Bx OT 1 and 2 Flookburgh School

This afternoon I had a great time with the pupils of Mr. Ross's class at Flookburgh School.  I started Bible Explorer with them.  As there are only 4 Fridays before Easter it was agreed that today to start us off I would do a double lesson with a 20min break between.  So we worked our way through Genesis up to the point when Joseph is in prison and the baker and butler have had their dreams and Pharaoh has too.  Joseph has been presented before Pharaoh and told him what the dreams mean.  Following the short break we continued to tell the story with Joseph as Prime Minister of all Egypt and receiving his own brothers before him asking for food.  Concluding this story we move 400 years to tell the Moses story and how he was told by God to go before Pharaoh and ask him to let the Israelites go from slavery.  During each story part we introduced new hand signs to help the children remember the points of the story.  We concluded today with the death of Moses and the people of Israel ready once again to take over the land.  Next week Joshua and Judges.

Our Lady's School

On Thursday morning I was at Our Lady's School in Dalton.  I had a great time with them in the assembly.  To start off we sang Creator God then I talked a bit about the meaning of Adam and Eve's name, one girl gave me the meaning straight away 'the first women' her name was Eve!  A boy then guessed the meaning of Adam - 'first man'.  I then told the story of Adam and Eve in the garden and them being tricked by a snake and sin entering into the world.  Following the story I asked the children to think what the world would have been like if Adam and Eve hadn't sinned.  I mentioned a few things that perhaps wouldn't have happened.  I also said that the world would have been at peace and everyone would get along with each other and there would be lots of love in the world.  I then encouraged the children to try and think of something they could do that would show love to someone else, they could say it or do something practical - share toys, school equipment.  In fact in the school this week there have been several birthdays and the children have brought in cakes for their friends I mentioned this as one way of showing love.  To close we sang I Love You and at the end I said a short prayer.

St Peters School

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters School for the assembly, the theme was Peace.  To start with we sang Creator God then Sarah introduced the assembly by talking about the first people Adam and Eve she asked the children if they knew what their names meant.  She explained that Sarah in Hebrew means 'princess'  and Adam and Eve means 'first people ever'  This led on to me retelling their story and how the snake tricked Eve into eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad.  I then handed over to Sarah who delivered the main point of the story which was done by asking the children to think about and imagine what things would have been like if Eve and then Adam had not taken the fruit and ate it.  She continued by saying that there would be no wars, no fighting, nobody would be unhappy, everyone would love each other and there would be peace throughout the whole world.  But because of what happened sin came into the world and those wrong things happen however we can all do our own little bit and play a small part by being peaceful to one another and by doing things in love.  To finish off we sang Faith as Small as a Mustard Seed then Sarah said a prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.  Afterwards Sarah went over some of the words of the Lord's Prayer again to remind the children about what she was saying.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I were at Low Furness School.  The theme for the assembly was honesty so we decided to tell the Adam and Eve story, so in order to lead into it we sang Creator God first.  Sarah then asked the children the names of the first people in the world and as expected Adam and Eve came the answer.  She asked if anyone knew what their names meant as her name means 'princess' - the answer is - 'the first people ever'  She explained that God had made a beautiful garden for them to live in.  Then I told the story of Eve being tricked by the snake, then eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, also giving it to Adam to eat and that later on that day the hid from God in the garden.  Sarah continued the story of how they didn't own up to it right away but blamed other things first - they were dis-honest.  Their dis-honesty resulted in them having to leave the garden and they then needed to work hard in order to live.  We concluded the assembly with a new song Faith as Small as a Mustard Seed.  Sarah then closed in prayer.

