Leven Valley School

Following the assembly at Croftlands school I went down the road to Leven Valley school and did it all again for them.  Each time whenever I ask the children about what there best present would be it is amazing the range of things the children either have or want.  The video clip was a big surprise to all the children particularly the ending.  Once again the laughs came as the box fell open then they realised that it was a cross.  I ended the assembly with Rejoice with us followed by a prayer.

Croftlands Juniors

This morning I went to do Croftlands Junior School assembly.  As per the rest of this week I did our Christmas assembly with the questions about what this time of year is and then showed the John Lewis video clip.  This led into the talk about it being better to give than to receive, I displayed the bible verse from Acts 20:35 then talked about just how much God couldn't wait to give us Jesus.  This led to the best present ever being opened and again as the box fell open the was a bit of a laugh from the children until I explained what it was about.  We finished with our Christmas song followed by a prayer.

Broughton School

This morning Sarah and I went over to Broughton School to do a Christmas/Advent assembly.  We started by Sarah asking what time of year it was - Christmas, winter, December came the answers then Advent.  Sarah then asked the children if they knew what advent was a few hands went up - it is the time that leads up to Christmas, a time of waiting and preparing for Christmas.  We then showed a video clip from a John Lewis advert about a little boy waiting for Christmas day to come.  He looks at the clock and tries to make it move on then rushes to finish his meal before running upstairs to bed on Christmas Eve.  When he wakes up in the morning he walks past all his presents and gifts and instead of opening them goes to get a present to give to his parents.  Sarah asked a few questions about what the children had just watched and asked if they expected the ending to be as it was.  She then talked about presents and the best presents we have had and asked a few children what they were.  I then took my present with it's red ribbon and bow and told the children that this was the best gift ever.  As I opened it up there was NOTHING in side it so the children laughed but then as I let the box fall open it showed a cross.  I explained that Christmas is the time of year when we think about God giving us Jesus - the greatest gift of all why because he died for us.  Sarah then introduced the song Rejoice with us  and afterwards said a prayer to close.

St Peters

This morning Sarah and I went to St Peters to do our Christmas assembly for the children.  We had a great time with them as we asked them about what time of year it was and what they thought was their best ever gift or present.  We once again showed the John Lewis advert with the boy who waited and waited until it was Christmas Day then forgetting all his gifts went and got a gift out and took it to his parents.  The point was simple it is better to give than to receive which is taken from Acts 20:35.  I then took a present that had a nice red bow and ribbon on it and told the children that it was the greatest gift ever in the box.  But opening it up there was NOTHING inside it so as the children laughed and as I went to scratch my head I let the box fall open to reveal a cross.  Pausing for a moment I wrapped the red ribbon on to the cross and explained that Jesus is God's special gift to us and reminded the children about what Jesus did for us.  Sarah then introduced the Christmas song Rejoice with Us and to close said a prayer.

Croftlands Infants School

This afternoon we went to do the Christmas assembly idea at Croftlands Infants School.  We took with us the video projector and a screen to that we could show the video.  Sarah again asked the children what time of year it was and asked the children what Advent was all about, then we showed the video and again Sarah explained a little about the clip and handed over to me to show my box that had nothing in it but was the greatest gift ever given because as the boxes drops it opens out flat to make a cross shape and I reminded the children that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus - God's greatest gift to us.  Sarah then introduced our Christmas song Rejoice with us and after the sing she closed off the assembly with a prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I did our Christmas assembly for the children of Low Furness School.  As we wanted the children to watch a video we didn't start with a song instead Sarah talked about the time of year and what it is all about - advent.  Then we showed the John Lewis advert from 2011 about a boy waiting for the arrival of Christmas Day.  He counts down the days looks at the clock several times is seen rushing his food on what is Christmas Eve.  Then it happens Christmas Day, he gets up runs past the pile of presents which are at the foot of his bed and instead collects a big present that he has been keeping safe and walks into his mum and dad's room to give it to them.  Sarah then talked about the clip and asked the children questions like - did you expect that to happen?, what was the boy waiting for? She then explained that it is always better to give than to receive and we displayed a verse from Acts 20:35 about giving.  Sarah then handed over to me and I took a box that had a nice red bow on it and as I held it I explained that this was the greatest gift ever, then as I opened it and looked inside there was nothing in it - expect a piece of paper that said NOTHING.  But as I went to scratch my head letting the box fall it made into a cross.  I then placed the red ribbon over it and explained that the greatest gift is Jesus and it was given to us a Christmas by God - and that is why we celebrate Christmas.  Sarah then concluded and linked into our Christmas song Rejoice with us this Christmas,  At the end I closed in prayer.

Church Walk

This morning Sarah and I went along to Church Walk School to do the first of our Christmas assemblies of the year.  We didn't start with a song instead Sarah asked the children what day it was - Monday, 1st December were the sort of answers she got back until someone said the start of advent.  She explained that advent is the time of year just before Christmas and it is a time of waiting.  This linked to the 2011 John Lewis advert about a boy who waited and waited for Christmas to come and when it did eventually come he got up on Christmas morning ran past all his presents that were at the foot of his bed and went instead to the cupboard were he was hiding a present which he took and gave to his mum and dad.  Sarah explained to the children about the advert and asked a few questions about it she then linked in the bible verse ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Acts 20:35.  She then handed over to me and I showed the children a present that had a red bow on it and as I started to open it I was asking what was inside it.  Then I revealed that there was nothing inside it well there was a note saying NOTHING.  But I said Christmas is about God giving us the greatest ever gift in sending Jesus to be born on the earth and as I said this I dropped the sides of the box open to show a cross - Jesus the greatest gift.  Sarah then concluded and linked to the song Rejoice with us this Christmas.  After the song Sarah closed with a prayer.

Leven Valley School

Following the assembly at Our Lady's I this morning I went straight down to Leven Valley school and did the same thing again.

Our Lady's

This morning I went to Our Lady's school to do the assembly about friendship.  After singing So Many Ways I asked two friends out and they shared a bar of chocolate.  I then asked them if they enjoyed it and if they would help each other to clean the toilets they both agreed.  The point was that we need to stick with our friends through the good and bad times.  I then read a short version of the Ruth story and explained that both Ruth and Naomi stuck with each other through good and bad times.  I then got them all to stand up and shake hands with someone who was a good friend and say to them thank you.  We finished with Shine as it says that we should shine from the inside out so the world we see that Jesus is in us.  I then closed with a prayer.

Penny Bridge School

This morning Sarah and I went over to see the children at Penny Bridge School and to take their assembly.  We decided to do the friendship assembly that we have been doing this month in our other schools.  So to start off the assembly we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then we called out two friends and to one I gave them some chocolate while the other sat and chatted to Sarah.  Then they shared the chocolate which was a good thing to do then I reminded the girl with the chocolate that she had to clean the toilets after the assembly and as I pull out the various cleaning materials the children laughed while the girl took everything I was saying on board.  The catch came when I asked her friend the one who she had shared the chocolate with if she would like to help too - I got a big YES from her.  Sarah explained that good friends stick with each other through good as well as bad times she then told the Ruth and Naomi story and afterwards recapped what good true friends do for each other.  We then got the children to stand up and shake the hand of a friend and say thank you to them for being a friend.  To close we sang Shine then Sarah said a prayer.

Broughton School

This morning Sarah and I were also at Broughton School for their assembly.  We decided to do the assembly on the theme of friends and friendship.  So after singing So Many Ways I retold the story from Mark 2:1-12 of Jesus healing the man that was lowered through the roof to Jesus' feet.  I used my square to cross prop to tell the story moving it as I told the story into different shapes.  After the story Sarah explained that without the friends of the paralysed man helping him he would never have seen Jesus and therefore never have been healed.  They needed to do a lot in order to help him even get to Jesus.  She encouraged the children to be just like the four friends.  Then she asked them all to stand up and on the count of three they were to move around and shake the hand of a person who was a good friend to them and say thank you for being my friend.  Then we sang Shine and Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer.

