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TfT Week 10 – Image Reflecting

Week Ten – Image Reflecting

SUMMARY: Students bear the image of God in their daily lives. All humans are image reflectors.

GOING DEEPER

While we don’t always ACT righteously, and while we don’t always DO things successfully, what we ARE is image-bearers of God. (Larry Day, Manhattan Teachers Convention, 1988) Being an image-bearer isn’t something we DO. It is deeper than that. Image bearer is what we ARE. We reflect God’s image! We are all image-bearers of Christ! Think about it like a mirror – the image of the ‘real person’ is reflected in the mirror. You don’t see the actual real person, but you see what they are like. All the characteristics we admire in God are also within us – we are His reflection.

And not only us! All humans were created in that image. Sin can often fog the mirror and make the reflection more difficult to see. Challenging our students in their learning activities to see themselves and each other as reflecting God’s image is only part of our task. We need to also challenge them to see the image-bearer in the hungry child, the hardened criminal, the school bully and the careless teacher!

“By giving dignity to the elderly, to widows and orphans, thus honouring the image of God in them; by rescuing those who have been trafficked, demonstrating our belief that they are fearfully and wonderfully made; by working toward racial unity and reconciliation, concurring there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free because we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28); by offering hospitality to the stranger, the immigrant and the refugee, ministering to their needs as if ministering to Christ himself (Matthew 25:31-46); or on a smaller scale, by smiling at the person next to you at the checkout, or by inviting that lonely student or neighbour for Sunday lunch.” – Kathie Filby

People around us often form impressions of who God is by looking at God’s followers. Students need to learn that while they are image-bearers, they can distort the image by what they do. The more Christ-like the actions are, the more clearly Christ’s light shines in a dark world.


BIBLICAL REFERENCES 

Could be used for devotions or memory work.

Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Other Passages to Ponder:

  • Colossians 3:12-17 – clothe yourselves with Christ-like qualities.
  • Matthew 25:31-46 – whatever we do to people, we do to God because people are image-bearers.
  • James 1:23-252
  • Corinthians 4:10
  • Colossians 3:12-14

SONGS

You can use these as part of your morning devotions or to play in the background during work.


ACTIVITIES

Ideas that you can connect to the learning that is happening or encourage in your student’s free time.

  • Express LOVE by telling someone something special that everyone can see in them
  • Embrace God’s PEACE – spend time in prayer
  • Practice PATIENCE with your friends and family
  • Pray for other churches in your community
  • Do an “All Made in God’s Image” craft
  • Memorize Scripture
  • Educate yourself on issues of inequality
  • Study a different culture/church denomination
  • Organize a “Don’t Put People in Boxes” event
  • Analyze the body images projected in advertisements
  • Forgive someone

DIGITAL RESOURCES

Digital books, devotion ideas, online resources, blog articles, etc.

Student Focused:

Teacher/Parent Focused:


FORMATIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES (FLEX)

These are experiences that connect our learning/work to real people/problems (to go beyond our normal classroom walls). These are authentic opportunities for students to practice living the Kingdom story.

Choose someone that you want to reflect God’s image to at this time. Maybe someone that you have a relationship with that needs restoration. Maybe someone that you want to celebrate or encourage in a difficult time. Then choose one of the Throughlines (roles that we are invited to play in God’s Story) and print off the corresponding postcard. Write a note on the back of the postcard highlighting how you see them reflecting God in that way; how you’ve seen them reflecting the light of God to others… or to you.


REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS/SENTENCE STARTERS

It is said that we don’t learn from doing, but from reflecting on what we do. Give students time and space to reflect on their experiences and learning this week.

  • How does seeing the image of God in others affect your interactions with people?
  • What are some ways you can imitate Jesus?
  • Who is somebody you need the Holy Spirit to help you see God’s image in?
  • When is a time you experienced the fruit of the Spirit from someone else?
  • Why should we reflect God’s image?
  • Where does God’s light need to be reflected in the upcoming week?
TEACHING FOR TRANSFORMATION (TFT)
RESOURCES FOR PARENTS & STUDENTS – Provided by Prairie Centre for Christian Education
Introduction: Continuing Christian Education at Home2020-04-24T10:15:41-06:00

Teaching for Transformation is a model for how to integrate Christian faith and learning. For several years Edmonton Christian has been using this model to guide teachers and students through what it means to play our roles in God’s story.  Some of what we do can get a bit technical but essentially it means that we are asking each other to see God’s story and then to live that story. Teachers have been using deep hopes and storyline and something called Formational Learning Experiences to help students play their role in God’s unfolding story.

TFT offers 10 ways to think about how we play our roles in God’s story.  These 10 things are called Throughlines. You have probably heard about them already.  There are lots of ways to be on the lookout for these throughlines but it’s not enough to simply list them or just talk about them.  We are invited to BE those throughlines.

The Prairie Centre for Christian Education, an organization that supports our schools, has put together some resources that will help to integrate the throughlines into this new online learning journey that you are going through.

As we go through the weeks we will attempt to provide you with some of these resources that will help your family dive into a throughline.  There will be an overview of the throughline, scripture connections, related songs, activities and digital resources. There will then be suggestions for how you and your family can BE the throughline.  As you engage in the activities we invite you to post pictures to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter using the hashtag #edmchristianathome of your family engaging in the throughline.

Hopefully, this resource will be helpful for you and your family.  Feel free to pick and choose activities as you see fit. Perhaps, as families, you can find creative ways to integrate some of these activities into a lesson that was presented by a teacher.  Perhaps teachers have already been using some of these resources and suggested this already. This resource is only a suggestion but it can be a great part of the learning.

Previous Weeks

Week 1 – Community Building

Week 2 – Beauty Creating

Week 3 – God Worshipping

Week 4 – Servant Working

Special Resource – Deep Hope

Week 5 – Creation Enjoying

Week 6 – Justice Seeking

Week 7 – Order Discovering

Week 8 – Idolatry Discerning

Week 9 – Image Reflecting

2020-06-22T08:39:09-06:00