Author Archives: Lisa Jones

How do you spell harvest? – Harvest

Aim

To encourage pupils to be ready to share with those in need

Bible base

Luke 16:19-31 – the rich man and Lazarus

You will need:

  • 7 pieces of card, each one showing a letter of the word ‘harvest’
  • Some unusual fruit (eg a star fruit, a fig, a kiwi fruit, a mango, an avocado; a toffee apple – for fun!)
  • A diagram of ‘the global’ village (see illustration) either on large card or via a digital projector.
  • 6 jam-filled, sugar-coated doughnuts
  • A roll of kitchen towel

Preparation

Content

Introduction

1. Begin by saying that you are going to be thinking about the meaning of harvest time in this assembly.

2. Ask for seven volunteers. Give each of them one of the cards showing a letter from the word ‘harvest’. Ask them to order themselves, so that the letters spell the word ‘harvest’.

Harvest time is about…

• EARTH

1. Ask the volunteers to order themselves so the letters spell ‘earth’.

2. Say that harvest time is about celebrating all the good things the earth provides. Remind pupils that there is produce in our shops from all over the world. Some of it is familiar, some less so.

3. Show pupils the pieces of ‘unusual’ fruit, one at a time. Ask them if anyone can tell you what each is called. If the person you ask gets the answer correct, give them the piece of fruit. (Show them a toffee apple for fun!)

4. Comment that the variety of food in the world is staggering. And there is so much of it – enough to feed twice the world’s population. And all this is what is remembered at harvest time – as a gift from God.

• STARVE

1. Ask the volunteers to rearrange themselves, so that the letters spell the word ‘starve’.

2. Say that in spite of the vast supplies of food on our planet, people are starving – not just a few people tucked away in the corner of the world, but millions of people!

3. Say that if this world of 5.7 billion people were described as if it were a global village of 5000 people, we would discover some interesting facts (Display the diagram of ‘the global village’). Talk about the contrasts which exist between the lives of the rich and the poor.

4. Comment that the world’s resources are not evenly spread. Ask: How can this be put right?

• SHARE

1. Ask the volunteers to order themselves so that the letters spell the word ‘share’.

2. Announce that you could all ‘share’ now! Ask who would like a doughnut. Ask for three more volunteers.

3. Give each volunteer a doughnut and give them this instruction: This doughnut must be eaten, but you must not lick your lips!

4. Tell the audience you would like them to help with this challenge by shouting, ‘Licking your lips!’ if they spot anyone doing just that. Have the kitchen towel handy!

5. Allow about thirty seconds for the challenge. At the end of the ensuing mayhem, see who has eaten the most without licking their lips.

6. Then remind them that the instruction was that the doughnut must be eaten, but that they must not lick their lips! Ask how else they could have achieved the task. Eventually someone will realise that it could be done by feeding someone else!

7. Then give each of the three volunteers another doughnut and ask them to go and feed as many people as possible!

8. After a few moments ask them to return to their seats and give them a round of applause.

• HEART

1. Ask the audience what they think will have to happen for people to be willing to share on a global – or even local – scale.

2. Say that the final word you want your volunteers to spell is ‘heart’. Ask the volunteers to order themselves so that the letters spell the word ‘heart’.

3. Say that for people to be willing to share so that everyone in the world has all they need, there needs to be a change of heart – starting with you and me. It has been said that we need to live more simply, so that others may simply live!

Application

1. Tell the story which Jesus told about the rich man and the poor man called Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Lazarus sat each day at the gate of the rich man, begging. In the story, they both died. The poor man went to heaven and the rich man went to hell. The point of the story wasn’t that the rich man was to blame for the poor man’s state, but that he ignored him and did nothing to help.

2. Comment that it’s easy to think that we can’t do anything. After all, the poor and the starving are too far away for us to be able to make any difference, aren’t they? But we can do something: we can give our money to those working to relieve hunger: and we can ask God to change our hearts – now, today, so that we are more willing to share with those around us here.

 

I remember when – Remembrance Day & Forgiveness

Bible base

Matthew 5:9,38–48

 Things you’ll need:

  • Items from the past, eg old vinyl records, Rubik’s Cube, large mobile phone, recordings of old songs to play.
  • Items from their lives today, eg current CDs, the latest games console, small mobile phone.
  • Equipment to play old songs, if using.
  • Remembrance day ‘poppies’.

