WELCOME
Let’s review our verse:
“We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18
According to our verse, do we need a veil to be in God’s presence? Today, we will learn how God’s glory is reflected in us as we move closer to Him.
WARM-UP
Invite an athlete up and tell them to close their eyes; ask them if they can tell you what color your eyes are. Now, tell them to open their eyes and look at you and answer the question.
Invite another athlete and tell them to close their eyes, ask them if you are wearing a ring on your finger/a whistle around your neck/a certain color shoe. Now, tell them to open their eyes and look at you and answer the question.
When you had your eyes closed you didn’t know the answer to the questions, but when you opened your eyes, you could see me and it was an easy question to answer.
WORKOUT
In the ancient world a veil was used to hide or cover something. In the book of Exodus, Moses was someone God chose to talk to and then Moses would tell the people. Moses was who God used to lead God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. Many years into their relationship God and Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai together. When Moses came down to show the people the 10 Commandments his face shone because of the time he spent with God. This made the people afraid, so they asked Moses to wear a veil – to cover the radiance of the Lord.
Why might the people have been afraid of Moses’ shiny face? Perhaps they were afraid because Moses had been so close to God and they knew they were not. They were afraid of God because they did not know Him like Moses did. Just like it was easier to answer the question from our Warm-Up with your eyes open, it is easier to share with others about God when we know Him ourselves.
We don’t need a veil to go before God. Recall our verse for today, We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18
We can go before Him with all of our flaws and imperfections because He already knows them. When we grow closer to God and seek to reflect His glory in our life, those flaws can start to be the pieces of our lives that reflect God the most. When people see our attitude change, how we handle anger change, or how we treat our teammates or opponents change, they see God at work in our lives.
WRAP-UP
Think about whether you have something you feel you want to hide from God and pray about that this week. If there is something you see about God that you want to reflect to others, I challenge you to share that with a friend.
Let’s pray.
“Lord, we are grateful we have full access to You. Thank You that we can come before You with our flaws and imperfections and that You can use those things to bring glory to Your name. Help us to remove our veils and trust You. Help us to bring glory to Your name. Amen.”
Hands in, Whose glory?
God’s glory!