Tag Archives: jesus

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

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.
Tell the children that this is to make a reminder for them to keep, a bit like the lame man’s mat.
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.
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.
Ask the children to think of ways in which their experiences in the past could help other people.

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).
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).
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.

Power over nature – calming the storm

Bible base:

Luke 8:22-25

Teaching objectives:

To show that the Bible says Jesus had power to control nature.

You will need:

Ten A4 pieces of paper each with a letter of the word IMPOSSIBLE written on it.

Introductory activity:

Nature Quiz. Show the pupils each letter in turn and give them the corresponding clue. The letters make up the word ‘IMPOSSIBLE’. When a pupil gives you the right answer, call them to the front to hold up the appropriate letter.

P A black and white bird which cannot fly and lives at the South Pole (penguin)
I A large floating piece of frozen water near the North or South Pole (iceberg)
M It shines brightly at night (moon)
O Round juicy fruit with a thick brightly coloured skin (orange)
S Ball of fire in the sky that gives us light (sun)
L A big cat with a furry mane (lion)
S Creature that spins a web (spider)
I Small six-legged creature (insect)
E Another name for the world (earth)
B Feathered creature (bird)

What do the letters spell? Unscramble them to find out. (IMPOSSIBLE)

Take the letters from the pupils and display them at the front to be referred to later. Ask the pupils to take their seats again.

Each of these things is amazing – it would be impossible for us to make any of them ourselves. We can alter our world or damage it through pollution and misuse, but we can never really control it.

Tell the story of Jesus calming the storm from Luke 8:22-25, as outlined below. Encourage pupil participation when they hear the following prompts, asking them to stop when you give them the signal:

‘asleep’ snore
‘boat’ sway from side to side
‘afraid’ scream
‘wind’ blow
‘storm’ divide assembly into four groups to make the following sounds:
‘whoosh!’, ‘swish’, tapping floor with fingers, clapping

One day, after Jesus had been talking to large crowds of people, he suggested to the disciples that they take a boat out and cross over to the other side of the lake. Now, the disciples thought this was a great idea. The people had been around for ages and they were really quite tired and glad of an excuse to get away for a bit. So, they all got into the boat and set off across the lake. The further out from shore they got, the more the boat swayed, and before they knew it, Jesus had fallen sound asleep.

Soon the disciples too began to get a bit drowsy. But before they could fall asleep, they noticed a small cloud in the distance. Soon the small cloud became a huge black cloud and the wind began to blow. The wind got stronger and stronger, the waves grew higher and higher and the disciples grew more and more afraid. Suddenly, they were in the middle of a huge storm and they were all afraid for their lives!

All, that is, except Jesus. Throughout it all, as the wind blew and the boat lurched from side to side and the storm raged, Jesus was still asleep! What were they to do? Jesus was supposed to be their leader- he had done so many amazing things – and now they were all going to drown while he slept!

Quickly, they woke him up shouting, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!’ You may wish to get the assembly to shout these words out.

When Jesus looked at the sea and saw the huge storm that had blown up, he told it to stop – and it did! Signal for them to stop abruptly.

‘Where is your faith?’ Jesus asked them. Jesus wanted his disciples to trust him. And when the disciples saw that the wind had died down, they were amazed and asked themselves who exactly this man could be, that even nature obeyed Him!

All the things we talked about at the beginning of the assembly are amazing parts of the natural world that it would be impossible for us to control. Yet the Bible teaches that Jesus had power even over nature!

Optional prayer time:

Lead the pupils in the following prayer, encouraging them to keep looking to the front and shouting out ‘impossible!’ when you point to it.

‘Lord Jesus, thank you that nothing is impossible for you. Thank you that you have power over nature, power over illness, power over everything! When we think that something is impossible, help us to come to you and ask you for help. With your help, nothing is impossible!’

As an alternative to praying, say the following statement about Christian belief, encouraging the pupils to shout out ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ with you:

Christians believe that nothing is IMPOSSIBLE for God. They believe that he has power over nature, power over illness, power over everything! Sometimes we come across things in life that we think are IMPOSSIBLE – Christians believe that God can help us, even with these IMPOSSIBLE things.