St Peters

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters for the assembly.  We had decided to continue the theme we started last time about friendship with another example from the bible.  So after singing So Many Ways I told the story of Jesus healing the paralysed man who was lowered through the roof by four friends.  To tell the story I used my square to cross prop and moved it around as I told the story.  Sarah then added to the story by saying how hard it must have been for the men to carry their friend first through the town, then up the stairs, cut a hole through the roof and then to lower him down to the feet of Jesus.  Sarah linked this action to shining out for Jesus which introduced our next song Shine.  Following the song Sarah closed with a prayer and then the Lord's Prayer.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon we travelled over to Crosthwaite School for the assembly.  The assembly started by the vicar teaching the children a prayer which he encouraged the children to sign as they were led by a year 6 pupil.  We started the assembly then by singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord.  Following the song we called out two girls who are best friends while I instructed one of them Sarah talked with the other then they shared a bar of chocolate together.  As they enjoyed the chocolate I spoke to the girl I had given instructions to saying that she had agreed to help clean the toilet when she had finished the chocolate and I invited her friend to join in as well.  There was a certain amount of hesitation but she said yes in the end.  Sarah then explained that when we have friends we should be willing to share the good bits along with the bad bits of our lives.  She then went on to tell the story of Ruth and Naomi.  Then we got the children to stand up and shake the hand of someone they thought of as a best friend saying thank you for being my friend.  I then rounded off the exercise and reinforcing what Sarah had said which led into us singing Shine.  Sarah then closed the assembly with a prayer.

Vicarage Park School

This morning I went over to Vicarage Park School, Kendal to take the assembly.  The theme I was given was compassion.  So after singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord I showed the PIXAR animated clip 'Birds on a Wire'  which has several birds all chatting on a telephone wire, when a bigger bird wants to join in.  The bigger bird is very different to the others and they therefore make fun of him and laugh at him.  Then when he comes to join them they complain to each other and force him to get off by pecking at his feet.  He does eventually fall off but in so doing he catapults the other birds upwards.  Then as the clip ends the big bird is on the floor and all the other birds drop down besides him but they have lost all their feathers and now need to shelter under the big bird for warmth.  After the clip I showed some still images from the movie and talked about the reaction of the birds to the bigger bird saying that they were not showing him kindness, love or compassion.  I said that we can sometimes be like that with other people who we perhaps see as being different.  I then displayed the bible verse 'Love one another as I have loved you' and explained that Jesus wants us to be compassionate and loving, caring and kind to everyone we meet.  To close we sang Wonderful Lord and in the middle I said a short prayer.

Flookburgh Primary School

This morning Sarah and I went over to Flookburgh School for an assembly.  It was great to see all the children dressed in super hero fancy dress as they raised money for Children in Need. We introduced the children to Be Happy this morning and then went on to do our assembly about friends.  So as always we called out two people who are best friends and to one I gave a bar of chocolate to share with his friend.  So they did however I then turned to the friend and announced that the friend with the chocolate had agreed to clean the toilets later on in the morning and asked if they as their best friend would like to help.  I showed the children the cleaning materials, a cloth for the toilet bowl, a toilet brush and some cleaning spray.  The friend having had the chocolate shared with them said yes they would help.  Sarah then read the story of Ruth and Naomi's friendship and how they stayed together through good and bad times.  Following the story Sarah talked a bit more about friendships and how we should look out for each other.  I then invited the school to stand up and for each child to find a friend and shake their hand saying 'thank you for being my friend'  To round the assembly off we then sang another new song (for the school) Wonderful Lord and in the middle Sarah said a prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I were asked to do a special assembly for the children at Low Furness School.  As the theme for this half term is on friendship we decided to do an assembly along those lines.  So after singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord I told the story of Jesus healing the paralysed  man, and focused on the fact that four of his friends needed to carry him to see Jesus and even then as the house was so full they took him up on to the roof broke through the roof and lowered him down to the feet of Jesus - Jesus saw how much faith the friends had and healed the man.  To tell the story I used my square to cross prop which can be moved into different shapes to reflect different parts of the story.  Sarah then summed up what the friends had done for the man saying how strong the friendship was between them and encouraged the children to be good friends like they had been.  Then to close we sang Shine and Sarah said a prayer.  Before and then after the assembly we played I Love You and the younger children started to sing and sign the words it was great to see.

Croftlands Infants School

This afternoon I have been to Croftlands Infants School to do the assembly on friendship.  So after singing Be Happy I invited  two friends out (with a little help from the teacher) and they sat at the front.  I did prompt one of them as to what the idea was I was going to do and they sat and shared some chocolate then I told the other one her friend had agreed to help clean the toilets and would she like to help.  She too agreed to the toilet cleaning, I showed the school all the things I had brought that would help, a cloth, toilet brush, cleaning spray and bucket - all the items brought a big laugh from the children.  I then retold the Naomi and Ruth story and explained during the story how they were great friends and that they had been through good times and bad times together a bit like the chocolate and the toilet cleaning.  I encouraged the children to stick with their friends through the good and the bad.  We then sang Shine and I closed the assembly with a prayer.

Chruch Walk

This morning Sarah and I went to Church Walk Primary School for the assembly.  After singing Be Happy Sarah asked two girls to come out that are very good friends.  I needed to explain to one girl what was going to happen while I did this Sarah talked with the other girl about friendship.  I then gave the girl with me a chocolate bar and sent her to sit with her friend and the shared the bar between them.  Meanwhile I went and got a bucket with cleaning things in it and a toilet brush and explained that the girl that was with me had agreed to help to clean the toilets after they had finished the chocolate bar so I asked her friend if she would like to join her and help - NO came the answer.  So Sarah explained that she was happy to share the good things like the chocolate but not the bad things like cleaning the toilet.  Sarah then told the story of Naomi and Ruth and how they went through good happy times and bad not so happy times yet they always stayed together.  I then asked the children to stand and shake hands with someone who is their friend and to say thank you for being my friend.  Following this we sang God can do anything and Sarah closed with a prayer.

St Peters School

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters Ireleth for the assembly.  After singing Be Happy Sarah asked two girls to come out who were best friends.  I had a little chat with one of them to prep them for the assembly then I gave her a chocolate bar, meanwhile the other girl was stood with Sarah and I told her that her best friend had some chocolate that she wanted to share with her and this they did - one piece for you and one for me, two for you two for me etc as they divided up the chocolate.  I made a comment about how good it was for them to share the chocolate but I then said to the second girl that the first girl had agreed to clean the dirty girls toilet after them assembly and I brought out a bucket with cleaning things in it including a toilet brush.  I asked her would she be willing to share the job with her friend like they had shared the chocolate.  The children in the room were taken back so what when I talked about the toilet and cleaning it but the girl agreed to help her friend out.  I did say that I was only joking and that they didn't really need to do the cleaning.  Sarah then told the story of Ruth and Naomi from the Old Testament and afterwards explained how they were good friends that stuck together through the good times (like eating chocolate) and the bad times (like cleaning the toilet).  Next I asked the children to stand up and to go and shake the hand of a friend and say thank you for being my friend.  Once the children had finished that we sang God Can Do Anything and Sarah finished off the assembly with a prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning I went to Low Furness School on my own to take the assembly.  The theme was friendship.  So after singing Be Happy I then asked if two friends could come out and join me - I particularly wanted two boys as it fitted better with the theme.  So after having a quick chat with one of them I gave him a chocolate bar to eat then I said to the other one go and share it together - which they did and they seemed to enjoy it too.  Then I said that the first boy had agreed to clean the dirty boys toilet after assembly and I presented him with a bucket, cloth, cleaning stuff and toilet brush all the time he is knocking with agreement about the cleaning (that was the reason for the little chat) so I then asked if the second boy would like to help him - he answered yes he would.  The point was simple we should stick with our friends through the good times - eating the chocolate as well as the bad times - cleaning the toilet.  They went to sit down (I didn't make them do the cleaning)  I then told the story of Ruth and afterwards explained the friendship that Ruth and Naomi shared and about how strong it was.  The children then had to do a practical thing and stand up and look around them for one of their best friends go over, shake their hand and say thank you for being my friend.  at the end they all sat back down again, I said a short prayer and we finished by singing God Can Do Anything.

