Category Archives: Stories from the Bible

Look again – Legion

Topic:

Legion

Aim

To help children understand that first impressions of people or situations don’t always give a true picture. We need to look again and make sure that we’re ‘seeing’ properly.

Things you’ll need

• A large tapestry picture

Bible Base

Mark 5:1-20

Content

1 Display the back of the tapestry picture and ask them to guess what the picture is.

2 Introduce the story by explaining that often we look at things, but don’t really understand what we are looking at. In the following story, the children will hear about someone who Jesus helped because he was looking properly, but other people weren’t seeing things clearly.

3 Tell the following story. Emphasise the bits in bold.

Once there was a man who was filled by evil spirits. He would walk round shouting, screaming and hurting himself. The people of his home town made him live on his own outside their town in the hills. They looked at the man and saw someone who was frightening.

One day Jesus came to the town. On his way there he met the man out in the hills. The man was shouting and hitting himself. Jesus looked at the man and saw someone who needed help.

Jesus made the evil spirits come out of the man. They went into some pigs which ran into the sea. The man was better. He stopped shouting and screaming. He didn’t hurt himself any more.

The people from the town came running to see what had happened. They were really cross. They looked at the man and thought, ‘Our pigs were more important than him.’ They looked at Jesus and saw someone they thought was frightening and would cause trouble.

‘Get out of our town,’ they shouted at Jesus.

The man who had been healed wanted to go with Jesus and help him. He looked at Jesus and saw the only person who was able to help him. Jesus told the man to stay in his town and tell people what had happened.

Jesus looked at the man and saw someone useful, someone much more important than the pigs.

4. Show the front of the tapestry. Now you can look at it properly and see what the picture is.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

In the Bible, we discover that Jesus looks at things as they really are. When he looks at people, he sees all of us as people who need help. We need help to do things right; we need to be forgiven when we do things wrong, we need help to see things properly, like the man could after he had been healed. Jesus wants to help us because, the Bible says, he looks at us and loves each one of us.

For everyone

1 In the story, Jesus was the one who saw things properly. He saw that the man wasn’t frightening, but that he needed help. The people in the town didn’t stop and think about what they were seeing. They just looked quickly and decided they knew how things were. But they got it wrong.

2 Ask the children about how they make their minds up about people and situations, using some of these questions to help them think about this:

Do you bother to look properly? Or, are you like the people from Legion’s home town and make up your mind about someone or something before you’ve really thought?
Do you decide what people are like by what they look like?
Do you decide something will be boring before you’ve tried it? Or, that something tastes horrible before you’ve eaten it?

Jesus challenged people by looking properly at things and seeing things as they really were. His way of looking at things challenges us to do the same. Are we always ready to look again?

Response

You could finish with this prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you that when you were here on earth you saw things as they really were. You saw the man, Legion, as needing your help, not as someone to be sent away. Thank you that when you look at us you see us as people you love, needing your help. Help us to be people you see things properly, just like you do. Amen.

Money, money, money – the rich young ruler

Topic:

the rich man

Aim

To encourage pupils to question the idea that having lots of money is what is most important in life.

Things you’ll need

A Data Projector, laptop and screen
Pictures of a large house, an expensive car, a yacht, a private jet from Internet
2 large money bags (bags with £ sign on), filled with ‘money’

Bible Base

Mark 10:17-23

Content

1 Talk about the National Lottery. Pretend that you recently won millions of pounds (make sure the children know that you are pretending). Talk about the expensive possessions you have bought with some of the money (show the pictures of the house, car etc). Ask the children what they would buy if they were you? Talk about the difference it would make to their lives. Would it make their lives perfect? Would it make a difference to the way they treated other people?

2 Make the point that many people who are rich are still not happy. It has always been that way, even 2000 years ago in Jesus’ time. Jesus was a wise man and many people came to ask him questions about the best way to live their lives. Tell the story of the rich young man who once met Jesus.

There was once a young man who was very rich. He had everything he needed– a big house, a fast car … oh, cars weren’t invented then … Well, he probably had a very fast camel… and lots of money (shake the money bags), but there was still something missing. He knew that money wasn’t everything and he believed that loving and obeying God were very important too. He wanted to be sure that when he died he would be able to go to heaven and be with God for ever.

‘What must I do to get the life that never ends?’ he asked Jesus.

‘The way you live your life is very important,’ Jesus said. ‘You mustn’t murder anyone, you mustn’t steal, you mustn’t tell lies about anyone, you mustn’t cheat, you must respect your parents…’

‘I’ve obeyed those rules since I was a boy,’ said the young man. ‘Is there anything else?’