Power over sin – healing the paralysed man

Bible base:

Luke 5:17-26

Teaching objectives:

To show that the Bible says Jesus had exceptional power to forgive the things that we do wrong. This backed up His claim to be the Son of God.

You will need:

A stereo that does not work (if that is hard to find, detach the wiring in the plug, but leave the plug attached to the flex.
A jacket with the words ‘I can’t walk’ attached with safety pins to the outside and ‘I have done things that are wrong’, ‘I have bad attitudes’ and ‘I am not perfect’ safety-pinned to the inside.

Introductory activity:

Show the stereo to the pupils and tell them that you are going to play some great music to them (you could get quite excited about this!). Make sure that the stereo is not plugged in and that this is visible to the assembly. Also, make sure that there is no CD in the player. Make a big show of pressing play and then pretend to be confused because nothing happens. Can they spot what is wrong?

Once they have spotted that it is not plugged in and you have fixed this, press play again and wait for the music. Can anyone guess what’s wrong this time? Open the CD player to check that the CD is in correctly, but of course, the CD is not there.

Put a CD in the player and again build up to pressing ‘play’ and waiting for the music. What is wrong this time? The CD player is plugged in, the CD is in, but it still will not play.

The CD player is broken inside. Although it looks fine on the outside, and although all the obvious problems are now fixed, there is still a bigger problem inside.

Today’s story from the Bible is about a man who had two problems, one obvious and one hidden inside.

Choose a volunteer to come to the front and dress them in the jacket with the words ‘I can’t walk’ visible to the assembly. Ask them to sit on a seat at the front.

Everyone who walked past this man as he sat in the street knew what the problem was, because it was obvious. Everyone could see that he couldn’t walk. This problem was on the outside.

But, just like the stereo, this man also had problem inside, although he may not have realised exactly what this problem was. Actually, this is a problem that we all have.

Although this man could not walk and run about with his friends, he did have some very special friends who cared for him and spent time with him. These friends wanted to do anything they could to help their friend to walk again. They knew that Jesus had helped lots of people, and so they took their friend to him.

They had to try really hard to get to Jesus. He was so popular that the house where He was staying was packed with people. They actually had to go up on the roof and lower their friend down on his mat to Jesus. I wonder what they thought Jesus would say? He had healed lots of people simply by saying something. Would he just say ‘Get up’, or would he touch the man’s feet and say ‘be healed’?

Jesus actually said a very strange thing! He said:

‘My friend, your sins are forgiven.’

Sin means anything we have done or said or thought that makes us less than perfect. Ask the members of staff in the assembly if anyone in the room is perfect. No one is perfect. We have all done some of the wrong things the Bible calls ‘sin’.

So, when Jesus said that the man’s sins were forgiven, he meant that all the things he had done or said or thought in the past that were less than perfect were forgotten about by God!

Some people were very cross! Who did Jesus think he was? How could he say that he forgave him for everything he had ever done wrong? They believed only God could do that.

The answer is in the hidden problem that this man had inside. Just like the stereo which was not plugged in, there was something very obvious wrong with the man – he could not walk. But what was wrong inside was more serious. Ask the volunteer to open the jacket to reveal the words written inside – ‘I have done things that are wrong’, ‘I have bad attitudes’, ‘I am not perfect’.

These were the problems that Jesus was dealing with first, because they were more serious than the problem which everyone else could see.

Once Jesus had forgiven the man, he did tell him to pick up his mat and walk home. And that is exactly what the man did! The man went home healed, not just on the outside, but on the inside too.

As you are saying this, take the jacket from the pupil and ask them to return to their seat.Put the jacket on yourself. Take the sign from the outside.

