Our Lady's Dalton

This morning Sarah and I went to do the assembly at Our Lady's School in Dalton.  We decided to continue the theme of Easter for a bit longer, so after Sarah had said good morning and asked if everyone had had a good Easter, she also asked if the children had any chocolate left! She explained that we would continue with the idea of Easter so to start off we sang Inright Outright.  Sarah then told a short story about two little boys that play together and shared their toys that is until a toy was damaged then the boy who's toy was broken did the same back and.... nasty words came next and then a big fall out.  The boys didn't speak or see each other for days and both felt bad - because they had both had toys damaged and they had both said nasty things to each other and they missed each other too.  One boy decided to go and try to make it up and as he was going to the door who was standing there - his old friend.  They forgave each other and became best friends again.  Sarah expanded on the story by asking if something like that had ever happen to the children - hands went up.  She explained that it isn't good if we not forgive people that hurt us and reminded the children what Jesus said as he was on the cross - Father for give them for they don't know what they are doing.  I then displayed a phrase which said...  'Forgiving helps friends to be friendly again.  Forgiving others makes us happier'  this linked with Ephesians 4:32 which says We should learn to forgive.  I then reminded the children about Peter who said three times that he didn't know Jesus after he had been arrested - then after his death, when Jesus came to be with the disciples Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him and each time Peter said he did - Jesus was forgiving him.  I displayed the Lord's Prayer and pointed out the lines that talk about forgiveness.  Sarah then said when we do these things we can Shine from the inside out - cue for a song.  To close Sarah said a prayer and led the children in the Lord's Prayer.

Broughton School

This morning I went over to Broughton School for the assembly.  After saying hello and good morning I asked the children about their Easter Holidays and if they had had a good time.  I was going to keep Easter going just a little longer as I was going to talk about Forgiveness.  I read a story about two boys who were best friends but had a falling out as a result of toys being broken.  They both said nasty things but then felt bad afterwards.  In the end one of the boys dads said that he should perhaps go and make up and as he started to leave the house the other boy was there about to do the same.  All ended well.  I displayed the following words 'Forgiving helps friends to be friendly again.  Forgiving others makes us happier'  this linked with Ephesians 4:32 which says We should learn to forgive.  I then linked this to the Lord's Prayer and pointed out the lines that say se should forgive others as they forgive us.  I also talked about Peter and him saying three times that he didn't know Jesus and then after Jesus rose Jesus asking Peter three times if he loved him.  This was Jesus' way of saying to Peter I forgive you.  To close we sang Shine then I said a prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

St Peters

This morning Sarah and I went over to St Peters school for the assembly.  The theme for this half term is Creativity, so as the children came into the assembly hall Sarah gave them all a pipe cleaner and asked them to make something.  After saying hello, good morning etc Sarah then gave the children 2 minutes to make something from the pipe cleaner.  Then starting with the back row of children they displayed what they had made. Sarah then said that no-one told them what to make they just did it, that is the creativity that god has placed in us.  I then started to recall the story of Nehemiah rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem saying that he was a maker and mender not a breaker and bender, during the story I paused and Sarah asked questions.  There was also some actions to do like hammering, mixing mortar, sawing etc.  The point was that God wants us to be a maker and mender and not a breaker and bender, we feel great whenever we mix something or mend and repair things.  We should also feel the same when we help to mend broken friendships and broken hearts too.  To continue the theme of creation and creativity we then sang Creator God.  Sarah end the assembly with a prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon Sarah and I went to do the assembly at Crosthwaite School.  As it was the first one after Easter we decided to give the Easter theme going a little longer so did an assembly based on forgiveness.  To start the assembly off one of the children signs and says a prayer from the front which is great to see.  We then sang Inright Outright, Sarah then told a made up story about two boys who played with each others toys but the boys fell out when one toy was broken by the other boy so in return the other boy broke his toy.  This resulted in a big falling out.  After a few days the boys were feeling very upset and lonely.  Now the toys had been fixed or replaced however they needed to make up.  It was decided that one of the boys would go to say sorry and as he was doing so the other boy had decided the same and arrived at his house - all was now well they had forgiven each other.  Sarah asked if we had ever been in a similar situation were we had been hurt or we had hurt someone else.   I then displayed a phrase which said 'Forgiving helps friends to be friendly again.  Forgiving others makes us happier'  this linked with Ephesians 4:32 which says We should learn to forgive.  I reminded the children about Peter on the day Jesus was arrested and how he denied Jesus three times even though Jesus said he would do it and Peter said he would not - Peter did.  Then after Jesus had died, was buried and rose again he visited Peter and the other disciples by the side of Lake Galilee and Jesus asked Peter three times if he love him - this in a way cancelled out Peters actions of denying Jesus.  After this I displayed the Lords Prayer and Sarah pointed out the part that says forgive us as we forgive others, this was the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples and us and when ever we say it we should remember that Jesus died for us. To close we sang Shine then Sarah lead them in saying the Lords Prayer followed by a prayer for the school.

