Thursday 12 December 2013

Leven Valley School

This morning after doing the assembly at Our Lady's we went to Leven Valley School for what was our final assembly of the year that is our 130th in 2013.
We started by singing God can do anything and then went on to do our Christmas theme assembly as we have done to all our schools this month.  Telling the Christmas story from a slightly different view point can focus your mind in a slightly different way.  Sarah told the children that Jesus was in fact a shepherd as he was called the Good Shepherd and all good shepherds look after their sheep - they also carry a crook or a staff.  Sarah explained to the children the reason why they carry a staff and linked that back to Jesus in the following way.  Support - Jesus is always there to support us and help us as we journey through life.  Identity - Through his love for us, Jesus helps us to know that we belong to him.  Control - Jesus is in control and as his followers we need to trust in him.  Protection - Jesus helps us through good and difficult times. We often need to call out to him to save and protect us.  After this we sang Rejoice with us which is our Christmas song and I then said a prayer.

Our Lady's Dalton

This morning Sarah and I made our last visit of 2013 to Our Lady's School in Dalton.  We started the assembly by singing God can do Anything before Sarah introduced the theme - Christmas.  As we have done in all our schools this month we looked at Christmas from the shepherds point of view.  Sarah then focused on the shepherds crook or staff and explained how Jesus was called the Good Shepherd and how we should follow his example.  The crook was used for support, identity, protection and control and if we follow Jesus we too can know his protection, feel supported, sense his control and have identity with him.  Support - Jesus is always there to support us and help us as we journey through life.  Identity - Through his love for us, Jesus helps us to know that we belong to him.  Control - Jesus is in control and as his followers we need to trust in him.  Protection - Jesus helps us through good and difficult times. We often need to call out to him to save and protect us.  At the end we sang our Christmas song Rejoice with us before I closed the assembly with a prayer.

NT5 BX Crosthwaite

Following our assembly this afternoon I finished off Bible Explorer.  This weeks stories were all about Paul and his missionary journeys.  The children listened and interacted at the right times with the hand signs and took part in various parts of the story, like when Paul was asked to go down to Jerusalem to explain his actions to the council of Christians - 5 children acted this part out.  As the lesson moved on the children asked some very interesting questions about Jesus which was great.  They all finished it and everyone managed to complete the hand signs.  The class teach has even asked me to go back again next year and do the Old Testament again.

Crosthwaite School

Yesterday afternoon Sarah and I went over to Crosthwaite School to firstly do an assembly and then stay on as I did Bible Explorer.  The assembly we did is the one we have done in every school so far this month, looking at the Christmas story from the point of view of a shepherd.  Sarah took the lead so we started by singing God can do anything then I showed the video and Sarah explained the 4 things that shepherds used their crooks for and linked that with Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  Afterwards we sang our Christmas song Rejoice with us then I closed the assembly with a prayer.

Tuesday 10 December 2013

Croftlands Juniors

This morning Sarah and I were at Croftlands Juniors for our final assembly of the year.  Most of the school were in however year 3 had just left to go to see the infants nativity play.  We started the assembly by talking about Christmas then we showed the shepherds video clip that we have used in all our assemblies this Christmas time.  Sarah then talked about the shepherds and about their crooks and about how Jesus is known as the Good Shepherd.  The crook was used for support, control, identity and protection and in the same way Jesus can do that for us in that - Support - Jesus is always there to support us and help us as we journey through life.  Identity - Through his love for us, Jesus helps us to know that we belong to him.  Control - Jesus is in control and as his followers we need to trust in him.  Protection - Jesus helps us through good and difficult times. We often need to call out to him to save and protect us.  After the shepherds saw the baby Jesus they went off celebrating and praising God so to end the assembly we all sang Rejoice with Us this Christmas.  I then said a prayer to close.

Penny Bridge School

 This should have been posted yesterday but a computer error stopped it.

This afternoon Sarah and I were at Penny Bridge School for our final visit of 2013.  As in other schools we did a Christmas story - so we showed a video clip of the shepherds being told about the birth of Jesus.  Sarah then went on to talk to the children about shepherds and about what they do.  Then she asked the school what shepherds have sheep came back the answer as well as a stick or a crook.  She then reminded the children that Jesus was called the Good Shepherd and that we should follow his example.  Using the crook or staff I was holding and demonstrating with she told the children how the staff, is used for support, control, identity and protection then she referred to what Jesus does for us in that - Support - Jesus is always there to support us and help us as we journey through life.  Identity - Through his love for us, Jesus helps us to know that we belong to him.  Control - Jesus is in control and as his followers we need to trust in him.  Protection - Jesus helps us through good and difficult times. We often need to call out to him to save and protect us.  After I had said this we sang our Christmas song Rejoice with us this Christmas.  Then to finish I said a prayer.

Monday 9 December 2013

Broughton School

This morning I went over to see the children at Broughton school and to do a Christmas Assembly.  As we had plenty of time we sang Shine to begin with before I played the little video clip about the shepherds.  I then explained a little about shepherds and how in the gospels Jesus is described as the Good Shepherd.  I had my toy stuffed sheep and my staff with me as I was talking to the children.  I asked the children what shepherds needed one answer was sheep and someone else said a stick what they meant was a crook.  Using my staff/crook I demonstrated what a shepherd might do with them - support, control, identity, protect then I displayed a picture of a crook on the screen and added the following descriptions as they relate to Jesus.  Support - Jesus is always there to support us and help us as we journey through life.  Identity - Through his love for us, Jesus helps us to know that we belong to him.  Control - Jesus is in control and as his followers we need to trust in him.  Protection - Jesus helps us through good and difficult times. We often need to call out to him to save and protect us.  After I had said this we sang our Christmas song Rejoice with us this Christmas.  Then to finish I said a prayer.

Wednesday 4 December 2013

NT4 BX Crosthwaite

Over at Crosthwaite school again today for lesson 4 of New Testament.  The children came into the lesson very excited that I was there again - which is encouraging for me at least I know I'm not boring them.  To start we went to the beginning and did all the hand signs up to the end of lesson 3, which was Jesus crucified and resurrected.  I told the children that in order to get the sequence of hand signs together we would today repeat the last two from week 3 each time.  So with a great enthusiastic class I launched into the lesson for the day, covering the day of Pentecost, Phillips preaching, Pauls conversion and Peter's vision of unclean and clean animals.  Which sets us up ready for next week when we look at the journeys of Paul.  I had a great time and I hope the children did too.

