BX Lesson 5 at St Peters

This afternoon I have completed Bible Explorer at St Peters.  The final part is about the exile, the story of Daniel and then Esther.  In between we fill in some of the names of the kings and the names of some of the people that returned to Judah.  The end comes with a touch of sadness as the children want to go on to the New Testament then to find out what happens next - but I say that is another story.  I have enjoyed the 5 weeks I have spent with the children and I feel the children have enjoyed it too.  My next BX lesson though is just around the corner after half term when I will start it all over again.

St Peters

Today Sarah and I went over to St Peters Ireleth to take the assembly.  We sang a very quick song - Inright Outright to start before Sarah introduced the story for the day which was Pentecost.  She asked if anyone knew what last Sunday was and someone did.  I then went through some actions with the children which formed part of the refrain in the story.  We used one of Bob Hartmans stories, and as usual I did change my voice a few times during the story and added a bit of expression on some of the words.  Following the story which basically tells of the Holy Spirit coming I went on to explain a little more about it.  To help me I had a photograph of Bertie the Clown - but it was all dirty, I also had a sponge - when I tried to clear the picture with the sponge it wouldn't work.  I also had a second sponge which I then put into some water which filled the sponge up.  The two sponges looked the same but one was filled and the other wasn't.  Using the filled sponge I then cleaned the picture.  I told the children that once the disciples and followers of Jesus were filled with His Holy Spirit it enabled them to do the job that they were meant to do which was to tell people everywhere about Jesus.  Sarah then told the children that when we are filled then we shine out Jesus' love which was a cue for another song - Shine.  At the end of the song we said a prayer, then we got asked to sing another song so we sang Giants of Faith.

Low Furness School

Today we went to Low Furness School to take the assembly.  The theme being Pentecost so following a quick song 'Inright Outright' I told the story of Pentecost from a Bob Hartman book.  As is usual with Bob's story there is a refrain which the children can respond to and this one had actions too.  So Sarah led the refrain at the right time and the children followed the words on the big screen.  The story told of the disciples waiting and praying for the present Jesus had promised - His Holy Spirit.  It went on to tell the children what the crowd said following the Holy Spirit coming, particularly when they heard the disciples speaking in different languages.  Following the story I talked briefly to the children about when I washed the car with a sponge, if you try to wash with a dry sponge it doesn't have much affect but when you put water on it and it is filled - it might look the same but now it can do what it is meant to do - wash things.  And the coming of the Holy Spirit is a bit like that, in the sense that we look no different on the outside but inside we are full and that enables us to do what Jesus wanted us to do which was to tell the world about him.  Sarah then concluded and said that when we do that we can shine out God's love - which was a cue for a song - 'Shine'  After the song Sarah said a short prayer with the children.

Lesson 4 BX St Peters

Had a great afternoon over at St Peters telling the stories of Samuel, Saul, David and Solomon.  The children's hands were going up each time I went near to my prop box.  I had children dressing as Hannah, Saul, David and Solomon as well as a donkey (confused read 1 Samuel 9) I dressed up too but only briefly.  We have covered the history and story up to Israel being scattered which will be next weeks story.  There is always a '...can you tell us what happens next...' at the end of each week which I find a great encouragement in that they want to know more.  Can't wait until next week when I tell them the final part.  I do need to think about getting trained to do the New Testament soon.

Our Lady's School

This morning I went to take the assembly at Our Lady's.  We started with a quick song as I wanted to teach the children Giants of Faith.  So following Inright Outright I displayed some words on the screen for the children to shout out during the story.  They appear to be quiet random and they were in the wrong order, I asked if anyone who work out what the story might be, one little boy thought he did but soon put his hand down again.  So I started the story which was taken from a Bob Hartman book of stories and it repeats each line three times and at the end of some lines the children need to shout out one of the words.  They really enjoyed the shouting part as they listened to the next line and working out what word to shout next.  The story tells of Jesus walking on the water and Peter stepping out to join him.  At the end of the story I talk a little about trusting Jesus as Peter had done and like Peter if we take our eyes of him we can too start to sink.  I also said that when we trust we have faith and I then introduced them to the giants of faith in the song Giants of Faith.  Following that I said a short prayer.

Sir John Barrow School - Juniors

This afternoon we went to take an assembly for the Junior part of the school.  We did the same assembly as we did last week for the Infants but used playing cards instead of wooden blocks.  Two children came out and tried to build a tower using the base of cards I had already started.  Several times in fell down, and a few times they tried to build themselves but in the end they needed to work together.  Sarah used two other children to read a part of the Bible were the disciples were talking about who the greatest person was in them.  Sarah used the examples to talk about relationships and working together in a team to help each other out.  We sang Shine as a final song before I read a short prayer.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon we went over to Crosthwaite School to take the assembly.  We asked the children what song they would like  to sing and they picked Shine.  Following the song I told them the story of Jesus walking on the water and Peter stepping out of the boat to join him.  We all know what happen Peter stopped trusting in Jesus as he stood on the water and started to sink and Jesus held out a hand to him and helped him back into the boat.  The story was read from a Bob Hartman book of Bible stories and it repeats the same line three times and at the end of some of the lines the children need to shout out a response.  The children really got into the story as I was telling it.  I followed the story with a short word about trusting Jesus as Peter had done at first but then took his eye of Jesus and then sank - but Jesus helped him.  I told the children that we should try to put our trust in Jesus and when things get tough and we start to sink we should call out to Jesus (prayer) and he will help us through.  Sarah then made the link between trust and faith as we got ready to sing Giants of Faith.  In the end we sang it twice.  We ended the assembly with a prayer.