Family Worship (April 19)

The Great Costume Mix-Up
Have you ever played dress-up? Maybe you put on a superhero cape and felt like you could fly, or you put on a crown and pretended to rule a kingdom. It’s fun to pretend, but eventually, the "fit" has to come off. When you take off the mask, you’re still just you.
In our lives, we sometimes try to wear a "Christian costume." We act extra nice when a teacher is looking, or we use our "church voice" on Sunday mornings. We want everyone to think our "fit" is perfect! But God says that being a follower of Jesus isn't like wearing a costume. It’s more like looking in a mirror. If you have a giant smear of chocolate on your face and you look in the mirror, you see the truth! James tells us that God’s Word is that mirror. It shows us who we really are—kids who are loved by God but who also need His help to change from the inside out.

James 1:22–25 (NIV)
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Discussion Questions

1. James talks about a person who looks in a mirror and then immediately forgets what they look like. Have you ever "forgotten" you were a follower of Jesus when you were angry at a sibling or tempted to be mean?
2. Why is it better to do what the Bible says instead of just listening to it?
3. What does it look like to "check your heart" instead of just checking your outward appearance?

Family Activity: The "Mirror vs. Mask" Challenge
Supplies: A handheld mirror and a piece of paper/mask for each person.

Part 1 (The Mask): Have everyone draw a "Perfect Face" on their paper—someone who looks like they never make mistakes and always has it together. Hold the masks up to your faces. Talk about how tiring it is to try to act "perfect" for other people all the time.

Part 2 (The Mirror): Now, put down the masks and pass around the real mirror. As each person looks at themselves, have a parent say: "God loves the person in this mirror. He doesn't want a mask; He wants to help you grow!"

The Challenge: Keep the mirror on the kitchen table this week. Every time someone sees their reflection, they have to say one thing they heard in the Bible that they want to do that day (like being kind, sharing, or telling the truth).

Prayer
Dear God, thank You that You don't ask us to wear a mask or pretend to be perfect. Thank You for Your Word, which acts like a mirror to show us the truth. Help our family to not just be "listeners," but to be "doers." Please implant Your Word deep in our hearts so that we start to look more like Jesus every single day. Amen.

Memory Work:

New City Catechism
16. What is sin?
Sin is rejecting or ignoring God in the world he created, not being or doing what he requires in his law.

Memory Verse
James 2:26 (ESV)
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.