Lindale School

This morning Sarah and I went down to Lindale School for the assembly.  To start with we sang Be Happy then I told the story of the Wild Son who Returned - or as most people know it the parable of the Lost Son.  Sarah did remind the children what a parable is.  I used some pictures displayed on the screen to help tell the story.  I focused on the that that the da forgave the son for what he had done.  I then reminded the children why Jesus came to earth in the first place which was to teach us about God, Heaven and what we need to do to get to heaven.  I pointed out that the son in the parable is like us who do things wrong and the dad is like God who forgives us the things we do wrong we just need to say sorry.  But we also need to forgive people that do wrong to us.  Sarah concluded by reminding the children what the Lord's Prayer says about forgiveness.  She then introduced the next song which was God can do anything.  After the song she finished with a prayer.

Pennington School

This afternoon I went to Pennington School, it was my first visit of this year, so to start the assembly I asked everyone if they had had a good Christmas and New Year and if they stayed up late on New Years Eve - this was to link with the story I had for today.  To get us going we sang Be Happy, I then told the story of the Lost Son.  I made the theme about forgiveness and focused in on the dad who forgave his son for the wrongs he had done - in the same way God forgives us.  I explained that this was why Jesus came - to teach us about God, Heaven and how we can get there.  As well as forgiveness for our wrongs we must also forgive others that wrong us.  To finish with we sang God can do anything and I explained that do sin/wrong doing is too big or too small.  After the song I said a short prayer.

Newton Primary School

This morning I went to do the assembly at Newton Primary School.  I got such a warm welcome from the children as I arrived - it does seem like ages since I was last there.  I started the assembly by asking them about Christmas and New Year and if they had had any parties (link to story later).  Our first song we sang was Be Happy then I told the story of the Lost Son using some pictures as I did so.  When the son and dad had been reunited I explained that Jesus came to earth as a baby but when he grew up he started to tell us about God and Heaven and how we can get there.  This story is all about that and the dad is like God.  We all do stuff wrong and we should ask for forgiveness and I turn we should forgive people that do wrong to us.  God will forgive us when we ask but it all starts with us saying sorry.  To finish off we sang God can do anything as not matter how big or how small the wrong things we do are God can forgive them all.  I then closed with a short prayer.

OT Mini 3 St Paul's School

This afternoon I have been at St Paul's School in Barrow working with the year 5 and then the year 6 children doing OT Mini.  It was lesson 3 today and so we looked at the stories about Joshua as he led the people in to the land promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Following on we then did a quick tour through the book of Judges were we looked at 3 judges - Deborah, Gideon and then Samson.  To round off the lesson we covered the story of Ruth which sets us up nicely for the lesson next week when we look at the role of the first kings.

Flookburgh School

This morning Sarah and I went to do the assembly at Flookburgh School, it was our first visit since before Christmas - it was lovely to see all the children and staff again.  Sarah started by talking about Christmas and asked if everyone had had a good one and then asked who went to or had any parties over the Christmas time - this was to link in with the story later.  So after singing Be Happy I retold the story of the Lost Son except on the slide pictures I had it was called the Wild Son Who Returned.  The theme for the assembly was on forgiveness so I focused on the dad forgiving the son for spending all the money and pointed out that Jesus came to earth to show us how to get to heaven.  As the dad forgave the son so God forgives us the wrong we do - we need to say sorry.  But it also is the case that we need to forgive others that have done wrong to us.  Sarah concluded by talking about the words in the Lords Prayer, and that God is so great that he can do anything, anything at all.  After singing God Can Do Anything Sarah finished with a prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer.

Croftlands Junior School

This morning Sarah and I went to do our first assembly of the New Year at Croftlands Junior School.  Start started by asking about Christmas and talking about New Year and parties (as that played a part in our story today).  I then told the story of the lost son except it was called the wild son who returned.  To help with the story I used pictures as the story was told.  When the son came to his senses having looked at the pig food, I focused on the reaction of the dad who forgave him for what he had done.  It was forgiveness that I wanted to talk about with the children pointing out or reminding them that Jesus came to earth as a baby (that is what Christmas is all about) when he grew up and started his work he told people what God was like, what heaven is like and how we can get to heaven - it starts with saying sorry to God for the wrong we have done and God will forgive us.  In the same way we need to forgive those people that do wrong to us.  Sarah concluded the assembly by referring to the Lord's Prayer which says 'forgive us for what we have done wrong as we forgive others'  We then sang God Can Do Anything Sarah then closed with a prayer.

Croftlands Infant School

This morning I went along to Croftlands Infant School to do the assembly.  It was the first one of this New Year - it was lovely to see all the children again.  We started with Be Happy then I told them the story of the boy who asked his dad for money then went off and spent it all.  I used pictures to tell the story and at the end the boy returned home and his father forgave him for what he had done.  I explained that it was a story that Jesus told and that the dad is like God in that he forgives us the wrong things we do and so we should also forgive people that do wrong to us.  That was why Jesus came to earth as a baby grew up into a man and told us such great stories.  To finish with we sang Great Big God then I said a short prayer.