Pennington School

This morning Sarah and I went to Pennington School to do an assembly.  We didn't start with a song as we wanted to end with So Many Ways to Praise the Lord after we had done our story and talk.  Sarah retold the story of Jesus clearing the temple from Matthew 21:12-16.  It was a dramatized version of the events which added to the theme of the assembly which was Respect.  Each time the word respect was mentioned the children had to put up their thumb and bow it down.  After the story Sarah asked the children who in the story had shown respect - Jesus and the children had and who hadn't shown respect - the priests, I read the actually passage from the bible then talked about respect in the bible by showing the children the ten commandments.  I didn't read them all but I pointed out that 4 of the commandments are to do with respecting God and the other 6 respecting each other.  I then explained a few of the commandments to the children as to what they mean to us today.  After this Sarah linked back to the story and reminded the children that in the story the children danced and sang in the temple area and praised Jesus/God so this went with the song So Many Ways.  after the song I close the assembly with a prayer.

Leven Valley School

This morning Sarah and I went over to Leven Valley School for an assembly.  After singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger Sarah asked for a small snack to eat before lunch, so I gave her a Satsuma.  She started to peel it and asked if anyone wanted to share it with her and a young lad came out to help, then as she ate the first piece saying how great it was she gave him the peel!  This brought a laugh and some comments from the children about what she had done.  Sarah look surprised at their reaction and repeated to them that she was sharing with the boy.  She then corrected her self and said that it wasn't the best bit and gave the boy the rest to eat.  The point was made that whenever we share things with other people we should share the best bits.  I then read and added my own bits as well the story from the Lion Storyteller Bible of the feeding of the 5000.  Following the story Sarah summed up what had happened saying that the boy shared what little he had and God used it through Jesus to feed a huge number of people and we to can be like that in sharing what little we have with other people.  Then she said when we do that we Shine from the inside out which cued us for the next song.  Following the song Sarah prayed and then as we had a bit of time left we sang God can do anything.

Our Lady's OCC assembly

This morning Sarah and I went into Our Lady's School to do an Operation Christmas Child assembly.  To start off the assembly we all sang God's love is Bigger than a Burger then I told the children that as I had been rushing about all morning I needed a mid morning snack and started to peel a Satsuma.  I did however offer to share it with someone and invited a girl out to share it with.  Having peeled it I took a piece commented on how lovely it was and promptly gave her the peel!  Much to her surprise and the amusement of the school.  I then sent the girl back to her place with some of the Satsuma.  At this point Sarah took over and explained that the fact that I wanted to share something was good but what I shared wasn't good, it was after all the bit I didn't want.  This then led to talking about sharing good things with other people like when we fill a shoe box full of goodies.  Sarah also talked about how nice it is to get presents at various times of the year and yet there are children than don't get anything.  I opened up a shoe box and lifted out the word LOVE and explained that when you fill a shoe box what you are really doing is filling it with love.  I then went through a power point showing what happens to a shoe box finishing by showing all the places boxes go to and how many we sent last year then I say a huge THANK YOU to the children.  Following this Sarah links to the song Shine in that we shine out love when we get involved with filling shoe boxes.  After the song Sarah close off the assembly with a prayer.

Broughton School OCC assembly

This morning Sarah and I travelled over to Broughton School to do an Operation Christmas Child Assembly.  We started by singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger, then Sarah decided that she needed a mid morning snack so she started to peel a Satsuma.  She did offer to share it with someone though, so as she put the first piece into her mouth she gave the peel to her helper which made her look puzzled.  Sarah explained that she had shared part of the Satsuma with the helper, she asked if that was right - to share only the bit we didn't want - the answer was no of course.  Sarah then did share with the little girl and explained the point of it to the children.  We need to share good things with other people and not just the things we don't want or need anymore.  She asked if there was anyone in the room that had never ever been given a present - there was nobody.  As she continued she explained to the children that it is nice to get presents but there are children that never do get presents at all.  I then talked to the children about filling shoe boxes and how when we do fill the box what we are really doing is filling it with love.  I explained briefly what to do and what to put into a shoe box then followed this with the journey the box makes to get to a needy child.  I then showed pictures from all the areas that shoe boxes get sent to each year.  Sarah drew the assembly to a close by saying when we fill a box with love we Shine from the inside out which was a cue to our next song.  Sarah then closed with a prayer.

St Peters OCC assembly

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters to do an Operation Christmas Child Assembly.  It was great to see all the children again and they gave us a great welcome as we said hello.  To start off the assembly we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then Sarah told the children that we had set off so early that she needed some more breakfast - a Satsuma.  She started to peel it and asked if anyone would like to share it with her.  Someone did and as Sarah tried the first piece and said how delightful it was she gave him the peel - much to his surprise!  Sarah asked if that was a nice thing to do she had done what she said she would do and gave him some.  Of course the answer was no it wasn't the best part of the Satsuma she did give the boy some to eat as she explained what it was about.  She wanted the children to realise that when we share things we should share the best parts of things and not the rubbish parts, this linked to shoe boxes in that we should put good things into them.  She continued and asked who had never ever had a birthday or Christmas present she reminded the children what it is like to get presents at special times.  I then talked about what goes into a shoe box and the first thing I showed to the children was the word love which I had taken out of a box.  I then continued to explain what to do with the shoe box, how to fill it and with what kinds of things to put into it.  I then showed pictures showing the journey of the box from local collection, to storing, processing , packing, shipping and giving out to needy children.  I also showed the countries to which we send the boxes pausing to point out a few things.  Sarah then continued by encouraging the children to fill a box and said that when we do it is us shining out God's love to others.  This led to us singing Shine after which Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon I went over to Crosthwaite School to do an assembly.  Sarah decided to stay home due to the bad weather.  After saying hello and explaining that Sarah was at home we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  I then excused myself to the children as I took out a Satsuma and started to peel it ready to eat it.  I explained that I hadn't finished my lunch, I did offer to share it with someone and a little boy came out so I gave him the peel, which sparked a laugh from the rest of the children.  I did eventually share half of it with him.  I then explained my actions saying that it is good to share but when we do we should share the good bits not just the leftover rubbish bits.  I then retold the feeding of the 5000 story to them from the Lion Storyteller Bible.  after the story I encouraged the children to share like the boy had done in the story and as a result all the people got blessed because of it.  I did also point out that this was a miracle and that God can do Anything which brought us into a second song.  Following the song I closed the assembly with a short prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I went into Low Furness School for the assembly.  We started the assembly off by singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then I went on to talk to the children on the theme given to us by the school which was St Luke.  So after giving a brief account of who he was I then talked about what he did and how what he did was so important, he wrote the gospel of Luke as well as the Acts of the Apostles.  We then played a bit of a game with two children.  I asked them to write a letter to someone about a celebrity they had met recently - but each time they wrote something down about the person they swapped letters with the other person, this then made for a very funny sounding letter once it was read.  The point was that details of events can sometimes get mixed up and then the account sounds funny, however in the opening sentence in Luke he tells us how he investigated everything from the beginning by talking to people that knew Jesus.  I told the children that because he had done just that then Luke's Gospel is probably more detailed than the other gospels.  I then encourage them to read some of the great stories Luke put into his gospel.  Sarah added her own thoughts to the assembly then we went on to sing the Chicken Dance song as it was raining outside and the children won't be going out to play so the song would help them to loose some energy.  I then closed with a prayer.

BX OT 5 Vicarage Park

This afternoon I went over to Kendal again for the last lesson of Bible Explorer with the year 6 children.  It covered the stories of Israel being scattered and Judah taken into exile and stories such as Daniel and my all time favourite Esther.  The children willingly joined in as we went through the stories and acted out various scenes from the stories.  They also joined in with the hand signs as we recapped the previous weeks and learnt new ones finishing with a complete run through them all at the end.  I had a great time and I felt that the children did too.