As a Christian, I believe that the problems that I have on the outside may be different to those of the man in the story, but the problem on the inside is the same for everyone. Christians believe that Jesus can deal with all the other problems in our life too, but the main thing he wants to deal with first is the problem on the inside. What is that problem? It’s the fact that we aren’t perfect and have done and said things that are wrong – what the Bible calls ‘sin’. Christians believe that God wants to forgive us, just as Jesus forgave the man in today’s story.

Optional prayer time:

Give thanks that God wants to deal with the wrong things in our life and to forgive us.

Woman with perfume – what did Mary think?

Bible base:

Luke 7:36-50

Teaching objectives:

To show that the Bible says that Jesus does not judge by appearances but accepts anyone who genuinely comes to him because they love him.

You will need:

The following objects wrapped up separately to look like gifts:

A bar of chocolate
A large box with some rubbish in it
A sweet

A piece of wrapping paper with a £5 note inside, scrunched up into a ball.
Two acetates or posters with the words, ‘What did Mary think?’ and ‘What do you think?’
Another large cardboard box covered in expensive-looking paper
A small matchbox with two pieces of paper inside saying: ‘Mary wept at Jesus’ feet’, ‘Mary poured perfume at Jesus’ feet’
The following phrases written on separate pieces of card: ‘Simon invited Jesus for dinner’, ‘Simon was religious’, ‘Simon did good things’, ‘Simon was well-liked’

Introductory activity:

Choose a volunteer to come to the front and show them the three parcels and the piece of wrapping paper. You may wish to say that they are presents left over from your birthday or from Christmas if doing the assembly in January.

Explain that they can have one of the four items. Allow them to pick them up and rattle or squeeze them, but not open them. As they are doing that, ask the rest of the assembly which one they would choose. Ask the volunteer for their decision.

When they have opened their chosen present, reveal the contents of the other three (if they have not picked the bar of chocolate, it might be nice to give it to them at the end to thank them for their help, if the head teacher agrees).

Most of us judged these presents by their appearance. Not many people would choose an old piece of paper instead of the big box or a bar of chocolate, but actually, it was not what it seemed on the outside. It was actually something special.

Today’s story in the Bible is about someone who did not seem very special, but who had something very special to offer to Jesus. In today’s story, Jesus met two people.

The first person he met was called Simon, and he was very rich and important.

Show the pupils the large expensive –looking box.

Let’s imagine that this box represents all the good things Simon has ever done. Clearly he was quite a good person!

Start to stick the cards about Simon on the box while you explain what sort of a person he was.

Simon was a religious man. He was a Pharisee, which meant that he was quite an important person. He had invited Jesus for dinner. He did good things and was well-liked by the people. Sounds like a pretty good guy!

However, while Jesus was at his house for dinner, someone else arrived. The Bible isn’t clear about what her name was, but some people think she was called Mary, so that’s what we will call her.

Show the matchbox to the assembly.

Let’s imagine that the matchbox represents all the good things Mary has done. It doesn’t look very impressive!

People described her as a ‘sinful woman’, meaning that she did a lot of things that were wrong.

She couldn’t offer Jesus a nice meal. People didn’t think she was a very nice person.

But Mary did offer Jesus something very special.

Open the matchbox. Take out and read the two pieces of paper inside (“Mary wept at Jesus’ feet’, ‘Mary poured perfume at Jesus’ feet’).

That sounds a bit strange to us, but in those days it would have been a sign of great respect and love, and would have been a welcome treat for hot, tired feet!

When Simon saw what was happening, he was very surprised. “If Jesus were really sent from God, he would know what sort of a woman this is and he wouldn’t let her touch him,” thought Simon.

Jesus, however, did not tell the woman to go away. It did not seem like she had much to offer, but Jesus did not just look on the outside. He was interested in what was really in a person’s heart. He knew that Mary was weeping and pouring perfume on his feet because she loved him. He showed that he loved her by accepting her gift.

Display the acetate or poster, ‘What did Mary think?’

Mary thought that Jesus was someone special, and although she didn’t have much to offer, she wanted Jesus to know she loved him.

Display the acetate or poster, ‘What do you think?’

What would have thought if you had been there? Would you have thought that what Mary did was strange?

