“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
So much in our life tells us that it is our performance that makes us who we are. This is especially true in the lives of kids. Think what they hear from chore charts, report cards, standardized tests, recitals, and athletic banquets. Performance—work and reward—is one of the basic structures of our lives. As a result, kids grow up thinking, “I am what I am because of what I do… or because of what I’ve failed to do.” Have you ever thought about how different this “message of performance” is from the Bible’s message of redemption? In 1 Corinthians 15:10, the Apostle Paul says, “I am what I am by the grace of God.” Proof of Grace is Sojourn’s third children’s book. It is about reclaiming the Bible’s teaching about grace for the next generation. The book is written on a 1st or 2nd grade reading level, and we intend for it to speak to children on two levels.
First, Proof of Grace is a teaching book. We want our kids to embrace and remember the Bible’s teaching about grace so that they can combat the performance messages they hear. We want them to remember, as the apostle Paul said, that it is God’s grace that makes believers who we are. We’ve designed this book as a tool to aid in remembering. The PROOF acrostic can be memorized, and we’ve provided Bible and doctrine memory work along with family devotional ideas for each point on pages 19- 23. Information about a corresponding curriculum written for our church community’s study of Ephesians 1-2 can be found at sojournkids.com/proof
Second, Proof of Grace is a pirate adventure about a boy named Jesse whose parents send him on a scavenger hunt. It is an adventure book, because God’s grace should overwhelm us. It should fill us with a sense of adventure and wonder. Life is filled with dark passages. But though God’s ways disturb us now, they will one day be found delightful. God’s message of sovereign love overtakes us when we need it most. When our kids are battling against sin and suffering, they need a picture of God’s love that overcomes their rebellion and their circumstances. Our hope is that they will never cease to be amazed that God reached down and saved scallywags like you and me. We want them to uncover the gospel as the greatest treasure so that they can’t stop talking about the mystery and beauty of what they’ve discovered.
Download your FREE electronic copy of Proof of Grace today:
Here is another version with spreads of the pages in Adobe’s friendly PDF format!
