Aim:

To help the children understand that they remain special to God as they grow up and change.

Bible base:

Mark 10:13-16; Luke 13:10-13

You will need:

• A picture of yourself as a baby
• A toy car and a set of car keys
• A babygrow suit and an adult-sized jumper
• A cloth or plastic baby book and a thick novel
• A Bible

Preparation

Look up the two Bible passages – if possible look at them in a children’s Bible or work out how to tell the stories simply in your own words.

Presentation

1. Show the children your baby picture and talk to them a little about what you were like.
2. Then discuss how you have changed – size, looks, etc.
3. Show them the toy car and say that as a baby you would have enjoyed having this but now you enjoy driving a real one! (Show them the car keys.)
4. Hold up the babygrow and then the jumper – talk about how you would never fit into the babygrow now but the jumper is just right.
5. Show the children the baby book and the novel, make comparisons and talk about why they are appropriate at the different stages.
6. Talk about how we all grow out of things.  We change and different things happen to us.  Remind them that God cares about us however old we are and whatever happens to us.
7. Tell the children the stories from the Bible which show us how Jesus had time for little children and for an old lady with a bent back.  (Use a children’s Bible or just explain things simply.)

Time to reflect

1. Ask the children to sit very still, close their eyes and to think about what they have heard in the assembly.
2. Remind them of how Jesus treated old and young alike – he had time for the children and time to make an old lady better.
3. As they grow up and things change they will always be special to God.  He won’t stop loving them.