St Peters Ireleth

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters for the last assembly of the year.  We started the assembly by singing Shine but the hall was set out for their nativity we couldn't project the words for our songs or show the short shepherds video we had taken however we read the story for the children out of the children's bible.  We focused on the shepherds because they were the first people to hear the good news after Jesus was born.  Also Jesus during his adult life and ministry was called the Good Shepherd and sheep follow good shepherds as they look after them.  Sarah talked (while I demonstrated) about the shepherds crook, it was used to identify the shepherds, to control the sheep, support the shepherd and also protect the sheep.  And Jesus does that for us like this - Support - Jesus is always there to support us and help us as we journey through life.  Identity - Through his love for us, Jesus helps us to know that we belong to him.  Control - Jesus is in control and as his followers we need to trust in him.  Protection - Jesus helps us through good and difficult times. We often need to call out to him to save and protect us.  We then sang a Christmas song Rejoice with us this Christmas and then I concluded the assembly with a prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Croftlands Infants School

This afternoon we did our Christmas assembly to Croftlands Infants.  We decided to sing a song to start but asked the children which one they would like - Shine was the favourite.  Following the song I told the shepherds story from a children's bible.  Sarah then talked about the shepherds while I acted out some actions to what she was saying.  She reminded them that in the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the Good Shepherd who looks after his flock.  Sarah pointed out that in order for him to do that he needed a staff or a crook.  I demonstrated the actions as Sarah told the children the following points - Support - Jesus is always there to support us and help us as we journey through life.  Identity - Through his love for us, Jesus helps us to know that we belong to him.  Control - Jesus is in control and as his followers we need to trust in him.  Protection - Jesus helps us through good and difficult times. We often need to call out to him to save and protect us.  We then sang a Christmas song Rejoice with us this Christmas and then I concluded the assembly with a prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning we were also at Low Furness School for the final assembly of this year.  The theme was Advent but we decided to tell part of the Christmas Story from a different view point - the shepherds.  After watching a short video clip about the shepherds Sarah talked about them and about how Jesus in the New Testament is sometimes referred to as the good shepherd.  She explained that all good shepherds carry crooks to help them and the sheep.  I had taken my crook with me and was leaning on it as Sarah was speaking.  The crook was used to support the shepherd, he also used it to control the sheep as well as protecting them from danger and it would show others that he was a shepherd so it identified him as such.  Then she explained that with Jesus all those things he does for us, Support - Jesus is always there to support us and help us as we journey through life.
Identity - Through his love for us, Jesus helps us to know that we belong to him.
Control - Jesus is in control and as his followers we need to trust in him.
Protection - Jesus helps us through good and difficult times. We often need to call out to him to save and protect us.
We then sang a Christmas song Rejoice with us this Christmas and then Sarah said a prayer.

 

Church Walk Primary

This morning Sarah and I went to Church Walk Primary for the first of our Christmas themed assemblies.  We introduced the assembly by saying that we all know the Christmas story so today we would look at it from a different view point.  We showed a video clip of the shepherds story and then Sarah talked about the shepherds and how Jesus is the Good Shepherd and how we should follow him.  We displayed a picture of a crook and explained that the shepherd would use it for support, I demonstrated using my crook prop, he would also use it to control the sheep, again I demonstrated this by pushing a stuff sheep toy along the floor, he also uses it as protection from wild animals again I demonstrated this and finally it identifies him as a shepherd.  Sarah expanded on these points explaining how Jesus supports, controls, protects and gives us an identity.  Following the talk we sang Rejoice with us this Christmas.  Sarah concluded the assembly with a prayer.

Wednesday 27 November 2013

NT3 BX Crosthwaite School

I was once again over at Crosthwaite school today for lesson 3 of Bible Explorer New Testament.  I couldn't go over last week as the school had no power as workmen carried out some work, so I needed to do a big catch up session to start - the children responded well to it which was good.  Todays lesson took us from the near stoning of Jesus in Jerusalem through the lost parables and back into Jerusalem after seeing Lazarus raised and Zaccheaus praised for the final week of Jesus' life here on earth.  The children enjoyed being part of the story once again as we acted out a temple market scene with the money changers and sellers, also after the arrest of Jesus Peter's denial three times.  Then the final part Jesus on the cross and then the Easter Sunday morning story as the lesson ended.  We did all the hand signs for the lesson and then the children asked to do them all from the beginning. Next week we look at Pentecost and the spread of the gospel. 

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Penny Bridge School

Forgot to post this on Monday.
This afternoon we were at Penny Bridge School for our assembly.  We didn't have a great amount of time as the hall was being used after school so we started by singing Great Great Brill Brill, which has the words ...to have a friend like Jesus - repeating throughout the song. I then went on to tell/re-enact the story of Gideon very quickly as time was running out.  I did manage to cover all the key parts from the moment the angel called to him in the winepress to the moment that the Midianites all killed themselves.  Sarah then talked about how it is a great story of strength and God giving us what we need at just the right time.  Gideon showed great faith too as he put all his trust in God.  Following the story and talk Sarah finished with a prayer.

Pennington School

Forgot to post this on Monday.
Today we were at Pennington School for our assembly.  We started by singing Great Great Brill Brill.  Then I went on to tell/re-enact the story of Gideon from the moment the angel called to him in the winepress to the moment that the Midianites all killed themselves.  It is a great story of strength and God giving us what we need at just the right time.  Gideon showed great faith too as he put all his trust in God.  Following the story we sang Giant of Faith and Sarah finished with a prayer.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

St Peters Ireleth

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters School for the assembly.  We started by singing a song we haven't done for a while Great Great Brill Brill.  The smaller children had a job to keep up with the fast pace of the actions.  Following this I recalled the Gideon story starting when he was in the winepress threshing the wheat.  I quickly covered the fleece part before moving onto the selection of the army and then the reduction of the army down to 300.  I then talked about the battle and how the 300 got split into 100 groups and followed everything Gideon did which resulted in the best part of the story for me the Midianites killing each other.  The point of the story was that God made Gideon strong at just the right time to do the job he was called to do.  He showed great faith in that too.  Following the story we sang Giant of Faith followed by Sarah closing in prayer.

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Low Furness School

This morning at Low Furness school the theme was strength.  So after singing Great Great Brill Brill Wicked Wicked Skill Skill song I told the story of Gideon and how he showed great strength in his belief in God and how with only a hand full of men defeated a huge army.  I acted out parts of the story with props and things to make it more fun.  Following the story we sang Giant of Faith followed by a prayer.

Monday 18 November 2013

Broughton School Assembly

This morning I went to Broughton School on my own as Sarah wanted to rest up following our busy week and weekend.  I did the assembly that we have been doing using a party popper and encouraged the children to be party poppers/fireworks for God.  I then linked this with what happened over the weekend.  I showed a few photo's of the sorting day on Saturday and explained that the children that filled a shoe box had already done something small that would have a huge impact on someone's life.  I then presented two year 6 pupils with a certificate of thanks, for their part in this year's campaign.  We sang two songs So Many Ways to Praise the Lord and at the end Shine.

Thursday 14 November 2013

Leven Valley

Following our assembly at Our Lady's we went down to Leven Valley School and did the same assembly there - however as we have a little more time at the school we managed to sing two songs at the end so as well as Shine we sang God can do Anything.

We open the assembly by singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then Sarah recalled the story of the feeding of the 5000 then I followed it up by talking about party poppers and fireworks and hoe a small thing like pulling the string or lighting the blue touch paper can have such a big impact and make loads of people happy.  I demonstrated this by looking at a child and giving them a smile and then another one and so on before long everyone was laughing and smiling back.  I encourage the children to be like a party popper for God and do something small for someone that might result in a big impact.  To finish we said a prayer.