Optional prayer time:

Give thanks that Jesus does not judge by appearances, but came to earth to show his love to all people.

Simon Peter – what did the fisherman think?

Bible base:

Luke 5:1-11

Teaching objectives:

To show that the Bible says that Jesus accepts people who are keen to follow him, no matter what they are like.

You will need:

Props for introductory activity:

Chef – apron, mixing bowl, a few small packets of baking products, a spoon
Nursery teacher – story book, paints and brushes
Driving instructor – car keys, a map
Cue cards with the following information:

You really want to be a chef! You do not know how to cook. You have never cooked or worn an apron before. Put on the apron upside down and put all the packets in the bowl without opening them.
You really want to be a nursery teacher! You cannot read and you hate getting messy. Open the book upside down and refuse to touch the paints.
You really want to be a driving instructor! You have never driven (you are too young!). You do not know what the car keys are for, and you think a map is a funny picture.

Acetates or posters with the words, ‘What did the fisherman think?’ and ‘What do you think?’

Introductory activity:

Ask a member of staff to help you choose three pupils in advance with some dramatic ability and explain that you are going to interview each one of them for a different job. Tell them that they should pretend to be really keen to do the job. Explain that the interview will involve them being given some objects relating to that job, but they should pretend to have no idea what to do with them. Reassure them that they only have to answer your questions and give them the cue cards.

Today we are going to have some job interviews in the assembly. Ask the enthusiastic job hunters to come forward.

Pupil one wants to be a chef. Instead of an interview, we will give them a practical test.

Do you want to be a chef? Do you really want to be a chef?

Give them the apron and ask them to put it on.

Have you ever worn an apron before?

Give them the bowl, spoon and food packets.

Have you ever cooked before?

I know you are really keen to get the job but you really need to get some more experience before you can be a chef.

Pupil two wants to be a nursery teacher.

Do you want to be a nursery teacher? Do you really want to be a nursery teacher?

Give them the book and ask them to read a story to the assembly.

Have you ever read a book before?

Give them the paints.

Do you know how to paint?

I know you are really keen to be a nursery teacher, but you need to be able to read to teach young children! And you certainly will have to be happy to get messy!

Pupil three wants to be a driving instructor.

Do you want to be a driving instructor? Do you really want to be a driving instructor?

Give them the keys.

Do you know what these are?

Give them the map.

Do you know what this is? Have you ever driven before? What age are you?

I know you really want to be a driving instructor, but you have to be able to drive first, and you need to be a lot older.

Thank the pupils for their help and ask them to take their seats again.

To get any job, you need to have the right skills. It is not enough to be really keen to do a job – you need to be qualified. However, there is one job where you don’t need special skills. You just need to be keen.

We are going to hear about someone today who had a job he was very well-qualified to do. The Bible tells us that this man was a fisherman and his name was Simon Peter. He was a very good fisherman and was happy doing his job until one day he met Jesus and everything changed.

Display the acetate or poster, ‘What did the fisherman think?’

Simon was a fisherman in a very hot country, which meant that he went out fishing at night when it was cooler and the fish came up to the surface. One morning, after a hard night when they had caught nothing, Simon Peter and his friends were cleaning their nets. They saw Jesus on the shore, teaching a huge crowd of people. They had seen Jesus before and had heard some of the things he was saying, and so, as they worked, they listened to his amazing stories about God.

Soon, though, the crowd was so huge that lots of people could not hear what he was saying. Jesus came and asked Simon Peter if he would take him out a little way on to the water in his boat. Once he was out on the water, people would see him better, and as his voice carried over the water, they would hear him better too. Simon Peter and his friends were tired, but they didn’t like to say no, so they agreed and pushed out from the shore.

After a while, when Jesus had finished talking to the crowd, he told Simon Peter and his friends to take the boat out again into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Now, Jesus may well have been a great teacher who knew lots about God, but Simon Peter was the fisherman, and he knew that in the middle of the day, when the sun was hot, they would never catch any fish. But, because it was Jesus who told him to do it, he decided he would, even although he had just finished cleaning all the nets. There was something about this man Jesus – he seemed to know what he was talking about!

