Church Walk School

This morning Sarah and I went to Church Walk School for the assembly however Sarah was seeing Martha off on her school residential and didn't get back in time for the assembly start.  I started the assembly with So Many Ways then asked for two helpers.  To one I gave a tube of toothpaste the other a plate, I asked them to draw a picture with the toothpaste which they did and I showed it to the school, then I asked them to draw a bit more only this time I held onto the tube and gave it a big squeeze which meant loads of toothpaste came out making a mess.  I asked them to swap places and to see if they could put the toothpaste back into the tube - they couldn't of course.  Giving each a wet wipe to clean their hands they sat down.  I then explained why I had asked the two girls to do what they did - it is like when we say something it comes out of our mouths and it like the toothpaste can't go back in.  The girls found it so easy to squeeze the toothpaste out but couldn't get it back in like when we say something - at this point I shouted at a teacher which brought a bit of a laugh particularly when I put my hands to my mouth.  I asked if I could take the words back - no came the response.  I did say sorry to the teacher and did explain to the children I didn't mean what I said it was just an example.  I then displayed the verse from James - It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it...James 3:5-6 MSG I explained the verse to the children pointing out how much damage a fire can cause and that our tongue can hurt people more than a fist or kick can.  I encouraged the children to think about what they say and try to only say good things that praise people like - you look nice today, your hair looks great, you did well in that race, thank you Miss for teaching me today.  I then looked at the teacher I shouted at and said 'thank you for helping me with my assembly' to which she replied 'thank you Mark'  I then said when we do that sort of thing we can Shine from the inside out cue song.  After the song I did a brief talk about holiday club before ending with a prayer.