Surely you’ve seen those on-line tests which reveal the Disney Character you are? (Or which Super Hero, or which Disney Princess?) These quizzes can be fun but if you are ranked as Belle, or Mulan, or Prince Charming, does that help you to know who you truly are? Does it push you to get out of bed in the morning?
What is your identity?
Identity is our sense of who we are in relationship to other people. Various elements affect our description of ourselves, including biological, cultural, psychological, and social.
Is there a spiritual side to our identity?
You bet there is!
Did you know that you were born a spiritual person?
(It’s the way God made us.)
How about a little pre-worship preparation? Around the family dinner table? (Or wherever your family is gathered together.) And de-brief afterwards!
Here are some potential discussion points/activities:
Play a dinner table game of Twenty-Questions, focusing on identifying people.
Ask your table guests: What words would describe who you are?
What if we describe ourselves as a violin player, but then, later on, we can no longer afford to play violin? Or what if we say that we are an athlete, but when we get older, we may no longer be able to participate in sports? How can it help to broaden our focus in thinking about who we are — to think beyond what we do, or what we look like?
What words do you suppose Jesus would use to describe you? (Acknowledge the feelings expressed.)
I’m thinking that when we allow Jesus to define who we are, we get a much fuller picture!
Here is one way that is appropriate to see ourselves… Get out a Bible and read this verse from 1 John 3:1:
See what amazing love the Father has given us! Because of it, we are called children of God. And that’s what we really are!
How does it feel to know that you are a “child of God” – something that you never have to worry about growing out of?
For older kids: How can we use the notion of being a child of God to protect us from society’s push to own the next best thing or to be the biggest money-maker?
Here’s a potential “Write it on the fridge” project… Write on the top of a piece of paper “What I Want To Do In My Lifetime.” Allow family members and household guests to add their ideas.
I’m looking forward to hearing what the youth have to tell us about their identity!
Photo credits:
Youth photos used by permission; rest of photos from my archives. Clip art from http://www.wpclipart.com/
It started the next morning with a nature-note from God. How did I miss seeing bright, red tulips outside her old apartment? A hopeful reminder springing-forth. God clearly saying, “I am about to do something new. It is beginning to happen even now. Don’t you see it coming?” (
And, hey! Here’s another useful idea: I can snap a photo to later remember how furniture assembles. 
Hmm… Let’s see. First they went to the garden of olive trees…
Kids learned about praying with your body.
Are you raising a “Go Blue” sports fan? (Or perhaps a “Go Green”?) If you are a fan of a certain team, it’s very likely that your kids are too.
Taking a cue from the Garden of Gethsemane, when you see something green (a houseplant, some produce, a stray toy) thank God for the ability to speak openly with him in prayer!
With the start of the season of 
And secondly, the empty, “old rugged cross” is back… watch it progress slowly—week to week—on it’s Lenten journey from the back of the church all the way to the front.
At this service there were the sacred rituals of the sharing of bread and juice in Holy Communion, and the imposition of ashes—the part where “dust” gets etched onto our foreheads with the words, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. Repent and believe.”
All this is God’s gift to us, offered without price. 
When we hear the story of 
Family Faith Companion 