So out they went, down went the nets and everyone waited. And waited. Suddenly, there was a huge tug on the nets, and it felt as if the whole boat might tip over! There were so many fish that Simon Peter and his friends needed to call some other fishermen from another boat to come and help them to pull the nets aboard.

What was Simon Peter’s reaction? He was amazed and knew then that Jesus was someone totally different from anyone he had ever met before. He fell at his feet, asking him to go away, not because he didn’t like him, but because he did not feel that he was good enough to be with someone like Jesus!

But Jesus did not go away. In fact, Jesus called him to be his follower. Simon Peter had shown the qualification he needed to start his new ‘job’ as a follower of Jesus! He really wanted to be Jesus’ follower, but he needed to recognise how different from Jesus he was and how he needed Jesus’ help to become more like Jesus.

Display the acetate or poster, ‘What do you think?’

What would you have thought if you had been there? Would you have felt that Jesus was too amazing for you to be around?

Christians believe that the qualifications are still the same for people to becomeJesus’ followers. They simply need to realise that they are not good enough to be Jesus’ followers, but if they are keen to follow him, he will still accept them and help them.

Optional prayer time:

Give thanks that Jesus is not expecting us to be perfect people, but he wants us to be honest people. Thank him that we can all meet his qualifications to be his follower, if we want to and if we admit that we are not good enough.

Mary and Martha

Bible base:

Luke 10:38-42

Teaching objectives:

To show that Christians believe Jesus wants us to get to know him better and wants us to be his friend. The Bible says that this is more important than anything else.

You will need:

In advance, put together a pop quiz based on current songs being listened to by primary school children. You can find this out from any pop music magazine, listening to the charts, on the Internet at www.bbc.co.uk/totp, or by looking at the most recent pop compilation CD. Either play a snippet of a song and ask the children to name the title and the band, or give the pupils the name of a band and ask them to name their current hit. Be sure to check titles and lyrics carefully in advance for swearing and appropriateness!
Acetates or posters of the words ‘What did his friends think?’ and ‘What do you think?’

Introductory activity:

Conduct your pop quiz.

How do they know the answers to this quiz? They listen to music. Why do they listen to music? Because they like it and they think it’s worth it.

Optional extra activity: invite about eight pupils to come to the front, divide them into two teams and put them at either side of a line in the centre of the assembly hall. Give each team a supply of paper balls made out of newpaper and allow them one minute to throw as many as they can into the other team’s area. They can pick up balls thrown by the opposition and fire them back over the line. Encourage the rest of the assembly to cheer for their side.

Make the point that they were all very busy for a minute, but the best way of winning would have been to save the newspaper balls at their own side until a couple of seconds before the end. Then they wouldn’t have been so busy and would also have achieved a better result.

Display the acetate or poster, ‘What did his friends think?’

Today’s story is about someone called Mary. Mary may have liked listening to music too, but there was something the Bible says she really enjoyed doing, and that was listening to Jesus. He told fantastic stories and was always interested in people.

When you hear the name ‘Mary’, be very quiet and put your finger to your lips.

Mary had a sister called Martha, and while Martha enjoyed listening to Jesus too, she thought it was really important to make nice food for him and offer him a comfortable home to visit. Sometimes she was so busy doing this that she didn’t have time to stop and listen to Jesus.

When you hear the name ‘Martha’, we are all going to do different things, because she was so busy!

Divide the assembly into four.

Group 1: mime cooking
Group 2: mime cleaning
Group 3: mime setting the table
Group 4: mime washing up

On the occasion we are thinking about today, Jesus had gone to visit his two friends, Mary and Martha. As usual, they were both delighted to see him, and Mary sat down at his feet to listen to the stories of where he had been and what he had been doing. Martha was delighted to see him too, but she was worried about what the house looked like and what they would eat for their dinner, and so while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, Martha rushed around, cooking and cleaning and setting the table and washing the dishes. Martha was exhausted!