Our Lady's School

This morning we were at Our Lady's to do an assembly as well as to pick up their shoe boxes for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child - we collected 53 Wow!!

We open the assembly by singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then Sarah recalled the story of the feeding of the 5000 then I followed it up by talking about party poppers and fireworks and hoe a small thing like pulling the string or lighting the blue touch paper can have such a big impact and make loads of people happy.  I demonstrated this by looking at a child and giving them a smile and then another one and so on before long everyone was laughing and smiling back.  I encourage the children to be like a party popper for God and do something small for someone that might result in a big impact.  To finish we sang Shine and Sarah before the prayer commented on the small thing the children had done in filling a shoe box.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

NT2 BX Crosthwaite

Today after my assembly I did the second New Testament lesson with the upper part of the school.  We sat round in the hall and I put out my place names on the imaginary map in the hall.  Today we looked at the visit by Nicodemus and the woman at the well in Samaria.  We also did a bit of hiring and firing Apprentice style as we looked at the 12 disciples.  The lesson also covered the sermon on the mount and parables starting too.  It ended with the transfiguration of Jesus.  We had a great time together and the children are looking forward to next week's lesson.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon I was at Crosthwaite School firstly to do an assembly then BX.  The assembly was the first one for me in their new hall so I was able to use the projector and sing some of our new songs.  So to start with we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  I then told the story of the feeding of the 5000.  I didn't want to spend too long doing it as I wanted to focus on the party popper idea.  I showed a party popper and asked if the children knew what was inside it - the correct answers came back.  I displayed a picture of one on the screen and then showed a picture of a firework.  I explained that it only takes something little/small to have a big impact.  I let the party popper off which brought a bit of a laugh from the children.  I then smiled at a child and she laughed back at me which caused other children to laugh and smile back at me I used that to explain that a simple thing can have such a big impact like the boy with the 5 loaves and 2 fish.  I encouraged and challenged the children to be like party poppers for God by doing something small which might result in a big impact on someone else.  To finish we sang Shine and then I said a prayer.

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Croftlands Infants School

This afternoon Sarah and I went to Croftlands Infants school to take the assembly together.  We started by singing Great Big God then I told the feeding 5000 story in a very quick way.  Sarah then went on to talk about what the boy did.  He did a small thing that affected a lot of people.  We used the idea of a firework or a party popper.  Inside both are good things that make people happy and have fun etc.  all it takes is a little thing to set them off and like the boy who gave a little what he did make a huge difference to the people around him.  Sarah encourage the children to be like party poppers for God and do a small thing that could have a big impact on someone.  We concluded the assembly with Shine and then I said a prayer.

Croftlands Junior School

This morning while Sarah was down at Church Walk School I was up on Croftlands taking an assembly there.  Only part of the school was in as the rest were off site swimming.  I started the assembly time by singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then went on to tell a story that we have told before feeding the 5000 but I glanced over it very quickly as the main point was what I had to say later.  I asked the children what last Tuesday was - Bonfire night and asked if they had seen any fireworks.  I had with me a party popper and asked what was inside it - lots of good answers came back.  I then displayed a picture of the inside of a party popper and further explain what the bits do.  I also displayed the inside of a firework.  I then let the party popper off - the point was very simple it just takes a small thing to set a big thing off - like the pulling of the string on the party popper or the lighting of the blue touch paper on a firework and both can bring great joy and happiness to people around them.  I linked this to the small boy and his 5 loaves and 2 fish and what an impact that had on so many people.  I tried to demonstrate this by smiling at a few children and they smiled back and then more smiled back - they got wise to it in the end and stopped.  But what we do no matter how small it is can have a big impact on someone's life.  I encouraged  the children to become party poppers for God and do a small thing that would have an even bigger impact.  To close we sang Shine then I said a prayer.

Church Walk Primary School

This morning I went off to Church Walk to take the assembly with my Dad while Mark was at Croftlands Juniors doing another assembly.  Once again there was a very warm welcome from the children and the teachers.  Because there was no way of projecting the words for songs we sang a good old favourite to start the assembly - Great Big God.  I then went on to talk very briefly about the little boy who shared a little but it had an enormous impact in the story of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes.  I talked about fireworks and how they are useless when the exciting stuff is contained inside and how it only shows it's beauty when the blue touch paper is lit.  I let off a party popper which looks very boring inside it's plastic case but once the string is pulled it erupts into something of beauty.  I offered a challenge to the children to be a party popper for God by doing something small for someone else showing kindness and the love of Jesus, they in turn could have an impact on someone's life.  We concluded the assembly by singing Shine from the Inside Out.  Then said a closing prayer.

Wednesday 6 November 2013

NT1 BX Crosthwaite School

This afternoon I was over at Crosthwaite School for the first Bible Explorer New Testament lesson.  The lesson was in their brand new hall which was great as there was lots of space to move about in.  I started with a little bit of a recap from the Old Testament which I did last year and led into the New Testament.  I downloaded some video clips from the Max7 website to use for the retelling of the Christmas story and in between I filled in the gaps as it didn't cover all the story in detail.  Had a great time and I think the children did too.  Can't wait until next week.

St Peters

This morning Sarah and I were over at St Peters for an assembly.  We asked the children to pick a song for us to start with so they wanted Touch a Finger.  Following this I very quickly recalled the story of Jesus feeding the 5000.  We didn't want to focus so much on the story but more on what the little boy did that is give his lunch away.  Sarah picked the theme up and talked about how the small act of handing over the 5 loaves and 2 fish had a massive impact on those around - more than 5000 people fed.  She used a party popper to further explain her point, inside the case there are lots of coloured streamers but unless they are triggered by the simple small act of pulling the string they stay inside.  As bonfire night was last night she also showed a picture of a firework and explained that in order to get pleasure out of it and make people happy a small flame needs to ignite the firework.  She encouraged the children to be lie party poppers and do a small thing that would have a big impact even a simple smile could do that.  Following this we sang Shine and then I ended with a prayer followed by the Lords Prayer.

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Low Furness School

Today we were at Low Furness School for the first assembly of November.  The theme was bonfire night.  So we decided to do a little bible story to start and then bring in fireworks.  I recalled the story of the feeding of the 5000 and focused on the that that just 1 little boy gave the little that he had and that made a huge impact.  Sarah then talked about party poppers and that inside them there is good fun stuff but unless something small sets it off it is useless and people don't see the benefit of it.  She brought in fireworks too explaining that they are packed with good exciting things for us to enjoy but unless it is lit no one will see it.  She encouraged the children to be like party poppers and fireworks for God and allow the goodness with to burst out.  We finished by singing Shine before I said a prayer.

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Penny Bridge Samaritan's Purse Assembly

This afternoon we made our second visit of the week to Penny Bridge School however this time it was with Lisa and we did a Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child assembly.  I open the assembly and we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then Lisa spoke to the children about God's love and referred back to previous assemblies that she has done with the children at the school.  This led to the shoe box appeal.  I then showed the children what they can put into a shoe box and played the Love in a Box video.  At the end I read the words of the chorus to the children and told them how many shoe boxes we sent away last year - 1 million and asked the children if they thought they might like to get involved this year.  I end the assembly with a short prayer and Lisa shared her bottle of Coke replaying the ad campaign from this summer.

