Category Archives: Key Stage 2

Surprise, Surprise! – Christmas

Topic:

Christmas

Aim

To show that Christmas is about discovering more than the birth of a baby.

Things you’ll need

  • 3 shoe boxes with lids
  • Christmas wrapping paper
  • 3 gift tags
  • 3 presents that no one would ever want! (Eg a brick, some rubbish from the bin, an empty perfume or after-shave bottle)
  • Sellotape
  • Lots of money (notes only)
  • A flipchart and a pen (for the ‘Response’ time)
  • A Christmas wrapped box containing enough sweets for all the children in the assembly (only for the Key Stage 1 option)

Preparation

1 Wrap the boxes and the lids separately with the Christmas wrapping paper. For each box, hide some of the money between the wrapping paper and the box. The paper has to be removed during your presentation, so don’t tape the edges down too well.

2 Once you’ve wrapped the boxes, place a ‘present’ into each one and write the name of the person who will receive it onto the gift tag. Choose three adults who will be at the assembly to receive the presents, to avoid upsetting children.

Bible Base

John 3:16a

Content

1 Talk to the children about Christmas – the story of the birth of Jesus which is celebrated all over the world by millions of people.

  • Ask some questions to make them think about Christmas being celebrated all over the world (eg do they know which parts of the world will be hot/cold at Christmas?)
  • Ask if they know where we can read the story.
  • Explain that we give presents to each other at Christmas in the same way that the Wise Men gave their presents to Mary and Joseph for their son, Jesus. Ask if the children can remember what the gifts were.

2 Tell the children that you have gifts for three people. They are for…surprise, surprise… Read out the names on the gift tags. You could ask three children to deliver the gifts to the appropriate adults.

3 When the three people have received their presents, ask each one in turn to open them and show everyone what they have been given. Ask each person what they think of their ‘gift’! Ask them to give their honest reactions (eg ‘Rubbish!’ ‘Disgusting!’ etc). It shouldn’t take too much persuasion to encourage them to give you back your presents (and the boxes). When they do, act as if you are really disappointed about having your gifts rejected.

4 Once all the gifts have been returned to you, let the children see you smiling as if you know something that they don’t! Then choose one of the boxes and show everyone the present (eg the brick). Put it to one side and then pull out the money which is hidden in the box and lid. As you are doing this talk to the children about how X (the name of the person who received the gift) was so busy looking at what she thought was the gift, that she managed to miss the greater present. It was there for her and she would have found it if she had only looked a bit harder. Show the money. Ask the adults who were given the gifts how they feel about their loss!

Application

A Christian viewpoint

1 Read the first part of John 3:16 from the Good News Bible:

God loved the world so much, that he gave his only Son…

Explain that the Bible teaches that this is what the Christmas story is all about. Christians believe that God gave the greatest present ever – his own son, born as a baby in Bethlehem, born so that people could be friends with God.

2 Say that today…(name your adult helpers)…looked at the presents they were given and decided to reject them. We all know what they missed out now on don’t we? Explain that the Bible teaches that God gave the gift of his Son Jesus at Christmas. Some people say ‘Thank you’ to God for his gift. Some people say ‘No thanks’. And some people are still thinking about it.

For everyone

For those who believe the Bible’s teaching about Jesus, Christmas is one of the most important times of the year. Those who don’t believe, or who are not sure, can still enjoy the presents, the parties and all the good things of Christmas and in school we can all enjoy the celebrations together.

Response

1 Ask the children what things we can enjoy together about Christmas. Using the flipchart, write down their ideas and then use them as a focus for their thoughts or prayers.

2 Allow about fifteen seconds of silence to think – or talk to God – about what has been written.

Key Stage 1 option

1 Instead of the surprise ‘horrible’ present, give a member of the staff a Christmas-wrapped box which contains enough sweets for all the children (could be expensive!).

2 Ask the children whether the person receiving the gift said ‘Thank you’. Point out that they don’t know what the gift is. It could be something really horrible. Let the member of staff open the box. Then ask him/her to show the children what the gift is, explain who it is for and when they will be allowed to eat the sweets!

3 Talk about the gift God gave at Christmas and what different responses people might make to it. (Then continue as above in the ‘Application’ section.)