St James' Catholic School Millom OCC assembly

This morning Sarah and I went over to Millom to St James' Catholic Primary School to do an Operation Christmas Child Assembly.  We had been asked to do two assemblies one for Key Stage 1 and one for Key Stage 2.  We did the same assembly to both groups.  We started by singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then Sarah did her orange sharing talking and asked some children up to help share her orange with except she gave them the peel and not the orange.  She said that is wasn't very nice of her to do that and that we should share good things with each other like when we fill a shoe box of needy children, we should put good things into it.  She asked if the children liked to get presents at birthdays and Christmas and asked them to imagine what it would be like for a child to get a shoe box full of things.  I then did a short talk about the journey of a box finishing with the countries that the boxes go to and how many we sent last year.  I finished by saying on behalf of those that can't say it and on behalf of Samaritan's Purse - a very big THANK YOU.  Sarah then linked what I said to shining out God's love which led into Shine.  Sarah then closed in a prayer.

BX OT5 Low Furness School

Had another great time this afternoon with the children of year 5 and 6 at Low Furness School.  It was the final lesson of Bible Explorer.  We had a number of stories to cover during the hour long lesson including Daniel and Esther.  A number of children willingly helped out as I worked my way through the various stories and acted events out as directed too.  We then ran through all the hand signs from start to finish before encouraging them to read some of the stories for themselves.

Flookburgh School

This morning Sarah and I went down to Flookburgh School for an assembly.  Once again we had a warm welcome from the children.  To start off the assembly we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord so after showing the children the actions they all joined in and as the song continued they had really got into the swing of it.  Sarah then said she was hungry and as we had had such an early start this morning said she hadn't had breakfast.  So she took and orange and started to peel it and then asked the children if anyone would like to share it with her.  A girl came forward and as Sarah pop a piece into her mouth she gave the girl the peel - much to her surprise!  Sarah then did share the orange out.  The point was sharing put also being considerate towards others.  I then read the story of the feeding of the 5000 from the Lion Storyteller Bible and afterwards Sarah summed up the story and encouraged the children to think about ways they could be considerate towards other people like sharing their sweets, lunch, pencils and things but also holding doors open for people, helping to pick things up from the floor etc.  To finish we sang Shine and then I closed with a prayer.

Captain Shaw's CE School OCC assembly

This morning Sarah and I went over to Bootle (Cumbria) to the lovely little school - Captain Shaw's CE.  We went to do an Operation Christmas Child assembly and the whole school was in all 19 of them.  They joined in as we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger and listened as Sarah started to eat here breakfast and orange.  Sarah did ask if anyone wanted to come and share it with her and one little girl did so Sarah peeled it and gave her the peel!  The little girl was a bit shocked and went to sit down but Sarah explained as she did then share it with her that it is good to share good things and it isn't good to share bad things.  She continued that when we put things into a shoe box for OCC we are sharing good things with children that don't have very much if anything at all.  She talked about presents that we get for Christmas and birthdays and how it is nice to get lovely things.  I then talked about how when we fill a box we fill it with love and I lifted out the word love from a box.  I then went on to show how to fill a box and then to show what happens to it once it is filled and where the boxes get sent to.  Sarah then encouraged the children to take part this year and fill boxes again for OCC.  We then sang Shine before Sarah closed with a prayer.

South Walney Juniors OCC assembly

This afternoon Sarah and I went over to Walney Island to take an assembly at South Walney Juniors on behalf of Operation Christmas Child.  We had a lovely welcome from the children.  After introducing ourselves we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then Sarah talked about sharing.  She used the example of a banana and said if she had a banana and was to share it with a child and she only gave them the skin, then that wouldn't be very good would it.  She said that we should share the nice parts of the banana then she handed over to me and I talked about how when we fill a shoe box we can share something very special - and I took a shoe box and opened it and inside was the word love - this is what we can share when we fill a box  with all kind of good things.  I then ran through what happens to a shoe box from being wrapped to filled to collected, stored, processed packaged, warehoused, flown to a receiving country, delivered, received and finally open to let all the love that was put into burst out.  I then went through a showed pictures of children in all the different countries where shoe boxes got sent to last year and I encouraged the children to fill a box this year and send it to a needy child.  Sarah then said a short prayer and we then sang a final song Shine.

Croftlands Infants School OCC assembly

This afternoon Sarah and I went to Croftlands Infants School for an Operation Christmas Child assembly.  We started the assembly with God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then Sarah shared a banana with one of the children well I say shared she gave them the skin - the useless, left over part.  It was to demonstrate that we need to share good things with each other and not just the bits we don't want.  I talked to the children about a shoe box and about the very special thing that I had in my shoe box - it was the word love, I told the children that when we fill a shoe box we fill it full of our love and it is one way of sharing.  I then did a short talk without the visual aids from the power point about what happens when we fill a shoe box then talked about all the countries that boxes got sent to last year.  We closed the assembly with a prayer.

Croftlands Junior School OCC assembly

This morning Sarah and I went to Croftlands Junior School for an Operation Christmas Child assembly.  Just as the assembly started my computer decided that now was a good time to install some new updates which then crashed the thing.  So we started the assembly with out the computer, while I tried to fix it Sarah shared a banana with one of the children well I say shared she gave them the skin - the useless, left over part.  It was to demonstrate that we need to share good things with each other and not just the bits we don't want.  The computer was still updating so I played God's Love is Bigger than a Burger with my tablet then did a short talk without visual aids about what happens when we fill a shoe box then talked about all the countries that boxes got sent to last year.  We closed the assembly with a prayer.

BX OT3 and OT4 Vicarage Park

This afternoon I was at Vicarage park school once again to do a double Bible Explorer lesson.  The school had another event on last Monday so asked if I would do the lesson 3 at a different time to that is what I did today.  The children were so pleased to se me again and had remembered all the hand signs from two weeks ago which was great so after a quick recap I went right into the lesson.  At the end of the lesson 3 we took a 5 minute break and then carry right on into lesson 4 which I finished just before 3pm.  The children were great and responded very well to both the lessons and even asked some interesting questions at the end of it.  Last lesson is next week.

Penny Bridge School OCC assembly

This morning we went along to Penny Bridge School to do an Operation Christmas Child Assembly.  After singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger, Lisa talked and demonstrated how love can be shared by using some sunflower seeds.  The seed like love is small yet when it is planted great things happen and it produces a beautiful flower and more seeds to pass on.  It is a bit like that with the things we put into a shoe box,  those little things then are kept in the dark of the box and when they are opened at the receiving end by a child all that love bursts out like the sun flower flowering.  I then went on to explain what to do when filling a shoe box then what happens to it once it is collected, processed and then sent abroad to needy children.  I then showed photos and places names of children who got boxes last year.  Then told the children how many boxes got sent from the UK and how many from this area then said a big THANK YOU to all the children for their help last year.  Sarah ended the assembly with a prayer.

BX OT4 Low Furness School

This afternoon I went and did lesson 4 of Bible Explorer to the year 5/6 class at Low Furness School.  As always the children were excited to hear the next part of the story line from the Old Testament.  The stories today took us into the reign of the kings Saul, David and Solomon.  We also covered the story of Samuel as well.  The lesson ended with the kingdom that was united under the three kings being divided for the next 400 years into Judah in the south and Israel in the north.  Next week we will focus on the exile of the people and then the return to the land.

Pennington School

After the assembly at Church Walk I went up to Pennington School to do it again.  Lisa Smith joined me for this assembly.  So after singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger Lisa talked about sharing and used a banana to explain.  She asked for a helper who liked banana's and said that she would share the banana with them so Lisa took a bit and gave the skin to the helper.  After all it was a bit of the banana - not the good bit though.  The helper did go away with some banana.  Lisa used this to explain that we should share good things with each other and talked about how the children can do that by helping to fill a shoe box.  One of our boxes had the word love inside it so Lisa said that we can share love when we fill the boxes as God loves us so much.  I then went on to show what happens to the shoe box once the children have filled it and showed pictures of places the boxes go to before closing the assembly with a prayer.