Church Walk Primary School

This morning Sarah and I were at Church Walk Primary School for the assembly.  To start off the assembly we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then Sarah started to talk about ways in which we communicate, text message etc.  I waved my arms about then delivered a message in semaphore, someone said Morse Code which was great as we had a message to display like that on the screen.  We also covered sign language, talking Skype, facetime and letters.  Sarah held up a Valentines card then linked to how God shows his love to us.  She talked about the beauty in creation and then I displayed some random shapes on the screen which slowly developed into a cross and explained that God showed us in a really big way just how much he loved us by sending us Jesus.  I reminded the children that during this half term they will be thinking about Easter time and about what Jesus did for us at that time.  To close with I displayed John 3:16 on the screen which had ben arranged in such a way that the word VALENTINE was displayed through it.  To close off the assembly we sang I Love You.  Sarah then finished with a prayer.

Flookburgh School

This morning Sarah and I went over to Flookburgh School to do our love/valentines assembly for the children.  To start off we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger then Sarah talked about the different ways in which people communicate - like using text.  She read out a text message ...cu l8er I luv u and tried to see if the children could understand it.  Then I said hello to her using semaphore flags.  This led to more questions and about how we communicate things like love to each other - link to Valentines Day.  Sarah then asked how God shows his love to us.  She continued that God through creation demonstrates his love for us.  I then displayed a number of shapes and explained that God showed his love in a really big way and the shapes would help us to discover what it was.  As the shapes moved into a cross shape.  I then talked a little about Jesus on the cross and reminded the children that after half term we would be looking forward to Easter.  Sarah then told the children what John 3:16 says and I displayed it on the screen however the words have been arranged in such a way that the word valentine is spelt down the centre.  We encouraged the children to think of something they can do to show love this week.  To finish we sang and signed I Love You.  Sarah finished with a prayer.

Leven Valley School

This morning Sarah and I went over to Leven Valley School for the assembly.  We decided to do our Love assembly as it is near to Valentines Day.  So to start us off we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  Sarah then talked about how we communicate with each other as she read out a text message to the children it said cu l8er I luv u, she asked the children if they understood it which they did.  Next I sent a message to Sarah using flags a semaphore message.  None of the children had seen this kind of thing before or knew what it was called.  Then we displayed a morse code message on the screen which some children recognised.  Sarah then asked what other ways we have of communication and a few things came out.  Sarah had a card in her hand which was one she had sent to me for Valentines Day some time ago.  She then linked in with how God communicates his love to us, in the world when we look at what has been created.  She then handed over to me and I displayed some shapes on the screen and asked if the children knew what they were.  As the shapes moved they started to form a cross, so I explained that God demonstrated his love for us by sending Jesus to die on a cross.  I then displayed the words of John 3:16 but some one had arranged the words in a special way so that it spelt out valentine.

To close the assembly we sang and signed I Love You then Sarah said a final prayer.

Broughton School

This morning I went to Broughton School for the assembly.  As it is near to Valentines Day I decided to do an assembly on love.  So to start off we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  I then talked as a way into the assembly about communication and how we talk to or communicate with each other.  I read out a text message cu l8er I luv u and asked if they understood it - they did!  I then waved  two flags about spelling out the word HELLO in semaphore and then displayed some morse code.  I then move to talk about how we tell someone we love them as it is Valentines Day this week and I held up a card Sarah sent me years ago.  I then asked the children how God shows us that he loves us, as I started to talk about God's love I displayed some shapes on the screen and asked if they could tell me that they were or what it said.  As the shapes moved they made a cross.  I reminded the children that we can see God's love for us all around us in the world of creation and how he looks after us but the cross is a big reminder of what he did for us in sending Jesus.  To close the assembly we sang I Love You and after I said a prayer.

