Resources Needed

Resources needed:  Tablet/Laptop to show media  Elastic cord, letter beads, colourful beads (optional) to make bracelets

Title In Christ I am … Learning  Children will understand that ‘transformation’ TRANSFORMED Objectives means being changed from one thing into another  Children will understand what ‘in Christ’ means  Children will understand that God wants to transform us Session Overview This session is the first in the Key Bible Ephesians 1–3 Transformed Life series. Verses We will look at ‘what is Romans 12:2 ‘Don’t be like the people of this world, but let transformation?’ and start with the God change the way you think. Then you will know how to concept that transformation is a do everything that is good and pleasing to him.’ change that happens inside and outside through relationship with 2 Corinthians 5:17 ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the Jesus Christ. This series is about new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!’ learning who we are in Christ and living the Transformed Life.

MEMORY VERSE

Ephesians 1:12 (The Message) ‘It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for’

Timing Activity What children will do and learn

1 5 mins Intro Introduction to series

10 mins Memory verse RAP BAND – All the teams work together to make a rap of the memory verse

5 mins Song Who I Wanna Be (choose one) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0CKc0ShiiI OR Spin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnO0da6wCkU 10 mins Teaching Teaching as below

15 mins Creative Team Time Snack and make a ‘TRANSFORMED’ bracelet

5 mins Responsive Bracelet prayers

End TEAM SUPERSTAR Go round the teams and ask ‘who is your superstar today?’ Leaders give out stickers

Notes for Leading the Session

INTRO Today we start a brand new series. The whole church are learning the same thing for next seven weeks! This means that your parents and brothers and sisters will all be learning the same things so you can all chat about it together and learn together! You will all have special books to go through and things to do as a family.

The series is called Transformed Life. We will be talking later about transformation and what it means to be transformed.

Now let’s play a game about people who were transformed.

2 ACTIVE Pictures of transformation from movies to be printed or shown on a laptop or tablet. Split the group into teams. The teams have to guess what TRANSFORMATION takes place and which movie it is from. Take it in turns to ask the teams, giving the easier ones to the younger teams.

 Car into Bumblebee – Transformers  Ariel’s tail into feet – Little Mermaid  Alien transformations – Ben 10  Beast into Prince – Beauty and the Beast  Dr Banner into Hulk – Avengers  Morphing – Power Rangers  Mother into Bear – Brave  Pumpkin into coach – Cinderella  Evolutions – Pokémon

MEMORY VERSE RAP BAND Split the children into two teams. Both teams clap in a 4/4 rhythm. On 1–2, one team says ‘it’s in Christ’, on 3–4, the other team says ‘who we are’. One person is chosen as the ‘rapper’ and wears a hat and glasses and raps into the mic over the top: ‘It’s in Christ we find out who we are and what we are living for’. You can choose one person from each team to be the rapper. Encourage the children to practise rap at home ready for next week!

SONG Use the video to learn the words and actions for Who I Wanna Be, or dance to the music from Spin.

TEACHING We are starting our TRANSFORMED LIFE series today. We saw some pictures earlier and thought about some great movies of people who were transformed. Who can tell me what ‘transformed’ means?

Transformed means being changed from one thing into another. Watch this video to see an amazing transformation! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTNz6gsIau0

The caterpillar changed from one thing to another, didn’t it? One minute it was a brown stripy caterpillar and then from the inside out it became a chrysalis and then out popped the most beautiful butterfly, who wasn’t going to crawl along the ground anymore and not be noticed but was going to fly and be the most beautiful it could be!

3 This is a great picture of what God wants to do with us. When we love Jesus and we have asked Him to forgive our sins and come and live in us, the Bible says we are ‘in Christ’. This means that God has transformed us and changed us on the inside. God changes us to fly and be the most beautiful we can be on the inside and on the outside.

A man called Paul knew exactly what it was like to be transformed. We will find out more about how next week. Paul wrote a great letter in the Bible [show your Bible] to a group of Christians called the Ephesians. In it he explains to them how they had been changed and transformed because they had believed in Jesus. Each week we will be looking at a bit of this letter and learning how we have been changed and transformed when we are in Christ.

Can you still remember the verse we just learned?

CREATIVE Use lengths of elastic cord and letter beads to create a bracelet with the word TRANSFORMED on it. If you have some colourful beads, you can add these as well. The children can wear this bracelet each week of the series to help them remember that in Christ they are transformed.

PRAYER Gather the children in the centre wearing their bracelets and have them all raise their arms. Pray over them that this series will be a time for them to learn how they have been transformed in Christ and that they would know it and live it out.