Low Furness School

This morning Sarah and I went to Low Furness School to take the assembly our theme was Hope as that is the Christian Value the school is focusing on this half term.  As the children came into the assembly we played May the God of Hope.  To start the assembly off we sang Inright Outright.  Sarah started the assembly by talking about waiting for a summer holiday and hoping that the summer would come soon. Then I told the story of David and how he wrote Psalms and in particular Psalm 130:5-6 when he talked about the warriors on the walls of Jerusalem waiting for the sun to come up.  Then I referred back to Easter and the promise that Jesus left us with that one day he would return and as Christians that gives us Hope.  We also have Hope because Jesus said that if we believe in him then we will live out eternity with him in Heaven.  We then sang May the God of Hope.  Sarah closed with a prayer.

Pennington School

This afternoon Sarah and I went to do the assembly at Pennington School.  As it was the first one after Easter we decided to give the Easter theme going a little longer so did an assembly based on forgiveness.  To start the assembly off we sang Inright Outright then Sarah told a story about two boys who played with each others toys but the boys fell out when one toy was broken by the other boy so in return the other boy broke his toy.  This resulted in a big falling out.  After a few days the boys were feeling very upset and lonely.  Now the toys had been fixed or replaced however they needed to make up.  It was decided that one of the boys would go to say sorry and as he was doing so the other boy had decided the same and arrived at his house - all was now well they had forgiven each other.  Sarah asked if we had ever been in a similar situation were we had been hurt or we had hurt someone else.  Sarah linked this with Jesus on the cross and how he said 'Father forgive them they don't know what they are doing..'  I then displayed a phrase which said 'Forgiving helps friends to be friendly again.  Forgiving others makes us happier'  this linked with Ephesians 4:32 which says We should learn to forgive.  After this I displayed the Lords Prayer and pointed out the part that says forgive us as we forgive others.  To close we sang Shine then Sarah lead them in saying the Lords Prayer followed by a prayer for the school.

Penny Bridge School

This morning Sarah and I went down to do the assembly at Penny Bridge School.  As it was the first one after Easter we decided to give the Easter theme going a little longer so did an assembly based on forgiveness.  Sarah told a story about two boys who played with each others toys but the boys fell out when one toy was broken by the other boy so in return the other boy broke his toy.  This resulted in a big falling out.  After a few days the boys were feeling very upset and lonely.  Now the toys had been fixed or replaced however they needed to make up.  It was decided that one of the boys would go to say sorry and as he was doing so the other boy had decided the same and arrived at his house - all was now well they had forgiven each other.  Sarah asked if we had ever been in a similar situation were we had been hurt or we had hurt someone else.  Sarah linked this with Jesus on the cross and how he said 'Father forgive them they don't know what they are doing..'  I then displayed a phrase which said 'Forgiving helps friends to be friendly again.  Forgiving others makes us happier'  this linked with Ephesians 4:32 which says We should learn to forgive.  After this I displayed the Lords Prayer and pointed out the part that says forgive us as we forgive others.  To close we sang Shine then Sarah lead them in saying the Lords Prayer followed by a prayer for the school.