Jesus looked straight at the young man. He really cared about him and wanted what was best for him. ‘There is one more thing you need to do, he said. ‘Go and sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor. Then come and follow me.’

Pause to consider what that would mean to a rich young man. Talk about the things you have imagined buying with your lottery money. How would you feel about selling them all and giving all the money away? How would the children feel if it was them in that position? Ask the children what they think the rich young man did.

Then continue:

The rich young man was very sad to hear Jesus say this because he was very rich. He looked at Jesus and he looked at his money and thought about his big house and his fast camels and all the other things he had…and he turned and walked away from Jesus. Jesus was very sad too.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

1 Jesus taught his followers that God must be most important in their lives. For many people, money and the things they own are more important to them than God. Jesus taught that we have a choice– you can’t serve God and money.

2 This story of the rich young man makes Christians think hard about how much money they keep for themselves. It doesn’t mean that all Christians give everything they have away, but it reminds them that money mustn’t become the most important thing in their lives.

For everyone

Sometimes when we see the National Lottery on television and we hear about all the things rich people have, it makes us think that having lots of money is what life is all about. Jesus taught that the way we treat other people is more important.

Response

1 Ask the children to think about what is really important in their lives. Is what they own more important than the way they treat other people?

2 Ask them to think about other people in school. How could they go out of their way to be generous to those around them today? (Make it clear you don’t mean just by giving things away!)

Power to teach – The Lord’s Prayer

Bible base:

Luke 11: 1-13

Teaching objectives:

To show children that the Bible says Jesus had power to talk to God and to teach others how to talk to him.

You will need:

3 or 4 scarves (or lengths of rope)
A copy of the visual aid (6654 downloads ) , copied onto flipchart paper. The solution is given and you may want to practise beforehand!
Red, green and orange paints or marker pens.

Introductory activity:

Show the pupils one of the scarves, tied in a knot. Ask for 2 or 3 volunteers to come to the front and tie another scarf/rope in a knot like the one you have just shown them.

After the volunteers have tied the scarves in a knot, explain that you managed to tie yours without lifting your hands off either end of the scarf. Each of them had to lift one hand off the scarf to tie it. Ask them if they think they could do it without taking their hands off.

Allow them to try for a few minutes, tying themselves in knots while you assure them that it is possible! (By picking the scarf up by either end with arms unfolded it will always be impossible to tie it in a knot without releasing one end.)

When they have given up, untie your scarf and show them how you did it. You should fold your arms in the conventional way, placing one hand over and one hand under the other arm. From this position, pick up one end of the scarf in each hand and simply unfold your arms. A knot will be tied in the scarf.

Allow them to try using this new method.

Ask the children to take their seats again. Although I told you it was possible, you didn’t know how to do it until I showed you the right way. Once I taught you, then you were able to do it for yourself.

Have you ever watched someone doing something and wondered if you could do it too? Maybe you’ve watched a magician performing a trick, or watched your favourite footballer do a really clever move, and you’ve wanted to learn how to do it.

In today’s story, Jesus’ disciples watched him praying. When the Bible talks about praying, it means talking to God. The disciples wanted to know how to talk to God the way Jesus did!

So, when Jesus had finished praying, the disciples asked him if he would teach them how to talk to God. What he taught them is written on this sheet of paper.

Show the pupils the visual aid you have prepared.

It’s not very clear, is it? Perhaps this is how the disciples felt about prayer. They had watched Jesus talking to God but they weren’t sure how they could do it themselves.

Let’s see if we can discover three things that Jesus told them about prayer.

Start to paint or colour the first word on the sheet in red: LOVE

The first thing he told them was that they should love God. The Bible says that he told them to pray:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

This means that God should be really special to them. He should be more important than anyone else. Jesus was telling them that they should tell God how great he is and how much they love him!

Paint or colour the second word on the sheet in orange: ASK

The second thing he told them was that they should ask God for whatever they needed. The Bible says he told them to say:

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

This doesn’t just mean that they should ask him for bread! Jesus wanted them to ask God for everything that they needed for life. They could go to him for anything and he would hear them.

Paint or colour the third word on the sheet in green: SORRY

The third thing they were to say to God was sorry. Jesus told them to say:

“Forgive us our sins.”

When the Bible uses the word ‘sin’, it means anything we do or say or think that is wrong. The Bible says that these things hurt God. So Jesus told his disciples to say sorry to God for all the wrong things they had done that God didn’t like.