 

Learning from the past – Remembrance Day

Topic:

Remembrance Day

Aim

To help children understand that it is important to learn from others in history.

Things you’ll need

A variety of objects on a tray covered with a tea towel for Kim’s Game.

Bible base

Daniel 5

Content

1 Ask for two volunteers to play Kim’s Game. Allow the volunteers thirty seconds to look at the objects on the tray, then cover the tray with the tea towel. Ask the volunteers to take turns to name one object at a time. See who can keep going the longest.

2 Now tell the story of Belshazzar’s feast from Daniel 5. Explain that God expected Belshazzar to learn from his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had learnt that he was not more powerful or important than God. God expected Belshazzar to remember and learn that lesson.

The story:

King Belshazzar was a rich, powerful, proud ruler who thought he was more important than God and could do whatever he liked.

One night he gave a huge party and invited hundreds of his wealthy, important friends. There was a lot to drink and they drank too much. They didn’t care what God thought. They even drank wine from special ceremonial cups they had stolen from God’s Temple.

Suddenly, something amazing and terrifying happened. A hand appeared all by itself and began to write strange words on the wall. King Belshazzar went white. His knees knocked together. The great king was shaking with fear!

King Belshazzar sent for Daniel – who did care about what God thought, and had a special gift for understanding things like this.

Daniel told the king that he should have learnt from his grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar. He had been a proud man who thought he was more important than God and did all sorts of evil things. God punished him. He lost his throne and became an outcast. But he had come to his senses and realised that he wasn’t as important as he had thought and he began to do things right. Then God let him become king once again.

King Belshazzar hadn’t remembered and learnt this lesson from history. He had carried on doing what he wanted, not what was right. Daniel explained to the king that the strange words written on the wall meant that God was going to punish him for all the evil things he kept on doing. The message said that his life and his kingship were over. He should have remembered what had happened to his grandfather.

That very night King Belshazzar was killed.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

God expects Christians to look back at what he as done in the past and to learn from that. Usually that means looking at the Bible, but also it means looking at what God has done in the lives of people since the Bible was written and learning from them.

For everyone

Remembrance Day is a time for us not to be like Belshazzar, but to look back and learn. We can look back and see how people hated others because of their religion or nationality. We can learn from that and decide that we will respect and be friends with those who are different from us, not hate them.

Response

Finish with this, or a similar, prayer:

Dear God, thank you for people who stand up for what is right. Thank you for people who have learnt from what others have done. Help each of us to learn from others and from what we know happened in the past. Amen.

 

Great timing – Harvest

Topic:

Harvest

Aim

  • To teach children that Christians believe God created the world.
  • To encourage a sense of wonder at the amazing precision and balance which sustains the plant kingdom.

Things you’ll need

  •  An alarm clock. Check that no wall clock is visible in the assembly.
  • Some apples
  • A large card with the word ‘photoperiodism’ written on it
  • A knife and suitable surface on which to cut apple in half
  • Segments of apple, enough for a piece each for the children (optional)
  • A flip chart and pen

Bible Base

  1. Genesis 1:11
  2. Genesis 8:22
  3. Ecclesiastes 3:1,2

Content

1 Show pupils the alarm clock. Make the alarm go off. Talk about time and how a few minutes can seem like a long time when we’re doing something we don’t like doing (like sitting still waiting for something), whereas time seems to fly by when we’re enjoying ourselves!

2 Ask all the children to stand up in silence. Say that you want them to try to judge when a minute has passed. You are going to tell them when the minute starts. They must sit down when they think the minute has passed. Praise (or give a prize to) the pupil who was closest to guessing the time correctly. Make the point that it’s hard to guess time without a clock.

3 Show the apples and ask if any of the children has an apple tree in his or her garden. Do they know when apple trees blossom? Talk about how important it is for the trees to blossom in spring so that insects can pollinate it and the fruit can grow in the warm summer months.

4 Ask the pupils how the trees know it’s spring? They never make a mistake. Explain that it’s as if each tree has a clock inside it! Hold up the clock again and explain that it’s not a clock like this. It’s more like a microscopic computer programme. Explain how in the winter it gets light quite late in the morning, and gets dark early in the evening. Then as winter turns into spring, the days start to get longer. It only changes very slowly, but the trees can tell how much daylight there is each day. When the days are exactly the right length, it’s like an alarm clock going off inside the tree and the tree starts to produce the blossom. From the blossom the fruit grows until the apples are ripe at harvest time.

