Breakfast Time at MCC

This morning (early) I set off from Ulverston to have breakfast at the Network Centre in Millom.  I had been invited to go as Bertie the Clown to do after dinner (breakfast) magic and a short talk.  It was a chance for dads and grandads to get together and have fun as well as eat breakfast.  I arrived early so as to be able to eat my breakfast before everyone else and then I went table to table and entertained the gather crowd.  Then once eating was over I put on a little show which included a mix of magic for the children as well as a trick or two for the adults.  The adults were led down a route to a bible verse via two different tricks then the reveal came with the reading of the verse as well as an envelope prediction.  The verse was John 3:16.  I then just expanded on it a little and talked about God's love and encouraged people to think about it and if they needed they could talk to Fred about it.  Had a great time.

BX Lesson 3 Low Furness

Had yet another great time with the children at Low Furness.  It was lesson 3 of Bible Explorer.  It is the lesson that covers almost 550 years of bible history, over 3 books in under 1 hour!  Wow we moved fast.  It is the story of Joshua and the judges of Israel.  The lesson ends with an insight into the New Testament and the birth of Jesus via the story of Ruth.  Ruth is one of my favourite books in the Old Testament, mainly because what Ruth did was very Christ-like and also she features in the family tree of Jesus as well.  So next week we move into the stories of the first Kings of Israel - Saul, David and Solomon.

BX Lesson 3 Broughton

Had a great time at Broughton doing lesson 3 of Bible Explorer.  The children were delighted to see me again and couldn't wait for me to get started.  After running through a few parts of the story from last week and talking about the number of books that we have covered so far we recapped the hand signs and started.  Today it was the story of Joshua and the fall of Jericho, then the dividing up of the land as the Israelites conquered it before settling in and going into their 12 tribes.  We moved into the period of the judges which lasted 400 years.  We don't tell the whole of the judges story as it would take too long so we focus on just three, Deborah, Gideon and Samson.  Our final story is that of Ruth which is one of my favourite books in the Bible as it can teach us so much about Christian love - even though it is in the Old Testament.  There was the usual awe as I ended as the children wanted more.  As I left the children started to work in their work books.

BX Lesson 3 Crosthwaite

Following our assembly this afternoon I then did lesson 3 of Bible Explorer.  Today we found ourselves in the books of Joshua, Judges and Ruth covering about 550 years or so of history!  The children joined in with great enthusiasm as I told the stories and encouraged children to join me to play various parts.  They also joined in all the new hand signs as well as remembering all the ones from last week and the week before as well.  There was again the sound of awe followed by tell us now as I ended the this weeks story and hands signs with 'everyone did was right in his own eyes ...except Ruth and ......I'll tell you next week.  It is great to see the children so engaged with these great  Old Testament stories.  As Sarah had been with me for the assembly she came in a watched the lesson.  Despite the fact that I talk about it all the time and run throught the stories and hand signs before each lesson it is the first full lesson she has watched.  Afterwards I commented on how tired I was and she said I am not surprised as I never knew how full on it is. 

Crosthwaite

We went over to Crosthwaite this afternoon to take our first assembly of the new term.  As we have done in previous schools we did the story about working together.  Aesop told a story about parts of the body and how they decided that they would no longer give the stomach any food.  Now we all know that if we don't eat we become ill and that is what happened.  All the other body parts couldn't function as they were meant to do that is until the stomach told them that it was because they too needed the food they fed him in order for them to function.  Although this is not a bible story Paul did write a letter to the Christians in Corinth along similar lines and how we all need to work together.  As Sarah had read the story I then explained it to the children, I also used an example of a jig-saw to further illustrate the point.  As it was the first assembly back we sang Great big God to start with as they all know that one then to finish we sang Shine before Sarah closed in a prayer.

St Peters

Today I went along to St Peters to take the assembly.  I decided to do the assembly we had done at Low Furness last week.  The school hall at St Peters has a huge picture of the Lord's Prayer on the wall.  So after singing Creator God I stood by the picture as the children read each line of the prayer out loud.  I then gave them the Street Bible version of it having briefly explained what the Street Bible is.  Following this I showed the crossword and went down each clue as the children put up their hands to offer an answer.  Some of the answers were great answers and could very easily have fitted but they were not the ones I was needing for the crossword.  The children did give me most of the answers though.  A couple I needed to tell them.  Once filled in I used it to talk about pray in general.  I concluded the assembly with Wonderful Lord and prayed for the children during the instrumental part.