Preparation

  • Set up equipment for playing music, if using.
  • Devise extra quiz questions, if needed.
  • If you have enough poppies to give the students one each, get some volunteers to give them out as the students enter.

Presentation

1 Show the students some of the items from the past you’ve brought in. You might like even to play an old song or two. Talk about how the items from the past have been surpassed by newer things.

2 Do this quiz, encouraging participation: ‘I remember when…’ The students have to tell you the year of the events. Below are some memorable events and their dates. Depending on time you have available, you might want to add some more notable dates.

You could do the quiz either by simply asking the audience, with hands up for answers; by dividing the audience in two, each section competing against each other; or having a competition between two teams of volunteers at the front.

Ask: In which year did the following events take place?

  • JF Kennedy shot (1963)
  • Man landed on the moon (1969)
  • The Falklands war (1982)
  • Bomb at the Atlanta Olympics (1996)
  • Princess Diana died (1997)
  • The World Trade Center destroyed by terrorist attack (2001)

3 Talk about the idea of history repeating itself, for example:

  • Old fashions come back in to fashion, eg mini-skirts, flares;
  • War re-occurs, eg Falklands War, Gulf War, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq.
  • Violence and terrorism, eg September 11, suicide bombs in Israel.

4 Show the students a Remembrance Day poppy. Explain that these were first sold and worn as reminders of the fields of France covered in red poppies during World War I and also reminders of the bloodshed in wars since.

After the two major world wars in Europe in the first half of the last century, the British Legion wanted future generations never to forget the atrocities of war and to remember those who had died for their country.

5 Say that they might have heard these words, often spoken at this time of year, in remembrance of people who have given their lives in wars:

‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. They shall grow not old as we who are left grow old, age shall not weary them not the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them. When you go home, tell them of us and say, “For your tomorrow we gave our today”.’ Kohima Memorial in Burma

6 Explain that some Christians, who were pacifists, did not fight in the two World Wars, believing that, whatever the reasons, it is always wrong to kill others and that other ways of making peace should be found. Other Christians believed it was right to go to war and gave their lives to preserve freedom and peace for others.

7 Explain that, whether we believe war is right or wrong, the Bible talks about the importance of being willing to forgive, and about reconciliation and seeking peace wherever possible. That applies to every day quarrels between people too.

8 Read out some of these verse from the Bible: Matthew 5:9,38–48.

Reflection

Ask the students:

  • How would you like to be remembered?
  • In what ways could you contribute to making peace (in school, your family, your community, the world)?
  • Can you forgive others, when you need to, and not seek revenge or retribution?

Response

1 Tell the students you are going to have a short time of quiet, when you want them to think honestly about the following:

• Are there people at home or school who they need to forgive?

Tell them they could ask God to help them forgive others.

• How could they help make peace between themselves and someone else, or even in the wider world?

Remind them they could ask God to help them do something about this today.

2 Finally, get them to look at their own poppy or the one you’re showing them. Encourage them, every time they see one of these at this time of year, to remember what it means and to let it challenge them to work for peace, in big and small ways.

 

 

What is an assembly?

Written by Rob Steward, SU schools development worker for NW

What is an assembly?

  • Hundreds of children squeezed tightly into a hall, with food remains from lunch time stuck to their feet being talked at for 30 minutes.
  • A small group of children listening to a song, or a story maybe whilst sitting comfortably on the carpet in the classroom.
  • A PowerPoint presentation uploaded on the shared school server for teachers to use in their own classrooms.

In a busy school day it is often difficult to ensure that the legal requirement for a daily act of worship can be fitted in especially if the logistics of getting pupils to and from the hall take as much time as the assembly itself.

As a Christian with experience of teaching myself, I see the validity and opportunities made available through what is called daily collective worship with large sections of the school meeting together. In the increasing secularisation of the ‘school experience’, assemblies are one of the largest windows of opportunity for churches to make links with the school community. Furthermore, an awareness of identity and community is established when large groups worship together, and these experiences in early childhood serve to underpin their growing understanding of church community, worship and the role of music in our interaction with God.

However it is also possible to create an environment for collective worship in the classroom. There are obvious benefits in this model as it takes up less time but can still involve listening to a song, times of reflection, a story or other elements of collective worship. Pupils are stopping to worship in a smaller, more intimate setting and led by their own classroom teacher. But what happens if the classroom teacher feels unable or inadequate to develop effective times of collective worship?

