Flookburgh School

This morning Sarah and I went to Flookburgh School for the assembly.  It was our first visit since Christmas and it was good to see all the children and staff again.  To start off the assembly we sang God Can Do Anything then I told the story of Jesus calling Peter and Andrew followed by James and John.  To tell the story I used the Big ministries Book 2 which has responses for the children to make on certain key words.  As I told the story I did ad lib a bit just to make it even more interesting.  After the story Sarah talked about how each one of us is special to God and he can use anyone of us.  This being special linked into the song Touch a finger which we finished off with.  Then I reminded them just how special they all were before closing with a prayer.

BX OT4 Burlington School

This afternoon was the fourth lesson of Bible Explorer at Burlington School.  The lesson was about Samuel, Saul, David and Solomon.  We learnt how God used Samuel to talk to the old priest Eli and how he was asked to appoint the first and second kings of Israel being Saul and David.  We also had the David and Goliath story as well as looking at the wisdom od Solomon.  As we closed the lesson the community of Israel was divided in two Judah in the South and Israel in the North.  Next week to finish with the exile, Queen Esther and the promise of Jesus.

Broughton School

This morning I went over to Broughton School to do our first assembly of 2016 with them.  It was great to see all the children again following the Christmas break (it seems a long time ago now) I wished the children a Happy New Year.  To start of we sang God Can Do Anything, then I told the story of Jesus selecting Peter and Andrew to be followers of him.  To help me I used the Big Ministries Book 2 which has responses for the children to do and say on certain trigger words ( I have added a few of my own to it also)  I didn't read the story directly from the book as I did quite a bit of ad lib as I went along.  After the story I reminded the children that we are all special in God's eyes and that we don't need to have loads of money, fancy clothes, a posh house and car for God to use us in some way- Peter and Andrew were smelly, dirty fishermen yet they were used in a massive way by Jesus.  We are all special and so we sang Touch a Finger to finish off the assembly as it mentions about us being special to God.  I close the assembly with a prayer.

St Peters

This morning I went to St Peters School to do the assembly.  I started it with God Can Do Anything, then I told the story of Jesus calling Peter and Andrew using the Big Ministries Book 2.  The story has a few trigger words were the children can respond.  I didn't follow the story exactly as printed I added my own parts to it.  After that I reminded the children just how special they are in God's eyes and that God can use anyone of them just like Peter and Andrew.  We don't have to be anything special - after all God can do anything.  As we are all special to God the only song we have that says this is Touch a Finger, following the song I said a prayer finishing with the Lord's Prayer.

Crosthwaite School

This afternoon I went over to Crosthwaite School to take the assembly.  It was an interesting drive as the rain hasn't stopped falling all day, I drove through several floods (not deep ones) to get there.  It was the first visit for us of 2016 so after wishing the children and staff a Happy New Year I started the assembly with God Can Do Anything.  I said that later on in the assembly I was going to link this to the story I had for them.  I introduced the story of Jesus calling Peter and Andrew which is a story that requires the children to respond at certain points.  So I divided the children up into 3 groups and each one took on a response.  The story went well and then afterwards I talked about how we are all special and that God can us to do things for him and like Peter and Andrew who are ordinary people, we don't have to be clever, have loads of money and the latest things anyone of us can do stuff for him.  I pointed out that God can use us as God can do Anything and nothing is too big or small for him.  Being that we are special to God we sang to finish Touch a Finger which mentions that we are special.  Then we said a prayer.

Low Furness School

This morning I went to Low Furness School for the assembly.  The theme given to us was Going for Goals.  To start off the assembly I had decided to sing God Can Do Anything and said that later on I would link to this.  I then asked the children what they wanted to be when they grew up.  A few children answered pop star, police etc.  I talked about when I was their age and what I wanted to be an electrician.  Then later on I changed my mind and wanted to do something with history - in the end I became a teacher, teaching electronics.  I explained that we sometimes have a goal in life and work towards that but God might have a different idea and plan for us.  I then used the story of Jesus calling Peter and Andrew from being fishermen which they had done all their lives and followed their father and even grandfather, to be fishermen for him, fishing for people.  Following the story I displayed the Jeremiah 29:11 passage in picture form and explained it to the children - I displayed the words afterwards for them to read.  I reminded the children that they are all special to God and that God can do anything and that nothing is too big or small for him.  We might think we want to be a football player and go for that goal (no pun intended) but God wants us to be a Politian instead.  To finish we sang Touch a finger as this talks about us being special to God.  I then closed with a prayer.

Pennington School

This afternoon I went to Pennington School to take the assembly, it was the first visit of this year so after wishing the children a Happy New Year I started the assembly with God can do anything.  After this I told the story of Jesus calling Peter and Andrew, to tell the story I used the Big Ministries book which has key words which the children can respond to.  I divided the school so that year 4,5,6 did one response and year 2,3 another then 1,R the other.  As the story went on I paused in some places just before a word that needed a response, I could hear the children muttering it under their breathe so I used a different word then the real word this kept the children listening and brought a bit of a laugh to the assembly.  After the story I pointed out that Jesus picked and used ordinary people to follow him and he still does that today - we are all special to God and he can use us no matter what we look like, or what interest we have or how much money we have because we are all special.  This linked into the song Touch a Finger which we sang next then I closed with a final prayer.