Heads & Clergy conference

This morning Sarah and I travelled up to Newton Rigg, Penrith.  We had been asked to start of the  Heads & Clergy conference.  We had about 15 mins to do the collective worship bit at the start.  So I briefly explained to the gathering who we were and what we do then gave an example of an assembly we did last week.  Low Furness School had asked us last Tuesday to do an assembly on the Lord's Prayer, so as part of the conference was about prayer space's in school we decided to repeat this talk.  So Sarah and I read the Lord's Prayer, Sarah read the more traditional version while I read the street version as taken from the Word on the Street Bible.  Following this Sarah showed a crossword and read the cues as I demonstrated what happen last week as we did the assembly.  You can read about it on our blog from last Tuesday.  The sun had blocked out the video screen and we simply said Lord if you could just let the sun disappear while we do this that would be great - then it did!!!  This cause a sharp intake of breath this morning from the audience.  So Sarah continued and then I showed the answers and pointed out some of the key words like hears, power, simple, communicate etc then revealed that last week we sang a song and the sun came back out again and the children were taken back by it all.  Back to today, following the crossword we sang Wonderful Lord and during the instrumental I prayed for all those at the conference.  Following that I thank them for listening and we said our good byes.  We had a great time this morning and we hope that everyone else did too.

BX Lesson 2 Low Furness School

This afternoon I was at Low Furness School doing lesson 2 of Bible Explorer.  Despite it has been over a week since I was there the children were able to answer all the questions I asked them about the first lesson and they remembered all the hand signs.  Today's story starts 400 years after the story last week.  I enjoy turning over from Genesis to Exodus and asking the children what they can see.  Most say nothing then I tell them that we have jumped forward 400 years.  Which leads me into the first hand sign.  The children listened to the story of Moses as I acted out parts of the story which ended when Moses died at 120 years old.  Next week they will learn about the man that took over Joshua.  Had a great time today and in fact this week.

BX lesson 2 Broughton

This afternoon I was over at Broughton with the children of year 5/6.  As it was lesson 2 we were talking about Moses.  The children responded well to the story and the new hand signs we have learnt today.  The children were surprised when I told them that last week when we did the stories of Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph they had only covered 1 book in the bible.  They thought that they had covered a lot more.  Then when I picked up my bible and turned the page from Genesis to Exodus I said that they had now jumped in time 400 years.  It was great to see the children so engaged in the stories and again there was a big awe when I said the story continues next week.  One child said we don't mind tell us more today.

Our Lady's Dalton

We made our first visit to Our Lady's this morning.  We did the working together assembly with the children.  Although it uses one of the fables of Aesop.  Paul did use a similar example in his letter to the Corinthians.  Sarah read the story and I did the talk at the end, and as in other schools I used the example of a jig-saw and how we all need to be a part and each one of us is important to make the whole picture.  Using the words of Jesus when he said Love one another as I have loved you I explained that we could change love to help, be kind, care for, respect to illustrate how we today can work together.  To start the assembly we had sung Great Big God and to end we sang Shine before I prayed with the children.

BX Lesson 2 Crosthwaite

This afternoon I have been over to the small school of Crosthwaite to do BX lesson 2.  Last week we had left the story with Joseph the PM of all Egypt as his whole family went down into Egypt that is all 70 of them.  At the start of this weeks lesson I turned in my bible to the last page of Genesis and asked the children to look very closely as I turned the page to Exodus - nobody spotted it.  Spotted what you might ask?  The 400 year jump in time from the end of Genesis to the start of Exodus.  I then read the verse about the new king in Egypt who didn't know Joseph as we started the lesson.  The children sat and waited as each part of the Moses story came out.  They joined in the hand signs first of all we did last weeks then went into the new signs.  Whenever I went to my prop box a mighty show of hands went up as the children were so keen to join in the story.  Then as the lesson drew to a close and Moses dies I asked if they knew what happen next - they said no - I'll tell you next week I said - which was met with an awe!  Had a great time today with the children and it is good to see them all wanting to join in.