Eventually, Martha went to Jesus and complained.

‘Jesus,’ she moaned, ‘don’t you think it’s unfair that I’m doing all the work while Mary sits and does nothing to help me?’

But Jesus spoke gently to Martha, who was still thinking about all the things she had to do, and told her that actually, Mary had got it right. Mary was doing the most important thing – listening to him – and that was really how to please him.

Tell the pupils that you have finished the story, so they should stop doing the actions when they hear ‘Martha’ or ‘Mary’.

What did Jesus’ friends think? They both wanted to please him, but Martha had got the wrong idea. She was worried about lots of unimportant things, like how the house looked and making him the best meal ever, whereas Mary had chosen to do something much more valuable: she was listening to what he said.

Display the acetate or poster, ‘What do you think?’

What would you have thought if you had been there? Would you have been like Martha, too busy doing other things to spend time with Jesus, or would you have been like Mary, eager to hear all that he had to say?

Christians believe that the most important thing for anyone to do is to get to know Jesus better by reading the Bible and praying, but sometimes people are too busy doing other things.

Optional prayer time:

Give thanks that Jesus is more interested in us than in what we do. Pray that each of us might get to know him better.

An unbelievable event – Easter

Bible base:

Luke 24:1-12

Teaching objectives:

To show that the Bible teaches that Jesus came back to life after he was killed.

You will need:

a large empty matchbox
Two sweets

Introductory activity:

Ask the assembly what reminds them of Easter. Take some suggestion, eg Easter eggs, Easter bunny, daffodils, etc. After you have heard their ideas, show them the large matchbox and say that this reminds you of Easter and you need two volunteers to explain why.

Ask for two volunteers to come to the front. Put a sweet inside the matchbox and give it to your first volunteer, asking them to remove it and eat it. There is no trick!

When they have done this, put another sweet in the box and ask the second person to do the same. However, they will only be allowed to eat the sweet if they manage to get it out of the box without anyone else in the room seeing them, not even you or the other pupil. This means that even if they turn their back, you should still be able to see what they are doing. They are not allowed to leave the room and must stay in front of you!

It’s not so easy to remove the sweet without anyone seeing when everyone is watching so closely! Give the second pupil the sweet and ask them both to take their seats again.

Imagine that the matchbox we were just using was a mini model of a tomb, where a body would be laid after the person had died. After Jesus was killed, his body was laid in a tomb, a large stone was rolled in front of the entrance (illustrate this by closing the matchbox) and Roman guards were posted outside to keep watch. There was not much chance of anyone getting the body out of the tomb without the guards noticing and stopping them!

When Jesus friends came to visit his tomb a few days after he was killed, the body was gone (illustrate this by opening the empty matchbox). It would have been impossible for someone to steal it without anyone noticing, and a dead body cannot escape on its own!

When his followers discovered the tomb was empty, they remembered something he had told them before his crucifixion, which they had not properly understood.

If you are doing this assembly as part of the series ‘What is Jesus all about?’, refer back to ‘A strange twist’ and recap on the strange series of events that Jesus told his disciples about. You could re-use the visual aid from that assembly to remind pupils that Jesus had told his disciples this would happen.

Jesus had said that he would be killed and then would be brought back to life again, so it is not that surprising that the tomb was empty. He had already shown that he was someone quite amazing when he had performed miracles. Even though he had died, Jesus came back to life, and some of the people who had known him saw him again before he went to be with God in heaven.

You may have heard of this event. Christians call it the resurrection and it is what is celebrated at Easter.

Optional prayer time:

The resurrection is an unbelievable event; pray that we would expect the unbelievable with God!

An amazing gift from the King – Easter

Bible base:

Luke 23:1-25

Teaching objectives:

To show that the Bible says Jesus’ death was the punishment for other people’s guilt.

You will need:

A bottle of water, a jumper and a loaf of bread, individually wrapped as though they are presents. Do not try to disguise the shape of the items.
Prompt cards to show the assembly saying ‘Give us Barabbas!’, ‘Kill him!’ and ‘You’re free!’
Pictures Visual Aid Pictures (5021 downloads ) photocopied onto card (or create your own images).

