Thursday 28 September 2017

BX NT3 Low Furness School

This afternoon I had the great pleasure of working once again with the year 5/6 class at Low Furness School doing Bible Explorer.  As it was week 3 the stories covered today included the events leading up to the death of Jesus and him rising from the dead on Easter Sunday.  The children all sat and listened, joining in with the hand signs as well as coming forward to take part in some of the stories, like explaining about the clearing of the temple by Jesus.

Leven Valley School

This morning Sarah and I went down to Leven Valley School for the first assembly of the new school year.  It was great to see all the children again including the new starters. We introduced them to a new song Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus as the words reflected what we wanted to talk about today.  Once again Sarah did all the talking my throat is better but just needed it resting a little longer.  Sarah told the story of the small boy who came to Jesus with 5 small barley loaves and two fish when the disciples wanted to send the crowd of 5000 men plus women plus children away.  Jesus used the boys small offering and fed them all.  Sarah pointed out that the small amount of food would just about feed 5 of the reception class, and what Jesus did was a miracle - but it started with a small boy looking at a problem and doing something to help.  Sarah encouraged the children to use their eyes to look around and see where they could help out in school, at home and outside of school in the community.  We finished with Shine before closing with a prayer.

Our Lady's School Dalton

This morning Sarah and I went to Our Lady's School for the first assembly of the new school year.  We introduced them to a new song Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus as the words reflected what we wanted to talk about today.  Once again Sarah did all the talking my throat is better but just needed it resting a little longer.  Sarah told the story of the small boy who came to Jesus with 5 small barley loaves and two fish when the disciples wanted to send the crowd of 5000 men plus women plus children away.  Jesus used the boys small offering and fed them all.  Sarah pointed out that the small amount of food would just about feed 5 of the reception class, and what Jesus did was a miracle - but it started with a small boy looking at a problem and doing something to help.  Sarah encouraged the children to use their eyes to look around and see where they could help out in school, at home and outside of school in the community.  We finished with Shine before closing with a prayer.

Wednesday 27 September 2017

St Marys Dalton

This morning Sarah and I went to do our first assembly of the new school year at St Marys School Dalton.  Sarah had to do all the talking this morning as I have a very sore throat, so I just operated the computer and did the actions to the songs.  We started with Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus then Sarah talked a bit about eyes before telling the story of the feeding 5000.  She pointed out that the little boy used his eyes and then his hands to do something to help out.  She encouraged the children to follow his example not only in school but at home and in the community.  To finish we sang Shine then Sarah closed with a prayer.

Lindel and Marton School

This morning Sarah and I went to do our first assembly of the new school year at Lindel and Marton School.  Sarah had to do all the talking this morning as I have a very sore throat, so I just operated the computer and did the actions to the songs.  We started with Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus then Sarah talked a bit about eyes before telling the story of the feeding 5000.  She pointed out that the little boy used his eyes and then his hands to do something to help out.  She encouraged the children to follow his example not only in school but at home and in the community.  To finish we sang Shine then Sarah closed with a prayer.

Tuesday 26 September 2017

Ignite

Last night we had a great time at Ignite.  We started last week to work our way through the Bible starting with Adam and Eve and last night we moved on to Noah.  We had our altogether time first playing some silly intro games before looking at the story.  We then split off into smaller groups to look in a little more depth at the story and how Noah had to trust God and obey what God said.  We read sections of the story and the young people responded and wrote down what they thought Noah was felling at the time.  We had all sorts of feelings coming out, sad, glad, special, proud, confused.  The bottom line was that Noah had to trust God and obey him by doing what God had asked him to do - as we all should do!  At the end we prayed using a prayer net, this is when someone starts the pray time with a Praise then passes a ball of string round the room of people (keeping hold of the end) then another Praise, pass on holding onto the string.  Once everyone had done this once we did it again this time by saying thank you for something.  The result was a strong network of pray.  To finish we asked them to think of something they wanted to let go of and as the ball of string was gathered in they released their finger from it - letting it go.

Pennington School

On Monday afternoon Sarah and I went and did our first assembly of the new school year at Pennington School.  It was good to see all the children again and the new reception class came into assembly for the first time too..  We started with a new song Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus which led into our theme for the day.  Sarah talked about what we use our eyes for then linked into our story about a boy who used his eyes to see a problem and then he acted on it.  I then retold the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, I displayed pictures on the screen for the children to see as I told the story.  At the end I pointed out that the boy had used his eyes to see the problem and his hands to do something about it - Jesus caused a miracle to happen which enabled all the people to be fed.  At the end we asked the children what song to sing between Shine and Help Me Be Your Eyes - they picked Shine after the song Sarah closed with a prayer.

Penny Bridge Academy

On Monday afternoon Sarah and I went and did our first assembly of the new school year at Penny Bridge Academy.  It was good to see all the children again.  We started with a new song Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus which led into our theme for the day.  Sarah talked about what we use our eyes for then linked into our story about a boy who used his eyes to see a problem and then he acted on it.  I then retold the story of Jesus feeding the 5000.  At the end I pointed out that the boy had used his eyes to see the problem and his hands to do something about it - Jesus caused a miracle to happen which enabled all the people to be fed.  At the end we sang the song again before Sarah closed with a prayer.

