LEADER PREPARATION

Lesson Summary:

Note: These lessons are designed to be 30 minutes long. If your club time is shorter than this, we encourage you to be prayerful about parts of this lesson to put more or less emphasis on. If limited on time, we urge you to prioritize Tool Time and summarize Dig In, as Tool Time is what prepares you for sharing the Gospel. As always, let the Holy Spirit guide your leadership.

Last week, we talked about how God created the world and everything in it out of love and for love. God created the world to be His home with us. Today, we are going to zoom in and consider who God created us to be within this home. Understanding our identity is made in the image of God empowers us to live lives of purpose as we become the unique people God created us to be and do the unique works God calls us to do.

Take a look at this video from BibleProject as you prepare:

• Image of God – https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/image-of-god/

Main Point

• God created us in His image, and we can find our identity in Him.

Scripture References

• Genesis 1:27
• Psalm 139:16-17
• Ephesians 2:10

Materials Needed

• Blindfold
• Invite Cards
• Testimony Guide
• Prayer Cards

Team Roles

• Host: This Student Leader will lead the Start Up section of the lesson, helping create a fun environment, making everyone feel welcome and included.
• Speaker: This student leader will guide the group in growing deeper in their faith by reading and reflecting on passages of scripture. They will then connect the content to the group’s daily lives by asking practical questions and leading the conversation.
• Other Roles: Promo, Welcome, and Follow Up. 

(7 minutes)
Welcome everyone and be sure to get the names of any new friends.

Icebreaker Game: Happy Bagel
Supplies Needed: Blindfold

Blindfold one volunteer and stand them in front of the group. Instruct other students to take turns disguising their voice and saying the phrase, “Happy Bagel.” The blindfolded student then tries to guess who is talking. If they are successful, they get to keep playing. If they fail, then the student who disguised their voice takes their place. Play until one student correctly guesses the entire group or until you run out of time!

(5 minutes)
Say: Even with the help of a blindfold, some of you still couldn’t hide your identity from the guesser. They knew the sound of your voice because it is one-of-a-kind, unique only to you!
Today, we are going to discuss how God created each of us uniquely in his own perfect image.
Our culture floods us with messages about who we are and how we are “supposed to be.” We can’t scroll through social media for five minutes without seeing something that makes us feel like we aren’t enough.

Ask: Have you ever changed something about yourself to fit into a certain crowd? (Take a few moments for students to share.)

Chasing the approval of others is a revolving door of regret and shame. As soon as we reach a point when we feel accepted, trends shift leaving us lost and disappointed.

But what did God make us to be? What did He intend? Let’s go back to the very beginning to see what God had originally planned.

Read Scripture:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

Now, you may be thinking: “Why would God do that? Why would the Creator choose ME to represent Him to the world, knowing just how imperfect I am?” Let’s look at a few more verses in the Bible for some clues.

Read Scripture:

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! (Psalm 139:16-17)

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

When God was creating everything, even after every animal had air in its lungs and every fish had water in its gills, something was still missing;

His work wasn’t complete until we were a part of it. You and I are God’s crowning jewel, the shining star of His creation. We can know we are wonderfully made because He doesn’t settle for anything less!