Recently I have heard from a school in which many of their acts of collective worship are now done in classrooms with the use of a classroom computer. The head teacher pre prepares a PowerPoint presentation and uploads it on the shared school server for teachers to use in their own classrooms. Suddenly even reluctant teachers, unsure of what collective worship is, have the capacity to adapt, facilitate and take a lead. The scope for this is huge. Videos, songs, quotes and photos can all be used in smaller environments for the children to reflect on and use.

To think about !

Are you able to provide a service for your local school by creating similar presentations for schools to use in the classroom? if you would like to explore this opportunity more why not email Rob on RobS@scriptureunion.org.uk for more information on how to begin.

 

Prayer and Assembly

Prayer and assembly

Time to pray or time to reflect?

Lisa Jones, Schools development worker for the South East considers this question:

You have arrived at that point in an assembly when you need to give the children an opportunity to respond. Now is the crunch question. Do you ask them to reflect or to pray? This is something to consider as you prepare for the assembly rather than leave it until you stand before the assembled group.

Some things to consider:

  • What is my relationship with the school and with the head teacher in particular?
  • What guidelines does the school give for their acts of collective worship?
  • Is there an expectation that I will ask the children to pray or not?
  • What am I aiming to do in the assembly?

Legally acts of collective worship are to be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian nature, unless the school has applied for a determination. However it does not mean that it gives us carte blanche to say any prayer.

Standing at the front of the whole school and seeing the faces of the children I am acutely aware of my position of responsibility and therefore I carefully consider what am I asking these children to join in with. We need to do the thinking beforehand so that when we invite them to join in we do so confident that we have responsibly helped them think things through.

If prayer is not part of the schools regular activity and you have a good relationship with the school, then you may want to suggest doing an assembly on prayer.

Another point I ponder in my preparation is what am I actually aiming to do in this assembly and what is my aim with assemblies generally. Therefore doing an assembly on prayer may be particularly useful. The assembly can help the children explore what prayer actually is and you can try a few different types to encourage more exploration. There are some ideas in this website about assemblies on prayer. Schools are concerned with learning about faith including practices such as prayer, so for those schools less confident or experienced in offering opportunities to pray you may be able to help them explore how to do so in a way that everyone is comfortable. There must always be an opportunity to opt out but when addressed properly you may be surprised by how many want to participate. For some prayer ideas have a look at Ultimate Creative prayer or visit our website .

Having said all this it is always good to leave students with something to ponder over in the days to come. Points of reflection can be built into the body of the assembly as well as at the end of the presentation. It can then be time to reflect and to pray.

Other websites to consider: schoolswork.co.uk and assemblies.org.uk

 

Family Matters – Extended Family

Topic:

the extended family

Aim

  • To help pupils see that the Bible affirms the extended family.
  • To help pupils understand the importance of supporting each other.

Things you’ll need

If you use the Key Stage 1 option you will need a flip chart and pens.

Preparation

If possible, arrange for a class to practice the opening activity before the assembly.

Bible Base

Ruth 1-4

Content

1 Ask for twenty volunteers, ten boys and ten girls. Divide them into two groups – one group of girls, one group of boys. Ask each group to stand in a circle, all facing to the right. Then they must all sit down on the knees of the person behind them. When they are all sitting down, they must wave their arms in the air. (The reason for having separate boy and girl teams is to avoid their embarrassment at having to sit on each other!) As they are trying to do this, explain to everyone else just how difficult it is to do. Congratulate your volunteers on their efforts, however well they do.

2 Point out that in that exercise everyone needed to rely on everyone else for it to work. It wasn’t just the people nearest to you who needed you, but even the people on the other side of the circle. Often we are good at helping and caring for people near to us, but not for those we think of as further away. In the Bible it says that God wants people to look after the people who are close to us, like parents, brothers, sisters etc; but he also wants us to care for people further away from our immediate families, like uncles, aunts, cousins and so on.

3 Tell the pupils that in the Bible we read about Ruth and her family, who had some sad and difficult events in her life. Tell Ruth’s story:

Ruth lived with her husband and his mother who was called Naomi. Then there was a famine and Ruth’s husband died of hunger. Ruth looked after Naomi, her mother-in-law, someone who as very close to her. Even when Naomi, told her she could go, Ruth stayed with Naomi to care for her.