St Peters School

This morning I went to St Peters School for the assembly.  As it is near to Valentines Day I decided to do an assembly on love.  So to start off we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  I then talked as a way into the assembly about communication and how we talk to or communicate with each other.  I read out a text message cu l8er I luv u and asked if they understood it - they did!  I then waved  two flags about spelling out the word HELLO in semaphore and then displayed some morse code.  I then move to talk about how we tell someone we love them as it is Valentines Day this week and I held up a card Sarah sent me years ago.  I then asked the children how God shows us that he loves us, as I started to talk about God's love I displayed some shapes on the screen and asked if they could tell me that they were or what it said.  As the shapes moved they made a cross.  I reminded the children that we can see God's love for us all around us in the world of creation and how he looks after us but the cross is a big reminder of what he did for us in sending Jesus.  To close the assembly we sang I Love You and after I said a prayer.

Crosthwaite School

Yesterday afternoon I went over to Crosthwaite School to do the assembly.  After singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord I displayed the initials of 4 famous shorts people and I asked the children to guess who they were - which they did with ease.  Next I displayed the letters RtB and StP and asked who these initials belonged to, I did give a clue by saying they were from history one a long time ago and the other not so.  The head teacher put his hand up and said RtB was Robert the Bruce.  I then told a brief short of his life and failings and how a spider inspired him to get up and keep going.  The next set of initials StP some said was Saint Paul.  Again I told a brief story of his life and how having met with Jesus on the road went about telling hundreds of people about Jesus on three different journeys and how he was beaten up, whipped and put in prison and even ship wrecked.  He wrote to one of the places he visited and said 'forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal...' Philippians 3:13-14.  I linked back to the sports people and said if they had given up when they found things hard or tough they would never have got gold medals, and if Paul had given up on telling people about Jesus we might never have heard the gospel message.  I encouraged the children to go for goals to press on and to keep on doing the best and when they do God will be there to guide them, to look after them and to protect them.  To close we sang Wonderful Lord during which I said a prayer.

Low Furness School

Yesterday Sarah and I went into Low Furness School to take the assembly.  We decided on the theme of love as it is soon to be Valentines Day.  So to start off we sang God's Love is Bigger than a Burger.  In order to lead into the theme we started to look at how we communicate with each other and Sarah had a text which said Cu l8er I luv u.  She read this out a couple of times and then asked the kids if they could work out what it said... See you later I love you!  Then I started to wave a flag at Sarah which was another form of communication semaphore Sarah replied in morse code.  Then we started to focus on how we tell people we love them linking now to Valentines Day we send a card.  Sarah asked how does God communicate to us that he loves us?  She continued in creation and the beauty of the world around us, in the fact that he looks after us and protects us.  I then displayed some shapes on the screen and asked if the children could work out what it said.  As I advanced the slides the shapes moved and slowly started to form a cross.  The older children did manage to see this as it started to appear.  I explained that God showed us just how much he loves us by sending his son Jesus to die on a cross.  We then tried to encourage the children to show or tell someone that they love them.  To close we sang I Love You and Martha signed the words at the front.  Sarah then said a short prayer.

Croftlands Junior School

Following our assembly at the Infants School we cross the car park to the Juniors and did the same assembly there.  We sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then we displayed the initials of famous sports people and asked if the children could guess who they were.  No clues were given and the children quickly got all 4.  Next we displayed the initials RtB and StP and asked who these people might be - we did say that they weren't sports people but historical people.  It wasn't long before someone said Robert the Bruce.  I then did a quick intro to his tale before Sarah read part of the story which changed his mind following watching a spider build a web.  I then recalled the story of Saint Paul - StP talking about his eagerness to spread the gospel message despite all the hardships and trouble he face on the way even being put in prison.  Then later on being shipwrecked and how he wrote to the people at Philippi expressing words of great encouragement to them. We linked back all the pictures to explain that people have a goal or an aim in life and we should all try to reach that target, and we can and do fail sometimes but what makes a gold medallist is not giving up.  If Paul had given up we perhaps might not have heard about Jesus.  Sarah also encouraged the children to keep going and as we do God will be there looking out for us.  This then linked to our next song Wonderful Lord during which Sarah said a prayer.