Monday 25 September 2017

Newton Primary School

This morning I went to do the first assembly of the new school year at Newton Primary School.  I only had the Key Stage 1 pupils in the assembly this morning.  I started with Help Me Be Your Eyes before talking a little about eyes which led into the story of the feeding of the 5000 I pointed out to children that the little boy looked with his eyes and saw that there was a problem and used his hands to help - which reflected the works from the song.  I explained this to the children and encouraged them to look around and see where they could help out maybe at school, in the classroom or at home.  To finish we sang Shine as I linked what I was saying to shining out love.  I closed the assembly with a prayer.

Thursday 21 September 2017

BX NT2 Low Furness School

This afternoon I was once again at Low Furness School doing New Testament Bible Explorer.  The stories included Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the sermon on the mount as well as talking about parables and the calming of the storm.  I briefly retold the feeding 5000 story as they had only just had it in the assembly we did last week.  I talked about the disciples and did a selection process with 20 different people and picked out the 12 that Jesus picked (a bit like the apprentice with Lord Sugar - I had the music too!)  We ended with Peter declaring that he knew who Jesus was then went on to the transfiguration story.  Next week we focus on Jesus as he makes his way to Jerusalem for the final time.

Flookburgh School

This morning I travelled down to do an assembly at Flookburgh School, it was great to be back in the school with all the lovely children and staff.  I started the assembly with Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus then talked to the children about what we use our eyes for and how when we looked around the hall we could see so many different things, but we can use our eyes for other types of looking too!  I then told the feeding 5000 story and pointed out that the small boy had looked around and seen that there was a problem (no food) and used his hands to hand over his small lunch of 5 loaves and 2 fish.  Jesus took that small amount lifted it in his hands, blessed it and handed it to the disciples to hand out.  Everyone got fed.  The boy didn't know what Jesus would do with his lunch when he handed it over the point is he looked at the problem and did something to help.  I encouraged the children to look around them at school, at home, in the community and beyond for something they could perhaps do to help others.  We sang the song again this time with the words displayed on the screen.  I closed with a short prayer.

Tuesday 19 September 2017

Croftlands Infant School

This morning Sarah and I went to do our first assembly of the new school year at Croftlands Infants.  It was great to see all the children again and to welcome the new reception children too.  We started with Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus a new one to the children so we played the video for them to watch and join in the actions.  Sarah then asked them what they used their eyes for - seeing things - the children came up with a list of different things they could see.  She then handed over to me to tell a story about a boy who used his eyes to see something, it was the feeding of the 5000 story and the small boy looked and saw that there was a need and he gave with his hands what he had.  Jesus used that little and fed a lot of people.  Sarah concluded by talking to the children about what they could do with their hands if they looked around to see where help was needed.  We finished with an old favourite Shine before Sarah closed with a prayer.

Monday 18 September 2017

Croftlands Junior School

This morning Sarah and I went to do our first assembly of the new school year at Croftlands Juniors.  It was great to see all the children again following the summer break as well as the new year 3 children who move up from the infants.  Sarah started the assembly by asking the children what they could see with their eyes - we had a number of suggestions including objects in the room to people to things outside like the wind.  We commented when we heard the people and the wind in the hopes that the children would give us a few more suggestions.  I then told the feeding the 5000 story because in the midst of the talking between Jesus and the disciples a small boy saw what the problem was and acted upon it by giving over his small lunch.  Jesus then blessed it and handed it to his disciples to hand out.  I used the word hands several times and Sarah used the word eyes several times.  The link - Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus which is what we were going to sing at the end.  We encouraged the children to look around and see what they could do to help other people not only in school but outside too.  After our song Sarah closed with a prayer.

Thursday 14 September 2017

BX NT1 Low Furness School

Today I began doing Bible Explorer New Testament with the children in year 5/6 at Low Furness School.  After a brief explanation as to what Bible Explorer is to the year 5 children (year 6 had it last year) I began to talk about what the bible is and how it is made up leading me to talk about why we have old and new testaments.  So then I went on to talk about Jesus and how he is the Messiah which means Christ and why he was sent to earth (recap OT Creation, Fall...) It seems somewhat strange to be telling the Christmas story in September but as I said to the children Tesco has the Christmas stock in already and I had my first mince pie for lunch! so why not?  To tell the story I have three short video clips one mentions the prophets which I link back to the Old Testament and the fact that prophets foretold of the birth of Jesus, I read from Micah 5:2 which tells us the place Bethlehem and again link it to Ruth, Boaz and King David.  I again recap when I tell the story of Jesus at 12 in the temple and use the example of parents finding a missing child to explain why Mary said what she did to Jesus as well as explaining his answer to her about His fathers house.  Next we have the start of his ministry and Jesus coming to John for baptism - I explain who John is and what happen in the temple with when his father Zechariah was visited by an angel while he ministered in the most holy place.  After the baptism and the conversation between John and Jesus I talked about the 40 days and nights in the wilderness before being tempted by Satan.  At each stage I paused and taught the children the hand signs to use that will help them remember the stories.