Ruth and Naomi travelled to the country where Naomi was born. There, Ruth worked in the field collecting corn for food. She went along after the farmers and collected the scraps they missed for her and Naomi to eat. Ruth worked in the field of someone called Boaz. When Naomi found out, she was pleased, because Boaz was a distant relative, someone who might help them. One day Ruth told Boaz that he was a distant relative of hers, and how poor she and Naomi were. Boaz knew that he had to look after them properly, so he married Ruth and looked after her and Naomi.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

Ruth knew that she had to look after Naomi. Boaz knew he had to look after both Naomi and Ruth. The Bible says that we should care for people near to us, and those not so near. Just like the sitting game, we all need to support each other, even if the people are not close relatives.

For everyone

We all have families, whether they are big or small. We can learn to be people who care about those close to us, and also those not so near. We can write or phone or help with shopping or cleaning, or just sit and chat. By giving our time we can show we really care.

Response

Pray, thanking God for our families. Mention some of the people listed if you do the Key Stage 1 option. Ask God to help us to become people who care for those close to us, and those not so near.

Key Stage 1 option

1 Instead of the sitting game, ask the pupils how many people live in their house. Write up their answers on a flipchart so that everyone can see. Ask the pupils which relations live in their house (eg Mum, Dad, Grandma and so on). Then ask which relatives live in different houses, and which ones live overseas. Write up all the answers. You could find out who has the most people living at home, or the most relatives in more than one country.

2 Talk about all the different relatives and how some are very close to us, like our mums; others are not so close to us, like our aunts. They might live near, or even with us. In the Bible, we read that God thinks all our families are important, however big or small, and that each person in the family is important. Go on to tell the story of Ruth.

 

Families are important

Topic:

the importance of family

Aim

To help children think about why families are important and about being members of God’s family.

Things you’ll need

  • List of questions about animals and their young (see below)
  • Pictures of animals, if possible with their young.

Bible Base

  • Proverbs 31:27
  • Ephesians 6:1,4
  • Ephesians 2:19

Content

1 Ask for eight volunteers to come to the front. Divide them into two teams. Explain that you are going to have a quiz where the object is to give the special name of the young of various animals (eg a young cat is a kitten). In turn, ask the teams questions of increasing difficulty. You could use animals from the list provided (see box), or see if you can find more obscure ones. Add in some which you answer yourself with incorrect answers (eg duckbill platypus/duckbill platykitten) just for fun! Show some of the pictures of animals and their young that you have brought at appropriate moments, as the quiz goes along. Congratulate the winning team and ask all your volunteers to sit down.

2 Ask the children if they have seen birds, like ducks or swans, swimming on a lake or river with their young. Talk about birds and how they care for their young: they provide food for them; teach them to find food for themselves; teach them how to preen themselves, using oil from the gland at the base of their tail feathers to coat their feathers so that they don’t sink etc. Ducklings or cygnets snuggle up to the mother bird under her wings for warmth and security. If the parent birds think there is any danger to their young they will flap their wings and make a noise to deter people or dogs from coming too close.

3 Talk with the children about ways in which these families are similar to our own (being sensitive to the variety of family units that are likely to be represented). We all need to know that we are cared about and that we belong.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

Christians believe that families are part of God’s plan. Families provide the security, care and support we need. In our families we can learn how to get on with other people (Ephesians 6:1,4). Jesus taught his followers to call God ‘Father’ and Christians think of each other as brothers and sisters in a huge family that spreads all over the world (Ephesians 2:19).

For everyone

Whatever we believe about God, families are very important. We all need the safety and love of our families to grow up in. Sadly, family relationships sometimes break down and then we might need other people to help us. Sometimes people talk about ‘the family of man’ which includes all human beings.

Response

Ask the children to think about their own family– focusing on good things. They may like to think about God as a Father who knows and loves and cares for them. They may like to think about their school as a family where people care for and support one another.

If appropriate, you could finish the assembly with this prayer:

Lord God, we thank you for our families and for all the people who care for us. Please help us to care for others too. Amen.

 

Animals and their young

Cat (kitten)

Dog (puppy)

Duck (duckling)

Sheep (lamb)

Lion (cub)

Horse (foal)

Cow (calf)

Deer (fawn)

Eagle (eaglet)

Swan (cygnet)

Goose (gosling)

Kangaroo (joey)

Hare (leveret)

 

Good Friends – Prayer

Topic:

Prayer

Aim

To help pupils learn that, for Christians, prayer is an essential part of their relationship with God. It’s a result of God’s love for them and their love for God.

