Crosthwaite School

This afternoon I went over to Crosthwaite school for the assembly as Sarah had to help with the school council at Low Furness school.  I decided to play the I Love You track as the children came in as the assembly was going to be about love.  We started by singing Inright Outright then I asked if they knew what special day it was the Friday that they finished for half term - Valentines day.  I asked them what it was all about.  I got a number of very good answers from them.  I explained that on that day I send two cards to two special ladies in my life, I then took some of the cards that Sarah and I have sent to each other and showed them to the children, I even had a small stuffed hedgehog that said 'You're Special' on it.  I then had to explain that the second card I send is to my mum as it is her birthday on that day.  I then asked a boy and a girl to come out and asked if the boy could count the hairs on the girls head - he got to 10 and I stopped him.  I then read Matthew 10:30 which tells us that even the number of hairs on our head a numbered.  I then pointed out to the children that God knows us far better than we even know ourselves and he loves us too.  I also said that God doesn't need to send so cards or give us gifts because he has given us the greatest gift Jesus.  I explained that God's love is bigger than anything we could possibly imagine which led into a song - God's love is bigger than a burger.  After the song I said a short prayer.

St Peters School

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters in Ireleth.  Our theme for the assembly was Our Community.  So to start we sang Creator God, then I showed a series of pictures from Ulverston followed by some pictures of flooded areas of our country.  I also mentioned about the problems in the Ukraine as well as the focus of the Daybreak programme this week looking at Ethiopia and the problems there.  I asked the question that a lot of people ask - What can we do?  I also said that as children they might think they can't do anything to help out as they are only children.  I then showed some more pictures of Ulverston and the events that go on in the town explaining that the flooded towns are no different to our town.  I then read ... Again Jesus said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade." from Mark 4:30-32.  I displayed some pictures of seeds and eventually a mustard seed on someone's finger.  Another picture showed the seed on the finger and then a huge tree.  The point was that we don't need to do a great big thing to make a difference but a small thing done in the right way and with God's help can turn into a humungous thing.  Sarah picked up on some ways we can do that - a simple smile can make someone's day, a short text might perk someone up.  Then in doing that we can shine from the inside out which was our next song.  Following the song Sarah said a prayer and we finished with the Lord's Prayer.

 

Low Furness School

This morning I went along to Low Furness school.  The theme was about family - so I wanted to link that with love and in particular God's love for us.  So to start we sang Inright Outright then I asked the children what the special day the Friday was when we broke up for half term - Valentines day.  I also asked what we did on that day normally - send cards and tell people we love them.  I went on to show some cards that Sarah and I had sent to each other and even said that on that day I send 2 cards to two different ladies and sign them with love from Mark.  I asked the children who loves them and their answer were God, Jesus, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, friends and teachers.  I then explained about the two cards I send because one is for Sarah and the other to my mum as it is her birthday on that day.  I then said we sometimes give gifts like the hedgehog that says 'You're Special' on it.  These are just some of the ways we can show someone that we love them.  I then tried a little experiment and asked a boy and a girl with longish hair to come out.  I asked the boy to try and count the number of hairs - he got to 10 and I stopped him and asked if the girl could tell us how many hairs she had on her head - no she said , she didn't know.  I asked her why surly as it is her head she should know.  This led into our bible verse Matthew 10:30 in which Jesus says even the hairs on our head are numbered, I said in my case that would be a hard task.  The point was this God knows about us far more than we know about ourselves and He loves us so much and we are all part of his big world wide family.  I asked the children to tell me how God shows his love they answered by making the world and the people in it and then someone said by sending Jesus.  I went on to remind the children that Easter is coming up during the next half term and it is the time when we think about Jesus on the cross and about God's love for us.  To finish we sang God's love is bigger than a burger.  after the song I said a short prayer thanking God for the love he continually shows to us.

Penny Bridge School

This afternoon we were at Penny Bridge school.  The children in year 6 are so helpful as the assist us in setting up.  As the assembly started I played the I love You track to set the mood.  Our first song was Inright Outright which the children really enjoyed.  Then Sarah asked if they could remember what special day the last Friday of half term was - the answer was Valentines day.  She then asked what people did on that day, send cards and give gifts the children responded.  She then showed to the children some cards I have sent her and I did the same with cards I got from Sarah.  I also showed a little hedgehog that says 'You're Special' on it.  Sarah then asked for one of the girls with long hair to come out and asked a boy if he could count the hairs on her head.  We did it together and Sarah stopped us at 15.  I then read Matthew 10:30 which says even the hairs on our head are numbered.  I explained to the children that we are so special to God, and that God knows more about us than we know about ourselves, however God doesn't need to send us cards or give us little gifts that say 'You're Special'  because he sent Jesus to us who died on the cross for us.  I then did a cue for the next song by saying God's love is bigger than a burger, a mouse, a house etc.  After the song Sarah closed with a prayer.

Church Walk Primary

This morning Sarah and I went to Church Walk Primary for the assembly.  We decided to continue with the theme of love since Valentines day was the day they finished for half term.  So Sarah started to talk and show a couple of the cards I have sent her over the years and I responded with some that I received from her.  As Sarah continued to talk I also gave her a little teddy hedgehog with the words You're Special.  Sarah reminded the children that they are special and that they are loved and asked them who it was that loved them - parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters all came back as answers as well as God and Jesus.  Then Sarah selected a girl and asked her to come out front along with a boy.  She asked the boy to start to count the number of hairs on the girls head, I helped and shouted out the numbers.  However when we got to 15 Sarah stopped us and asked the girl if she knew how many there were - No.  I then read from Matthew 10:30 which talks about God knowing the number of hairs on our head.  I then went on to say just how much God knows about us and just how much he loves us.  He doesn't need to send us cards or give us little teddy bears to remind us, I asked the children how God shows his love - they said by creating the world and someone else said by sending us Jesus.  I then told the children that God's love is bigger than a burger, a mouse, an elephant .... which was a cue for our song.  at the end Sarah closed with a prayer.