So, these three words sum up the first bit of what Jesus told his disciples about prayer. They should love God first and praise him for how great he is. They should ask him for whatever they needed. And they should say sorry to him for the wrong things they had done that God didn’t like.

But then Jesus went on to explain something else about prayer. Perhaps the colours we have painted these words in will help us to discover what else he told them. Do these colours remind you of anything?

Red, amber and green are the colour of traffic lights. What does each colour mean?

Take the pupils’ suggestions.

Jesus told his disciples that everyone who asked for something from God would get an answer, but it wouldn’t always be an immediate green light for ‘go’ . Sometimes they might have to wait for a while, like waiting at an amber light. At other times they might have to stop and wait for longer, like waiting at a red light. And Jesus said that God would never give people things that were bad for them.

The disciples had watched Jesus pray. They realised that Jesus had the power to talk to God and they hoped he had the power to teach them too. Refer back to the three words. He told them that they should tell God they love him, ask him for their needs and say sorry for the things they had done to hurt him. He would always hear them, even if it seemed like they had to wait for a while.

The Bible says that we can pray to God in the same way that Jesus taught his disciples. It says that when we talk to God today, he still hears us and will still answer us.

Optional prayer time:

Give thanks to God that we can still talk to him today. Ask him to help us talk to him more, to tell him we love him, to ask for his help and to say sorry.

Parable of the lost son

Bible base:

Luke 15:11-32

Teaching objectives:

To show that Christians believe that God’s forgiveness is available to anyone who is truly sorry for the wrong things they have done.

You will need:

Big storybook visual aid.
The following words written in sections on separate large pieces of paper or on acetate: IN TRO DUCT ION; CIR CUM STA NCES; UND ERST AND ING; MUL TIPLI CAT ION; SOR RY.
A newspaper.
A card with the following words written on it for a pupil to read out: ‘I was wrong to leave you and spend all my money. I don’t deserve to be your son any more. Can I be your servant?’

Optional:

• Simple costumes for characters (two sons and father, eg a baseball cap for younger son, a woolly hat for older son and a flat cap for father).

The story in this outline is an improvised drama of the Bible story involving pupils acting out the parts. It is essential that you are very familiar with the story in advance to enable you to relax and help the pupils in their improvisation. It is great fun, however, and pupils generally enjoy it and perform well!

Introductory activity:

Show the assembly each of the difficult words in a mixed-up order. Can anyone work out what the word is? (If the school you are in has a long name, you could add it to the list.)

IN TRO DUCT ION

CIR CUM STA NCES

UND ERST AND ING

MUL TIPLI CAT ION

SOR RY

The last word was much easier, but actually, while ‘sorry’ is not a hard word to say, it is very hard to really mean it.

Jesus told a story about saying sorry and what happens when we say sorry to God. Open the storybook visual aid if you are using it for this section.

Once upon a time there was a man. (Choose a pupil to be the father and give him his costume.) This man had a farm (ask pupils to make animal noises) and on that farm he also had two sons (choose two other pupils, preferably one older and one younger pupil and give them costumes).

Now, the father loved his sons very much (if they will, get the ‘father’ to put his arm round his ‘sons’ shoulders) and enjoyed having them around the farm with him. The father had worked very hard to build up his farm (mime digging). The older son was a hard worker too (digging) and worked out in the fields from when he woke up in the morning until he went to bed at night. The younger son, however, preferred to stay inside. In fact, not only did he prefer to stay inside, he preferred to stay in bed all day. When he woke up (mime waking up), he liked to go straight back to sleep (snore). Meanwhile, his brother and his dad did all the work (digging).

One day, however, as he lay in bed, avoiding all work, he had an idea (ask the pupil to pretend to have an idea by looking suddenly very alert.) His father, he knew, was a very wealthy man, as he had worked so hard all his life (check that the older son and father are still digging). When he died, his two sons would get all his money. So, why didn’t he go to his father now and ask him for the money? There was no point waiting until his father died – he might be too old to enjoy it by then!

So, off he went to find his dad – who was digging – to ask him for his share of the money. The younger son should go to his dad, put out his hands and ask for his money. What do you think his father said? Ask the pupils what they think.

Perhaps it’s hard to believe, but his father said yes! He gave him the money and so, the next day, the younger son packed his bags and set off on an adventure! He had never had so much money in his life! He was very excited! Ask the pupil to look very excited.

Eventually he came to a country far from home where the weather was good and the people were friendly and life was cheap, so he settled down to some serious spending! Ask the pupil to mime throwing money around.