Things you’ll need

  • Copies of the friendship sketches (included at end of assembly)
  • A copy of the Lord’s Prayer on large pieces of card

Preparation

Before the assembly ask two pupils to help you with the sketches and rehearse them ready for the assembly.

Bible Base

Matthew 6:5-13

Content

1 Introduce the sketches by saying that you are about to watch the behaviour of two good friends.

Sketch 1

After the children have watched the sketch, ask if they think the two people are good friends. If not, why not? What should good friends be doing? When someone has answered, ‘Talking to each other’, ask your actors to perform the second sketch.

Sketch 2

Ask the children if the people are now acting like good friends. If not, why not? When you get the answer, ‘Listening’, ask your actors to perform the third sketch.

Sketch 3

Say that you think they now look like very good friends. Does everyone agree? Why not? Bring out the fact that they didn’t spend much time with each other. A good friendship needs three things: talking, listening and spending time together.

2 Ask the children what friendships would be like with one or more of these parts missing. Talk about their ideas.

3 Explain that an important Christian belief is that people can be friends with God. Being a friend of God needs the same things as being friends with a person. Christians need to talk to God, listen to God and spend time with God. This is called prayer. Christians pray so that they can become better friends with God.

4 Talk about how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He taught them a prayer that is still used today by Christians all round the world. It is known as the Lord’s Prayer. Display the Lord’s Prayer. Read it through, explaining words where necessary.

5 Tell the children that when Jesus taught this prayer to his disciples he said that they shouldn’t just pray when people could see them and think they were good. They should pray at home where no-one could see them, so it would be just them talking to God, listening to God and spending time with God. These are the things that make for a good friendship.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

It’s important for Christians today to do as Jesus said and pray regularly. Sometimes Christians use prayers that are written down. Sometimes they pray using their own words, praising God (ie telling him how much they love him), saying sorry for things they’ve done wrong and asking God for help.

For everyone

Jesus knew that a good friendship needs these three things: talking, listening and spending time together. For Christians, that also includes being friends with God. Are we also good friends with other people? Do we do those three things? If our friendships are going to be really good friendships we need to learn to do each of those things too.

Response

If it is appropriate, finish with the Lord’s Prayer. Use the version from the Bible that you have displayed on the OHP. If the children are used to saying a different version, this might help them to think carefully about what they are saying. If they don’t usually pray, then read it out for them to listen to. Finish by asking God to help us be really good friends by talking, listening and spending time with each other.

 

 

Friendship sketches

Sketch 1

Two pupils stand side by side looking a bit bored.  Once or twice they glance at each other and smile.  Apart from that, they ignore each other.  Stop the sketch after about twenty seconds.

Sketch 2

The two pupils say the following things at the same time.  They don’t stop talking or take any notice of each other.  They should both be very enthusiastic.

Pupil A:  Hi there!  How are you?  Did you watch Blue Peter last night?  It was great, wasn’t it?  I liked the bit when they were climbing up the mountain and one of them fell down.  And did you see the kittens they had on the show?  They were so cute – all small, fluffy and orange.  I’d love to have a kitten like that, only my mum won’t let me.  Actually, I need to go because I said I’d help my teacher clean out her cupboard today and wash the paint pots.  Bye!

Pupil B:  Hello.  Do you want to come and play football wtih us?  There’s only seven on our team, so we need someone else.  You won’t have to be in goal.  Ranjit is our goalie.  Oh go on, it’ll be a laugh.  I’ll share my crisps with you if you’ll do it.  We’re being Aston Villa, the others are Man United, so we’re bound to win again.  Did you see the football on telly last night? My dad lets me stay up to watch it with him on Sky.  Well hurry up!  We’re playing over by the bins.  Come on!

Sketch 3

The two pupils rush up to each other and start talking.  They don’t interrupt each otehr and they listen to each other’s answers.

Pupil A: Hello, how are you?

Pupil B: Fine, thanks.

Pupil A: Bye then.

Pupil B: Bye.

They both turn away.

 

Let’s give Him a big hand – Worship

Topic:

Worship

Aim

To help pupils understand the biblical view of God, that he is someone who deserves to be worshipped.