Leven Valley School

Following the assembly at Our Lady's this morning Sarah and I went down to Leven Valley school and did the same assembly there.  As we have a little extra time at the end we sang an extra song God can do Anything.

Our Lady's School

This morning Sarah and I were at Our Lady's School in Dalton taking the assembly.  As tomorrow is Valentines day we decided to do an assembly about love.  To start with we sang Inright Outright then Sarah asked what special day Friday is - the answer came back as expected Valentines day.  She asked then if the children knew what we did on Valentines day and various answers came back like send cards, tell people that you love them, do kind things etc.  Sarah then showed some of our cards that we have sent over the years and I commented and showed a couple of mine, I also gave Sarah a teddy with 'You're Special' on it.  Sarah used this to then talk about us all being special and loved yes by our families and friends but also by God.  She invited out a girl and a boy and asked the boy to start and count the number of hairs on the girls head...they got to 20 and we stopped.  I then read the verse from Matthew 10:30 which reminds us that even the hairs on our heads are numbered.  I told the children that there are things about us that only God knows the answer to like the number of hairs we have.  I told the children that God loves them so much that if he wanted to he could send us a card telling us but he did something far more important and bigger than that I asked the children what they thought it was - a few answers came back and then someone said Jesus.  I reminded the children that Jesus was God's special gift of love to us.  I then said that God's love is bigger than a burger, a mouse, an elephant etc as a clue to the next song God's love is Bigger than a Burger.  We then closed the assembly with a prayer.

St Peters

This morning Sarah and I visited St Peters for an assembly.  We started by singing Great Big God and then Sarah went on to ask what special day Friday was.  One child said the school disco and another that it was Valentines Day - hence the school disco.  She further questioned the children as to what that means and to help them out showed them some of the cards I have sent to her, I too showed my cards as well as a little teddy... She reminded the children that we send the cards to show we love someone.  Then she asked a little girl and boy to come out to the front and asked the boy if he could count the number of hairs on the girls head.  We started to count together and got to 15 before Sarah told us to give up.  I then pointed out that in Matthew 10:30 it says that God knows the number of hairs on our head - that is how special we are to him.  I explained that God loves us so much that he knows stuff about us that we don't even know ourselves and also if he could send us all a card he wouldn't be able to express that love to us because he has sent his Son to die for us.  I asked the children what God had done for us and one child said made us and another that he had sent his son Jesus.  I reminded the children that God's love is bigger than a burger, bigger than a mouse, bigger than an elephant and bigger than a house, it is bigger than a bus and bigger than a tree and even bigger than the mountains and bigger than the sea which was a massive clue to our next song - God's love is Bigger than a Burger.  After the song Sarah prayed and then we said the Lords Prayer.

Croftlands Infants

This afternoon we were at Croftlands Infants School.  We thought that as it is getting very close to Valentines Day we would talk about love.  As the children came into the hall we played I Love You then after saying hello etc we sang Great Big God.  Sarah then asked what day it was going to be this Friday a few hands went up and the right answer came out.  She reminded the children that it is a time of year when we say nice things to people we love and then she showed a couple of our Valentines cards that we have sent to each other.  I then lifted out a teddy bear that I had bough for Sarah.  The assembly though was not about sending cards but about how much God loves us and to demonstrate this Sarah asked a girl to come out as well as a boy.  She asked the boy if he could count the number of hairs on the girls head.  So together we started to count but stopped at 20, I then read out the passage from Matthew 10:30 about God knowing the number of hairs on our head.  I explained that God knows so much about us and loves us so much.  He knows more about us than we even know ourselves and loves us more than anyone else could ever do.  I asked the children how God had shown his love to us and someone said by creating us which was a great answer and someone else said by sending Jesus.  Following this we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger and then I closed in a prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning we were at Low Furness School.  It is their book week this week so the theme for the assembly was the bible as a book.  So after singing Creator God we started to tell the children about the types of bibles you can get.  I had taken a sample of bibles with me to show the children.  However what we wanted the children to know about was Superbook, when we were away at the Hand in Hand Conference we heard about this wonderful resource called Superbook, it is a DVD series of bible stories but also has a web site as well as an App.  We told the children about the App and web page and about how they can look at God's word not only in a book but also online.  We also told them about another App called Bible App for Kids which is designed for younger children and the stories from the bible are read to you.  We then gave away free copies of Kidsalive which is a weekly comic for 8-12 year olds produced by the Salvation Army an again there is an App for that.  Following this we sang Shine and I said a prayer thanking God for His word and the many different ways in which we can have access to it today.

Broughton School

We travelled over to Broughton for their assembly yesterday.  It was a great drive as we went over we could see the beauty of God's creation all around us.  We sang God Can do Anything as our first song.  I then went on to search for the lost treasure of Blue Beard.  I paced about the hall before stopping right in the middle of the children.  I had paced, check my compass and now was ready with my metal detecting equipment and ... I got a trace.  The excitement of the children grew as the detector went beep, beep, beep.  I asked for my spade when Sarah stopped me to read a passage from the Matthew 13:44-46 about treasure on earth.  She pointed out to the children that I was just telling a story and that there was no treasure under their hall floor.  She went on to explain what the bible passage meant.  Jesus was talking in parables and the treasure was him and what our life will be like with him in heaven.  She encouraged the children to think about how they can follow Jesus' example and do all they can to become followers of Jesus.  To end the assembly we sang Be Happy as it talks about running this race - the race is our life.  Then I closed with a prayer.