5 Tell pupils that there is a long word which describes this ability trees have to tell the time. Hold up the card with the word ‘photoperiodism’ written on it. Ask if anyone can read it? Practise saying the word together.

6 Ask pupils what they think would happen if the trees didn’t have this special clock? They wouldn’t know when to produce the blossom. If the blossom came on the trees at the wrong time, the fruit wouldn’t grow and there would be no harvest.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

1 Read some of the Bible verses from the Bible base (eg Genesis 8:22, Ecclesiastes 3: 1,2)

2 The Bible teaches that it was God who made all the plants and trees. He decided the seasons and he made sure that the trees obeyed the rules. He put his clock inside them!

For everyone

Talk about how amazing the precise timing in the plant world is. Encourage a sense of wonder in the children.

Response

1 Cut one of the apples in half. Talk about the pleasure of biting into a ripe apple. If the assembly is not too large, you could pass round segments of apple for the children to eat at this moment. As they do so remind them of the precise timing that was needed for apples to exist so that we can eat and enjoy them.

2 Ask the children to help you write a prayer of thanks for a fruit of their choosing. Write their ideas up on a flipchart. You could use the pattern given in the Key Stage 1 option below. Finish the assembly by saying the prayer and inviting those who would like to do so to join in with the ‘Amen’.

Key Stage 1 option

Instead of asking the children to write their own prayer, you could finish with this one:

Thank you, Lord God…

for apple trees,

for the clock inside them so they know when it’s time to make blossom,

for the sun that makes the apples grow,

for the juicy flavour of ripe apples at harvest time. Amen.

 

Family Breakdown

Topic

Family breakdown

Aim

  • To help children consider that some things that go wrong can’t be put right.
  • To help them understand the importance of knowing someone is with you when things are hard.

Bible base

Psalm 23

Content

1 Ask the children to imagine they are on a car journey.

You have a breakdown. What do you do? Can you see what’s wrong? Can you fix it yourself? If you can’t, what will you do next? (Answer: phone for help on an emergency phone or your mobile.) Point out that you need to tell someone about the problem.

The AA (or equivalent) come. What will the AA mechanic do? (Answer: he’ll try to fix the problem.) If the problem is simple, the AA person can fix it and you can continue your journey. If it’s a big problem, so that the breakdown mechanic can’t do anything, what then? Either you can have your car towed to a garage to be mended, or you might choose to have it towed back home.

The car owner needs to think and make a decision. Do you want it fixed? Is it worth it?

The passengers have to be thought about too. The breakdown and the breakdown services affect them too. Perhaps the driver will try to blame them (‘I told you to put some water in…’), even though the car and driving it is the driver’s responsibility. How might the passengers be feeling? This could depend on the relationships. For example, are the passengers family members? Or friends being given a lift to the airport? Can the passengers do anything about the problem? (Answer: ‘No’.)

2 Now make the comparison with family breakdown.

Sometimes things go wrong in families and there are arguments (eg adult/adult; adult/child; child/child). Sometimes there’s a ‘breakdown’. Sometimes we can fix things easily by saying sorry, talking about the problem and trying to put things right. Sometimes we can’t. It’s a big problem. Then we need help (refer back to the emergency phone call). We need to talk to someone about our problem who knows how to help us get it fixed.

The people involved in the breakdown have to make a decision. Do I want to get this fixed? Sometimes the answer is ‘No’ and that will mean that things are going to change.

Like the passengers in the car, everyone in the family will be affected. Like the driver, adults sometimes try to blame the children. Make the point that it is not the children’s fault It is the grown-ups’ responsibility.

Point out that, no matter what your faith, sometimes things go wrong for you and your family.

Application

For everyone

  1. Read Psalm 23. Then talk about the role of the shepherd. Explain that to keep his sheep from straying, the shepherd would sometimes even break a sheep’s leg. It was the shepherd’s role to protect his sheep. But there is no promise in the psalm that a sheep will never get lost. This psalm is for everyone. It promises that God will be with you in the bad times.
  2. Sometimes a friend can give you the support you need to go through a difficult time. It may be that you will be able to see God’s love through your friend.
  3. Often when there’s a big breakdown, we can’t know how things will turn out. We just have to be patient and wait.