Things you’ll need

  • Some water in a bowl
  • A measuring jug
  • Several objects which can be easily measured with the ‘span’ of the hand
  • Some modelling clay
  • A blanket
  • A globe
  • A lively worship song with a strong rhythm and means to play it (optional)

Bible Base

Isaiah 40:12; 48:13

Psalm 47:1,2

Content

1 Invite some children to come and help you with the following tasks (give a running commentary on what they are doing).

  • Find out how much water can be held in cupped hands by scooping up water from the bowl, then emptying it into the measuring jug.
  • Measure some objects using the width (span) of your hands.
  • Use your hands to create something simple from modelling clay.
  • Spread the blanket out flat on a table or the floor, using only your right hand.

2 Talk to the children about:

– the quantity of water the volunteer could hold;

– how many hand widths across the objects were that were measured.

3 Tell the children that the Bible asks these questions (Isaiah 40:12, Youth Bible):

Who has measured the oceans in the palm of his hand?

Who has used his hand to measure the sky?

Show the globe and talk about the amount of water in the oceans. Talk about the size of the sky.

4 Show the children the object your volunteer made from clay and talk about spreading out the blanket. Ask the children who they think says these words from the Bible (Isaiah 48:13, Youth Bible):

‘I made the earth with my own hands.

With my right hand I spread out the skies’.

5 Ask the children to think about the crowds at a sports event or concert. What to the spectators do when an athlete or performer does well? (Answer: clap/cheer applaud.) Ask the children why people do this. Tell the children that in the Bible we hear about people clapping God. Psalm 47:1,2 (Youth Bible) says:

Clap your hands, all you people.

Shout to God with joy.

The Lord Most High is wonderful.

He is the great King over all the earth!

Application

A Christian viewpoint

Christians believe that God is worth getting excited about! When they think about how great he is, they want to do something to show that. Explain that this is where the word ‘worship’ comes from – ‘worth-ship’. Sometimes worship means being quiet and still and thinking about God, but Christians also believe that God is worth shouting, singing and clapping to.

For everyone

Whether or not we are Christians, all of us can take time to consider who we think deserves our worship.

Response

Remind the children about what they have heard from the Bible about God. Ask them to think about those things in silence for a few moments. You may like to give the children the opportunity to sing, or clap along to, an appropriate song of praise to God.

 

 

 

What a sacrifice!

Topic:

Sacrifice

Aim

  • To help pupils think about the meaning of sacrifice.
  • To challenge them about their priorities.

Things you’ll need

  • 1 or 2 large boxes
  • A bar of chocolate
  • Some of your own favourite possessions to show the pupils

Bible Base

  • Matthew 4:18-22
  • Matthew 9:9
  • Matthew 19:16-22

Content

1 Put the bar of chocolate on show. Ask for a volunteer who likes chocolate. Ask him/her to hold the boxes whilst looking at the chocolate. Say that he/she mustn’t put them down until you tell them to – but they will get to eat the chocolate eventually!

2 Ask the rest of the pupils to think about what their favourite thing is (eg a game, a book, a video etc). Show them some of your favourite things which you have brought to the assembly. Explain why you like them. Talk about how you would feel if you had to give them all away. Check that your volunteer is still holding the boxes, whilst looking at the chocolate.

3 Now explain the idea of sacrifice. Start by talking about how people sometimes give things away to other people for a reason. In the Bible, people sometimes gave things away because God told them to. This is called ‘a sacrifice’. People gave things away as a sacrifice for two reasons:

• First, to give God the best they had, to show how much they loved him. Often their most precious possession would be an animal. The animal would be cooked and eaten and special prayers would be said – to praise God, to say sorry or ‘thank you’ to him.

Pause here and turn to the person who is still holding the boxes for you. Make sure they understand that they must not put the boxes down. Then talk about the bar of chocolate and tell them to eat it. When they don’t do as they are told, ask everyone what the person needs to do in order to be able to eat the chocolate. (Answer: put the boxes down.) Tell your volunteer to put the boxes down now so that he/she can eat the chocolate.

• Second, God also told people to make sacrifices to help them remember what was important. Sometimes we get so worried about our favourite possessions that we forget about God, or other people. The volunteer had to get rid of the boxes before he/she could eat the chocolate – which had become the priority.

