Mirror, Mirror

Lesson Content

Welcome the children.

Some people say that as we are becoming more and more like Jesus, we are ‘mirroring’ Him, reflecting His love in us for others to see.

Play some mirror games…

Lesson Content

Chat with the children about how, when we choose to live like Jesus, we are growing God’s kingdom inside us. We are bringing God’s Kingdom into the places and people where we go.

Question for the children…

• Who has some ideas about how this works?

When we begin to believe that God is really as wonderful as the Holy Spirit shows us, when we begin to believe that we really are the amazingly wonderful person God says we are, and that He has wonderful plans for us, our hearts becomes increasingly changed, transformed.

We become more confident to live like Jesus. We want to live the way God shows us in the Bible as good ways to live. We take God’s presence with us, because we have the Holy Spirit in us. And as we believe more and more in the truth of God’s power and love, the love from the Holy Spirit flows out to others around us and they can become changed, transformed and God’s kingdom grows.

So God plans a journey for us. It’s as easy as ‘a, b, c’. The journey takes us through opportunities to…

a) believe how amazing God really is

b) believe that we are as amazingly wonderful as God says we are

c) live like Jesus and the way God shows us in the Bible, in the places where we go, with the people we hang around with

So first get the children to check out if ‘a’ and ‘b’ are good.

Question for the children…

• Starting with ‘a’, who can tell us how amazing God is? In what ways do you believe He is amazing?

Encourage everyone to come up with one amazing thing they think about God, something the Holy Spirit has shown them or something amazing that God has done in someone’s life. If they’re not sure if God is really amazing, that’s OK. They don’t have to share. Tell them the Holy Spirit is ready to show them if they ask Him.

Lesson Content

God never meant following Jesus to be really hard to understand or hard to do. Sometimes we make it that way, but it’s really as easy as ‘a, b, c’.

Play the ‘It’s as easy as ‘A, B C’ Game…

Lesson Content

As we are becoming more and more like Jesus, we are ‘mirroring’ Him, reflecting His love in us for others to see.

Children pair up and think of some funny, secret (but kind, of course) messages and write them in mirror writing. One sentence would be plenty. If they find this challenging, the leader could write it into mirror image writing for them.

When everyone is done, they swap their messages with other pairs. The leader gives each pair a mirror. The first pairs to decode the message they have been given wins.

Lesson Content

It’s good to know that God is the truest mirror in the world.

Funhouse mirrors distort what we really look like, but they’re lots of fun.

Play these ‘Fun House Mirrors’ drama games…

Lesson Content

Let the children know we’ll look at ‘b’ now, in the ‘a, b, c’ of following Jesus.

Show the children the painting ‘How God Sees Me: a Painting’ and talk to them about why the lady painted this.

Questions for the children…

The lady who did this painting, painted it because God was showing her about some people. He was showing her that some people at her church that day didn’t realise how God sees them. They didn’t believe that God sees them as amazingly wonderful, so amazingly wonderful, that it is hard to believe. But we can believe it.

God wanted her to paint this to show us that when we look at God, when we let Him and the Bible be our mirror, He will show us how He sees us. This is who we really are.

Questions for the children about the painting…

• At the start, how do you think the kitten sees itself?
• How does God see the kitten?

After the children have offered  their ideas, add these ideas to the discussion as well. Before the kitten had looked to God to find out how God saw her, she believed she was small and powerless and unable to make much difference in life. When she looked to God to find out how God saw her, when she asked God, she discovered God saw her as an amazingly strong lion, courageous and like a king or queen of the jungle.

Questions for the children about themselves…

• Do you believe you are as amazingly wonderful as God says you are?
• How can you check it out?

In the Bible there is a verse that one of Jesus’ disciples wrote to help us check this out. Someone reads James 1: 23-24 while others work out where it is on the Bible chart. A clue: James wrote the same type of book as Paul.

Lesson Content

Let the children know we’ll look at ‘b’ now, in the ‘a, b, c’ of following Jesus.

Show children the Bible and open it to show the mirror inside.

Question for the children…

• Who has some ideas about why I might have taped the mirror to the inside of the Bible?

After the children have offered some ideas, add these ideas to the discussion. When we read the Bible, we find out about God, Jesus and His Kingdom. And we also find out about ourselves, about how God sees us, and about how we are living like Jesus and God show us in the Bible. It is like we are looking inside a mirror. When we read our Bible, and when we talk to God in prayer and with the Holy Spirit, we discover how well our heart is going as we follow Jesus. We see where we have made choices to live the way God shows us in the Bible.

Question for the children…

• What have you discovered about yourself when you have heard or read words from the Bible?

Lesson Content

As we are following Jesus, we are reflecting His nature. Like the kitten and lion painting, God shines out from the mirror to show us what He is like and the way we are in His eyes.

Give each child a mirror and a card. On the plain card are statements about who God says they are. Statements; their Heavenly Father is God, they are truly loved, precious, blameless, a perfect image of the Heavenly Father, created to live forever with Father God and to never die, created to live like Jesus, created to live the way God shows us in the Bible.

Read each statement to the children, and as each statement is read, get them to look in the mirror ask the Holy Spirit…

• “Do I believe this, Holy Spirit? Show me an icon or emoji to help me know how well I believe this.”

If He lets them know they believe it, that’s great. Get them to draw the icon or emoji next to those they really believe.

If He lets them know they’re not sure, get them to ask for His help to believe one statement they’re unsure about.

Give them time to see what the Holy Spirit shows them.

Give them time for the Holy Spirit to show them in the mirror God’s truth about how amazing He is or about how amazing they are in God’s eyes.