Croftlands Infants School

This morning Sarah and I were at Croftlands Infants School, it was great to see all the children again.  This morning we used their new wide screen to show pictures and display the words of the songs which was also really good.  So to start we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then we did our going for goals assembly.  We display the initials of the sports people and then I talked a bit about Paul in the bible how he was telling people about God and Jesus but other people tried to stop him yet he carried on telling people.  We linked this back to the sports people who despite lots of things have carried on working at their sport to achieve gold medals and football titles etc.  Sarah encouraged the children to work hard at what they do and reminded them that God is always there looking after us and protecting us, this led to Wonderful Lord and Sarah prayed in the middle of the song.

Pennington School

This afternoon Sarah and I went along to see the children at Pennington School.  We decided to do the assembly on Going for Goals.  Sarah started the assembly by introducing the first song So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then she went on to display 4 sets of letters telling the children that they were the initials of famous sports people.  The children very quickly got them then displaying the letters RtB and StP asked if the children knew these people also - they are historical people.  I then went on to tell a very quick version of Robert the Bruce RtB story about his encounter with the spider.  Then I told the StP story - Paul and how he faced all kinds of different hardships during his lifetime telling people about Jesus.  I then referred back to the sports people and encouraged the children to work towards something in life like the sports people have done and not given up when things get bad like Robert nearly did but go on as Paul did despite the beatings and imprisonment he suffered.  Sarah also encourage the children in this too and then linked in our final song Wonderful Lord with God looking after us and protecting us as we go through life.

Penny Bridge School

This morning I went down to Penny Bridge School for the assembly.  I decided to do the assembly on going for goals which we have already done in a couple of schools.  So after singing So Many Ways to Praise the Lord I displayed the initials of some famous sports people and asked the children if they could guess who they were.  It didn't take long for them to do that.  I then displayed a few more letters and asked if they could work out which historical people they were RtB and StP.  This led me to tell them the story or part of it of Robert the Bruce.  I focused on the part about the spider and how it continued to try and try to build it's web despite several failed attempts.  I then told part of Paul's story how he had met Jesus and then went around telling people about him and how he was beaten, put in prison, ship wrecked but despite all this continued to tell people.  He wrote to the Philippians after his visit there which had resulted in his imprisonment the follow word of encouragement. Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal.  Philippians chapter 3:13-14.  I then started to conclude by explaining that the sports people didn't get to were they are today by giving up when things got hard or when they failed because they had an aim and a goal in life which they worked towards and we should do the same.  I told them that when I was in primary school I gave up playing the guitar which is something that I now look back at with regret as I wish I had continued to do despite the hard work.  To close the assembly we sang Wonderful Lord and as we did I explained that God is always with us through our lives and he is looking out for us in all that we do.

St Peters School

A bit of a late post but here it is.  Last Wednesday I went to St Peters School to take the assembly.  I did the assembly about goals and aiming towards things in life.  I was told at the start of the assembly that the school had been looking at Hope this half term so I brought that into it as well.  So to start we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then I displayed four sets of initials and asked the children if they knew which sports person they might be.  I did need to give a few clues though.  This led onto another two sets of letters RtB and StP asking the children if they knew these historic characters.  Someone did say St Peter but it is in fact St Paul.  RtB was for Robert the Bruce, I told a little of his story and how having been defeated he watch a spider try and try again to build a web, this inspired Robert to go back and reclaim the Scottish throne.  I then told the children some of the basic facts about Paul and linked it to the verse Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal.  Philippians chapter 3:13-14.  I explained that the sports people don't achieve gold medals or FA cup medals or Wimbledon championships by just sitting a round doing nothing they have a goal in life that they hop to be able to aim for and achieve it and despite the hard work and sometimes failures they continue to work at it until the get there.  It was just so with Paul as he told people about Jesus he was beaten up and put in prison and even ship wrecked but he continued to tell people about Jesus.  We should do the same and I reminded the children that God would be with us as we did.  To close we sang Wonderful Lord.