Happy Birthday, Dear Church – Pentecost

Aim:

To explain about the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ present to those who follow him.

Bible base:

Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-14. The coming of the Holy Spirit.

You will need:

  • A cake with birthday candles on it
  • Signs saying ‘Holy Spirit’ and ‘Power’

Preparation

Wrap the signs in gift wrap, preferably some that is clearly marked ‘birthday’.

Presentation

Introduction

1. Enquire if it is anyone’s birthday today…or this week.

2. Talk about birthdays and what we receive ie cards, presents, cake etc.

3. Show the birthday cake and light the candles. Begin to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ but stop as you begin the line ‘Happy Birthday dear…’

(Sing it through first for any who have had a birthday that week, and then ask the children to sing it once again, stopping as above.)

4. Christians call the special time of year known as ‘Pentecost’ the birthday of the church. Explain how ‘the church’ is not just the building where people meet on a Sunday (mention a local church by name) but is a name given to everyone in the world who follows Jesus.

Story

Tell the story from Acts 1 and 2, in particular how:

1. Jesus was leaving his special friends and going back to be with God.

2. He promised to send the Holy Spirit, his helper, to be with them.

3. All of Jesus’ followers were in a room together in Jerusalem. There was a sound like a strong wind blowing, that seemed to fill the house, and they saw what looked like little flames dancing around on each person.

4. The Holy Spirit had come, just as Jesus promised. Unwrap the ‘Holy Spirit’ sign. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came, he would give them a special present. Unwrap the ‘Power’ sign and go on to tell what happened next.

5. Jesus’ friends began to talk in foreign languages, even though they had never learned to speak them. (You may want to say a few suitable phrases in some foreign languages eg ‘Lobe den Herrn’ – ‘Praise to the Lord’ in German or ‘Clod i Dduw’ – Welsh for ‘Praise to God’ – pronounced ‘clowd’, to rhyme with ‘crow’, ‘ee’, ‘thew’, to rhyme with ‘dew’, with a hard ‘th’ as in ‘the’.)

6. People from lots of foreign countries, who were in Jerusalem and were outside the house, could hear them talking, and understood them!

7. Peter was very brave and bold: he stood up in front of thousands of people and told them all about Jesus.

Application

1. Jesus had already told his disciples about the Holy Spirit, how he was like the wind – you can’t see it, but you can see what it does. Ask the children if they can see your breath as you blow into the air. They can’t. Ask them to watch what happens as you blow on the candles.

2. We can’t see the Holy Spirit, but he is Jesus’ special present to those who follow him, to be with them and to make them brave to do what is right, just as he made Peter brave.

3. Re-light the candles and sing ‘Happy Birthday, dear Church’.

Prayer

Ask the children to join in with the words ‘Thank you, God’ at the end of each line.

For birthdays and parties Thank you, God.

For fun and enjoyment Thank you, God.

For presents and happiness Thank you, God.

For your Holy Spirit Thank you, God.

Song suggestion

Jesus, send me the Helper, 409, Junior Praise

Light – Hallowe’en

This assembly has been included to be used where a positive alternative to Hallowe’en is wanted. It focusses on Jesus the light who has overcome the darkness.

Aim:

To explain that Jesus is like a light, and that his light never goes out.

Bible base:

John 1:5 and 8:12

You will need:

  • Lots of different sources of light – torch, lamp, match and candle, bicycle light, etc
  • A scarf as a blindfold

Presentation

1. Set up a simple – and safe! – assault course, eg under a chair and over a low table.

Ask for a volunteer to go through it. When they have done this successfully, ask them to do it again, but blindfold. If they do, guide them carefully and ask at the end how it felt, and which was easier. If they won’t try it blindfold, simply make the point that it can be frightening to have to do things when we can’t see.

2. Talk about how scared people can get in the dark – grown-ups too! – and how even a bit of light helps. Somehow all the things that seem scary at night go away when there is a light on or when it is morning.

People are not frightened of the light. Show the different sorts of lights and talk about where and how they might be used.

Application

1. Jesus said ‘I am the light of the world’.

2. Christians believe that Jesus can help us when we are frightened. The Bible says, ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out’. Jesus is that light which can never be put out.

Prayer

Ask the children to join in the prayer by saying ‘Help me, please, Jesus’ after you have said ‘Jesus, you’re the Light, so…’

Sometimes it’s dark and I feel alone. But Jesus, you’re the Light, so ‘Help me, please, Jesus.’

