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Seeing is Believing

Key Stage

1 and 2

Theme

Seeing is Believing

Preparation

If possible, find someone to perform a magic trick, or use a clip from a magic show on TV or video.

Content

Watching a magician can be an exciting and amazing thing. We watch something happen, but we aren't sure how it happened. (Demonstrate a magic trick here.)

We can't see what happens in the middle of a trick, but we know something did happen because by the end of the trick something has obviously changed. Sometimes we believe things that we cannot see.

We cannot see God but we believe he is there. Look around at the world and there are lots of signs of his presence - the plants that appear each spring, and grow through the summer, the birds that fly in the sky, the birth of a new baby - each thing more amazing than any magic trick. He has given us the most precious present of all, our lives. We may not see God, but these things help us to believe and know he is there.

End by reading the words of the song 'It happens each spring'.

Development

IDEAS TO DEVELOP THROUGH THE WEEK:

  • It can be hard to believe things we cannot see. The Bible tells us how one of Jesus' friends found this out. Read about Jesus and Thomas in John 20:24-29. You will need to explain the context (Thomas did not believe Jesus had risen from the dead after he had been crucified. Jesus was proving to him that he had really died and risen again by showing the wounds that the crucifixion had made - it was not just some kind of magic trick).
  • Use the words from the song 'I'm very glad of God' to think about how, although we can't see God as a physical presence, we can see evidence of him all around us. Similarly, we can hear him through all the sounds in our lives.
  • A quick thought: when we are in bed at night and wake up, we are alone. But usually we feel safe. Why? Because even though we can't see anyone we know that our parents, or whoever cares for us, are nearby. Think about how this can be related to our relationship with God.

Activity

  • What things do we know are there, or happen, even though we cannot see them - like Mum thinking about us while we are at school. How do we know?
  • Using the words from the song 'I'm very glad of God', children can either write or draw examples to illustrate the phrases 'In every lovely thing I see, God smiles at me!' and 'In every lovely sound I hear, God speaks to me!'

Songs

'I'm very glad of God' (Someone's Singing, Lord, A & C Black, 22)
'He gave me eyes so I could see' (Someone's Singing, Lord, A & C Black, 19)
'It happens each spring' (Harlequin, A & C Black, 15)