Response

  1. Ask the children to sit quietly for a few moments. Ask them to think about people they know (it might be them) who are going through difficult times in their families. Perhaps some people will be going home after school to difficult situations which make them unhappy or afraid.
  2. Ask the children to think about people who have got difficult family situations and are being helped at the moment (eg by social workers, counsellors, friends).
  3. If you feel it is appropriate, you could end the assembly with this prayer:

Dear God, please help… (ask the children to choose someone they know) who is going through a very difficult time in their family. Please help them to be ready to accept help and to know that you are with them and want to take care of them. Amen.

NB Be very sensitive to the difficult family situations children in the assembly may be in. Remember that this assembly may raise issues that the children will want to talk about. If appropriate, you could talk with the head teacher about how to provide opportunities for children to do this.

 

The Bible

Topic

Scriptures – the Bible

Aim

To show pupils that rules are useful and important. For Christians, the most important rules are God’s rules which are found in the Bible.

Things you’ll need

  • The rules for the drawing game cut up, so they can be given to different pupils.
  • 2 green pens, 2 blue pens and 1 red pen
  • A large sheet of paper which everyone can see (eg a flip-chart)
  • A watch with a second hand (or a stop watch)

Bible base

Exodus 15:22-26

Content

1 Ask for five volunteers (from Year 5 or above). Explain to everyone that the volunteers are going to play a drawing game. Give each volunteer one of the rules for the drawing game and the appropriate pen. Tell them to read their rule and to make sure no-one else sees it. Explain that each person has been told to draw something. The one who draws the most will be the winner. Any things which happen to get crossed out, don’t count. Tell the contestants that they will take it in turns to draw on the sheet of paper on display. They must draw according to the rule you have given them. They will have only ten seconds each.

2 Play three rounds of the game and then count up and see if you have a winner. Discuss with the volunteers what made their tasks difficult. Bring out that it was because they were working against each other. They were all following different rules and that made a mess of things.

3 Tell the pupils that the Bible says that rules are really important, and the most important rules are from God. Many years ago (nearly 4000) the Bible says that God gave his people, the Israelites some special rules. He did this when they were in the desert and very thirsty and the only water was so nasty no one could drink it. God gave their leader, Moses, a command. He told him to throw some wood into the water. Moses obeyed and the water was good enough to drink. God then gave his people lots of rules to show them how to live in a way that was right and good. God expected them to obey the rules, just like Moses obeyed when God told him to throw the wood into the water.

4 Go on to explain that one of the important things about rules is that we need to know them, if we are going to follow them. Ask the pupils how they find out about rules: at home, at school or for when they’re out in the street. We need people to tell us what the rules are. But where do the people who tell us the rules find out what the rules are? Who finds out the rules to start with?

Application

A Christian viewpoint

Christians believe that God has given us rules which show us how to live. Rules which teach us how we should treat people, rules about what is right and wrong. These rules are in the Bible which is why the Bible is so important to Christians. They believe it is God’s word telling people how to live.

For everyone

All of us need rules to live by. We need to know what is right and what is wrong. We need to have rules that we all agree about, otherwise life ends up in a mess like the game at the start. If we all had different rules about what was right and wrong, then school, home and the world would be in chaos. But it’s not enough just to have the rules. The challenge for all of us is to obey them.

Response

Use this prayer as you encourage the pupils to think about their own rules and how they know right from wrong.

Dear Lord, thank you for the rules we have which keep us safe. Help us to know what is right and wrong, and to be people who obey the rules. Amen.

 

Rules for the drawing game

You must draw lots of red triangles. Cross out any circles.

You must draw lots of green circles. Cross out anything blue.

You must draw lots of blue stars. Cross out any triangles.

You must draw lots of blue squares. Cross out anything green.

You must draw lots of green triangles. Cross out any squares.

 

Worship

Topic

Worship

Aim

To help pupils understand that God is worth knowing.