As you can imagine, the man found it very easy to find friends when he was throwing his money around. Choose some more pupils to come to the front as his friends. All they had to do was put out their hands (mime) and he would give them as much money as they wanted. He was very popular!

Meanwhile, back at home, while his older brother worked in the fields (mime digging) his father would sometimes stop and think about his younger son. He would look out along the road, hoping to see him coming home (ask the pupil to mime shielding his eyes to look out into the distance).

One day, when the younger son was out with all his new friends, not thinking about his old dad at all, he suddenly realised that he had no money left – his pockets were completely empty (mime). And now that he had no money left, his new friends were not so interested in him any more and off they went to find someone else to be their friend. Ask the other pupils to sit at the side for the rest of the story. They had only liked him because he gave them money. The younger son was very sad (mime.)

For the first time in his life he was going to have to do some work! So, he looked in the paper to see what job he could do (give the pupil a newspaper). He didn’t want to do anything too hard or messy, but the only thing that he could find, after much searching, was the most disgusting job he could think of: feeding pigs.

Yuck! It was such a smelly job that he had to hold his nose with one hand while feeding the pigs with the other (mime). He got paid almost nothing and gradually the younger son got weaker and weaker, and more and more hungry, until he sat down and cried (mime).

What was he doing? He started to think of home where, as we all know, his brother and his father were working (mime digging) and felt very sad. Why had he run away and wasted all his money? Even his dad’s servants had a better life than he had now.

But he was scared to go home. What would his dad say? Would he be cross? He didn’t deserve to be taken back by his father.

But then, he had an idea (mime having an idea again). What if he went back and asked his dad to take him on as a servant? Then he would be back at home, near his dad and his brother, and he wouldn’t be as hungry and miserable as he was now.

So, he picked himself up (mime), dusted himself down (mime) and set off on the long journey home (mime).

Meanwhile, back at home, can you guess what was happening? His brother was digging (mime) and his dad was doing some digging (mime) while also looking out along the road (mime), in the hope that his younger son might eventually come back.

The younger son walked and walked and walked (mime) until he thought he could walk no more! Just as he was getting too tired and hungry and weak to go on, he suddenly spotted something on the horizon. It was his home! He was so excited that, even though he was so tired, he jumped for joy (mime)! He was nervous about seeing his dad, but he had his lines ready. He’d been practising it the whole way home! Give the pupil the card to read out. When he saw his dad he would say:

(Pupil reads) ‘I was wrong to leave you and spend all my money. I don’t deserve to be your son any more. Can I be your servant?’

Back at the farm, his dad too had caught sight of something exciting. Father should be shielding his eyes and looking into the distance. As he looked down the road, he thought he saw his son in the distance! And as the person got closer, he knew for sure that it was his son! He too jumped for joy (mime) and ran out to meet his son (mime).

When they met, his father gave him a huge hug! (It is unlikely that the pupils will act this out!) The son told his father what he had been practising all the way home:

Pupil should repeat the words on the card:

‘I was wrong to leave you and spend all my money. I don’t deserve to be your son any more. Can I be your servant?’

But his father loved him so much that he was delighted to have him back as his son! He ordered his servants to prepare a huge party and get the best clothes for his younger son and invited everyone to come and join the celebration. The father and younger son should start pretending to dance!

The older son, meanwhile, was still out in the fields, digging (mime), and when he heard the party, he was very cross. He had worked for his father for years and yet when his little brother came home, having wasted everything, he got a party! He was raging (mime)!

But his father went out to him and asked him to come in and join the party. Father should go over to the older son and invite him to the party.

The man had two sons, and he loved them both. One of them had always been there, and everything the father had was his, but he had to celebrate when the son he had lost came home again!

Thank the pupils for their help and ask them to take their seats again.

The younger son knew that he had been stupid and had given up all that he had at home to go off and do his own thing. He had to be ready to go back and say sorry. But the father loved him so much that he was just pleased to have him back. He didn’t want to punish him – he wanted to celebrate!

In the Bible Jesus said that this story was a picture of what God thinks about us. He said that God is like the father and loves us so much that he wants to forgive us when we come to him to say sorry for the things we do that are wrong.

As we said at the beginning, sorry is a very hard thing to say, both to God and to other people. But Christians believe that we don’t need to be scared of saying sorry to God because he loves us and will forgive us.

Optional prayer time:

Thank God that he will forgive us when we say sorry to him.