Church Walk Primary School

This morning I went to Church Walk Primary School to do an assembly for Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child.  After singing God's love is bigger than a Burger I talked about how good it is to share things in love.  I opened a shoe box and brought out some love (wooden cut out of the word), I also said how it is good to share love and share what we have.  I opened a packet of sweets and asked if anyone would like part of this packet of sweets - one little girl was picked and I reminded her that I was going to give her part of the packet of sweets so I gave her the empty wrapper - it was exactly what I said I would give her part of the packet of sweets.  (I did give her a sweet too)  It was a simple illustration of sharing and how we should share good things with each other.  I then went through the power point that explains what happens to a shoe box and showed which countries the boxes go to before ending by saying how many boxes went last year both in the UK and in South Cumbria then I say a big Thank You to the children for the help last year.  I closed the assembly with a prayer.

BX OT3 Low Furness School

This afternoon I was at Low Furness school for the third lesson of Bible Explorer.  This lesson covers over 400 years of history and starts with Joshua and ends with Ruth.  We discover what happened after Moses died and Joshua takes over as the leader of the people, then as he secures the land the leadership passes to the judges who judge Israel for over 400 years.  The final story is the story of Ruth and how she helped her mother in law, and how she is a key person in the bible as she is in the family tree of both King David and Jesus through his mother Mary.  Next week we start to look at the kings.

Yarlside Prmary School Operation Christmas Child

This morning Sarah and I went to Yarlside Primary School to do and assembly for Operation Christmas Child.  It was our first ever visit to the school so we were quite excited at being able to have a new audience.  After introducing ourselves we sang God's Love is Bigger than A Burger, then as Sarah was about to start talking about shoe boxes I started to prepare my breakfast.  Sarah promptly stopped me and asked what I was doing - so I explained, we had and early start etc and I was hungry.  I was cutting up an apple, I offered to share it with her and promptly gave her the apple core.  This led Sarah to talk to the children about how good it is to share - good things with each other, which in turn led to me talking about filling shoe boxes full of goodies for needy children.  Sarah concluded the assembly with an encouragement to the children to try and fill shoe boxes this year and if they couldn't then we left an empty box that they could put a few bits into.  Sarah then prayed and the assembly ended.

St Marys RC Ulverston Operation Christmas Child

Today was the first of our Operation Christmas Child assemblies.  Sarah, Lisa Smith and myself went to St Marys RC School in Ulverston.  After saying hello and introducing ourselves we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger, then Lisa had her breakfast as she hadn't had time before she came out.  It was a banana, she offered to share the banana with someone else who hadn't had breakfast and one little boy came out so Lisa said I'll have half and you have half - she gave him the skin!  That was an example of sharing -yes but not sharing good things.  We she continued should share good things with those that don't have enough.  This led then to talking about shoe boxes and I did a short presentation to explain what the children can do to share this year.  I showed the journey of a box from picking the box to deciding boy/girl, age, to filling it, to bringing it in, collection, processing packing, warehouse, flight, to receiving it on the ground and giving out to children.  I then told the children just how many boxes this country sent last year and how many we sent from Ulverston.  Then I said on behalf of those children that got a box last year I wanted to say a big THANK YOU.  Sarah then continued and encouraged the children to fill a box again this year.  Sarah also said that in our country times are hard too and the children might not be able to fill a full shoe box so we left an empty one and if they wanted they could bring in a few little things to put in it.  We closed the assembly with a prayer.

BX OT2 Vicarage Park

This afternoon it was the second lesson of Bible Explorer at Vicarage Park.  I was welcomed into the class room by some very excited year 6 girls who couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen in today's lesson.  I as unpacked the props box and lifted out the costumes lots of questions followed about which story I was going to tell, and could they be in the story - I was really pleased that they demonstrated such interest and excitement.  The lesson today was Moses and the story of the people coming out of Egypt and developing into a nation.  I completed the lesson and gave a little insight into next weeks lesson before running through all the hand signs from the beginning.

Vicarage Park Kendal

This morning Sarah and I went over to Kendal to visit Vicarage Park School.  It was only our second visit to the school for an assembly, the children did however remember us from our first visit before the summer holidays.  After singing Inright Outright Sarah told a story base on Matthew 21:12-16 which included two priests in the temple talking about Jesus and about what he had and was doing.  Frequently the word Respect came up in the story and how in the priest eye people were not showing Respect in the temple.  After the story I read the bible passage from Matthew.  Sarah then asked the children who in the story had shown Respect, the answer was Jesus, the children who had been singing as well as the people Jesus had healed, it was the priests that didn't and hadn't shown any Respect.  I then displayed the 10 commandments and focused in on just 7 that show and teach us how we should show Respect to God and also to man.  We finished the assembly by singing So Many Ways before Sarah said a final prayer.

BX OT2 at Low Furness School

This afternoon I was once again at Low Furness school.  It was the second lesson of Bible Explorer and in this lesson we heard about the story of Moses and the Israelites leaving Egypt and starting the journey into the promised land.  The hand signs include the various aspects of the story which help the children to remember the order of the events.  By the end of the lesson today we have covered 5 books of the Old Testament.  Next week we focus in on the people taking over the land and the rule of the Judges.

Leven Valley School

Following our assembly at Our Lady's Sarah and I went along to Leven Valley School to repeat the assembly for the children there.  It was lovely to see all the children and staff again however I would ask that you pray for this school as over the summer they lost a staff member and it has hit the school quite hard, so please hold them up in prayer over the coming weeks.

Our Lady's Dalton

This morning Sarah and I went to Our Lady's in Dalton for the first assembly of the new school year.  As we are nearly at the end of the first month back at school we decided not to do our New Beginnings assembly like we have done in other schools instead we did the assembly on Respect in the Bible.  So after singing Inright Outright Sarah told the story of two priests in the Temple Courts talking about Jesus, this is a story from the bible - Matthew 21:12-16 however a bit of dramatic licence has been used to draw out the points.  After the story I read the actually passage from the bible.  Sarah than asked which of the characters in the story showed the most respect it was of course everyone except the priests.  This led on to me talking about other bible passages that have respect in them - like the 10 commandments.  I displayed them on the screen then went through just 7 of them that show respect that the children would understand.  Following this we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord.  Sarah then closed with a prayer.

St Peters

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters for the assembly.  We decided to sing Inright Outright to start the assembly off, then Sarah told a story which was a conversation between two priests following Jesus' clearing out of the Temple.  It was a made up story but had elements of what the real bible story tells us.  The basic and bottom line was based on respect.  After the story I read the bible passage to the children as it appears in Matthew 21:12-16 and then Sarah asked the children a few questions about it like who showed the most respect, who showed the least respect.  I then explained that in the bible there are lots of places where respect is mentioned, talked about or implied.  I used the example of the 10 commandments given to Moses.  I displayed them on  the screen for a few minutes then explained what 7 of them meant -  Do not worship any other gods, Do not misuse the name of God, Keep the Sabbath holy, Honour your father and mother, Do not murder, Do not steal and Do not lie.  I explained that three of them show respect to God and the other four respect for other people.  Following this we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord - as the children in the story had done just that in the Temple Courts.  Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I went into Low Furness School to do an assembly based upon one of their chosen Christian Values - Respect.  As we had a story, plus a short bible reading as well as the explanation we decided to sing Inright Outright first (as it is a short quick song).  Then Sarah read a story which was a fictitious story about two priests in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem talking about Jesus after he had over turned the money changers tables, then went on to heal many people and children danced and play around in the Temple Courts.  The bible account is found in Matthew 21:12-16.  Sarah read the story which used the word respect many times over, the priests were not happy with what Jesus was doing in the Temple - talking to people about heaven, healing people, allowing children to praise God - they said he wasn't being respectful.  Then when they challenge him in a less than respectful way Jesus respectfully gives them an answer quoting from the scriptures - which doesn't help as the priest should know the scriptures anyway.  After the story I read out of the bible what it really says about the event.  Then Sarah asked the children who had shown more respect in the story she read to them.  I then pointed out that throughout the bible there are loads of examples of respect and in the book of Exodus we have the 10 Commandments. I displayed them on the screen then picked out 7 of them and explained what they mean they were - Do not worship any other gods, Do not misuse the name of God, Keep the Sabbath holy, Honour your father and mother, Do not murder, Do not steal and Do not lie.  I explained that three of them show respect to God and the other four respect for other people.  Following this we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord - as the children in the story had done just that in the Temple Courts.  Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer.