Things you’ll need

  • Music of introductions to several songs of a currently popular music group.
  • 6 pens
  • 6 pieces of paper
  • 6 small prizes
  • A dictionary
  • Some quiet music

Bible Base

Psalm 95:1-7

Exodus 20:3,4

Content

1 Ask for six volunteers who think they know the music of… (name of currently popular group) very well. Tell them that they are going to hear the introductions to some of the group’s songs. They must write down the titles in the order they hear them. Play the tape. Give prizes to the volunteers who got all the song titles correct.

2 Comment that no matter what you might think about…(name of group) their music is known all over the world! They’ve had lots of Number 1’s. Some of their songs have gone straight to the top of the charts.

3 Ask if any of the children can name the members of the group.

4 Ask children to put up their hands if they think the group has been a good influence on or role model for young people. Ask for some examples. Then ask the children to put their hands up if they think the group hasn’t been a good example. Again ask why.

5 Comment that for lots of children and young people, this group has been a big influence in their lives. Ask the children how many of them have the group’s records, CDs, tapes, clothes etc. Point out that not everyone here agrees that…(name of group) are the best. Everyone has to make up their own minds!

6 Talk about how making up your mind about things isn’t always easy. What might their friends think if they chose to be different and like another group? Sometimes being different is difficult. Ask the children for some examples of this.

7 Sometimes people go too far in following a particular group or celebrity. They might almost begin to worship… (name of group or other famous personality).

8 Ask if anyone can tell you the meaning of the word ‘worship’. Read the definition from the dictionary. Comment that the word can be to do with God, or someone or something else. But it’s always about giving special worth or value to that person or thing.

9 Explain that the Bible teaches that there is only one person who should be worshipped and that is God himself (Exodus 20:3,4). Christians believe that he is the God who made the world and everything in it, including…(name of the group).

10 Read Psalm 95:1-7 (from the Good News Bible). The writer of these words believed that God was the boss, and only he was worth worshipping.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

Christians believe that they should love God with everything they’ve got. But that’s not always easy to do. The verses from the Bible you’ve just read tell us that God cares for us. What could you do for God today to show you care about him?

For everyone

Remind the children that earlier you said that making up your own mind about things isn’t always easy. Choosing who and what you should or shouldn’t worship isn’t easy either. Sometimes it’s a very private thing. You have to try to make up your own mind, and make sure that what or who you make Number 1 in your life is worth it.

Response

Play some quiet music. Whilst they are listening to it ask the children to:

  • remember that real worship is something that you have to decide about for yourself;
  • think about who or what is Number 1 in your life;
  • think about how you could do your best for God today;
  • be silent for a few moments.

 

The lame man at the pool of Bethesda

Topic

The lame man at the pool of Bethesda

Aim

  • To show children that no-one is ‘invalid’ (ie not valid), whatever their social status or disabilities.
  • To help children understand that it’s important to learn from your past.

Things you’ll need

  • Small pieces of fabric (or coloured paper), enough for one for every person in the assembly. These could be ‘fringed’ at each end, if you have time, to suggest a mat.
  • Small elastic bands (or short pieces of string), enough for one for each person in the assembly.

Bible Base

John 5:1-9a

Content

1 Talk to the children about the ‘stupid’ questions people sometimes ask. For example, ask the children to imagine they are washing the car. Someone comes along and asks, ‘What are you doing?’ It’s a stupid question, because it’s obvious what you’re doing! So you give a stupid answer (‘Peeling potatoes!’). The person who asked the question continues, ‘No, you’re not…’

2 Introduce the story in the Bible of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, explaining that in it Jesus seem to ask some ‘stupid’ questions.

3 Read or tell the story in your own words from the Bible up to the point (verse 6) where Jesus asks the man, ‘Do you want to get well?’ (The New International Version uses the word ‘invalid’.)

4 Comment that the man maybe thought to himself, ‘What a stupid question!’ After all, he couldn’t walk, but to be healed he had to somehow be first in the race to the pool! Now ask the children to think carefully whether it is a stupid question.

5 Point out that Jesus was not asking a general question to everyone. This was a personal question which was special to this man: ‘Do you want to get well?’ Comment that maybe the man didn’t really want to change. After all, he had been used to being in that place for a long time. People would give him food and drink. Maybe in a way he quite liked living like this.

Jesus’ question was perhaps not so silly as it first seems. He knew that if this man was healed, his life would change. He wanted to know if this man was serious. Did he really want to change?