What did the officer think? – Healing the centurion’s servant

Bible base:

Luke 7:1-10

Teaching objectives:

To introduce pupils to someone powerful in the Bible who recognised that Jesus was also a powerful person.

You will need:

Cards with the following words written on them: Set 1: ‘pop band’, ‘Prime Minister’, ‘head teacher’, ‘officer’, ‘football manager’. Set 2: ‘fans’, ‘Britain’, ‘school’, ‘soldiers’, ‘football team’.
Picture (download here) photocopied onto card.
Posters of the words ‘What did the officer think?’ and ‘What do you think?’

Introductory activity:

Invite two pupils to come to the front and give one the first set of cards described above and the other the second set.

Who has power over what? As pupil one holds up their ‘person’ card, the rest of the assembly should choose which of pupil two’s cards they have power over.

Choose one or two of the people mentioned on the card, e.g. the Prime Minister, an officer.

How could these people show their power over others? For example, what decisions can a football manager make for his team? Eg who is going to play in a match, what position each person plays, when they will have training etc.

To develop the idea of authority, play a game of ‘Simon says’. Give the assembly various instructions, for example, ‘Simon says touch your nose’, ‘Simn says clap your hands’, etc. Pupils should do exactly as you say so long as the instruction is preceded by ‘Simon says’. You may wish to bring some pupils to the front to help you spot others who get it wrong.

Because you all know the rules of the game, you know that you must obey whatever ‘Simon’ tells you to do. In today’s Bible story we will meet someone who had authority to tell people what to do.

Display the poster, ‘What did the officer think?’

Today’s story is about an army officer. An officer has authority over his soldiers. He could tell them what to do and could make decisions for them. If you were all soldiers and I was your officer, you would have to do exactly what I said. And because this officer was quite important, he also had lots of servants to look after him. In this story we will meet one of them.

Choose six pupils to be servants and ask them to come to the front. The last pupil to mime each of the following orders as you call them out is eliminated until only one pupil remains:

Scrub the floor
Polish my shoes
Wash the dishes
Stand up straight
Bring me a chair
Vacuum the carpet

(You may wish to add in one or two other commands as a ‘warm up’.) Ask the pupils to sit down again.

Show the picture.

An officer could tell his servants to do anything he liked – they were more like slaves.

Even though the servants had to do everything the officer told them to do, some things were still out of his control. The servant in our story became ill and was close to death, and no matter how many times the officer told him to get better, he couldn’t obey.

We can’t get rid of illness just by telling it to go away! What could the officer do? Think of some possibilities (eg he could get some medicine, he could call a doctor, he could give him some time off work). I imagine he tried all these things, but no one and nothing seemed to be able to help – the servant was dying.

The officer did believe there was still one more person he hadn’t tried who might be able to help: Jesus. Jesus was not a doctor, but the officer had heard some amazing stories about some of the things that Jesus had done. (If you have been doing a series of stories from Luke’s Gospel, you may wish to re-cap here and find out what pupils remember about previous assemblies).

The officer knew that he had power over people to tell them what to do, but he believed that Jesus had power over more than just people – he had power over illness too.

In fact, the officer had so much faith in Jesus that he believed he could help his servant without even being there! The officer’s friends told Jesus that the officer believed that if Jesus just said the word, his servant would get better! And that is what happened. Jesus never actually went to the officer’s home or met the servant.

Show the picture.

The Bible says the servant was completely healed! When we played ‘Simon says’, I asked you to do very simple tasks and you did them. But Jesus ordered an illness to go away from someone whom he had never even met and it did!

What do you think the army officer thought? The officer was a very important man, who gave orders to people and knew that they would obey him. In Jesus the officer saw someone who could control things the officer couldn’t even dream of controlling. He believed that Jesus could help his servant.

Display the poster, ‘What do you think?’

What do you think you would have thought if you had been there? It would have been strange to see someone so ill getting well just because someone told them to! Do you think you would have been amazed?

Optional prayer time:

Pray that we would discover more about Jesus and the amazing things that he did.

What did the businessman think? – Zacchaeus

Bible base:

Luke 19:1-10

Teaching objectives:

To show that the Bible says Jesus cared about people whom no one else liked.

You will need:

A newspaper listing ‘executive’ jobs which offer nice perks.
Posters of the words ‘What did the businessman think?’ and ‘What do you think?’
A large card with the word ‘WINNER’ on it, plus a ‘D’ and an ‘S’ to go over the ‘W’ to spell DINNER and SINNER.
A few pieces of broadsheet newspaper, cut into two along the middle and taped together to make a long strip of newspaper. Fold this strip concertina-style so that each section is roughly A4 in size.