Get them to draw whatever He shows them onto the plain card.

If children would like to share about their drawing, have a sharing time.

Lesson Content

Your heart is becoming transformed because of what you believe about God. You take His presence with you, extending His Kingdom, as your love, from Jesus, flows out to others around you, and others become transformed.

• Take home your mirror card and during the week, notice when you are seeing God in your heart as amazing. Notice  when you are realising how amazing you are in God’s eyes. And when you are living like Jesus and the way the Bible shows us to live.
• Give God a really good emoji to let Him know you are noticing.
• His mirror from Heaven shows you are just like Jesus!

And that’s the start of c) living like Jesus and the way God shows us in the Bible.

So this week, enjoy living out c), in the places where you go, with the people you hang around with.

Lesson Content

Read James 1: 23-24 and tell them that this session we’ll be thinking about mirrors and why the Bible has a story about the Bible being like looking into a mirror.

But first, some mirror fun. Tell the children that following Jesus is full of fun, like this game is fun.

Tell the children you are going to pretend you are a person looking into a mirror and they have to be the mirror, copying what you do. Do some everyday tasks like making toast, brushing your hair, getting ready for preschool or childcare, etc. Encourage the children to follow you exactly, copying your facial expressions and body movements. Feel free to include some exaggerated funny moves and faces, like getting knots in your hair and grimacing in pain, or burning the toast, etc. Then let one of the children become the person looking in the mirror and everyone else follows them.

More mirror games. Tell all the children to stand in a circle. You can start off by making a face of a strong emotion, like trying to lift something heavy, or showing very sad face and crying or laughing hysterically. Then everyone follows the theme. After a few turns, you might like to let one of the children become the person making the faces and everyone follows him / her.

Let the young children have a mirror to see how it looks when they make faces. Children love it when you switch the phone to selfie and let them make faces into the phone, but make sure no photos are taken.

Show the children some images from the web of people in funny funhouse mirrors, looking taller, or squashed and shorter, etc. and let them have a giggle. Some apps make this happen, so you might like to show the children how they would look in these apps, but don’t save the images. Ask the children if God sees us as squashed and shorter, with us looking silly. Remind them that God sees us exactly the way we are and He loves us sooo much. The Bible is the truest mirror in the world.

The older children are learning that God never meant following Jesus to be hard to understand or hard to do. It’s really as easy as ‘1, 2, 3’ or blue, red, yellow. Tell the children we’ll play a game about colours, a little like ‘I spy with my little eye’ but swap it with colours. When someone has guessed an object, correctly then the others have a turn guessing. When everyone has guessed, choose a child or several children to have turns saying a colour for their mystery object.

Talk to the children about the Bible being like a mirror. When we hear or read words and stories from the Bible, and when we talk to God in prayer, we discover how well our heart is going as we follow Jesus. Jesus helps us to love God, like Him. Jesus helps us to be kind to other people, like Him. So little by little, we look more and more like Jesus, our hearts become like Jesus’ heart.

View the play that the older children perform. Tell them that the play is about someone who at first didn’t believe that God thinks he is amazing. So he thought he couldn’t really help anyone else. But when he decided to believe what God says about him, that he’s amazing, kind and loving, and that God will help him to be like Jesus, then he was able to help someone and show great kindness to them.

Here are some quiet activities that the children can do while the older children are involved in discussion or prayer time.

Do some ‘mirror’/ symmetry art. Place paint in the middle of paper and fold to create a mirror image. Label one side themselves and the other God. Have some dry ones already done for children to decorate by changing one side into themselves, with legs and arms.

Show children the resource ‘How God Sees Me: a Painting’ (M11L1R4) and ask them how they think God sees them. Does He think they are amazing and good and kind and strong?  Remind them they are His children and God is a king, so they are princesses and princes. Remind them that God gives them power to speak healing in to people. Then let them draw themselves how they believe God sees them.

Place a selection of large leaves cut in half on the craft table. Let children choose one and glue it to one side of a sheet of paper, then let them draw the other side of the leaf. Tell them that God sees them just like Jesus. We are all joined to God in His family, like Jesus is part of God.

Place a selection of face outlines, each cut in half so only one side of the face showing. Let children choose one and glue it to one side of a sheet of paper, then let them draw the other side of the face. Tell them that God sees them just like Jesus. We are all joined to God in His family, like Jesus is part of God.

Make a mirror and frame using silver foil, card and foil cut into the shape of an oval, coloured paper cut as a border for the frame and sequins for decorations. Remind the children that when we read and hear words and stories from the Bible, it is like looking into a mirror to find out how much God loves us and how we are becoming more and more like Jesus.

Finish with a prayer time. Remind the children that when we hear or read words and stories from the Bible, and when we talk to God in prayer, we discover how well our heart is going as we follow Jesus. Jesus helps us to love God, like Him. Jesus helps us to know God loves us, just like Jesus does. Jesus helps us to be kind to other people, like Him. So little by little, we look more and more like Jesus, our hearts become like Jesus’ heart.

Open your Bible and show the children the mirror you have taped into it. Read to the children 1 John 4:19, and tell them that before we even knew about God He loved us. Read to them Matthew 22: 37-39. First the Bible, our mirror, shows us God loving everyone of us and then Jesus helps us to love Him and other people. Model a prayer thanking God for loving us before we even knew Him. Then model a prayer asking Him to help us keep learning about Him and Jesus, so we shine out from the mirror looking just like Jesus. Let the children add any words they would like, about how much God loves us and / or about how they love Him and Jesus.