6 Continue to tell or read the story from the Bible (verse 7). The man’s reply showed he was serious about being healed. He couldn’t get to the pool on his own. He needed Jesus’ help. Then Jesus said something else which sounds stupid. He told the lame man, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’ (verse 8).

7 Ask the children for their ideas about why Jesus might have said this to the man. After all, if the man had left his mat, someone else could have used it.

8 Point out that the mat was an important reminder to the man of his history, his past. If he had left it perhaps he would have forgotten what he had been like and how much he had changed. Emphasise the importance of remembering the past (eg the Cenotaph in London, or other locally well-known memorial). ‘Memorials’ help us remember important events and people. If we didn’t have them or they were knocked down, we’d forget. (Remind the children about the words on war memorials, ‘Lest we forget’.)

9 Ask the children what they think happened at the end of the story. (Answer: the man picked up his mat and walked!)

Application

A Christian viewpoint

It’s important to remember our past. The good things and the bad things all affect our future. God can use our past to help other people.

For everyone

Everyone needs help. We all need to learn from our own past and other people’s experiences. None of us can look down on others as being ‘invalid’.

Response

Either

  1. Ask for several volunteers to help you give out the pieces of fabric (or coloured paper) and elastic bands (or pieces of string), one of each for everyone.
  2. Tell the children that this is to make a reminder for them to keep, a bit like the lame man’s mat.
  3. Ask them to spend a few minutes in silence looking at their ‘mat’, thinking about one thing from their past which has had a big effect on their lives. It might be something good or something which makes them sad. Now ask them to think about one good thing which they have learnt from that event or situation.
  4. Tell the children to roll up their ‘mat’ and fasten it with the rubber band (or piece of string), and then put it somewhere safe. Every time they look at their ‘mat’, it will be a reminder of their history and the things they have learnt from it.
  5. Ask the children to think of ways in which their experiences in the past could help other people.

Or

  1. Ask the children to think about what they could learn from people who, at first look, might not seem to them to have much importance (eg old people, people with physical disabilities).
  2. Challenge the children to find out if there is a local community centre where they could help in some way (reading, talking to elderly people etc).
  3. Finish with a prayer, if this is appropriate:

Lord, help us to be ready to learn from other people, however unimportant they might seem to us at first. Help us to learn from our own past experiences and to be ready to use what we have learnt to help other people. Amen.

 

Dying to live – the thief on the cross

Topic

The thief on the cross

Aim

To help the children learn that everyone needs the help of others.

Bible base

Luke 23:32-34; 39-43

Content

1 Ask the children to imagine the following:

Claire was rushed into hospital because of a serious problem with her heart. The doctors said there was no cure. The only thing that would save her life was a heart transplant.

The problem with this was that, in order for Claire to have a new, healthy heart, another child would need to die. For her to have life, someone else needed to die.

A little while later, Mark was tragically killed in a road accident. The doctors asked his parents if they would be willing for his healthy heart to be given to Claire, so that her life could be saved. They agreed. Claire was given Mark’s heart and new life as a result.

Mark’s death meant Claire could live.

2 Tell the children that this reminds you of the story in the Bible about Jesus’ death and the death of the two criminals who were executed with him. Read (or tell in your own words) the story from Luke 23:32-34; 39-43. Talk about how life in the future was possible for the thief on the cross because of Jesus’ death.

3 Ask the children to imagine the three crosses and the three people on them – Jesus on the centre one, with a criminal either side of him. They were all going to die.

  • Jesus was special. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Christians believe that he died as punishment for the things we’ve done wrong, so that we can be friends with God.
  • Thief number 2 knew he wasn’t perfect and admitted he’d done wrong. He knew he needed help. He had realised that Jesus was special and that he could help him. So he asked for help. Then Jesus made him a very special promise. Because Jesus was going to live, the criminal could live too.
  • Thief number 1 thought only of himself. He didn’t care about Jesus or the other criminal. He could have chosen to ask for help from Jesus, and Jesus would have promised him life too.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

Explain briefly that Jesus’ death meant that thief number 2 could have life. Christians believe that because of Jesus’ death, everyone can have life. None of us is perfect. We all need help. Thief number 2 knew Jesus could help him. He will help anyone who asks him.