Sometimes it’s dark and I feel scared. But Jesus, you’re the Light, so ‘Help me, please, Jesus.’

Sometimes it’s dark and I am frightened by strange noises in the night or by how quiet the house is. But Jesus, you’re the Light, so ‘Help me, please, Jesus.’

Dogger – Easter

Note: As well as telling the facts of what happened when Jesus died on the cross the Bible also explains why Jesus died – what god achieved through his death. The theological word is ‘redemption’ – God ‘buying back’ people who were lost to him. It’s a word that was used to describe the process by which people were freed from slavery. When applied to God and humankind it makes clear how precious we are to God – that he would give up his only son to help us.

Jesus often told stories to explain truths about God. The story ‘Dogger’, which is probably well known to infants, is a lovely illustration of this: a child giving up a teddy to get back her brother’s lost precious toy dog. It falls short of what God did for us: Bella didn’t really like the teddy, whereas it cost God dearly to give up Jesus. This assembly attempts to explain what Jesus’ death means, and how precious we are to God.

Bible base:

Ephesians 2:13

You will need:

  • Dogger by Shirley Hughes, published by Picture Lions/Collins
  • You may also want to use a toy dog to illustrate the story

Preparation

Edit the story to a manageable length.

Presentation

Most children will be familiar with the story, but tell your edited version, showing the pictures as appropriate. The key points to include are:

  • Dogger was very precious to Dave.
  • Dave was devastated when Dogger was lost and searched long and hard for him.
  • Dave wanted to buy back Dogger as soon as he saw him on the stall.
  • By giving up something special Bella was able to reunite Dave with Dogger.

Because Dogger was so precious to Dave, Bella was prepared to give up the teddy bear she had won so that Dave and Dogger could be together.

The Bible says that people were made to have a friendship with God. But the wrong things we do spoil it, and make it as if we are lost.

Application

People who didn’t like Jesus killed him and he died on a cross. But God did something very special. Because we are so precious to God, he used what they did to get us back, like Bella got back Dogger for Dave. So we can be with God for ever.

Actually, Bella didn’t like the teddy all that much, so it wasn’t too hard for her.

The Bible says that God loved Jesus very much, and it must have been very hard for him to let him die. But we are so special that he was willing to do it to get back our friendship.

That’s what Easter is all about: remembering Jesus dying on the cross and how, because of that, we can be with God for ever.

Prayer

Thank you, God, that we are precious to you. And thank you for Jesus, who shows us just how much you love us.

Song suggestions

I’m worth it – Easter

Aim:

To help the children see that God thinks we are special – so special he sent Jesus to die and rise again for us.

Bible base:

Mark 14-16. The Easter story.

You will need:

  • A chocolate egg
  • Atoy baby animal (a lamb, a chick etc)
  • A sticky bun (a hot cross bun if possible)
  • The shape of the cross (cut from paper or a wooden one)
  • The words ‘Empty’ and ‘Risen’ written out on large flashcards
  • Six cards with the letters E A S T E R written on them.
  • ‘God think I’m worth it’ on acetate or paper
  • OHP if using acetate

Presentation

1. Choose six children to come and stand at the front to help you. Ask the children what they look forward to at Easter time.

Is it the Easter eggs? (Give one of the volunteers the egg to hold up and so on with the following items.)

Or maybe the signs of new life around them, the lambs and chicks? Eating hot cross buns?

2. But Easter for Christians is all about Jesus. They remember how Jesus died on a cross. (Reveal your paper cross and pass it to one of your volunteers.)

3. Jesus was so special that he didn’t stay dead; when his friends went to the cave where they had buried him it was empty. (Child to hold up ‘Empty’ card.)

4. God’s power had brought Jesus back to life, he had risen! (Last child to hold ‘Risen’ card.)

5. Go to each volunteer in turn and replace their item or word with a letter card explaining as you go through:

E – for Easter Egg

A – for animal

S – for sticky bun

T – stands for the shape of the cross

E – for ‘empty’

R – for ‘risen’

Application

1. Talk to the children about how much God must love us if he was prepared to send his son Jesus to die for us.

2. We are worth so much to God – we are all precious to him.

Time to reflect

1. Put up the words ‘God thinks I’m worth it’ on a slide on the OHP or on some paper. Make the three ‘t’s cross shapes.

2. Read the words with the children and ask them to think about them quietly for a few moments.

3. Draw their attention to the crosses and remind the children that they are so special Jesus died for them.

Prayer

Dear God, thank you that your love for us is so big. Thank you that you never stop loving us. Amen