Introductory activity:

Show the assembly some advertisements for executive jobs. What sort of special extras are they offering? Read out some examples. Ask the pupils to raise their hand if these would encourage them to apply for the job.

The things we read about in the advertisements would all be very nice in a job, but would they be enough to make someone happy?

Take the folded piece of newspaper and begin to cut it into the shape of a person, being sure to go right out to the edges with the arms and legs. (Practise this activity in advance to be sure that you end up with a paper chain of people!) As you do so, ask the following question:

What would be the most important thing that you would look for in a job? Take some suggestions, eg a good salary, good holidays. When you have finished cutting out the shape of a person, ask two volunteers to come out and hold either end of the chain of people.

All of us need friends, and no matter how good a job might be, it is no substitude for knowing people who care for us.

Display poster, ‘What did the businessman think?’

Today’s story from the Bible is about a man who was a very successful businessman with a very important job. He worked for the government, collecting the money that people owed it: their taxes. The man’s name was Zacchaeus, and he lived a long time before there were cars or foreign holidays, but one of the benefits he did enjoy was that he could take as much money as he liked from the people. So, if I owed the government £1, he could ask me for £2 and pocket the difference. Or if I owed £5, he could ask me for £10. As you can imagine, Zacchaeus was soon a very rich man!

In terms of business success, Zacchaeus was definitely a WINNER.

Ask a pupil to come to the front to hold up the WINNER card.

In other ways, however, Zacchaeus was not doing so well. Let’s imagine that our chain of newspaper people represents the people who he collected money from. What do you think they thought of him? Take some suggestions, eg he was greedy, he was selfish.

People hated him because he had become rich from taking their money. In their opinion, he did things wrong, he was not a WINNER, he was a SINNER (stick ‘S’ over ‘W’ of WINNER). ‘Sinner’ is a word that the Bible uses to describe someone who is not perfect and has done things that are wrong.

So Zacchaeus was very rich but was also very dishonest and very lonely.

One day, however, something happened to change Zacchaeus’ life forever – he met Jesus. Jesus had come to visit Jericho, the town where Zacchaeus lived, but there were so many people, and Zacchaeus was such a short man, that he could not see over people’s heads.

For fun, you could go behind the chain of newspaper people and crouch behind it, pretending to try to see over their heads.

As you can imagine, people were not too keen to let Zacchaeus the SINNER through, this man who took all their money. And so poor Zacchaeus was stuck at the back of the crowd.

Suddenly, he had an idea. Come around to the front of the chain again. He ran ahead of the crowds and climbed a tree at the side of the road, hiding in the branches so that no one could see him. And there he waited, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jesus and to hear what he was saying as he passed by.

Soon Jesus was right underneath Zacchaeus and, much to his surprise, he looked right up to where Zacchaeus was hiding and asked him to come down and take him to his house for DINNER (stick the ‘D’ over the ‘S’ of SINNER).

Zacchaeus was amazed! No one usually spoke to him and no one had ever asked to come to his house for tea!

The crowds, however, were annoyed. ‘That man is a SINNER!’ they muttered (reveal the word SINNER again).

Zacchaeus was too delighted to care about what they were saying and he rushed off to prepare the DINNER (replace the ‘D’). And after DINNER, Zacchaeus did something amazing. He gave away half of his money to the poor and paid back four times any money that he had taken unfairly.

Zacchaeus had changed by spending time with Jesus. Christians believe that when we’re sorry for what we’ve done wrong, God can change us from sinners to winners, as he did with Zacchaeus. Uncover the original word, WINNER.

Display the poster, ‘What do you think?’

What would you have thought if you were there? Would you have thought that Zacchaeus was too bad to spend time with Jesus? Or would you have been like Zacchaeus, wanting to be with Jesus?

Optional prayer time:

Give thanks that Jesus can change people not just on the surface but deep inside. He can change them from sinners into winners!

A job to do – Jesus meets Levi

Bible base:

Luke 5:27-32

Teaching objectives:

To show Christians believe Jesus came to do a very specific job on earth: to ask people to turn away from doing wrong things and follow him.

You will need:

Cards with the following things written on them: Lots of money; a good job; a big car; friends and family; happiness; peace; lots of chocolate
A packet of sticky plasters
Fine clothes to dress ‘Levi’
“Healthy people do not need a doctor but sick people do” written on card

Introductory activity:

Choose two or three volunteers to come to the front. Show them the cards withall the ‘good things’ written on them. If they could only have three things in life, which three would it be?