For everyone

The criminal on the cross needed help. We all need to recognise that we can’t ‘make it’ on our own. Sometimes we need to ask for help.

Response

You could use this prayer:

Dear God, help us to know that we are not perfect. We do things wrong. Help us to know that we need your help. Amen.

 

 

God’s special messengers – Amos

Topic

Amos

Aim

To help children understand that selfishness can seriously damage your health!

Things you’ll need

  • Blu-tack
  • 3 sheets of A1 paper
  • A length of wallpaper
  • A spirit level
  • A length of string with weight attached to make a plumb-line
  • A stick of coloured chalk
  • A few marker pens

Bible base

Amos 7:7,8

Preparation

Before the assembly begins, use Blu-tack to attach the A1 sheets of paper to a wall (so that they are visible to everyone), so that you make one large work surface. Also attach Blu-tack to the back of the piece of wallpaper ready for use during the assembly.

Content

1 Hold up the spirit level and ask the children if they know what it is and what it’s used for.

2 Ask the children what would happen if we didn’t build things level. Ask for two helpers. Tell them that you want them to check that the spirit level is working properly. Send them together to different parts of the hall/room you are meeting in, to inspect the window frames, door frames, shelves etc and check whether they are level. Get them to inspect four items. Have one child check two items, with the other reporting back to you. Then swap round and check two more items.

3 Explain that before the spirit level was invented, builders would use a length of string with a heavy weight attached to one end to give them a straight line. Show the children your plumb-line. Ask if anyone knows what it’s called.

4 Demonstrate its use in the following way:

a) chalk heavily along the length of the string;

b) ask someone to hold the end of the string against the sheets of paper attached to the wall;

c) when the weight has stopped moving, hold it still against the paper and ask a volunteer to ‘ping’ along the length of the line, so that you finish with a straight chalk line printed onto the paper.

Remove the plumb-line.

5 Ask for a few volunteers who think that they can draw a straight line free hand on the paper. Give them each a marker pen and ask them to draw a vertical or horizontal line (drawing over the chalk line doesn’t count!). Ask the rest of the children to judge which is the straightest line. Check their choice with the plumb-line or spirit level. Give a round of applause to the person who gets nearest to straight.

6 Use the chalk line (if it’s still there) or draw a new vertical line as a guide for hanging the sheet of wallpaper. Explain that you are going to put up this piece of wallpaper using the line you’ve drawn to make sure that it goes up straight. Line up your paper, then press it onto the wall.

7 Explain that if you continued to paper along this wall, all the pieces of wallpaper would be straight, just because of that one line. (Don’t mention papering around corners!)

8 Tell the children about Amos, one of God’s special messengers, and his message from God about a plumb-line.

Nearly 3,000 years ago, the prophet Amos had a sad job of work to do for God. As a prophet, he had to give messages to people about how God wanted them to live and what he wanted them to be like. Sometimes this was very difficult to do.

9 At this point read, or ask someone else to read, Amos 7:7,8. Then continue telling the children about Amos:

God showed Amos a plumb-line, just like we used, to show that the wall that had been built was straight. God was saying through Amos that it was as if he was measuring his special people, the Jews, against a plumb-line.

Remind the children that a plumb-line helps you get things right and see when things aren’t quite right. Ask the children for their ideas about why God would compare his people to a plumb-line.

10 Explain that the Bible says that God had given his people a way of living which was the very best for them, and they had agreed to live that way. Ask the children to imagine that the plumb-line represents that way of living. Now move the piece of wallpaper so that it’s crooked, and say that the piece of wallpaper represents the people.

11 Pointing to the crooked wallpaper, ask the children who (or what) has moved. (Answer: the wallpaper.) Or – in the case of God and his people – the people had moved away from the straight line. They had decided to do things their own way and had chosen to ignore God. They were no longer on the level. Their ways were not straight! They were moving away from God. God knew this and told Amos to show the people this picture of the plumb-line to help them understand what they were doing and how sad it made God.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

  1. The Bible says that God’s people had promised to obey him and live the way he said. Like most of us, they thought they knew what was best and decided to ignore God’s rules for living. Through his messenger Amos, God said that there would be very serious consequences for everyone who carried on breaking their promises to him, doing things that hurt him and other people.
  2. It’s the same for people today. God has given us good rules for living. If we ignore them and insist on living our own way, we hurt ourselves and other people.