Croftlands Juniors

It was our first visit to Croftlands Juniors this morning.  As we have done in all our schools so far this term we did the Aesop's Fable story about the parts of the body working together.  The children listened as they looked at the funny pictures of the body parts who refused to feed the poor stomach.  As we all know each part of our body needs to work together.  The body parts soon became unwell and out of sorts until the stomach spoke up and told them why.  Although it is not a bible story I told the children Paul a follower of Jesus after Jesus had died wrote to encourage people and used the parts of the body as an example.  I used the verse from John about 'Love one another as I have loved you' to illustrate how we should help, respect, be kind to, care for each other.  I also used the idea of a jig-saw puzzle in that every piece needs to be in place for us to have a whole picture.  We then sang Shine and finished with a prayer.

Croftlands Infants School

We had our first visit of the new term to Croftlands Infants today.  As it was the first one we sang on old favourite with the children Great Big God to start with.  We then went on to tell the children a story which was one of Aesop's Fables.  Although it is very similar to a message that Paul gave in one of his letters.  It is about the parts of the body refusing to feed the stomach and in time they are all finding life difficult as they couldn't do what they needed to do.  The story illustrates that we all need to work together.  Sarah then explained a little about the story and how it can be applied to the children in school.  We then sang Shine before I closed the assembly with a short prayer.

Low Furness School

It was our first visit to Low Furness today following the summer holidays.  We had been asked to do an assembly on The Lord's Prayer.  So we spent some time yesterday looking for assemblies based around The Lord's Prayer of which there are many.  Sarah found an assembly idea which explained each sentence of the prayer which looked good, she also found a crossword puzzle as well.  I had an idea that I would like to put the Lord's Prayer into everyday English for the children.  So I looked it up in the Street Bible and did find an everyday translation of it but parts of it would have still confused the children.  So I decided to use part of it and change some of the more difficult words to suit the children.  Our assembly started and the sun was bright as ever shinning on the projector screen, so much so the children couldn't see the words.  Sarah and I then did the Lord's Prayer between us, Sarah read the traditional words while I the new English/street version.  Following on from this we wanted to do the crossword but the children couldn't see it because of the sun, also when I produced it on my wide screen lap top it fitted on the screen, but the projector was not wide screen.  We could have stopped the assembly there sang a song said a prayer everyone out to play.  But while Sarah is selecting children to help with the crossword from each of the 4 house's I fixed the crossword and said to Sarah and the children what we could do with now is the sun to go in for a little while so we can do the crossword.  Just then the sun went in and it started to rain.  Now because we had messed about a bit with the picture we were running short on time but it was now going to be wet play so we had plenty of time.  We completed the crossword children who helped got house points, we recapped the words and ... the sun came back out again.  We finished with Wonderful Lord during which we said the Lord's Prayer.  At the end we said to the children how awesome it was that just at the right time the sun went in and that God had heard us and had the power to cover the sun for those few minutes.  The children then got sent out to play so winners all round Praise God for His Awesomeness.

Broughton School

To day we went over to Broughton school for our first visit of the new term.  We started with Great Big God before Sarah told a short story based on one of Aesop's Fables.  We linked the story to the lesson Paul told when he spoke about the parts of the body needing to work together in love and respect for one another.  I also brought in the verse from John about loving one another as Christ loves us.  To complete the assembly we sang Shine before I ended with a short prayer.

BX lesson 1 Broughton

This afternoon I have been over to Broughton CE School to do lesson 1 of Bible Explorer.  It was a mixed class of year 5 and 6.  To start with I am not sure the children quite knew what to expect but once I got into the story parts of Genesis like the Adam and Eve story, they began to willing join in.  By the end of the lesson every time I took out a new prop or costume the children sat up straight and waited to be ask if they wanted to be part of the story.  The children really took to the hand signs too and they all joined in.  Then at the end of the Genesis story there was the usual groan as I asked them if they knew what happened next and I say 'I'll tell you next week'.  The children helped to pack away the equipment at the end and also asked a few questions too.  A great afternoon.