Once they have chosen three, ask them to reduce it to two, and finally, if they could choose only one thing, what would it be?

There are lots of things that we would like to have in life, but while a nice car and a big house might be fun, life would be pretty miserable if you had these things but no one to share them with. Human beings need to have other people around them, and for most people, friends and/or family will be the most important things in their life.

The person we are going to meet in today’s story had lots of things in life. His name was Levi.

Choose a pupil to be Levi.

The Bible says Levi was very rich and so was always very well dressed (dress up ‘Levi’ in fine clothes). But although Levi looked good, he was not very happy as he did not have any friends.

Levi was Jewish, as were all the other people who lived in his town, but Levi worked for the Romans. The Romans had taken over the town and made the Jewish people pay huge taxes to them, so people really didn’t like them very much. Levi’s job was to gather in these Roman taxes from his people, the Jews. Often he would gather in more money than people owed and keep the rest for himself. As you can imagine, Levi was very unpopular!

So, while Levi was very well dressed on the outside, the reality was that he was not a very nice person on the inside. There were lots of things wrong in his life, such as greed and selfishness – what the Bible calls ‘sin’. The Bible describes sin as a sickness, so to help us remember that Levi is not as fine as he would like to appear on the outside, we’ll give ‘Levi’ some plasters to cover up his sin! Stick plasters over Levi’s fine clothes.

One day, as Levi was walking along on his own, as usual, an amazing thing happened. Levi had got used to being ignored by everyone he met, but suddenly, from the middle of a big crowd, a man came towards him.

And even more amazingly, the man actually spoke to him! What do you think he said?

Take suggestions from the assembly. Pupils may suggest that the man would ask Levi why he had plasters all over his clothes, or would tell him he looked stupid. Remind the pupils that the plasters would represent sin – bad things that Levi had done or thought – so the man might have asked him why he was so bad or so mean.

Actually what he said was this:

‘Come and be my follower!’

The man who came to speak to Levi was Jesus. Levi must have been so surprised that this man whom everybody wanted to be near had asked him, unpopular and sinful Levi, to be his follower! What Levi wanted more than anything was friends and here was Jesus asking him to come and be his friend. Levi was so happy that the first thing he did was throw a party so that everyone else could come and meet Jesus.

When people criticised Jesus for being friends with someone like Levi, he said a very strange thing.

Show them the card with the words:

‘Healthy people do not need a doctor but sick people do.’

What do you think he meant? Look at our ‘Levi’ for a clue!

The Bible teaches that Jesus came to call people who were needy to be friends with God, not people who thought they were already good enough. He came to call sinners, people who wanted his help to make them better people on the inside, not just on the outside.

Start to take the plasters off Levi’s clothes

Christians believe that Jesus helped Levi to do this, and this is what the Bible says Jesus can do for people today too. Christians believe that this was why Jesus came to earth: to help people to turn from the bad things they do and follow him.

Optional prayer time:

Give thanks that Jesus cares about all the things that are wrong inside us and that his reason for coming to earth was to help people, not to make their life harder.

Strength of Character – David

Bible base:

1 Samuel 16:7

Aim:

To help students understand that ‘strength’ is not just about physical strength, but also about having the strength inside yourself to do what is right.

Things you’ll need:

Three balloons, one of which needs to be a giant balloon.
A container or box with a pretend spider (or a real one!).
A simple brainteaser or riddle (see example below).

Preparation

Before the assembly begins, set up a table or other suitable surface and two chairs where the audience will be able to see for the arm-wrestling contest.
Find and write up on a large piece of card a brainteaser or riddle, for example, the sequence: O T T F F S S ? (What are the next two letters in the sequence. Answer: ‘E’ and ‘N’. The letters are the first letter of the numbers 1 to 9 written as words, Eight and Nine.)

Presentation

1 Start by getting students to think about strength with illustrations from current news or TV programmes that they will be familiar with (eg World’s Strongest Man).

2 Explain to students that in this assembly you’re going to be finding out how strong some of them are. Ask for three volunteers to take part in a series of strength tests – two boys and one girl works well.

Arm-wrestling

Have an arm wrestling contest with each volunteer. Set this up so that everyone in the audience can see the contest. Make sure you lose at least one round. Talk about the physical strength needed to arm wrestle.

Balloon race

Next, give each of your three volunteers a balloon. Give the giant one to the person who beat you in the arm-wrestling contest. Tell the contestants that the first one to blow up their balloon and burst it by blowing it up (no nails or pins!) is the winner.