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Low Furness School

Today the theme for the assembly was God's Love so after singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger I took a bottle of Coke and asked if anyone remembered the Coke ad from the summer which was share a Coke with.... I used the Coke as an illustration of how we can share God's love.  I asked for examples of how we can share God's love with others and those that gave me answers got a small cup of the Coke which I shared.  I then handed over to Sarah who spoke a bit more about God's love and she then read 1 Corinthians 13 about love and for each statement I displayed it on the screen.  We then sang I Love You and the girls signed it at the front.  We closed with a prayer.

Church Walk Primary School

This morning Sarah and I went along to Church Walk Primary school to take a Samaritan's Purse assembly.  After the children had settled down we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger which led Sarah into the talk about love and about getting ready for Christmas.  She asked if the children knew how many days it was until Christmas and if they had started their Christmas lists or not.  A lot of the children put their hands up during the assembly.  Sarah told the children that their are children in the world today that have never ever had a present of any kind - she asked how they might feel - sad, upset, unhappy came the children's replies.  Sarah handed over to me to talk about what they could do.  I explained about Operation Christmas Child and how simple it is to collect a few items and put them in a box for a child in need.  We then watched the Love in a Box video.  At the end of the video I told the children that 1 million boxes were collected last year and that they could be a part of that 1 million this year.  We then said a short prayer.

Monday 21 October 2013

Penny Bridge School

This afternoon I was at Penny Bridge School for the assembly.  I introduced the children to a new song 'God Can do Anything'   then told the Ruth story to the children using the children's bible and displayed the pictures on the screen as I read the story.  I then encouraged the children to be like Ruth and put others first before themselves as she did and reaped a great reward as a result.  I then linked that to the Samaritan's Purse assembly which is planned for Wednesday.  To close we sang Wonderful Lord. and I said a short prayer.

Pennington School Samaritan's Purse Assembly

This morning Lisa Smith and myself went to Pennington School to do a Samaritan's Purse assembly.  We started with God's Love is Bigger than a Burger and then Lisa talked to the children about sharing what we have with those that don't have as much as we do.  She used the Coke ad from this summer as an example 'Share a Coke with...'  She explained that the children can share their love this Christmas time by packing a shoe box.  I then explained what to put into a shoe box before showing the Love in a Box video clip.  At the end I read the words of the chorus again to the children and encouraged them to get involved to be a part of the 1 million shoe boxes we are hoping to send again this year from our country.  I then ended with a prayer.

Saturday 19 October 2013

Haverigg Primary School Samaritan's Purse Assembly

Sarah and I went over towards Millom yesterday to do an assembly for Samaritan's Purse at Haverigg Primary School.  It was our first ever visit to the school.  We had a wonderful warm welcome from both the staff and the pupils.  There was a great buzz about the school and a friendly atmosphere.  The head opened up the assembly with some awards to pupils of the week in each year as well as giving out cake to children with birthdays.  We were introduced to the children as Mr and Mrs Callaghan.  I introduced us to the children as Mark and Sarah.  To start we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  Then Sarah talked about Christmas by asking the children if they knew how many days to Christmas Day including today.  She also talked about Christmas present lists and asked a few children what was on theirs.  This led to talking about children in our world that don't get any presents at Christmas or birthday's.  Sarah asked the children how they would feel if they had never, ever got a present - sad, upset, unhappy came the responses.  She handed over to me to talk about Operation Christmas Child and how they could make a difference by packing goodies in a shoe box.  I told the children what they can and can't put in a box and showed them examples.  Then I talked about the cost of sending a box to a far of place and how the £3 would help to send their boxes this year.  We then watched the Love in a Box video clip.  After the clip had finished I read the chorus out to the children again and explained that last year 1 million boxes were sent from our country.  I also asked who would love to get involved this year and most hands went up.  Sarah then said a prayer as we ended the assembly.  At the end the head asked us to play the video clip again as the children left the hall, and some of the year 6 children came up to us and thanked us for the assembly a couple even shook our hands.

Thursday 17 October 2013

Croftlands Junior school Samaritans Purse assembly

This morning I was at Croftlands Junior school to do a Samaritans Purse assembly.  To start with we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then I asked a few questions about presents like for birthdays and Christmas.  All the children thought that getting presents was great. I told the children that there are some children in the world that have never had a present at all in their life. I asked them how they would feel if they had never been given a present.  Sad was the thing most children said.  I went on to explain about the work of Operation Christmas Child. I then showed the Love in a Box video, at the end of it I read out the words of the chorus.  I then explained how they could get involved.  I left them with some Go Boxes as well as some leaflets. I finished the assembly with a prayer.

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon Sarah and I along with Scruff the Dog went over to see the children at Crosthwaite school.  We had decided to do a harvest themed assembly so to begin we sang Our God is a Great Big God.  Then I introduced Scruff the Dog to the  children, they have seen him before so it wasn't new.  Scruff was quite excited to see the children as he looked around the room and whispered in my ear.  He told me that he had something for me a present which was in his bag.  Sure enough there was a piece of cloth which turned out to be a vest - Scruff proudly announced in my ear 'Happy A Vest'  which the children laughed at.  Scruff felt a little embarrassed by this and tried to hide his face.  Even more so when I explained that it was Harvest and not A Vest time.  It took a little while but he came round and I explained that we could fix the little mistake really easily because like Scruff people get harvest mixed up they think it is all about saying thank you for the food we have - well it is and saying thank you to God is good but we should also look to how we can give things back as well.  There are so many people in the world that go without and at harvest time we could think about how we could help them.  Scruff understood this and to demonstrate it further I said thank you for the vest and gave it him back so he can keep warm in the winter.  Scruff was delighted by this.  To finish we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord and Sarah then said a short prayer.

St Peters Samaritan's Purse Assembly

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters and did a Samaritan's Purse assembly.  After singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger, Sarah talked about getting ready for Christmas like putting your list together etc.  She asked if the children liked to get presents - yes of course they do! but what if they never got a presents what then?  This led to her telling the children about Operation Christmas Child and how they could get involved.  I show the children a full box and explained using the box and a power point what they can put into it.  Then I explained about the £3 cost of sending the box and what £3 could buy you today.  We then watched the Love in A Box video.  At the end we told the children that if they wanted to get involved then we had a Go Box for them and a leaflet explaining what to do.  Sarah ended with a prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Croftlands Infants Samaritan's Purse Assembly

This afternoon Sarah and I went to Croftlands Infants school to do a Samaritan's Purse assembly.  We needed the video projector and screen for the assembly (we don't normally taken them) so we introduced a new song God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  Sarah then read the Mungo's New Home story to the children and I displayed the pictures on the screen.  After that I talked about Operation Christmas Child and how the children could help out again this year.  I showed the children what to put into a box and about how much it would coast to sent it themselves and about the £3 donation.  We also left them with 50 Go Boxes and enough leaflets for each child.  Sarah finished the assembly with a prayer.

