greet us.
Can't believe we went off track.
Now he send his son to meet us.
He said he's going to bring us back.
We are shipwrecked, Oh shipwrecked
Nothing here to make us smile
We are shipwrecked, o-oh shipwrecked
Stranded on a desert isle.
The son came a long, long distance,
Fight through many a trial.
He stood on the shore, said "Climb aboard,
I take you to paradise isle!"
We are rescued, O rescued
Covered in a beautiful smile
We are rescued, o-oh rescued,
Sailing now to paradise isle.
God so loved the world,
He gave His only Son.
Whoever believes in Him receives
Eternal life and shall not die
We are rescued, O rescued
Covered in a beautiful smile
We are rescued, o-oh rescued,
Sailing now to paradise isle.
.
Also, here's an arrangement of a three-part round to teach John 3:16. It sounds quite good when you get all three parts coming together but the recording's just got me, so you'll have to try it out yourselves.
.
