BX OT5 Croftlands

On Friday I was at Croftlands Junior School for the final lesson of Old Testament Bible Explorer.  I had missed last week as the school had an event on during the day, so I needed to start with a big recap of the previous weeks, as well as going over the hand signs.  The children soon got back into the process as we heard about the fall of Israel followed by the fall of Judah which led to the exile for 70 years.  The story of Esther which is one of my favourite stories was told as well.  We managed to complete all the lesson and do all the hand signs and the children really enjoyed the whole thing.

Leven Valley School - Pentecost assembly water, sponge, story.

I went to Leven Valley on my own this morning and once again did the assembly on Pentecost.  Having asked the children about last Sunday I told the story of Pentecost and afterwards explained what happened to the children to help them understand it a little better.  I did the Holy Spirit explanation with the sponge as I have done before.  To end we sang Shine followed by a prayer then Great Big God.

Croftlands Juniors - a birthday, a sponge - must be Pentecost

I started the assembly at Croftlands Juniors as I have started each one this week by asking the question 'what special day was last Sunday in the church or Christian year?'  A hand went up straight away and the answer came back the church's birthday, then another hand Pentecost.  Which I thought was great.  This led me to talk a little about birthdays etc before doing the Pentecost assembly as we have been doing it all week.  As with all the assemblies this week I ended with Shine before saying a prayer.

St Peters - Pentecost talk

I went to St Peters on my own today as Sarah's wheelchair has yet again been taken away for repair.  I our Pentecost assembly.  The first part which is the story from Bob Hartman I did a few weeks ago as part of the Bible Explorer New Testament.  The second part with the sponge was new to all the children, but it helped to explain the Holy Spirit to the children.  Following the talk and illustration we sang Shine and I said a final prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Low Furness School - a messy picture, some water, a sponge - Pentecost??

Today I went to Low Furness School.  The theme for the assembly was Pentecost.  We didn't start with a song as the story was a bit longer than normal.  I told the story of Pentecost using an idea from Bob Hartman, then explained what the Holy Spirit was using a sponge and a bucket of water and a messy picture.  The idea was that the dry sponge couldn't clean it but a wet sponge can because the water enables the sponge to do the job it was intended to do rather like the Holy Spirit in us enables us to do what God intended us to do which is to tell the world about him.  After the talk we sang Shine and then I prayed to end the assembly.

Penny Bridge School - pentecost

Today Sarah and I went over to Penny Bridge school to take the assembly.  We decided not to sing to start as the talk was going to be a little longer.  As it was Pentecost on Sunday our theme was on that.  I just did a brief explanation about Pentecost being a Jewish Festival but for us as Christians it is the birthday of the church.  To help tell the story of the first Pentecost I used a Bob Hartman story from one of his books.  The children could make a response with actions during the chorus of the poem.  After this I did explain some parts of it and talked about the Holy Spirit then Sarah asked me what that was and what did it do.  To explain I had a picture covered in blue paint and a dry sponge, when I tried to clean the picture nothing happened, however when I put the sponge in water it look no different but now it could easily clean the picture.  The point was the Holy Spirit enables us to do what God intended us to do which is spread the good news, just like the water helps the sponge to clean the picture.  Sarah then said when we do that we Shine from the inside out which was a cue for a song.  I closed the assembly in prayer.

Pennington School - the Holy Spirit, some water and a sponge?

This morning we went to Pennington School and did a talk in the assembly about Pentecost.  Before we started Sarah asked if anyone knew what in the Christian/church calendar Sunday was.  A few people put up their hands and the answer came out Pentecost.  I then told the story of Pentecost using a Bob Hartman version from his book Telling the Bible.  I followed this with a little explanation but mentioned several times the Holy Spirit - which Sarah then asked me about.  I then took a picture which was covered in blue paint and a sponge.  I explained that I couldn't clean the picture with the sponge - why?  Well I needed something else - water.  I put the sponge into a bucket of water and held it up - now it looked no different to before but I could then use it to clean the picture.  What was the difference it was the water inside it.  I explained that the Holy spirit is like that we don't look any different but it enables us to do the job God intended us to do which is tell other people about him.  Sarah then said that when we do that we Shine from the inside out which was the cue for the song.  I concluded by saying a prayer.