North Walney Primary School Samaritan's Purse Assembly

This morning Sarah and I went to work over sea's - well over the bridge from Barrow to Walney Island.  We were doing a Samaritan's Purse assembly at North Walney Primary School.  As it was our first ever visit to the school we weren't too sure where the school was.  We got met at the door by the head and promptly started to set up.  Soon the children came in and we started the assembly, Sarah did ask before we started if we could sing a song so we did God's Love is Bigger than a Burger - which went down a storm with the children.  We then talked about presents and about getting presents and what it must feel like not to get anything at all.  This led into me talking about what you can do to help - filling a shoe box.  We then watched the Love in a Box video.  We left the children with 40 Go Boxes and enough leaflets for everyone should they wish to do a box.  Sarah concluded the assembly with a short prayer.

Monday 14 October 2013

Broughton School Samaritan's Purse Assembly

This morning Sarah and I went over to Broughton School to do a Samaritan's Purse assembly.  It was great to see the children again.  We started by singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  Sarah then talked to the children about getting presents and in particular Christmas presents.  She asked a if anyone had started their list and also asked a few what they wanted.  This led on to her talking about Operation Christmas Child and how they could get involved this year by putting together and sending a shoe box.  I then very quickly went through what to put into a box before showing the Love in a Box film clip.  At the end Sarah prayed with the children.  Then a few hands went up and we answered a couple of questions about shoe boxes.

Friday 11 October 2013

NT BX5 Low Furness

Had another great time this afternoon with the children of year 5/6 at Low Furness School.  It was the last lesson of Bible Explorer, so following a quick recap of the story from last week in particular Paul we launched into the lesson today.  We were looking at the missionary journeys of Paul as he took the gospel message to the gentle's of Europe and Asia.  We covered a few of the stories in Paul's life and his time when he was asked to explain himself to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.  We also heard about his beatings and imprisonment and the night earth quake that set him free.  Finally we read about his arrest and call to Rome as the message of Christianity spread even further.  The children enjoyed doing all the hand signs so much so they also wanted to do all the ones from last year's OT and go right through but time caught up with us.

Thursday 10 October 2013

Ignite

We had a great time tonight at Ignite.  Once the children had munch their way through a load of pizza and chips, we had a game of card's (which was part of the theme)  The idea was to see how the children felt when they won abd how they felt when they lost.   We then watch the video which was the story of the great banquet.   Following this a discussion started about heaven and about who is invited - basically everyone but not everyone takes up the invite.   Some of the children came up with some deep thought provoking questions. We also asked what they thought heaven would be like, again very interesting points came out.  We talked so much that we almost ran out of time.    All in all a fab night.

Leven Valley

We went to Leven Valley school this morning for a Harvest themed assembly.  We started by introducing a new song today 'God can do Anything' before introducing the theme of harvest to the children.  I had Scruff the dog with me and when I brought him out there was the usual few questions of who are the children, have they seen him before, etc.  After a bit of chit chat Scruff told me that he had something for me so I looked in his bag and found a vest - upon lifting it out Scruff whispered in my ear Happy A Vest time.  This of course got a loud laugh from the children as I stood wondering what to say (as it were) I needed now to correct Scruff and tell him that a mistake had happened and that it isn't A Vest time but Harvest Time when we thank God for what we get off the land and out of the ground.  Scruff looking at me asked what stones?  No I said the fresh vegetables and fruit and things.  I did redeem the situation and the mistake by telling the children that people do sometimes get the wrong idea of Harvest in that they say thank you to God which is only part of it, we should also look to what we can give away as well at Harvest to help those in need.  I told Scruff's vest said thank you and gave it back to him so he could keep warm in the winter.  He then went away and we sang a Harvest song ' Fruits and Veggies'  Sarah then finished with a prayer.

Our Lady's Samaritan's Purse Assembly

This morning we made our regular monthly visit to Our Lady's in Dalton however this month we did an assembly about shoe boxes.  Lisa. Abbie, Sarah and myself told the children all about Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child.  Before the talk we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  Lisa open the talk by talking to the children about God's love for us and how we should share that love around to people like children in other less developed countries who perhaps might never have received a gift or present in their life.  She took a bottle of coke and started to share it between Abbie and myself to demonstrate the point of sharing, this was particularly apt as the ad campaign this summer for coke has been 'share a coke with...'  This left me with the task of telling the children what to put inside their shoe box and about the £3 donation to send with the box.  We then watched the video 'Love in a Box' at the end of the video I repeated the words of the chorus to the children before saying a short prayer.

Wednesday 9 October 2013

St Marys Samaritans Purse Assembly

Today we did the first of our Samaritan's Purse assemblies.  Lisa and I did the assembly between us.  After singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger, Lisa talked about God's love and how it is shared out for everyone, she also took some sweets and shared them out with some of the children.  I talked about Christmas and how it is only 78 days counting today until Christmas.  I asked if the children had started their lists yet - a few hands went up.  I talked briefly about what a present Jesus was to the world and about how great it is to get a present backing up what Lisa had said about love.  I showed a power point about packing a shoe box and talked about the £3 donation needed to send the box.  We then played the Love in a Box video.  After the video I read the words of the chorus again to the children.  The assembly concluded by Lisa saying that we are going to give each child a shoe box to take home then she encouraged the children to try and do more shoe boxes that last year.

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Low Furness School

Today I went to Low Furness School for the assembly.  I started the assembly by singing God can do anything, I asked Grace and Martha to help me with the actions and two others helped as well.  Following the song I did the talk, I had taken Scruff the Dog with me and we started a conversation he whispering in my ear and I telling what he said.  Scruff then told me that he had something for me which was in his bag.  I got it out to find that it was a vest!!  Then Scruff announced 'Happy A Vest Time'  I needed to question this and he told me that at this time of year which is Avest Time ... I needed to correct him that it is not Avest time but Harvest Time.  The children laughed and Scruff was not very happy and started to look away and sulk.  Despite my best efforts he continued to sulk.  I turned things around by saying that at Harvest time it is easy to get things wrong because people think it is just about saying thank you to God which is a good thing to do but we should always look to what we can give away in order to help other people.  I explained this to Scruff and the children then I thanked Scruff for his gift but gave it back to him so he could wear it in the winter.  Scruff said good bye and went away.  I then recapped what I had said about Harvest Time before singing Fruit and Veggies song, I got 9 children out to help me with the actions.  At the end I said a short prayer.

Friday 4 October 2013

NT BX4 Low Furness School

This afternoon I had an enjoyable time with the children from year 5 and 6 at Low Furness School.  It was lesson 4 of Bible Explorer.  In the last lesson we had heard about Jesus being crucified and then resurrected, today we discovered what happened after he went back into heaven and what happened when the Holy Spirit came.  I told the story of Pentecost using a poem with a catchy repeating chorus which I encouraged the children to repeat.  The children learnt about the Jews punishing the Christians and trying to get rid of them but despite their best efforts the Christians spread out and therefore more people joined them.  There was a focus on three people mentioned in Acts, they were Philip, Paul and Peter.  Next week we shall be taking a closer look at the journeys Paul went on and learning about the gospel message spread even further.