4 Emphasise that God doesn’t just tell us to get rid of everything for the sake of it. We might make sacrifices for the two reasons above. But sacrifice might mean giving away more than just a ‘thing’.

5 Briefly tell the pupils how in the Bible we read about Jesus calling Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew to follow him and how they left everything for Jesus. They sacrificed everything so that they could follow him, because they realised that that was more important than anything else in their lives. Tell how Jesus also met the rich young ruler who didn’t want to sacrifice his money for Jesus, so didn’t follow him.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

The Bible teaches that Christians need to be ready to make sacrifices. God wants them to put him first, to give him the best they have –which isn’t just objects, but themselves! That means they must obey him at all times. God also wants Christians to be prepared to sacrifice ‘things’ to show that they are not what is most important in their lives but rather that God is.

For everyone

Whoever we are, we might need to make sacrifices. We might need to be prepared to give things away to help us remember God, or to help us stop worrying about ourselves and care for other people more. For example, we might need to be prepared to lend a game to a friend, or spend less time on our computer and more time helping our mum or dad.

Response

Ask the children to think about what is the most important thing in their lives. Then, keep that thing in mind as you say this prayer:

Dear Lord, help us to be prepared to make sacrifices, to be ready to let things go so that we can put others first instead of ourselves. Amen.

 

You don’t have to be a star – God’s special messengers – Moses

Topic:

Moses

Aim

To help pupils understand that you don’t have to be ‘a star’ to be a leader.

Things you’ll need

A flipchart

Bible base

  • Exodus 2, 3; 4:10-16
  • 1 Samuel 16:7

Content

1 Tell the pupils that you are going to play ‘fantasy football’. Ask them the following questions, writing their suggestions up on the OHP as you go.

  • Choose four or five players who you would pick to play in the first eleven for England. Why did you pick those players?
  • What qualities would you look for in your team members?
  • Who would you choose for captain? Why?

Now ask the children to imagine that their team has a big match coming up. Is it important to know who the opposition are? How would it help to know what the opposition is like?

2 Talk about Moses. Explain that he was adopted. (Be sensitive. Remember that some of the children listening might not be living with their natural parents. Moses was given up out of love – his parents believed this would be best for him.)

Explain that he was brought up as a prince – Pharaoh’s son. He would have had the best in education and lived in comfort. Then it was discovered that really he was a Jew (the Jews were slaves to the Egyptians). From having everything and being highly respected as a member of Pharaoh’s family – a very important person – he went to being ‘a nobody’.

Tell the children about these aspects of Moses:

  • he was the son of a slave;
  • he was a murderer;
  • he couldn’t speak very well.

Now refer back to the qualities the children said they would look for in a team captain. Tell the children that this is the man God chose to be his team captain.

3 Talk about Moses as the captain of God’s team. He knew the opposition very well. After all, he had been brought up in Pharaoh’s home. He knew all about the powerful Egyptians. Point out that Moses must have had a lot of courage. He had to ask the man whose home he had lived in to let all the Jews go. He knew the power of the Egyptians and how important the Jewish slaves were to them.

4 Ask the children which ‘team’ they think was most likely to win: the disgraced, stuttering, son of a slave, Moses, and his team of slave labourers? Or, the powerful ruler, Pharaoh, and his strong team, the mighty Egyptians?

5 Say that the children might think that Pharaoh and the Egyptians would win easily. But Moses and his team had something special. Their team manager was God. And Moses had something else – a friend who worked alongside him. Talk about how Aaron, Moses’ brother, spoke for him, because Moses didn’t feel he could speak to Pharaoh himself.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

1 Talk about how you don’t have to be ‘a star’ to speak up for what is right, or to be brave enough to do what is right.

2 Talk about how sometimes it takes courage to believe in God and have faith in him, when others don’t.

For everyone

Encourage the children, like Moses, to stand up for what is right – even when it’s very hard or frightening to do so. Sometimes it helps to find a friend who will support you. Can they think of some times when they might need to stand up for what is right?

Response

1 Ask the children to think about leaders of the nation or local leaders. Ask them for suggestions (eg the prime minister, the police, their headteacher). Write their suggestions up on the flipchart. Lead the children in a prayer for those who are struggling to stand up for right, even though it might be hard.

2 Pray for people in leadership (like those listed on the flipchart).

3 Ask God for his help to be brave enough to stand up for what is right, even when others don’t.