(10 minutes, easy set-up)
Students will be challenged to consider how seeing the universal need for Christ changes the way they see their lives in the world.
(10 minutes, easy set up)
Preview “Perspective is Everything” on page 11 of the Rootedstudent book OR download the “Perspective is Everything” activity sheet. Also provide pens.
Learning Goal: Students will examine the source of hope in their life.
Direct students’ attention to page 11 of the student book. Say: In today’s world, people believe that there are many ways of looking at something, all of which may be “true for you but not for me.” Ask students if they are familiar with this saying. Say: This is often said about personal identity, purpose in life, and belief in God. Bring their attention to the image on the page that depicts an open book. Ask whether students see the book as opening toward them or away from them. Clarify that this is a simple illustration of the way that people can see the same thing in different ways.
Say: Today we’ve examined a prayer from Paul that our eyes would be opened to the real hope of being called into an eternal relationship with God, the amazing fact that God sees His people as a valuable treasure that He purchased with the death of Jesus, and the life-changing power of the gospel. These things are unchanging truths. Clarify that while some people might choose to look to other things for meaning and purpose, there is one true point of perspective when it comes to God.
Instruct students to draw lines from the two top corners of the book to the dot of the “i” above in the title. (This will create a 3D box of the optical illusion.) Point out that now everyone can see the true shape on the page. Say: One simple point can change everything. What have your eyes been opened to in this lesson? Direct students to the “You” page. Explain that they will spend a minute writing about anything they have seen in this lesson that changes the way they see themselves. Ask the following questions: What have you been putting your hope in? How does God see you? What has He done for you? After a few minutes, direct their attention to the “Others” column, then prompt them to do the same thing for the way they see others in light of how God sees them. Ask: What do you see others putting their hope in? How does God see them? What has He done for them? Finally, direct everyone’s attention to the new “top” of the box they have drawn. Say: The gospel changes everything. Write what you now see as the world’s greatest need. Ask: What do we all share in common?
Last, allow students to share any “Aha!” moments in which they began to see things in a new light. Then transition to the closing prayer.