Tag Archives: life

The Universe, God and me – The significance of being human

Aim

To help pupils consider the vastness of the universe and the question of significance of human beings.

Bible base

Psalm 8:3,4,9

You will need:

Large pictures of the following:

  1. Picture 1 – the sun, or another nearby star
  2. Picture 2 – a galaxy, for example, the Andromeda galaxy
  3. Picture 3 – a cluster of galaxies, for example, the Virgo cluster.

23 large pieces of card: the number ‘1’ written on the first; ‘0’ on all the others.

A beautifully wrapped gift with an accompanying card addressed, ‘To someone special’

Preparation

Prepare the pictures. You may be able to obtain these from the school science department or astronomy club or from Google Images.

Content

Introduction

Begin the assembly by selecting someone from the audience and presenting them with a beautifully wrapped gift (eg a small box of chocolates). Also give them a card, the envelope of which is clearly marked, ‘To someone very special’. Make sure that the audience are aware of what is happening and what the words on the envelope say.

The Universe

1. Ask: How many stars are there in the universe? After receiving some suggestions from the pupils, say that we know about at least one star – on sun (display Picture 1). Ask a pupil to come to the front to hold up the card showing the number ‘1’. They should stand on one side of the front area of the hall.

Explain that the sun is a huge ball of hydrogen gas, large enough for a million earths to fit inside it. Light from the sun takes eight minutes to travel the huge distance to the earth.

2. Continue by explaining that the sun is only one star in our local group of stars, which is called the Milky Way galaxy. Ask if anyone has seen the Milky Way? Say that if they can get somewhere where there are no street lights, on a clear night, they will be able to see a diffuse band of light across the sky. This is the Milky Way. Explain that it’s a vast collection of stars which are like our sun. Say that if we were to take a ride in the Starship Enterprise and go out of our galaxy and look back, we would see something like this. (display Picture 2).

3. But this is only one galaxy among many! (display Picture 3). Remember, each galaxy contains about 100 billion stars. Ask how many galaxies there are in the universe? Explain that there are about 100 billion!

4. To work out how many stars there are in the universe, you need to multiply 100 billion by 100 billion and you get… (ask eleven more pupils to come and hold up the remaining ‘0’ cards, so that the number is stretched across the front of the assembly hall)…a very large number indeed! This number was once likened to the number of the grains of sand on the beaches of the world (Genesis 22:17)!

5. Read Psalm 8:3,4 and 9, whilst Picture 3 and the number are still being displayed. Then ask the pupils holding the number cards sit down, but leave on display Picture 3.

Application

1. Ask pupils what they think the vast, unimaginable size of the universe means for our understanding of our own place in it.

Say that some people simply conclude that we are totally insignificant and that our existence and that of the whole universe have no purpose at all.

Christians take a different view. The Bible acknowledges this whole universe is the creation of God. The reason it is so vast is a demonstration of the exciting and extravagant being that God is! But far from man being insignificant, God has chosen to reach out to human beings in a special way.

2. Ask pupils if they have ever had the experience of being chosen out of a vast crowd (like the person who received the gift at the beginning of the assembly), and because of that they have felt special.

3. Explain that Christians believe human beings are special, in spite of their apparent insignificance in this vast universe – because God chose to come in the person of Jesus to demonstrate his love and care for us. We might be a very small part of the universe, but we are a very special part!

4. Draw pupils’ attention to the picture of the galaxies again (Picture 3, still on display). Say that you are going to end this assembly with a few moment of quiet. As they look at the picture, ask them to let it remind them, not of their insignificance in such a great universe, but of their great significance to God!

 

Seeking life

Aim

To help pupils understand that there are different ways of looking at life; and to consider Jesus’ claim that he is the source of life in all its fullness.

Bible base

John 10:10; 14:6 – Jesus came to give us life.

You will need:

5 large cards – 4 of which should show the word ‘life’ written in 4 different ways; and the fifth showing the word ‘JESUS’:

  • Card 1 – l I f e
  • Card 2 – l I F e
  • Card 3 – L i f e
  • Card 4 – L I f E
  • Card 5 – JESUS

Content

Introduction

Begin with a simple word association game, where two volunteers must say words associated with a given theme alternately (eg for ‘holidays’, your volunteers might say words like: ‘sand’ , ‘sun’, ‘fun’ etc). As soon as one person hesitates, call up someone else to take over. Use other themes, like: ‘school’, ‘breakfast’, ‘sport’ etc. Then introduce the theme ‘life’. They will probably find this more difficult.