Introductory activity:

Show the assembly the three presents that you have wrapped up. Choose one pupil to come to the front to have a closer look but do not let them unwrap them. Ask them to imagine the following situations: which present would they want most in each one?

You are really hungry
You are really thirsty
You are really cold

Unwrap the presents to discover if the pupil made the right choice. Ask the pupil to sit down again.

Today’s story is about a man who received an amazing gift, which was the thing he wanted more than anything else. Unlike the presents we have here, it was not something that could be wrapped up. The man’s name was Barabbas.

The Bible doesn’t tell us an awful lot about Barabbas, but what we do know is that he started a riot and murdered someone. And he doesn’t look very happy, because he was caught. He was found guilty and put in prison. Show picture 1a.

We can imagine Barabbas feeling very lonely, sitting in a prison cell on his own and feeling very sorry for himself. With no one else to talk to, perhaps Barabbas started to think about how stupid he had been. He knew that the punishment for his crime was the death penalty. Why had he done it?

Jesus was also in prison, because the people had accused him of causing trouble and saying things that weren’t true. But, unlike Barabbas, Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong. Show picture 1b

I wonder what Barabbas was thinking.

Perhaps as he thought about the punishment that was waiting for him, he realised that he deserved it. He knew that what he had been doing was wrong, and now he had been caught out, he knew that he deserved the punishment. Barabbas was miserable.

Ask the pupils what gift Barabbas would want more than anything else at this moment.

More than anything, Barabbas wanted to be free. One day, as Barabbas was sitting in his cell, he heard crowds outside the prison shouting something over and over again. What was it? He couldn’t make out the words at first, but as he listened, it seemed to get louder and louder, as though the people were getting closer. Eventually, he could hear what it was they were saying:

Hold up the prompt card ‘Give us Barabbas’ and encourage the assembly to shout it over and over.

Barabbas was going to be released! The people were calling for him!

But then, just as he was getting excited, he heard their shouts change to something much less pleasant:

Hold up the prompt card ‘Kill him!’ and encourage the assembly to shout it over and over.

Maybe it was not so good after all. Now it seemed as if the people were calling for his execution.

Barabbas was suddenly very scared. And he became more and more scared as he heard the heavy footsteps of the jailer coming along the corridor (you could add some atmosphere by walking heavily across the assembly hall). And then he could hear the rattle of the jailer’s keys and the locking and unlocking of doors. Barabbas had never been so scared in his life, as he realised that this could be the end.

Suddenly, the doors swung open and the jailer appeared in the door, and in his big, gruff voice he shouted:

Hold up the prompt card ‘You’re free!’ and encourage the assembly to shout it out.

Show picture 2a. Barabbas was amazed. What about what the crowds had been shouting? Surely they had been shouting ‘Kill him! Kill him!’?

The answer was that when the people were shouting ‘Kill him!’, they were not talking about Barabbas. They were talking about Jesus.

They had been given the choise of having Jesus or Barabbas released, and they chose Barabbas.

But there is a problem. Barabbas was ‘guilty’, and Jesus wasn’t, yet Barabbas was going to be set free and Jesus was going to be killed.

The Bible does not say why the people suddenly decided that they wanted Barabbas to be released and Jesus put to death. Maybe Jesus’ enemies had told the people untrue stories about Jesus, or maybe they claimed that Barabbas was innocent and shouldn’t be in prison.

It does not seem fair, but this means that Jesus took Barabbas’ guilt.

And then, when Barabbas was free, Jesus was killed on the cross.

The Bible says that when Jesus died on the cross, he was choosing to take the punishment for all the wrong things all of us have done, not just Barabbas. What an amazing gift! We are probably not murderers, like Barabbas was, but no one is perfect – no one except Jesus.

The Bible says that the punishment for sin is death, and that is why, if Jesus was going to take our punishment, he had to die.

