Let’s teach kids to keep their minds on Christ! How do we do that? I think this object lesson will help you convey the heart of this message. Before you begin teaching you’ll need to print one or more illusion pictures, like the ones that were popular in the 90s. You might see them described as “magic eye” pictures but they are really just 3D illusion prints. Avoid those. I typed in “Christian stereograms” into my favorite search engine and got a ton of great prints. Place the prints up where kids can see them like on a bulletin board or a white board.
Here’s what I told my class:
When you worry about a situation or a problem you can become anxious. Once you have anxiety, you can become depressed. Depression is a difficult thing to shake off. Did you know that even children can get depressed? Depression is more than just feeling sad about something. It’s a sad hopeless feeling that just won’t go away on its own. But you can defeat it! The Bible tells us how we can defeat this anxiety and depression. Let’s read Philippians 4:8 together.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)
Pretty amazing! So thinking on good things like holiness and purity will help us. I believe that. How many of you have seen a scary movie before? What about a sad movie? That’s a lot of us! Didn’t you feel scared after a scary movie? Didn’t you feel sad after a sad movie? That’s because you sat for two hours being scared or sad. Your focus was on that.
See this picture? This is called a stereogram. It’s an illusion picture. If you focus really hard on it you’ll see the hidden picture. There’s something good hidden in here! Let’s focus for a few minutes to see what we can find. If you find the hidden message keep it to yourself. Don’t give it away! (Allow kids time to find the message.)
Let’s focus on the good things God has created!
Read more from Mimi by following her blog at Tools for Kids Church.
Godly Attitudes: Keeping Your Mind on Christ Object Lesson (Philippians 4:8)
