emacs/var/backup/!home!chris!org!lessons!lesson_5_image_bearers.org~

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:ID:       20211005T131637.421280
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#+TITLE: Lesson 5 - Image Bearers
#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
#+CREATED: 10/05/21 - 01:16 PM
* PLAN
** TODO TFC todos list [0%] [0/14]                                :noexport:
SCHEDULED: %{Scheduled TODO}T
- [ ] Write lesson
- [ ] Verse for devotions
- [ ] Pick game
- [ ] Practice Lesson twice
- [ ] Tell Ministry Team their jobs
- [ ] Write MT plan
- [ ] Print Lesson
- [ ] Write up announcements
- [ ] Collect pictures from previous week
- [ ] Songs into Proclaim
- [ ] Stop, Drop, and Pray verse
- [ ] Build Proclaim
- [ ] Game supplies
- [ ] Print 3 copies of schedule

* LESSON
** Intro
Real Quick: What was the first question we looked at?? What was the second? (SLIDE 1)
- Before we get into our next question, watch this video:
- Video - “Funny Animals Acting Like Humans

So those animals thought that they were kind of human. BUT how are people different from animals?
- Brainstorm together. Call out and list as many answers as you can think of! 
  - Write on whiteboard???
  - Don’t discuss yet…

We’re going to see how the Bible answers this question! Open in prayer

Here’s the question we’re looking at for the next couple of weeks: (SLIDE 4) Do I have worth and value?

The first question we’ll look at to help us answer that is: 1. How did God create human beings distinct from every other thing he created?

Ok, get out your Genesis 1-3 booklets.  
The past two weeks we have been focusing on God as our Creator and how our Creator is different from us.  Do you remember some of the ways God is different than His creation? 

Look back at Gen. 1 – and look for the place where you marked “according to its kind”.
- When and how was that phrase used?
  - It was always used in connection with plants, animals, birds, fish.
Read Gen. 1:26-27 aloud – (choose a good reader)
- What was different about the creation of human beings from the rest of creation?  Make a list.
  - He made man in His own image. 
  - He gave them dominion over everything else
  - Sometimes people tend to raise the value of animals as equal to that of people, but when we look at this account, humans are clearly created different and they ARE different! 
- Video (SLIDE 6) – https://vimeo.com/31377842 - Humans are unique

(SLIDE  7) Turn to Genesis 2 in your booklets and follow along as we read vs. 1-9. (Click again for audio)
Read Gen. 2:1-9 (can use the pre recorded version – or choose a good reader)
- What mental picture do you get here? 
  - God had everything in place in creation to make the perfect place for man – and then he became very involved in the crowning point of creation. Before that, He was just making preparations for this moment!
- How did God create man? (vs 7)
- Can you imagine being Adam and the first thing he saw was God’s face breathing life into him?
  - What did he say? What would have been his reaction?
- How does this description reinforce the uniqueness of humans?
  - Man alone received the breath of life from God. Man alone was FORMED into being, not just spoken into being. 
- Is there anything to add to or subtract from our list we made after reading these verses?

Moving on to our next question that will help us answer: Do we have worth and value?: (SLIDE 8) 2. What does it mean that God made people in his own image?

We’re going to take some time to dive into this word image.
- Have students circle the word image in Genesis 1:26-27
- We often hear the phrase image of God.  How would you explain this to someone who has never heard it before?
- What other word in these verses describe image? (likeness)
- What is an image? 

For example: Look at this Giraffe Guy (SLIDE 9)
- The real giraffe – hair, eyes, height – and then just an image
- How does a mirror help us understand the idea of our being made in the image of God?
  - Can we reflect God perfectly? 
(SLIDE 10) - “Man is a finite reflection of the infinitely perfect God” 

We need to understand this about God:
- (SPACE) Things we cannot posses/communicate that God has: Spirit, Infinite, Eternal, Unchangeable
- (SPACE) MAN is: A Living Being, Finite, Mortal, Changeable. 

Attributes of God we can communicate: Wisdom, Power, Holiness, Justice, Goodness, Truth
- The Hebrew word for image means to be a resemblance or representation. The essence of being a human is to bear the image of God.  God designed the whole of a person – body and soul – to reflect what he is like in many ways, including reason, morality, language, personality, and creativity, as well as the capacity to rule and live in relationships governed by love and commitment.  

Question to Ponder (SLIDE 11)
Why is it significant to know you and every person are created in the image of God?
(SPACE) “Here lies our true worth. We are made in God’s image and are therefore valuable to God and others.  God loves men and women, as he does not and cannot love the animals, plants, or inanimate matter. Because of that love – he feels for them, identifies with them in Christ, grieves for them, and even intervenes in history to make individual men and women into all that he has determined they should be.” 

Q: (SLIDE 12) So, do I have worth and value?
A:  (SPACE) I am a person of great worth because God created me in his own image, after his own likeness.  

When we understand what it means to be an image-bearer of God it:
- It affects the way I look at God
- It affects the way I look at myself
- It affects the way I look at others – we talk about this more next week!

So What? 

To wrap up we’re going to watch a video. This video shows a lot of different people holding signs with words that identify how they see themselves. A lot of times we see ourselves as unlovable or other negative things. As you watch this video, I want you to write down any of those negative things you see, that you identify with – maybe it’s anger, maybe it’s feeling abandoned – whatever it is, write it down. And then I want you to watch and see what the things they believe about themselves turn into. 
(SLIDE 13) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSIVjjY8Ou8 Beloved: Treasured, Prized, Highly Regarded

After the video give them the opportunity to come up and trade in the lies that they might believe about themselves with a new card. A card that is true because we were created in God’s image!!