St Marys RC

This morning I went to do the first assembly of the new school year at St Mary's RC school.  It was great to see all the children and staff again.  I started with a new song Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus as the words fitted with what I wanted to tell the children.  After the song I talked about what the words meant - help me be your eyes - in that we should look around and see where in our world we could help out.  I then linked it to the story of the feeding of the 5000 as the little boy looked and saw there was a need and responded to it by handing over his food.  Jesus then blessed that and handed it to his disciples to hand out.  The song also has the words may I be your hands to help, so I encouraged the children to look around and see where they could use their hands to help others.  We sang the song again this time with the words displayed on the screen and after I closed the assembly with a short prayer.

Wednesday 13 September 2017

Burlington School

This morning I went to do the assembly at Burlington School, it was the first visit of the new school year.  I started the assembly by introducing a new song Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus.  I then used the lines of the song to talk about how we could look around us and help other people out.  This led into the story of the feeding of the 5000 when a small boy looked around and saw that something needed to be done and he used his hands to give his small lunch to Jesus, who lifted it up in his hands and handed it over to the disciples to hand out.  Hands plays a part in the song too as it says may I be your hands to help.  I encouraged the children to look around and see where there was a need either in school, at home, outside of school, in our country and even our world and see if they could use their hands to help - and therefore share God's love.  We sang the song through again this time I displayed the words instead of the actions video.  After it I said a short prayer.

St Peters School

This morning Sarah and I made our first visit of the new school year to St Peters.  It was great to see all the children and staff again.  We introduced the children to Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus as the words fitted with what we had prepared to say.  We played the action video of the song first. After the song Sarah talked about how we should use our eyes to look around at school, at home, in our community, in our country and even in the world to see where we can help other people who may be in need.  She then linked it to the story of the feeding of the 5000 by saying that a small boy used his eyes, saw a need and did what he could to help.  I then told the story with pictures to remind the children what the story is about.  I also introduced the word hands several times and pointed out that the song not only talks about using our eyes to see where Jesus' love is needed but our hands to help.  Sarah then summed up what we had said before we sang the song again this time displaying the words. After the song Sarah closed with a prayer.

Tuesday 12 September 2017

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon Sarah and I went over to Crosthwaite School for our first visit of the new school year.  To start with we introduced them to a new song Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus.  We played the video with actions so the children could see them.  Sarah then taken about how we can use our eyes to look around and see where we might be able to help other people.  She linked it to the story of Jesus feeding the 5000.  I then used pictures to tell the story.  I repeated several times the word hands as this is mentioned in the song too.  The boy used his hands to carry the food, Jesus used his hands to lift the food up and pray, the disciples used their hands to give the food out.  Linking everything together Sarah and I said we should look around and see where help is needed and use our hands to provide that help if necessary.  We gave them a number of examples how they could do that.  The schools Christian value this term is friendship so Sarah linked what we had said to that too talking about how we can befriend people that are perhaps new to the school.  We then sang the song again but this time we displayed the words.  To finish Sarah said a short prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I went to Low Furness School for our first visit of the new school year.  The theme for the assembly was compassion as that is the schools Christian value at the moment.  So to start with we introduced them to a new song Help Me Be Your Eyes Lord Jesus.  We played the video with actions so the children could see them.  Sarah then taken about how we can use our eyes to look around and see where we might be able to help other people.  She linked it to the story of Jesus feeding the 5000.  I then used pictures to tell the story.  I repeated several times the word hands as this is mentioned in the song too and the school has a bag with things in it about compassion and the outside of is has hands on it!  Linking everything together Sarah and I said we should look around and see where help is needed and use our hands to provide that help if necessary.  We gave them a number of examples how they could do that.  We then sang the song again but this time we displayed the words.  To finish Sarah said a short prayer.

Monday 11 September 2017

Church Walk Primary School

This morning I was at Church Walk Primary school for our first assembly of the new school year.  I played a song to start with that was new to most of the children 'Help me be your eyes'  I then talked about what the words meant and how we can be the eyes and hands of Jesus and help people out who are in need.  I linked into the story of the little boy who gave his small lunch to Jesus and Jesus used that small amount to feed over 5000 people.  I encouraged the children to look around in their class room, at school, at home and in their community for things they can do to help others - how they can be the eyes of Jesus and show his love to others.  We finished with the same song before I said a short prayer.

Saturday 9 September 2017

Funday at St Pauls in Barrow

Today we all went to take part in the funday at St Pauls Church Barrow.  I was dressed in my jester outfit and entertained the crowds with some magic and Stacey and Lacey turned up to join in the fun too they helped me in my first show to make some sweets for the children, then helped me to explain what is in the Bible during my second show.
There was a good crowd of people at the event and the sun came out too who could possible ask for more. All in all a great day.