Christians believe that Jesus wants to take the ‘guilty’ sign away for all of the wrong things any of us does or says or even thinks. Show picture 2b. Jesus can take away all the wrong things that we do, say and think, but he wasn’t guilty of doing anything wrong himself.

Optional prayer time:

Say thank you that Jesus came to earth to take the punishment for all of the wrong things in our lives. If you choose to, you could pray that we would think about whether or not we want to accept this gift.

A warm welcome – Palm Sunday

Bible base:

Luke 19:28-40

Teaching objectives:

To show that people believed Jesus was a king. But he was a different sort of king. His power was far, far greater than anything people had known (this will become more apparent in subsequent assemblies. If using as a one-off then this will need to be explained!)

You will need:

A cardboard crown for the winner of the quiz.
Some gold or red fabric to turn a chair into a throne.
A velvet dressing gown or red or gold fabric to look like a king’s robe.
Large leaves made out of green tissue paper.

Introductory activity:

Choose four pupils to come to the front and take part in a royal quiz. The winner will be crowned King or Queen of the primary school you are in.

Where does the King or Queen of Great Britain live? Buckingham Palace
What does the King or Queen wear on their head on special occasions? A crown
Who is Prince William’s brother? Prince Harry
Who is Queen Elizabeth II’s husband? Prince Philip
How many years has Queen Elizabeth reigned in Great Britain? (NB. 2002 was her 50th year on the throne)
Who is next in line to the throne? Prince Charles
When was the Golden Jubilee? 2002
Does every country have a king or queen? No

When you have a winner for the quiz, ask them to stay at the front of the assembly. Then proceed to ask the pupils how we could make them look more like a king or queen. Start to dress them up as a king/queen:

Put the crown on their head.
Cover a chair with material to pretend it is a throne.
Dress them in a robe.

Ask the pupils to imagine that the assembly hall is actually a very grand palace.

Ask them questions about what they think a king of queen does. How would they travel around? Where would their palace be?

Make the point that in our country, the king or queen does not have very much power any more, but in some countries, and years ago in Britain, the monarch ruled the country. They had the power to make people’s lives better or worse! You may choose to make reference to a film that the children would know that shows a king who has real power, for example, The Lion King or the pharaoh in Prince of Egypt. If you have time, you could show a clip.

In today’s story, we meet someone whom the people treated like a king, but he was not like the sort of king we have just described.

He did not have a crown (remove the crown). He did not have a fine throne to sit on (take the fabric off the seat). He did not have a fine palace to live in. He did not have fine robes (remove the robes). In fact, he had none of the things we have imagined a king should have. He didn’t have a carriage and he didn’t live in the capital city.

However, people thought he was a king because of the things he did. Do you remember that we said that in other countries, and in the old days, kings and queens had lots of power? People thought this man was a king because of the amazing things he did to help them.

Have you guessed who it is yet? This person was Jesus. The Bible says that people had seen the amazing miracles that Jesus did and the way he had made people’s lives better. He wasn’t a king sitting on a throne, with robes and a crown (draw their attention again to the robes and crown that you have taken off your king or queen). They believed that he was a different sort of king, sent from God to help them.

Jesus was coming into the capital city on a donkey rather than in a carriage. The people didn’t go to find him in a palace, they came out on to the streets and shouted and cheered as he went by. They threw palm branches and cloaks on the ground to make a carpet for him, praising God for the amazing things they had seen him do.

Throw the tissue paper leaves and the material used for the king’s cloak and throne on to the ground and ask your ‘king’ or ‘queen’ to walk over them.

Something about Jesus made people believe that he was very special – special enough to be a king, even though he didn’t have the crown or the palace or any of the other things we associate with kings.

The Bible says that Jesus was a King. Put the crown back on the pupil’s head. Rather than being the king who is in charge of a country like our king of queen, he is a King who is in charge of people’s lives. Christians are people who believe that Jesus was someone so special that they want him to be in charge of their lives – like a king!

Optional prayer time:

Thank God that Jesus really cared about people and can make a difference.