For everyone

Compare the plumb-line to the rules of the road. The Highway Code says you must stop when the lights are red. Some road-users take a risk and ‘jump’ a red traffic light, hoping that they will get away with breaking the rule. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Accidents happen because people choose to disobey the signals (or rules). Or you might get caught on camera and then be prosecuted by the courts. These things happen because people choose to break the rules, which are there to protect everyone. Explain how the plumb-line is a bit like those rules.

Response

  1. Ask the children to look at the crooked piece of wallpaper – which should still be on the wall. Ask them to follow the line of the paper from top to bottom.
  2. Now ask them to think for a few moments about what their school (home, local community, country etc) would be like if we all chose to ignore the rules.
  3. Straighten the wallpaper and ask them to think again about the difference it makes when we try to live life ‘on the level’.

 

God’s special messengers – Jeremiah

Topic

Jeremiah

Aim

To challenge children to stop and think about whether something is good, rather than just being carried along by the enthusiasm of others for whatever is new.

Things you’ll need

  • Bold, clear adverts for new products (eg latest fashions, sportswear, toys or games, pop groups/songs etc), or a selection of new, ‘latest’ products to show.
  • A simple signpost, made out of card, pointing in two directions with a space to add the word ‘good’ during the assembly.
  • Words from Jeremiah 6:16, Youth Bible, Nelson Word copied onto a large sheet of paper, and rolled up like a scroll

Bible base

Jeremiah 6:16

Content

1 Show the adverts for, or examples of, a variety of the ‘latest’, ‘new’ things, which are also popular. Invite the children to comment on the various items. Ask why they think the things are ‘good’. Do they like them/want them because ‘everyone’ likes/has them?

2 Talk about being in a crowd when everyone is going in one direction and how hard it is to go the opposite way. Then show the signpost. Talk about coming to a crossroads where you have to stop and choose which way to go.

3 Talk to the children about Jeremiah, using the following idea, adapting the style and vocabulary to suit the particular situation:

Over two and a half thousand years ago a man called Jeremiah was living in the country we now call Israel. We can read about him in the Bible. He was a prophet– one of God’s special messengers. He listened very carefully to God and then told the people what God had said.

Long before Jeremiah was born, God had given the people some very good instructions about how to live. He had told them about what was really important in life– loving God and caring for each other. But by Jeremiah’s time they had forgotten all about God’s rules. They were greedy, always wanting more things. They told lies. They didn’t care about helping poor people. They certainly didn’t love God. God’s rules were ‘old’. They were rushing through life towards something ‘new’.

One day, God told Jeremiah to give the people this message.

Ask the children to listen carefully. Then read the Jeremiah’s message from the scroll (Jeremiah 6:16).

This is what the Lord says:

‘Stand where the roads cross and look.

Ask where the old way is,

where the good way is, and walk on it.

If you do, you will find rest for yourselves.’

4 Show the children the signpost again. Remind them that the message told the people to do several things. Ask the children what these things were. Talk about each as the children respond, explaining as appropriate. The instructions were to:

  • stand still and look (comment that if we’re always rushing from one thing to the next, we’ll never have time to think about what we’re doing);
  • ask where the ‘old way’ is;
  • ask where the ‘good way’ is.(write ‘good’ on the signpost);
  • walk on it.

5 Ask the children if they remember what the promise was at the end of the message (‘…you will find rest for yourselves’). Explain that the word ‘rest’ here doesn’t mean resting your body. It means being peaceful inside yourself– being at peace with God.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

Even though Jeremiah’s message was given thousands of years ago, Christians believe it is still important today to take his message from God seriously. They believe that God’s way is the best way. The Bible is a book full of instructions about how to live God’s way, the good way. Christians believe that Jesus gave us an example of how to do that. For Christians, Jeremiah’s message from God reminds them to stop and take time to read the Bible to find out what God says ‘the good way’ is– and then to follow it!

For everyone

For all of us, it is good to stop sometimes and think about what we are doing, to think about what ‘the good way’ is, and then to go that way.

Response

Ask the children to look at the signpost and think about what they have been doing recently. Have they been walking along ‘the good way’? In a few moments of quiet, ask the children to think about whether there is something in their lives they need to change.