Thursday 3 October 2013

Ignite

Tonight we had a great time with the Ignite group.  We used the Walk With Jay series about what we say.  The title was 'I hate you'  two children had fallen out with each other and said nasty things to each other.   Jay got them to say the words again but they all appeared on the walls of the house.   It looked a mess and needed to be sorted out.  It happened when the children said sorry.   I focused on the verses in the Bible which talked about the tongue and made a number game which got the children talking about the various passages.  The children opened up about lot's of the issues being discussed.   All in all I really enjoyed the session and I hope that the children did too.

Saturday 28 September 2013

NT BX3 Low Furness

Friday afternoon I was in Low Furness School doing lesson 3 of New Testament Bible Explorer.  The series of stories started with Jesus almost being stoned by the authorities in Jerusalem.  We covered the lost parables and I told a very quick version of the lost sheep, but went into a little more detail with the lost coin which included visual aids and a trick.  We heard about Lazarus and also about Zacchaeus.  We heard and watched a short video clip of Jesus going into Jerusalem and then went on into the Temple Market.  I had created a short sketch with props to explain what was happening in the temple, it involved a rich man wanting to buy a bull for a sacrifice but only had Roman money so he needed to change it for temple money.  However he lost out on the exchange, but when he went to buy the bull,  it had been reduced in price so now he had temple money left over - which he needed to exchange back to Roman money and he lost out again.  It was a silly but simple illustration of what was happening in the temple.  Next we cover the Last Supper and the betrayal by Judas followed by the prays then arrest, trial and Peter's denial of Jesus again a short script was used here.  Next came the crucifixion of Jesus and his death and burial.  Since we had covered a bit about burial with the Lazarus story the children knew what had happened with Jesus.  Not wanting to leave Jesus' death in the childrens minds we covered the resurrection story too, which is a good point to stop the lesson.  I had a great time and the children seemed to enjoy it too which was great.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Low Furness School

Following our assembly at Church Walk we dashed across to Urswick for an assembly at Low Furness School.  The theme there was empathy, we started the assembly by singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then I read the Good Samaritan Story from the Lion Storyteller Bible and Sarah then encouraged the children to be like the man that helped rather than the men that didn't - because when we do we Shine from the Inside Out which was a cue for the next song.  At the end of the song I said a short Prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Church Walk Primary School

This morning Sarah and I went along to Church Walk Primary School for our first assembly of the new school year.  As it is the beginning of a new term we decided to talk about beginnings and creation, so after singing Creator God Sarah told the creation story from the Lion Storyteller bible.  I then followed the story up and talked with the children about their summer holidays and how beautiful this part of the world is.  I also mentioned about how God wants us to look after the world that he has created and care for it as well as care for each other.  We followed this up with a new song God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  Then we said a short Prayer.

Monday 23 September 2013

Penny Bridge School

This afternoon we went over to Penny Bridge school.  As we arrived the children greeted us and asked how we were which was a great welcome for us.  We did the assembly that we have been doing in all our schools for the first one.  So we sang Creator God and then Sarah introduced the theme - creation by asking the children if they could guess what we might be talking about.  As we have done in other schools I read the Word on the Street version of the story while pictures appeared on the screen.  At the end Sarah asked more questions and talked about us being the caretakers of our planet. Then we sang a new song God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  Sarah concluded the time together with a prayer.

Pennington School

This morning Sarah and I went along to Pennington School for the first assembly of the new school year.  We decided to do the assembly that we have been doing at other schools in our area - creation.  Sarah introduced the theme after saying hello and asking the children about the summer holidays.  We sang Creator God and then I told the creation story as it is in the Word on the Street Bible with a few extra bits thrown in.  Then Sarah talked a little about the creation and how we are called to be caretakers of the planet and how we should look after it as well as ourselves this led into Great Big God which we sang before finishing with a prayer.

Sunday 22 September 2013

Messy Church

Yesterday (Saturday) was the first Messy church of the new term.  The theme was on Moses and in particular the exit from Egypt.  There were a number of children around and some new faces too.  We all had a great time doing the crafts and playing games.  Then altogether in the main church we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger before I told the story with pictures that talked a bit about the Israelites in Egypt the escape and crossing the Red Sea.  We finished that section off by singing Great Big God.

Friday 20 September 2013

NT BX2 at Low Furness

This afternoon I was once again at Low Furness School for the second lesson of New Testament Bible Explorer.  During the last lesson we had heard about Jesus' birth and the birth John.  We left the story as Jesus was being baptised and then tempted by Satan.  This week following a recap of the previous lesson we told the story of Nicodemus's visit to Jesus at night, and also the woman at the well story.  Before moving the story through to the start of Jesus' public ministry and him selecting the disciples.  We covered the sermon on the mount and the calming of the storm as well as the feeding of the 5000.  Parables are also talked about, leading up to Peter getting it and declaring that Jesus is the one - the Messiah.  We finish the lesson as Jesus is transfigured before his chosen disciples.  Next week onto Jerusalem.

Thursday 19 September 2013

Ignite

This evening at Ignite after we had munched our way through 6 large pizzas and 2 bags of French fries we had a game of bingo - I did think that we might be able to create a pattern on the bingo card that would spell the key word for the evening - but the first game took so long we never got the chance.  We watched a Relive video tonight about the 10 Lepers and focused in on the fact that all were healed but only one came back to say thank you.  We then explored some different ways that we can say thank you to God, we had a phone, a tray, a heart shaped cushion, a bible, a worship CD and some arm bands for swimming.  Each one can remind us about what to thank God for:-
the arm bands for saving us
the bible His word
the phone we can simply talk to God
the tray we can serve God by serving others
we can thank Him during worship
we can thank Him because He loves us so much

Then we split into small groups with a tube of bubbles and blew bubbles and thank God for all kinds of things.  The children then made a list of 10 people that they would like to say thank you to, and who they would pray for this week.  We ended with a time of chatting to God.

Wednesday 18 September 2013

St Peters

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters to take the first assembly of this new school year.  We decided to do the assembly that we have done n all our schools just recently.  So Sarah started by asking if the children had had a good summer holiday and then we sang Creator God.  Sarah continued to talk with the children (as I got the visual aids ready) asking if they knew what story I was going to tell and seeing if they knew which book of the bible it came from she also explained that I was going to read it from the Word on the Street Bible.  I explained to the children a bit about the bible I was using.  During the story Sarah displayed pictures displaying the days of creation.  Then she explained a bit about the story and about how we should look after the planet and each other after all our great big God has given it to us to enjoy which was a nice link to the next song.  Following the song I said a short prayer, followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Croftlands Infants School

Tuesday afternoon Sarah and  went to Croftlands Infants school for the first assembly of the new school year.  It was great to see all the children again and in particular all the new reception class.  We did the story of creation with them but instead of using the Word on the Street Bible Sarah read the story from the Loin Storyteller Bible.  As we don't use a projector at the school we couldn't show them any pictures - however the story does give a good description of what is happening.  We sang Great Big God to start us off then Creator God at the end.  I concluded the assembly with a short prayer.

