Parish Church Light Party

Feeling a bit spaced out after the Parish Church Light Party this evening - well I say spaced out that is because we went into space.  The theme for the evening was space so children came in space costumes (adults too I might add).  We had a great time with the children as they enjoyed doing space related craft activities and then eating extra jumbo out of this world hot dogs.  They watched a short drama too about Jed the young space adventurer who ignored the rules and got himself lost in space, only to have Mission Control send him the Return Home Signal - this was linked to the Lost Son parable Jesus told which I then linked to Jesus saying he is the way as well as the light of the world quotes from John.  I had a great time and I hope and pray that the children did too, thanks to Emily the children and family worker at the Parish for putting it together.

BX NT4 Low Furness School

This afternoon it was lesson 4 of Bible Explorer New Testament.  It was the stories relating to the start of the church following the day of Pentecost.  So I covered the story of Stephen, Philip, Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus, ending with Peter and Cornelius.  Several of the children helped out in telling the stories too by reading from a little script.  Next time we will be looking at the journeys Paul goes on which spread the gospel even further.

Flookburgh School

This morning I went down to Flookburgh School to do the first assembly of the new school year.  It seemed a bit strange as we haven't seen the children for such a long time.  To start the assembly of we sang So Many Ways to Praise the Lord.  Then I asked the children  how they would say or tell someone they loved them, a number of suggestions came back, like get them a gift, send a card, tell them etc.  I then asked how do we tell God we love him - by prayer came back the answer.  It was this I wanted to talk about.  I explained that I was going to teach them a way to pray using just a tea spoon, but before I did I told them about how different people pray, like on their knees, in the quiet of the bedroom, up a mountain, in church etc.  I also told them about Jesus' disciples asking him how to pray and from that came the Lord's Prayer - which was up on the wall in the hall.  I reminded them that I was going to teach them how to pray with a teaspoon but not just yet.  I also told the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector and how the Pharisee looked down upon the tax collector and used big words and a loud voice so that everyone could hear him, but the tax collector bowed his head and quietly said sorry for what he had done wrong.  Now to the spoon but first - I asked who like to cook and bake - hands went up - good what is the letters used in a recipe to say use a teaspoon - tsp came the answer.  it was the tsp that I was going to use - t = thank you we should start our prayers of thanking God for what he has given us and praising him for what he has done, I drew a link back to the song So Many Ways... next s=sorry we should say sorry to God for the things we have done wrong and I gave a few examples like falling out with a friend, saying something not nice to someone then finally p=please we can ask God for things - that isn't to say we ask for silly things like money - but things we might need help with, or for people who might be ill.  To finish we sang I Love You then I closed with a prayer using tsp.

Lindale School

This morning Sarah and I went down to Lindale School to do an assembly.  We had been asked to do something as an alternative to Halloween like having a pumpkin with a heart in it instead of a ghoulish face.  So to start the assembly we sang God Can do Anything, then I asked the children a question and displayed it on the screen - Do you want to see a really scary picture? - the children reacted with a big yes - Sarah (knowing what was coming) questioned my suggestion and talked a bit about movie's with U PG 12 12A 15 and 18 ratings - I suggested that the picture might be worse than an 18.  The children still wanted to see it!  So I asked the teachers - there were a few heads shaking and then I say OK here it is - as I switched the slide over there was a picture of .......me!!! followed by a big ARRRRRRRRH!  The next slide was black and I talked about how in this country we do go about at this time of year doing trick or treat and go out to frighten and scare people and think of dark things.  I also said that parents wouldn't or shouldn't allow children to watch things on the television that might scare them.  Sarah then said that in this country we do this stuff for fun, but there are places in the world where children live in fear every night, for them a night of fright is every night.  They live in war zones, have been forced to move out of their homes and live in shelters made from plastic sheets and cardboard.  Their world is very dark.  So Sarah encouraged the children to think and pray about these children as they carve their pumpkins this year.  She also mentioned World Vision who are encouraging people to carve a heart this year and text money to help people who live in fear check out their website here

http://www.worldvision.org.uk/get-involved/carve-heart/pumpkin-carving/

there is also a YouTube clip here to watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgKAl3S887U   

I linked this with the words of Jesus when he said I am the light of the world John 8:12 and encouraged the children to carve a heart and get a parent to text money to help.  I then displayed a pumpkin carved with a heart and another slide saying 'so let's turn this night of fright into a night of light'  because when we do we Shine God's love from the inside out - cue song.  After the song Sarah closed with a prayer.

Croftlands Infants School

This morning Sarah and I went with Lisa Smith to do the assembly for Operation Christmas Child at Croftlands Infants School.  After singing God's Love is Bigger than a Burger, Lisa showed the SKY tv ad which uses the characters from the movie Inside Out.  They all live inside a little girls head - there are things like joy, disgust, sadness, anger etc, they are trying to help the girl do some homework but the internet is down.  Lisa linked these emotions to us by asking if we ever feel like this.  She continued that with things happening in the world today it might be that we feel some of them now.  But there was joy and she made things better.  When we fill a shoe box we can help to change a persons emotions from something not good to joy.  I then explained about what to fill a shoe box with and then what happens to it once it is handed in.  Sarah then asked the children if they would like to see a video of children opening their boxes so we played Love in a Box.  Then Sarah close with a prayer.

Croftlands Junior School

This morning Sarah and I along with Lisa Smith did an Operation Christmas Child assembly for the children at Croftlands Juniors.  To start the assembly off we sang God's Love is Bigger than A Burger, then Lisa displayed the SKY tv advert which features some of the characters in the new Inside Out movie.  The characters represent different emotions inside a girls head, like anger, fear sadness, joy etc.  The point was we are not selling SKY tv but the things that the characters felt are real and are the same as we feel at times.  We can feel angry when we see and hear things on the TV but the key in the advert was joy she was the one that make a difference.  And we too can make a difference by filling a shoe box full of goodies and sending it to children who really need to have that love and joy in their lives.  I then went on to explain what sort of things you can put into a shoe box and about what happens to it on it's journey to the child.  To finish off we showed the Love in a Box video showing children opening their shoe boxes and the joy they felt.  Sarah then closed with a prayer.

BX NT3 Low Furness School

This afternoon I have been with the children in year 5 and 6 at Low Furness School doing the third lesson of New Testament Bible Explorer.  This lesson covers the last few days of Jesus' life on earth as well as other great stories such as the lost sheep, coin and son.  It also has the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead and Zacchaeus.  The children joined in as we acted out various parts of these stories like Jesus in the temple clearing out the money changers and those selling animals.  We covered the last supper story too then on to the final hours of his life as he was handed over to be crucified.  It would have been a sad place to stop but we continued on into Easter Sunday and Jesus' tomb being empty and him risen from the dead.  Next week we move on into Acts of the Apostles and the start of the church.