The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation

THE FIVE FINGER GOSPEL | A Handful of Truths to Lead a Child to Christ | Convo #5: Jesus Chose You!

• Tosha Williams for FDM

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A tiny voice in the back seat of a car asks for prayer, and a lifelong journey with Jesus begins. Host Tosha Williams opens with a vivid childhood memory to show how clearly a child can grasp the gospel—and how a simple tool, "The Five Finger Gospel," can help anyone understand and respond to Jesus. Each finger holds a truth you can carry anywhere: Jesus sees you, Jesus loves you, Jesus died for you, Jesus knows you, and Jesus chose you. It’s tactile, memorable, and grounded in Scripture, making it ideal for parents, mentors, and ministry leaders who want to share the good news with clarity and warmth.

In this final episode in this collection of conversations, we revisit the tender honesty of small sins and big grace, then turn to the thumb as a picture of salvation: God’s thumbs up to us and our thumbs up back to Him. With Jeremiah 1:5 and John 1:12 as anchors, we make the invitation plain without pressure—He has already said yes to you; will you say yes to Him? You’ll hear how a preschool decision matured into decades of discipleship and how the same truths can spark conversations at the dinner table, in the car, or at a hospital bedside. Along the way, we highlight the shift from Seek Him to Speak Him, echoing Titus 1:1: helping God’s chosen people believe in Christ more and more.

If you’re guiding a child, mentoring a teen, or reexamining your own faith, this conversation gives you language, confidence, and next steps. Try the hand motions, ask the heart-questions, and encourage simple, sincere prayer in a person’s own words. Then take the next faithful step into devotion-driven discipleship, where meeting with God overflows into making Him known. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with someone who needs hope today, and leave a review to help others find "The Five Finger Gospel." Who will you lift a thumbs up with this week?

The devotion-driven discipleship guide that goes along with this episode can be found in the Family Disciple Me app. Coming soon!

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org

SPEAKER_00:

One of my earliest childhood memories is of sitting in the back seat of the car, bumping down the road on our way to church, and asking my parents this will you pray for me that I'll give my life to Jesus. I was all of three years old, and already at that age of my life, I was beginning to consider what it meant to follow Jesus. That is such a huge reason why I believe so much in children's ministry now, because I know what God was doing in my heart at three years old. And there I was in the backseat of the car asking my parents to pray that I would give my life to Jesus. It sounds sort of cute now. Like, why didn't I just pray to him instead of asking them to pray for me? But the point is that even at a young age, I knew that I needed to make a decision to follow Jesus, and that that decision was a really big deal. You see, at that point in my life, I already knew the stories. I had been taught that Jesus saw me, that he loved me, that he had died on the cross for me, that he knew me. But I also knew there was more to the story. I knew that I had to make a decision for him. A decision for him about who he is, and a decision about myself and the reality of my sin. I didn't have big sins at that point. I was just three years old, right? What were my sins? Well, I had lied to my mom. I'd stuck out my tongue at her behind the corner when she couldn't see me, so I was disrespectful. I'd pinched my baby sister, and well, I had deceived her about nap time. Not big sins at all. But even as a three-year-old, I knew they were big enough to keep me separated from God. And so there we were going down the road. And even as a preschooler, I knew that I needed to make a decision about Jesus. You see, I understood that he had already paid the price to choose me, but I also knew that I needed to make a choice in return. Would I choose Jesus? Hi, my name is Tasha Williams. And if you've been a part of this journey with me through the Five Finger Gospel, well, today I want to welcome you to the final episode in this collection of conversations. As we come into this moment, I want to say that the Five Finger Gospel is such a simple, memorable way that we can lead the next generation to Jesus through the gospel one finger at a time. I love this conversation collection so much because I believe that even the youngest amongst us can understand and respond to the gospel. That's what I did. I was wrestling with the gospel truth when I was three years old. For several months, I was considering what I had learned about Jesus, even as a three-year-old. And then one month after I turned four years old, I made the decision to choose Jesus. I chose as a child to make him my savior and my Lord, and I've never looked back. So as we get started, I just want to review briefly where we've been, if you'll allow me. So when we started, we started with, well, the pinky finger. The little, little finger reminds us that Jesus sees us no matter how little we are, no matter how insignificant we feel. Jesus sees us. And then that leads us to the truth of the ring finger. This this ring finger that is associated with love. As we wiggle our fourth finger, we remember the truth and we teach the truth. Jesus loves you. Then we come to the finger that's in the middle, that finger that the world does not use very nicely. And in fact, it was something that the world did not use very nicely against Jesus. They nailed him to a tall, tall cross, which our tall, tall middle finger reminds us of. But on that tall, tall cross, Jesus died for us. And we can teach the next generation, Jesus died for you. And then as we continue in the five-finger gospel, we come to the truth of the pointer finger and we can point to the next generation and we can point back to ourselves and say, Jesus knows you. He knows everything about us. We don't have to impress him. We don't have to be a certain way or a certain age or a certain anything. He knows us and he wants us to know him as well. And so that leads us to the truth of the thumb. Now, if you are watching this, it's going to be easy to see. If you're listening to this, you're going to have to just do this with me. But as you have your left hand palm facing out, I want you to tuck your fingers into a fist. And I want you to take that thumb and roll it up into a big thumbs up. Can you do that now with me? Take that left hand, palm facing out, and roll those fingers down and the thumb up into a thumbs up. And that thumb reminds us of one more gospel truth that we need to remember and that we can teach the next generation. And that is the truth. Jesus chose you. In Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 5, God says, Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart. That means before anyone else ever even knew you existed. God already did. He loved you. And in all of that, seeing you and dying for you and remembering you and noticing you, he did this. Thumbs up. He chose you. Think about that for a moment. He chose you. He chose you. So here's a fun and meaningful way that we can use our hands to remember this truth. So raise your left hand and give a thumbs up. This represents God's choice. His thumbs up, shall we call it to you? But here's the thing: slowly raise your right hand now. And the question is tuck your fingers and give a thumbs up with your right hand. Will you give a thumbs up back to Jesus? If you're watching right now, do that with me. If you're listening right now, take those hands and do that with me. This is a visual picture of what salvation is all about. God already gave you his yes when he gave you his son to die for you. The question is, the question is, and I'm going to make those two thumbs up again, will you give him your yes? When I was that little girl in the backseat of the car, I knew that God had already done everything for me. I knew that he saw me, that he loved me, that he died for me, that he knew me, and that he chose me. But what the grown-ups in my life taught me, and I am eternally grateful that they taught me this. They taught me that I had to decide if I was going to choose him back, if I was going to say yes to him. And there, at just a little over four years old, that's what I did. And with my little heart and my little voice, I chose Jesus. Just last year, I celebrated the Jubilee, the 50-year mark anniversary of that life and eternity altering decision. You know, maybe you or maybe the child you're discipling, or the teenager you're discipling, or the kid you're discipling, or the young adult, whoever it is, whoever it is. I've talked about this using my hand with the five-finger gospel with somebody dying in the hospital. Maybe you're thinking about this right now. If so, I encourage you to hold up your two hands, palms facing out. Make a thumbs up with that left hand. And remember, Jesus already chose you for God so loved the world. He chose the world. He wants everybody to have a real relationship with him. But now look at that right hand. Make a thumbs up with your right hand and ask the question: Will I choose Jesus? Maybe you've already chosen Jesus. If so, that's the best decision you can ever make. Jesus said that if we believe in him, he gives us the right to become the children of God. That's John chapter 1, verse 12. That's the gospel. That's the invitation. These are the truths of the gospel, saying, Jesus, I know, I know that you see me. Jesus, I believe that you love me, like you tell me in your word. Jesus, I believe that you died for me, like your word says you did. I believe that you paid the price for my sins because of your death. I believe that you know me. I believe that you chose me. You can pray that. You don't have to say my words. You don't have to follow a specific prayer. This is about you and your real relationship with him. My hope is that what I'm saying right now, what you're listening to, will be like the bridge that leads you over to the truth of what God wants to say to you. So I challenge you to spend some time in the devotion-driven discipleship guide so that as you hear him say, I chose you, that you know for sure that you say, I choose you, Jesus, in return. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, even if just in this very moment you began a real relationship with Jesus Christ, each of us who are believers in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have the amazing, incredible opportunity to tell others. Our seek him where we meet with God always leads to speak him where we make him known. You know, the apostle Paul wrote these words in Titus chapter one, verse one. He said, God sent me to help his chosen people believe in Christ more and more. That is such an amazing scripture. It's so good. I'm gonna read it again. God sent me to help his chosen people believe in Christ more and more. You see, when God chooses people and those people choose him back, our job is to help them understand Christ and believe in him more and more. And our opportunity is to help others know they have that chance to choose him back. That's what we get to do now. We get to help other people understand the gospel one finger at a time. To know that Jesus sees them, to know that he loves them, that he died for them, that he knows them, and that he chose them. What incredible, incredible truths that walk us all over the Word of God as we explain the gospel to each and every person, God sends our way. Here's what I know to be true. We can stay quiet, we can keep our faith in Jesus to ourselves, or we can receive the truth that God has called each and every one of us to both seek Him and to speak Him. With Family Disciple Me, we always say discipleship starts with a conversation. So, friend, I challenge you, use the devotion-driven discipleship guide to bolster you, to encourage you, to strengthen you, to challenge you, to empower and equip you to meet with God and make him known. And I can think of no better way to make him known than to share the truths of the gospel with someone else. So, friend, be encouraged, be challenged, be blessed as you do what God has called you to do, fulfilling your part in the Great Commission. I can't wait to meet, maybe in eternity someday, if not in this life, those precious people that you get to lead to the Lord because you've taken the courage and the boldness and the opportunity to share the five finger gospel. Go with God, friend. I'll see you in the next conversation collection.