Life

Comment that it’s interesting how we find something we all have so difficult to describe! Say that you can think of at least four ways of describing life. Suggest that maybe they can identify with some of these ways of looking at life.

l I f e

1. Display Card 1 which shows the word ‘life’ written with a capital ‘I’. Say that some people spell ‘life’ this way. Explain that ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’ are three of the most commonly used words in the English language. The person who sees life in this way puts him or herself first in life. They are number 1! There are things they want to do, places they want to see, money they want to make – and woe betide anyone who gets in their way! This person is a self-made man (or woman) and proud of it! They can look after themselves and don’t need anyone!

2. Tell the following story: A man was walking along a cliff. He slipped and fell and was hanging on for dear life, to a small bush, on the edge of the cliff. Although he was an atheist, he called out, in desperation, ‘Is anybody there?’ To his amazement, he heard a reply: ‘Yes, I’m here.’ He cried out again, ‘What do you want me to do?’ The voice said, ‘Let go of the bush, and I’ll save you.’ He paused for a moment and then cried out, ‘Is anybody else there?’ He couldn’t take the risk of trusting his life to anyone!

l I F e

1. Display Card 2 which shows the word ‘life’ written with the letters ‘I’ and ‘F’ as capitals. Say that some people spell ‘life’ in this way – with a big ‘IF’ in the middle. This kind of person says things like:

  • If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
  • If there is a God, why did my loved one have to die?
  • If there is a God, why doesn’t he prove it?
  • If I can just get through my exams, then I’ll have time for God.
  • If God gets me that job I want, or that girl/boyfriend, then I’ll believe in him.

2. Tell this story:

Tommy was saying his prayers one night and his mum was with him. He prayed, ‘Dear Lord, if you get me that mountain bike, I’ll be good for a whole week.’ His mum stopped him and told him that wasn’t the sort of prayer God wanted to hear. ‘You can’t do deals with God,’ she said.

Next week he was praying again, and this time he prayed, ‘Dear Lord, if you get me that mountain bike, I’ll be good for two whole weeks.’ His mum stopped him again and repeated the same warning.

Some time later, his mum was doing some spring cleaning. In the airing cupboard, under some towels, she found a statue of Mary. She wondered if Tommy was behind this, so she went into his room to see if she could find him. He wasn’t there, but on the window-sill was a note in his handwriting which said, ‘Right, God, if you ever want to see your mother again…’!

L i f e

1. Display Card 3 which shows the word ‘life’ written with the letter ‘L’ as a capital. Say that some people spell ‘life’ in this way with a capital ‘L’, because, after all, ‘we’re all learning, aren’t we?’. They say things like:

  • ‘I mean, no one’s perfect are they?’
  • ‘We can only try our best, can’t we?’

This kind of person treats life a bit like a driving test. It’s as if they believe at the end of time, God will tot up the number of points they got and, hopefully, they will just about manage to scrape into heaven! But unfortunately, some of us just don’t learn!

2. Tell this story: There was a man who was doing a parachute jump. He pulled the cord – nothing happened. He pulled the emergency cord, and still nothing happened. As he was heading towards earth at a hundred and twenty miles an hour, he passed another man on the way up!

‘Hey’ he shouted at him, ‘Do you know anything about parachutes?’

‘No!’ the man replied, ‘Do you know anything about gas ovens?’

We’re all learners!

L I f E

1. Display Card 4 which shows the word ‘life’ written with the letters ‘L’, ‘I’ and ‘E’ as capitals. Say that some people spell ‘life’ in this way because, as we all know, there are many voices wanting to get our attention out there in the world, and we have to try to decide which is the truth and which are lies. Sadly, some people have ended up living their lives according to the lies they have hard and believed, like:

  • ‘You’re worthless, you’ll never be any good,’ ‘You’ve got to look good to be accepted.’
  • ‘Go on, do it, everyone does it.’
  • ‘Go on, take it, it won’t do you any harm.’

2. Tell this story:

There was a person who jumped out of a sixteen storey building just to see what it felt like. Half-way down, he shouted to his friends, ‘See! So far so good!’

Application

1. Say that Christians aren’t very good spellers, because they spell ‘life’ like this: JESUS (display card 5 which shows the word ‘Jesus’). It’s not because they can’t spell, but because Jesus said things like:

  • ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6, Good News Bible).
  • ‘I have come…that you might have life – life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10, Good News Bible).

It was as if Jesus was saying, ‘This is life, knowing me!’ These are amazing claims that are worth checking out.

2. Conclude by challenging pupils to ask themselves: ‘What am I going to base my life on?’