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Croftlands Junior School

Sarah and I went along to Croftlands Juniors this morning for the first assembly of the new school year.  It was great to see all the children again and in particular the new year 3 children who had come over from the infants.  To start with we sang Creator God as that linked in with the story I was going to tell.  Sarah asked the children if they could guess what the assembly was about after we had sung the song.  Then she asked if they knew which book of the bible it was from.  I told the story using the Word on the Street Bible and explained to the children that it was very much in street talk - and asked if they got wot I was saying man!  During the story pictures appeared that reflected the days of creation.  When I had finished Sarah talked to the children about some of the things in the passage - like it said we are caretakers of the planet she explained to them that we should look after what we have here on earth.  She also talked about how beautiful our planet is and in particular living here in the lakes.  We do have a great big God - which was a cue/link to our next song.  Following that I said a prayer with the children.

Monday 16 September 2013

Broughton School

This morning we had a lovely drive over to Broughton.  It was the first assembly of the new term so the little reception children were all in.  We started with introductions particularly for the new children and then sang Creator God.  Sarah asked the question did anyone have an idea what our assembly was going to be about - creation came back the answer.  We had some visual aids to show and I read the creation story from the Word on the Street Bible - which adds a bit of humour to the story.  As each day was mentioned a different part of the picture was revealed.  Following the story Sarah talked and asked questions about it getting across the point that we are all caretakers of our planet and as such we should look after it well after all God has made it so beautiful.  This led into Our God is a Great Big God.  Sarah concluded the assembly with a prayer.

Saturday 14 September 2013

NT BX1 at Low Furness School

Yesterday afternoon I was at Low Furness school for the first New Testament Bible Explorer lesson.  It was a rather large mixed group of year 5 and 6.  After explaining a little about Bible Explorer I launched into the lesson starting at the beginning Adam and Eve and the fall hence sin entering the world, which led to the rescue plan Christ the Messiah.  It seemed rather strange telling the Christmas story complete with some OT prophecies in September.  This story then leads into the first set of hand signs.  The lesson went well and I completed it just on the hour, but then the teacher open up the floor to questions which was a very interesting time for about 10 minutes.  Next Friday lesson 2.

Thursday 12 September 2013

Leven Valley School

This morning we went down to Leven Valley School.  It was our first visit of the new school year and the first time for the reception to be in the assembly.  Sarah introduced us to the new children and said hello to everyone else and enquired about their summer holidays.  To start we sang Creator God, following that Sarah asked if anyone could possibly suggest what story we were going to tell.  A few answers came back like -  a bible story, an old testament story etc.  We got the right answer in the end - creation.  Sarah asked which book it was from and we did get the answer Genesis after some guessing.   I read the story from the Word on the Street Bible which uses street language.  To help the children to remember the story we posted pictures on the screen for each of the days.  At the end Sarah talked about the world and how beautiful it is and how we should look after it - the passage had talked about us being caretakers of the planet.  She also moved on to talk about looking after each other and linked that to the new children in reception.  To end we sang Great Big God and Sarah said a prayer.

Our Ladys Dalton

This morning Sarah and I went for our first visit of the new school year to Our Lady's in Dalton.  After introducing ourselves to the new reception children we started the assembly with Creator God.  Sarah then asked if anyone had an idea what we might be talking about today - a sea of hands went up and someone suggested creation - which was the correct answer.  I had decided to tell the story from the Word on the Street Bible.  During the telling of the story pictures which represented the days were shown on the screen.  Sarah then talked a bit about what was read for example the passage said that we are the caretakers of the planet so she asked the children about that and explained that we should look after not only the planet but each other too.  This was linked to the new children and how we should watch out for them in school.  We ended the time with Great Big God because that is what he is.  Sarah then said a prayer.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Low Furness School first assembly of the new term

Our first assembly of the new term was based on creation.  So after a brief welcome and chat about the summer, we sang Creator God.  I then displayed some visual aids as I recalled the creation story from Genesis Ch1 using the Street Bible.  I did however alter a few words so the children would understand it a little better.  During the reading I displayed a picture for the day - which unfortunately couldn't easily be seen due to the sun.  After the reading I talked a bit about creation and how beautiful flowers are and how unusual some creatures are like those with big long noses or the duck billed platypus.  I followed this up by talking about us and how special and unique we are that is all different.  Different but all created by a Great Big God which led us to sing that song.  I prayed at the end of the assembly for the children at the start of the new year/new term.

Friday 16 August 2013

Day 5 Urswick Holiday club - Mission Rescue

The week has ended as it started and that was very good.  The children have had another fab time with us today, as they heard the final part of the story about God's rescue of the Israelites.  They have also had the last part of the drama which saw some enemy agents switching sides.  After the morning finished we all had a picnic and finished off with the usual water fight which again was great.  A good week was had by all.

Thursday 15 August 2013

Day 4 Urswick Holiday club - Mission Rescue

Still having fun at holiday club - today the children heard about how God rescued his people and how they were led into the desert by Moses.  The children are really enjoying all that is going on and the little play/drama each day is adding to the fun as well.  All the games and craft sessions are going great.  We have the picnic and water fight tomorrow so we are looking forward to that, as it is a chance to talk to some of the children's parents and perhaps connect with them.

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Day 3 Urswick Holiday club - Mission Rescue

Great day again today - the children heard how Moses set off to tell Pharaoh what God had said and Pharaoh said a big fat NO!  The children are left to wonder if the mission that Moses was sent on has failed or if it is all part of God's big plan to show Egypt just how powerful He truly is.  The children came in disguise today as all good spies should be able to do.  Tomorrow it is international dress day when they should be coming in a costume from another country.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Day 2 Urswick Holiday club - Mission Rescue

Had another good day today at Low Furness School for the holiday club.  Today a few more children came along too which was great.  We heard the story of how God gave Moses the instructions to go back to Egypt a place he had left 40 years before, and to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free.  The children heard how God equipped Moses for the task ahead by sending his brother to help him and by giving him some signs to perform before pharaoh.  More excitement to come...

Monday 12 August 2013

Day 1 Urswick Holiday Club - Mission Rescue

We had a great start to the holiday club this morning.  There was a buzz of activity as the children arrived and started to transform their cardboard covered table into a spy hide-out.  The theme is about spies and being on a mission and covers the rescue mission that God planned for his people and Moses was to led the way out of Egypt.  Each day the children watch a video story, as well as watching a short 'slap stick' play about a spy mission.  The day has gone well for all - roll on tomorrow.

Friday 26 July 2013

Day 5 Holiday Club Croftlands

Today was the last full day of the holiday club, we have the family celebration on Sunday which will last about an hour.  We have seen an average of 70 children each day some days one or two more or less.  We have had a great time all week, the prayer space has been well used by a number of the children, the basket which said place into Gods hands was full of folded pieces of paper, the bubble tube was covered in post it notes sending prayers up to God and the reflective board that Rachel had made was also covered in pictures and prayers too.  The final part of the story came out today from Daniel 6 and Gary asked loads of questions about it when he made an appearance later in the morning and being a cloth eared puppet he needed to be reminded of what had happened. The games and the crafts have gone really well too.  To finish off the week we did our usual picnic followed by the water fight which was very refreshing as it has been so hot this week.

