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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.