Bx Lesson 1 at Crosthwaite School

Had a great time today over at Crosthwaite School doing lesson 1 of Bible Explorer.  I had the whole of the juniors which is about 25.  What was great though the teacher had never seen it before too and she photocopied the work sheets to do after I left.  The children joined in with all the actions and were very willing to come up front an dress up to play the various characters from the stories in Genesis.  There was an awe when I said that I would continue the story next week.  So a great start in this new school to Bible Explorer.

St Peters Ireleth

We made our first visit of the new term to St Peters today.  It was great to see all the children again as we always get such a warm welcome.  We started the assembly with an old favourite Great Big God then went on to tell a story.  The story we used was not a bible one but Paul did tell a similar story to the church at Corinth.  We used one of Aesop's Fables about parts of the body.  The parts of the body had decided that as the stomach didn't do anything they would no longer provide food for it.  Well as we all know our bodies have been designed so that all parts work together.  Well the body parts started to fail and couldn't do what they needed to do until the stomach pointed out the error of their ways.  Sarah then went on to say that we should all work together in school so that everything works well and she showed the verse from John 15 v12 about Loving one another as I (Jesus) loves us.  She explained that the love could be changed to help or care for, or be kind to, show respect and if we do that then as a school we will be like a giant jig-saw puzzle were all the pieces fit together perfectly.  Sarah then reminded them of the bible verse and then we sang Great Great Brill Brill before I ended with a prayer and Sarah led them in the Lord's Prayer.

BX Lesson 1 at Low Furness School

This afternoon I had been into Low Furness School to take a Bible Explorer lesson.  I wasn't sure how it would go because this is a school were the children know me so well and also Grace our 9 year old was in the lesson (she has heard lots about BX but never seen it and was very excited about it).  The lesson went well the children responded to all the stories and hand signs very well.  They are all looking forward to next week when we look at the story of Moses.

Ulverston Infants School

This morning we went along to Ulverston Infants to take the assembly.  We had a great time with the children.  We wanted to inspire the children at the start of a new school year so we told a story which has been adapted from one of Aesop's Fables about parts in a body working together.  The story has pictures with in and as I told the story Sarah showed the pictures.  The body parts were all refusing to fed the stomach and so the body became ill and was therefore unable to function properly.  Sarah then talked to the children about how in a school we should all work together to help each other and she used the verse from John 15 v 10 about loving one another as Christ has loved us.  We had started the assembly by singing Great Big God and finished with Inright Outright before I close in a prayer.

Penny Bridge School

It was the first assembly at Penny Bridge today.  We sang Great Big God to start off with.  Then we went on to tell a story about parts of the body, it was based on one of Aesop's Fables.  It involved certain parts of the body talking to the stomach and complaining that they were not going to feed him any more as he didn't do any work.  So the hands stopped feeding the mouth with food, the teeth didn't chew anything, the legs never went to fetch food etc.  In time the whole body became ill and then the stomach said it was because they had all stopped feeding him.  The moral is that we all need each other in order for us to work as a team.  I then talked about how in the bible it talks about the body and how each part is important and also Jesus taught his disciples to love one another as he loved us.  I explained that we could change the word love to help, look after, respect, care for etc.  Sarah then talked about how as a school we are like a big jig-saw puzzle and that we all have a part to play.  Following singing So Many Ways I ended with a prayer.

Pennington School

This morning for our first assembly of the year we sang Great Big Gog to get back into the swing of things.  We decided to talk about working together as a team.  We used an idea from one of Aesop's Fables about body parts working together and how one part can't say they won't do something as that affects the whole body.  Sarah read the little story and I showed some pictures.  It was a simple story about how the hands, feet, teeth etc didn't want to give the stomach any food because he didn't do anything.  But then in time the hands couldn't move the legs didn't work and the stomach said it is because you don't feed me anymore.  It demonstrated just how important it is for all parts to work together.  I then talked to the children about how we should love and respect one another and how we are all like pieces in a big jig-saw puzzle.  I used the verse Jesus used about 'Love one another as I have loved you'  Being a jig-saw piece means we need to help each other out as well like helping the missing piece of the school - reception class.  I asked the children what they could do when reception came into school and I got some great answers back from the children.  Sarah then finished off and we sang So many ways and concluded with a prayer.