BX OT1 Vicarage Park Kendal

This afternoon I was over in Kendal at Vicarage Park doing Bible Explorer with the year 6 class.  This was a new school for Bible Explorer.  Having introduced myself to the class we launched straight into the lesson.  The children responded very well to the stories, the acting out of parts as well as the jokes, the different voices I used and not forgetting the hand signs.  as I packed away at the end of the lesson the class teacher asked the children about what they had learnt and all kinds of things came out.  I really enjoyed the lesson and I felt as though the children got a lot from it too - looking forward to next week.

Pennington School

This morning Sarah and I went along to Pennington School for the first assembly of the new term.  It was lovely to see all the children again, it was also a beautiful day and as Sarah introduced herself she said what a good day it was to Be Happy on - that was our first song.  Following the song I lifted Scruff's bag onto his stand and reintroduced him to the children - but Scruff wasn't so happy in fact he was quite sad and down.  So I asked him what the problem was and he poured out (or is that pawed out?) his troubles.  He had some funny feelings as a result of moving from the puppy grooming parlour to the big dog grooming parlour.  He felt alone and a bit scared.  I asked the children for some suggestions as to what we could do - answers like help him to make friends, give him a hug and provide him with some dog treats were some of the answers the children came up with.  So I gave him a pat on the head, a tickle under the chin and a dog treat put him back in the bag and Sarah explored some of the suggestions with the children.  She talked about feeling a bit scared when we are in school particularly when you are new to the school like the reception children, and using the ideas the children had for Scruff Sarah linked them to how we could help the new children.  Sarah also linked it to Matthew 25:35ff when Jesus was talking about being thirst, hungry and sick and how he said that whenever we do things to help others it is as if we are doing it to him and for him.  Therefore by doing those things to others we Shine from the inside out - which was a cue for the final song.  After the song Sarah closed the assembly off with a prayer.

BX OT1 at Low Furness school

This afternoon I was at Low Furness School for the first lesson of Bible Explorer.  I was with the year 5/6 class.  Last year I did the New Testament and so this year it is back to the Old Testament.  So after a brief intro from the teacher to explain what was happening I launched into the lesson.  A number of children wanted to get involved with the various stories I was telling as we made our way through the book of Genesis.  We looked at Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood, talked about the Tower of Babel, then on to the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.  Next week we will cover the story of Moses.  The children got into the idea of the hand signs pretty quickly as I worked my way through them as I went along.  Looking forward to next week.

Flookburgh CE Shool

This morning Sarah and I took a lovely early morning drive through the mosses to Flookburgh School.  It was only our second visit to the school and the first of this new school year.  As the children came into the assembly hall we played I Love You.  Some of the children recognised us from before the summer so when Sarah said good morning a few were unsure what to say.  The last time we visited the school someone had been looking at our song list and seen a song called God's Love is Bigger than a Burger, and the head asked if we could sing it during our visit.  So we started off with that song.  Then I introduced the children to Scruff the Dog, who was feeling a little down.  So following some questions and things I discovered that he had some funny feelings when I further questioned him he replied that he was feeling a bit lonely and a bit scared.  Again I needed to know why and he told me that he had just recently moved to a new dog grooming parlour where there were bigger dogs and he missed the smaller dogs at his other parlour.  So after giving him a doggie treat he went back into his bag and Sarah picked up the points and suggestions the children had come up with to help Scruff.  She linked this to starting at a new school or moving up a class and how we can all feel a bit lonely and scared at times.  She mentioned about a passage in the bible from Matthew 25:35ff and I paraphrased the passage for the children.  Jesus was talking about being hungry, thirst sick etc and people asked him when that was and he replied that whenever you do something for others like helping them out it is as if you do it for Jesus and to Jesus.  Sarah then summed up what we had said and explained that when we do help people out we Shine from the inside out - which was our final song.  After the song Sarah closed with a prayer.

Croftlands Infants School

This afternoon Sarah and I took Scruff the Dog to Croftlands Infants school.  It was our first assembly of the new school term.  After introducing ourselves to the new children we sang Be Happy then I introduced Scruff to the new Reception class.  But Scruff wasn't all that happy today he was feeling very sad and down.  So I asked him why and he told me that as he had now grown a bit older and bigger he was no longer allowed to go to the puppy grooming parlour but the one for older dogs and he had left some good friends behind and he was a bit scared of the bigger dogs.  So I asked the children what he might do about this and they gave me lots of different ideas some of which made him happy so with a dog treat in his mouth he returned to his bag. Sarah then used some of the childrens ideas and used them to explain about looking out for each other and in particular for the new children in the school.  This linked in with a bible passage from Matthew 25:35ff which has Jesus explaining to his followers how we should help each other and when we do that it is as if we are doing it for him and to him.  I explained this in infant speak to the children and then finished by saying that when we do that we Shine from the inside out Jesus' love which was a cue for a song.  after the song Sarah closed the assembly with a prayer.

Croftlands Juniors

This morning Sarah and I went along to do the first assembly of the new school year at Croftlands Juniors.  So after singing Be Happy Sarah started to talk about how it is good to be happy but there are times when we don't feel happy and we feel sad.  It can be for any number of reasons like feeling lonely, scared, unsure of something - a bit like starting a new school or moving up a class etc.  She encouraged the children to look out for children in the school that might be feeling a bit strange, or look sad and a bit down and to be-friend them.  Sarah then linked it to the bible passage from Matthew 25:35ff that I then read in my own words, it talks about Jesus saying that he was hungry, thirsty, sick, without clothes etc and Jesus was asked by the crowd when did we see you like this and Jesus' reply was simple - whenever you do these things to others then you do it for me.  I concluded then by saying that when we do these sort of things we Shine from the inside out - this was a cue for the song.  After singing Shine Sarah said a short prayer.

Penny Bridge School

This morning Sarah and I did the assembly at Penny Bridge School, it was the first one of the year.  It did seem a little strange as it was in the morning the assembly time changed from afternoon to morning.  After saying hello and introducing ourselves to the new reception children we sang Be Happy.  As I stood in front of the new children I tried to encourage them to do the actions to the song, some did others didn't.  This led onto another introduction for the reception children - Scruff the Dog.  But as excited as the children were Scruff wasn't happy, in fact be was very sad.  I asked him what the problem was and he told me that he was a bit scared and that he felt alone.  This needed more questions about why, I found out that he had been taken to a new dog parlour and that bigger dogs were there which made him scared and he felt alone because he had to leave the other dog parlour were he had friends.  I asked the children what they thought we such do and lots of different answers came back.  Having got some good ideas I sent Scruff off with a doggie treat and Sarah talked to the children using some of their answers to explain that we should look out for each other in school and help those that are  scared of feeling alone because by doing that we share God's love.  Using the bible passage from Matthew 25:35ff I explained that Jesus talked about helping each other and showing love to one another and it is as if we do it to him.  This makes us Shine from the inside out which was a cue for a song.  After singing Shine Sarah said a prayer.  

Ignite

Tonight was our first Ignite meeting following the summer holidays.  We are still doing the Youth Alpha (just 1 week left now).  Tonight's theme was all about God healing, the video had a number of accounts of people who had been healed or had been involved in prayers for healing.  This led to some interesting discussions from the children, who had heard about people being healed as well.  It was good to welcome some new people to the group as well.  Sarah and I feel that it was a good positive start to the new term.

Broughton School

This morning we travelled over to Broughton school for the first time of this new school term.  As the new reception class would be in we decided to do our New Beginnings assembly so to start off we sang Be Happy then I brought out Scruff the Dog, now he wasn't very happy today in fact he was a bit down.  I asked him what the problem was and he whispered in my ear that he had some funny feelings inside him, so I questioned him further to find out that he felt a bit scared and alone.  Now I couldn't leave it like that so I told him that there was no need to be scared or feel alone as he was with lots of people that knew him - but that wasn't helping as he knew that - it was because he had gone to a new Dog Grooming Parlour and there was a few bigger dogs there, that was what was making him feel the way he did.  So I asked the children what we might do to help him.  So armed with a few ideas and the promise of a treat from my pocket he went back into his bag and Sarah talked to the children.  She used the what Scruff was feeling as an idea for how the new children in school might be feeling and used the suggestions the children gave as ways the older children might help them out.  Using the bible passage Matthew 25:35ff which Jesus talks about doing things for other people is like doing them for him we encourage the children to look out for and help the new starters in the school because when we do we can shine Jesus' love from the inside out which was our next song.  Sarah then closed with a prayer.

