This is one set of short (NIV) Bible passages you could use in communicating the good news. These are used in our Scripture Memory Playing Cards (which are now available on the InterVarsity Store and also show each verse in Spanish and simplified Chinese). The Bible verses are on 13 cards starting with the ace of hearts and ending with the king of hearts.
- Creation: Very Good Col. 1:16 & Gen. 1:31a - For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
- People: Not So Good Isaiah 53:6 & Romans 3:23 - We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- God Sent His Son John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- Jesus’ Authority Matthew 9:6-7 & John 10:30 - “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 30 “I and the Father are one.”
- Jesus’ Nature Philippians 2:6-8 - Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made inhuman likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
- His Resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 - For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
- Forgiveness 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
- Saved for Sure Romans 10:9-10 - 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. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
- Saved by Grace Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
- Citizens and Family Ephesians 2:19-20 - Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
- Life with Love John 15:10 & 13 - “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
- Life with Focus Hebrews 12:1-2a - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
- Diverse Heaven Revelation 7:9a - After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