Pray for all the children and their families that we have had contact with this week.

Thursday 25 July 2013

Day 4 Holiday Club Croftlands

We have had another great day today at Space Academy.  The children have been enjoying the activities - it is a big question who enjoys it the most the adults, the junior leaders or the children themselves - but we are all children of God.

A final day tomorrow when we shall land back on earth and have a picnic and them the customary water fight - leaders against children.

Continue to pray for the children we have been in contact with this week as we seek to connect them to God.

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Day 3 Holiday Club Croftlands

Had another great day today with the children at holiday club.  The story today was the fiery furnace story and about how God was able to save Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego after King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered that everyone bow down to his golden statue.  The games went well outside and the craft reflected the theme as the children make a fiery picture frame.  We also had more visitors into the prayer space.  Today as well we did a little video clip of children's favourite bible story this led to a talk about the different bibles you can get.  Also today the kids had either or both their head and face decorated to show space.  Tomorrow is the fancy dress day.

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Day 2 Holiday Club Croftlands

We have had another fab day today at Croftlands.  Today we saw a few new faces however we only got 71 kids in total.  The day started off with a spot or two of rain but by the time the games took place it was all outside for a lot of fun.  The craft rooms were also a hive of activity as the children used air dry clay to make a model.  The story was about the gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay statue that Nebuchadnezzar dreamt about.  The music from the band as well as the new tracks on the DVD are going down a storm with the kids.  Great fun all round.  The prayer space is being used well also and the reflection time is drawing out the parts of the story and what they mean to us today.

Monday 22 July 2013

Day 1 Holiday Club Croftlands

Today we launched into space with the start of Space Academy.  We had 72 children at the club this morning.  They heard the first part of the Daniel story.  The exiles from Jerusalem refused to eat the special food that the king had given them to eat instead they ate fruit and water.  The still followed God's law even though they were far away from home.  The children heard the story told to them by an advisor to the king in Babylon - they journeyed back in 'time and space'  more story tomorrow.

A number of children enjoyed looking at the prayer space we created in the hall too.  We are looking to encourage the children to be not just God Smart but God Connected too.

More fun and games tomorrow.  Please continue to prayer for all those involved.

St Peters last assembly with the year 6 children

This blog is a little late in being posted - holiday club is upon us and I forgot to post it. This was the last assembly of the school year and the last one with the current year 6 children.  We told the story as we have done in all our final assemblies about Abraham.  Then we sang the Chicken Dance song as a special treat.

Low Furness final assembly

This blog is a little late in being posted - holiday club is upon us and I forgot to post it. This was the last assembly of the school year and the last one with the current year 6 children.  We told the story as we have done in all our final assemblies about Abraham.  Then we sang the Chicken Dance song as a special treat.

Thursday 11 July 2013

Crosthwaite - the final assembly of the year

The last of our three assemblies today was at Crosthwaite School.  It was also the last one with the two year 6 children (although one was away) and the last one of the school year.  We started with So Many Ways then I went on to tell the Abraham story just as I have done for all of the previous assemblies.  We ended it with Wonderful Lord and then as a special treat we did the Chicken Dance.

Leven Valley School - a rather small assembly

Our second assembly today was at Leven Valley School.  A lot of the school were out doing sport so we had a very select few for the assembly.  We started with So Many Ways then I went on to tell the Abraham story just as I have done for all of the previous assemblies.  We ended it with Wonderful Lord and then as a special treat we did the Chicken Dance.

Croftlands Juniors - final assembly of the year

The first of our three assemblies today was at Croftlands Juniors.  It was also the last one with the year 6 children and the last one of the school year.  We started with So Many Ways then I went on to tell the Abraham story just as I have done for all of the previous assemblies.  We ended it with Wonderful Lord and then as a special treat we did the Chicken Dance.

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Croftlands Infants - last assembly of the year

Today I did the assembly for Croftlands Infants on my own.  I took with me the projector and screen so I could tell the Abraham story as we have done at a number of schools as part of our final Moving On assembly.  To start with we all sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then I told the story.  We had some fun with the map as I said Abraham came from UR over TH UR which the children found funny (it worked better live)  When I put the bible verse up I explained what it meant before we went on to sing Wonderful Lord.  At the end we said a prayer and I wish all the children a happy holiday.

Ulverston Infants - final assembly of the year

This morning at Ulverston Infants Sarah and I did our final assembly of the school year.  We started by singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then I went on to tell the Abraham story using a set of pictures showing a map and Abraham and Sarah etc.  The point was made that God had told them to move on and they did, he also told them they would have a baby and they did - God kept his promise to them.  The bible verse was from Deuteronomy and talked about having courage and being strong because God is with us.  I asked the children to remember that as they move on up the school or even to a new school.  Sarah summed the assembly up and we ended with Wonderful Lord.

Friday 5 July 2013

Ignite

Last night we had our Ignite group round.  After eating our way through 5 pizza's and a large bag of fries followed by ice cream we played a game.  The game was designed to test their hearing, as one person was sat in the middle of the group with a blind fold on, the rest handed round a bunch of keys.  The middle person was to listen and try to work out where the keys where in the group.  This led to the video which was about blind Bartimaeus.  Following the video we asked them what they thought about what Jesus had done.  Then we blind folded someone again and set them off walking towards one of the group.  The walk should have been straight however the rest of the group moved around just like the crowd had done in the story and bumped into the blind folded person sending them off course.  Eventually they got there.  The point was that there are times when people get in our way and we can hear Jesus calling but we get pushed aside by others around us.  We then sat round in a circle with a ball of string.  We started to pass the string round the group and whenever a person got it they had to say thank you to God for something, then as it went a second time they had to thank God for something in creation and finally they had to say sorry for something but not speak it out loud.  In the end we created a prayer web.  As holiday club is getting closer we decided that we would ask the children to video themselves talking about Jesus.  So we gave them the cameras and off they went - they said what Jesus means to them and what their favourite bible story is.  Next we introduced them to the memory verses for the week and asked them to think of interesting ways in which we could display them to the children.  Next week we will be taking some pictures of them.  We closed with a time of chatting to God.

Thursday 4 July 2013

Our Lady's - last assembly of school year - moving on

Today was our last visit of this school year to Our Lady's and as it was the last visit I asked the year 6 children what song they would like to sing - they picked Shine.  The story I told today was about Abraham who was told by God to move on from Ur to first of all Harran and then into what is now Israel.  I showed some pictures and a map of the area.  I talked about how strange it must have been for him and his wife Sarah to be told to move not knowing where they would end up.  I also spoke of the promise God made to them about having children as many as the stars in the sky.  I linked up with a verse from Deuteronomy 31:6 which says Be strong. Take courage. Don't be intimidated. Don't give a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. He's right there with you. He won't let you down; he won't leave you.  I encouraged all the children who will be moving up a year to take courage and be strong because God will be with them and He won't let them down.  To finish we sang Wonderful Lord and I prayed for all the children.