Burlington School

This morning Sarah and I went to do the assembly at Burlington School.  It was so nice to see the children and staff again following the summer holidays.  Sarah started by talking about new things- new school year, new term, new books, new shoes etc. before handing over to me to tell a story.  I started by saying the story was about a man who is a cheat, thief and a lier and also someone who worked for the Romans - I did explain that the Romans during the time of Jesus were in charge of the whole land and this man collected the taxes - I also explained that paying taxes is not bad as it provides things like education, healthcare etc for us.  Anyway this man I continued who's name was Zacchaeus was not well liked because he charge people too much tax.  Jesus was passing through his town and Zacchaeus really wanted to see him but because of what he did and also he was not very tall the crowd wouldn't let him through.  I talked also about being in large crowds and getting pushed about as well.  So Zacchaeus climbed a tree at the end of the road thinking no-one would see him - wrong Jesus spotted him and asked him to come down as he wanted to eat a meal with him.  The crowd didn't like that idea one bit I said and started to complain, so as they gathered by the house to see/hear what was going on Jesus came out with Zacchaeus who announced that he was sorry and that he would give away half his wealth and give back money he had cheated people out off.  Jesus said that he had made a new start.  Sarah continued this theme talking about how we can make a new start at the beginning of the new school year.  To finish off we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord then Sarah said a short prayer.