St Peters

It was great to go back to St Peters this morning.  Sarah and I do so enjoy doing assemblies at the school.  To start this morning we sang Be Happy.  For the assembly we decided to do  one on new beginnings and took along Scruf the Dog who told us - well me actually that he was a bit scared and felt a little bit alone.  So when I asked him why he explained that he had just started at a new Poodle Parlour and he was scared because there were some bigger dogs there and he felt alone as he had left some friends at his old one.  After asking the children what they thought would help him he said good bye and went back into his bag.  Sarah then highlighted some parts of what the children had said and applied them to the school and new children in the school.  This then linked with a bible passage from Matthew when Jesus was talking about being thirsty, alone, sick, in prison etc and Jesus being asked when was it and his reply was it is whenever you do for others these things you do them for me.  Instead of reading the passage out I displayed it and did a summery of it.  This then linked to the song Shine as when we do these things we can shine from the inside out.  Sarah then closed with a prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon Sarah and I went over to Crosthwaite school for the assembly.  It was the first one of the new term.  After singing Be Happy I used Scruff the Dog to introduce the theme which was New Beginnings.  Scruff came out feeling a little bit lonely and a touch scared.  He wasn't happy.  When I asked him he whispered in my ear about being alone and scared so I enquired as to why he felt that way when after all he had been to school before and seen all the children.  He said it wasn't school that was the problem it was the new Doggie Parlour that he had started to go to.  He didn't seen his old friends anymore and there are some really big dogs there too.  So I asked the children what we could do to perhaps help Scruff during this time and they said things like, give him a treat, play with him, talk nicely to him etc.  Scruff was happy with this and was still happy when I put him back into the bag (with a little treat too).  Sarah then picked up on this idea of being scared and feeling alone and linked it to the new children starting school.  We used Matthew 25:35ff to explain this.  In the passage Jesus talks about being thirsty, hungry and in need and he says that when we help someone out it is as if we are doing for him.  This links with shinning from the inside out which is what our next song was Shine.  Then Sarah closed with a prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I went along to Low Furness School for the first assembly of the new school year.  After singing Be Happy I used Scruff the Dog to introduce the theme which was New Beginnings.  Scruff came out feeling a little bit lonely and a touch scared.  He wasn't happy.  When I asked him he whispered in my ear about being alone and scared so I enquired as to why he felt that way when after all he had been to school before and seen all the children.  He said it wasn't school that was the problem it was the new Doggie Parlour that he had started to go to.  He didn't seen his old friends anymore and there are some really big dogs there too.  So I asked the children what we could do to perhaps help Scruff during this time and they said things like, give him a treat, play with him, talk nicely to him etc.  Scruff was happy with this and was still happy when I put him back into the bag (with a little treat too).  Sarah then picked up on this idea of being scared and feeling alone and linked it to the new children starting school.  We used Matthew 25:35ff to explain this.  In the passage Jesus talks about being thirsty, hungry and in need and he says that when we help someone out it is as if we are doing for him.  This links with shinning from the inside out which is what our next song was Shine.  Then Sarah closed with a prayer.

Church Walk

This morning Sarah and I went to do our first assembly of the new school year, it was at Church Walk School.  It was great to see all the children and staff again.  After singing Be Happy I brought out Scruff the Dog, now he wasn't at all happy with things.  He told me then I told the children that he was lonely.  I asked how could he be with all the children in front of him but he said that he felt alone when he was in the bag.  I asked the children what they thought I could do to help him - a dog treat, take him for a walk, play with him and we should never be alone as God is with us all the time were some of the answers the children gave us.  Scruff then quite happily went back into his bag with a promise of a treat later, a long walk and a play with his ball and that God is with us always.  Sarah then drew out the point that in schools we can sometimes feel a bit like Scruff particularly if we are new to the school like at Church Walk when all the new Reception class start on Tuesday - they may feel like this.  The suggestions the children gave can we applied to us to.  Sarah then asked me to summarize Matthew 25:35-45 which is a passage in which Jesus is talking about being hungry, thirsty, homeless with out clothes etc and some asks him when he had ever been like that and Jesus' reply is that whenever we do these things for others it is as if we are doing them for him.  I then said that by doing things for people at school means that we can Shine from the Inside Out. which was a cue for our song.  Sarah then finished with a short prayer.

Urswick Holiday Club Day 5

Day 5 at holiday club is always a little sad as it is the last day, however as soon as the children arrive and we get started the sadness goes away and is replaced by joy as we see the children having so much fun and enjoyment.  Today we find out the winning team as well as the team with the best pod which this year was a rocket.  The day as always ends with a picnic and water fight (which I declined to do this year - first time ever).  Before all that though we heard the final part of the story which is perhaps what Daniel is remembered most for - the lions den story.  So I we got transported back through time and space to Ancient Babylon we heard from Hegai who was feeding the kings lions about what happened when Daniel spent the night in their den.  We heard about the tricks some of Daniels enemies played on him and trick the king into making a new law.  Then the sadness of Daniel being found out and ending in the den was replaced by gladness as he came out unharmed the next morning.  Then we heard how the king made his own new law and that was that everyone in the whole of the kingdom was to respect the God of Daniel, as he is a mighty and powerful God that is able to save people like Daniel.

Urswick Holiday Club Day 4

Well what can I say - as I set off this morning from Swarthmoor the rain was pouring down and as I drove through the lanes that had already started to flood I thought -games.... inside today.  But God blessed us with fine weather just in time for the games to take place.  We have a great big God don't we and he looks after us all.  This has been the underlining theme throughout the week.  Daniel along with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all knew that they served a great big God who was and is able to do far more than we can ever imagine.  The story today saw King Nebuchadnezzar's son Belshazzar as king of Babylon and during a party decided to use the special items taken from God's temple in Jerusalem by his father and drink from them while paying honour to other gods.  Until that is a human hand wrote on the wall Mene Mene Tekel Parsin which no-one except Daniel could translate.  It was the notice to the king that his reign was going to end and that very night it did and King Darius of the Medes took control.  Tomorrow our final day we will hear the story that perhaps Daniel is most remembered for - the lions den.

Urswick Holiday Club Day3

We have had another great morning at Holiday Club.  The children have got into the swing of things and we get a sense that they are really having a great time.  The children are paying attention to the story so much so that later on in the morning's programme when Gary comes along they are able to answer loads of the questions that are asked.  The drama is going well too and is building to a big finish on the last day.  Time during the reflection part of the morning has been good as well, the children have been given an opportunity to ask as well as have questions answered.  Our hope is that the children will continue to come along each day and that they will talk about what they did this week in the future.

Urswick Holiday Club Day 2

Had another fab day at Urswick Holiday Club today.  The children had a great time too!  They heard the story of the dream from Daniel 2 which had kept King Nebuchadnezzar awake.  Daniel was able to not only tell the king what the dream was but also what it's meaning was.  He spent the night in pray along with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and at dawn God told him the meaning of the dream.  Tomorrow we will hear about the fiery furnace.  Also tomorrow is Universe Day when the children have been encouraged to come with a hat or face made up to show something in the universe - should be interesting.   

Urswick Holiday Club Day 1

This morning we lifted off into action at Low Furness School at the start of Urswick Holiday Club.  I say lifted off we did in a kind of way as we are doing Space Academy, so following the countdown we blasted off from Urswick into space (we came back in time for lunch).  The theme is space however the stories are from Daniel - I know thousands of years before space travel - what's the link I hear you cry.  Well as strange as it would be for us to go into outer space and see, hear and experience new things it was the same for Daniel and his friends as they were taken from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon.  The children listened to Hegai on the 3D HD Multimedia time travel device as he recalled the early days in Babylon of Daniel and company.

Holiday Club Day 5 - Last day

There is always a touch of sadness on the last day of holiday club and there was this morning, there was also great joy that the week had gone so well.  We have had children numbering 60 + each day.  Although today was the final part of the story when we looked at Noah and his family coming out of the ark and the wonderful promise from God sealed with the rainbow, there will be a final final part on Sunday morning, when we recap the story and finish on a high.  The morning went well and the teams worked hard to gain points as the scores increased we waited as the final totals were revealed at the end.  After the morning session was over we all settled down to a picnic and then the annual water fight - which I have to say this year was a welcome to us as it has been so hot in the hall all week.  Continue to pray for the children as they continue to seek God and find that connection with him and to him.

Holiday Club Day 4

It was fancy dress day today at holiday club.  They children had been encouraged to come in costumes of animals that went into the ark.  The results were great we had all kinds of animals from birds to fish?- did they go on the ark or under the ark??  we had an elephant as well as several cows.  The children once again had a great time with us as they sang, played games, did crafts, heard the story, watched the puppets.  Then Harry Spotter came to answer some of the children's questions.  The leaders and junior leaders as well as the children had a ball.

Holiday Club Day 3

Our third day went fabulously today.  We had about the same number of children as the last two days, some children didn't turn up today due to illness and we had a few new ones too.  We looked at the story of how sin entered the world and our bible memory verse reflected this from Romans 5:12 which was paraphrased for the children to - Sin entered the world through one man...and death came to all men, because all sinned.  We were aware the difficult concept of this subject matter and used words such as disobedience and doing wrong to explain what sin is.  The theme today was wacky hat day and the children came with all kinds of things on their heads.  Tomorrow is fancy dress day and they have been encouraged to come with a homemade animal costume - looking forward to it.

Holiday Club Day 2

We have had another great time today at Holiday Club.  Yesterday we had 68 children and today 67.  The children are really getting into it and enjoying themselves.  They are loving the singing, the games even though it is a little warm outside, they are doing well with the crafts too.  All the leaders seem to be having a good time too and what can I say about our Junior Leaders they are doing a fab job looking after all the children and running around after them (I wish I have half their energy).  Tomorrow is all about how sin entered our world.  Tomorrow is also our Wacky Hat day when the children will come with all kinds of fancy, strange and wacky head wear.

Holiday Club Day 1

This morning we welcomed almost 70 children to our holiday club 'In the Beginning'  We had a great time.  As the children arrived they started to work on a table which they will transform into a world by the end of the week.  We sang songs, had jokes, sang more songs, gave team points out, saw Captin Ketchup as well as Gary, watched a dramatized story and that was all in the first half an hour.  The children split into two groups and one went outside to play games while the other went and did crafts then after half an hour they came in for a drink and biscuits swapped over and we did games and crafts again.  Following that the team leaders had a reflective time with their groups before all coming back together for the final session of the morning with more singing, more jokes, Gary and the post box was emptied - not many letters today.  We did the memory verse for the day explained the week long competition sang Wonderful Lord and a prayer said good bye.  And tomorrow we do it all again.

Leven Valley School

This morning I went along to Leven Valley School for the final assembly of the year.  I decided to sing Great Great Brill Brill with the children as we haven't sung that one for a while.  Then after the song I read the story of Paul's ship wreck on his way to Rome.  I used the Lion Storyteller Bible to tell the story then I filled in some of the blanks that the bible account has, like the number of days the storm raged for and the number of prisoners on board.  I explained that in life we sometimes face changes like Paul had done in his life and we also face challenges as Paul was in our story.  I linked this to the changes the children would be facing as they move up the school and the year 6 children as they leave the school and go off to secondary school.  As we move year to new year we also face new challenges like the year 2 children going into Key Stage 2, the year 6 children to Key Stage 3 and the challenge of a new much bigger school.  I told the children that as they move that God will be with them and I displayed the verse from Joshua 1:9 Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid for the Lord you God is with you wherever you go.  After this and as a treat we sang the Chicken Dance.  Then I closed with a prayer.

Broughton School Transition Lesson

This morning Vic, Andre and myself went over to Broughton school to do the Transition Lesson we have been doing all this week, to the 9 year 6 pupils.  Instead of having 4 groups we just had 2 and we did two of the stations then swapped over.  Vic did the homework and bullying ones while Andre did the moving on and I did the lost stations.  It was great to be involved with the children and to see them open up about some of the issue they are facing as the move into a much bigger school.  We promised to pray for them as they move and gave them the Moving On booklet to help them as they do.

St Peters

This morning Sarah and I went for our last visit of the school year to St Peters.  As always we got a wonderful welcome from the children which was great.  To start off the assembly we sang Great Great Brill Brill then Sarah told the story 'Bags of Money' from the Lion Storyteller Bible.  It is basically the story from Matthew 25:14ff and is the parable of the talents.  After the story I explained a bit about the meaning of it for us today.  I reminded the children that a parable is an earthly story that has a heavenly meaning.  The story we read is the earthly one but what Jesus was saying is that we should use wisely the talents, gifts and blessings that we have been given by God.  Some of those gifts might be sport related, some performing arts, others being a good friend etc.  I encouraged the children to think about the parable and to use whatever they have so that others may get a benefit from it.  To close and as a special treat for the year 6 leavers we sang the Chicken Dance.  Then I closed in prayer and finished with The Lord's Prayer.

Crosthwaite School

Our final assembly of the day was over at Crosthwaite School.  Sarah and I again did the ship wrecked story of Paul, but before that we sang Great Great Brill Brill.  After the story I again explained a few things about it and pointed out once again that God is with us as we go through changes and challenges too.  I displayed the verse from Joshua 1:8 Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid for God will be with you wherever you go.  At the end of the assembly we sang the Chicken Dance song as a final treat for the year 6 children.  Then afterwards we got the children settled down for a final prayer.

Low Furness School

After the assembly at SJB Sarah and I went to Low Furness School for the last assembly of the school year and the last assembly with year 6 and Grace.  It was a little sad I have to say knowing that it was Grace's last assembly with Mum and Dad.  To start off the assembly we sang Inright Outright then Sarah told the story of Paul's shipwreck from the Lion Storyteller Bible.  The was a response for the children to say- every time they heard 'was Paul worried' the children needed to say 'no not at all'  after a quick practise they got the idea.  Following the story I fill in some other details about it like how many people there were on the ship 276 the fact that the storm lasted 14 days.  I did ask who had been on a ship on the sea and also asked if they had ever been in a storm at sea.  I recalled a time when we got caught in a storm when Grace was a baby.  I reinforced the point we made during the transition assembly a few weeks ago about God being with us wherever we go, using the passage from Joshua 1:8  Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid for God will be with you wherever you go.  At the end of the assembly we sang the Chicken Dance song as a final treat for the year 6 children.  Then afterwards we got the children settled down for a final prayer.

Sir John Barrow School Transition Assembly

This morning Sarah, Vic, Andre and myself went to do the transition assembly about Paul to the year 6 classes at Sir John Barrow School.  After a brief introduction by Sarah we performed the drama about Paul and about how he changed after he had met with Jesus on the road into Damascus.  I played the Mr Change part a person that thinks change is good while Vic played Mrs Same who thinks things should remain the same.  We were the travel agents called Move It and Saul later called Paul came to us as he wanted to travel, Andre played this part.  During the drama Paul acted out the dramatic events on the road and we all stood around as sound effects played (Sarah).  So we all took part.  The point was that we all face changes at some point in our lives and those changes could be really big like the complete change Paul went through to little changes like getting some new school shoes.  Some changes can also be challenges as well a bit like the change the year 6 children will face in September.  We wanted to encourage the children that no matter what we face God would be with them like he was with Paul.  We used a verse from Joshua which says Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid for God will be with you wherever you go. Josh 1:8.  At the end of the drama we all shared a good and bad memory from school.  Alan Bing the vicar and the new curate Matt were in the assembly and they too shared good and bad memories.  Then Alan closed in prayer.  We then gave ever child a Move It booklet to help them as they move to secondary school.