Get the other students to cheer the competitors. Whether or not anyone manages the balloon challenge, when you’ve ended the contest, comment that this test needed physical strength (keeping on blowing into the balloon), but also courage – no one likes the idea of a balloon bursting in their face!

The spider test

Introduce your pretend (or real) spider! Are the ‘tough’ arm wrestlers so brave now? Is being ‘tough’ always about being fearless? Sometimes even the biggest, ‘toughest’ people are afraid of creepy crawlies!

Note: keep this light-hearted, being careful not to make any of your volunteers feel embarrassed.

The brain-teaser test

Show the brain-teaser to your contestants (and audience). Can the contestants work it out? (No help allowed from the audience.) Their physical strength or bravery can’t necessarily help them now; a different kind of strength is needed to get the answer and succeed.

Tell everyone the answer to the brain-teaser if no one can work it out.

3 Thank your contestants and ask them to return to their places.

Reflection

Comment that all kinds of strength are needed in life: physical, mental and academic strengths all have a part to play in life.
Ask how ‘strong’ they think they are when it comes to making some of the big decisions in life about right and wrong. Point out that it often takes strength to do what you know or believe is right (give some examples which you think are relevant to your audience).
Ask how they know what is right and wrong. Explain that everyone needs to have a basis for decisions about moral or ethical issues. Explain it has to do with:

Character: what you are like (eg honest/dishonest, reliable/unreliable, fair/unjust, etc).
Values: what’s important to you (eg you only think about yourself; you’re concerned about others).

Both of these have to do with what you’re like on the ‘inside’ – not how physically strong or how clever you are.

Briefly refer to the story in the Bible about the choice of David as king in 1 Samuel 16. David was chosen not because he was a good-looking singer who fought wild animals, but because of the strength of character and the person he was, which God saw on the ‘inside’ (1 Samuel 16:7).

Response

1 In a short time of quiet, ask the students to reflect on:

What do you think your strengths are (eg sport, dancing, music)?
What do you think are your strengths of character (eg work hard, good friend)?
What are your values (eg right, wrong, honesty, morals)?
Do you need to change anything or do something differently?

2 Ask students how they might need to be strong in standing up for what’s right. Conclude by challenging them to be strong enough to make good choices and to decide to make a difference in good ways today.

What am I worth? – Zacchaeus

Bible base:

Psalm 139:13,15; 1 Samuel 16:7; Ephesians 2:10; Luke 19:1–10

Aim:

To help students consider that each one of them is valuable to God.

Things you’ll need:

1. Ten cards with one name each of people who are currently media celebrities (pop, sporting and political celebrities), for example:

Ronaldo
Victoria Beckham
Tony Blair
George W Bush
Sir Paul McCartney
Sir Elton John
Mohammed Al Fayed
Sven Goran Ericksson
Bono
Richard Whiteley.

2. Current pop video/DVD, video/DVD player and TV.

Preparation

Prepare the cards.
Before the assembly, set up equipment to show the pop video and make sure it’s ready to start.

Presentation

1 Ask for ten volunteers and give each one a card. Give them one minute to arrange themselves into the order of what they think each character is worth – the most valuable on the left and least valuable on the right. Encourage some response from your audience. Do they agree with this order? Would they say some of the characters are worth more or less?

Ask your volunteers to go back to their places.

2 Now give your audience the following choices, allowing some response after each. You might want to substitute other examples which are more current or appropriate to your audience.

Would you rather have:

Prada/Next/George at Asda?
Holiday in Bahamas/holiday in Spain/holiday in Bognor?
Friends like Brad Pitt/Busted/Pauline Fowler?
4 bed-roomed house in Surrey/semi in Bolton/1 bed-roomed flat in Toxteth?
Satellite TV, all channels/5 channels on a portable/flickering black and white?
Champagne/Bucks fizz/Tizer
Mercedes SLK/5-door Fiat Punto/B reg Volvo with rust?

Note: Adapt the examples here to suit the area and school you are in.

3 Watch a pop video by a current and popular band or artist. Ask the students:

Why do we want to be like these people?
What qualities do they have?

Reflection

Say that Christians believe the good news is that God loves us all, whatever we’re like. He is not impressed by things like wealth, beauty, fame or talent. He is interested in what we are like on the inside.
Briefly tell the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10). Comment that Jesus loved Zacchaeus (the cheating tax collector) for who he was, not for what he had or hadn’t done. This is a picture of how he loves us too. Christians believe that God created us and we are unique, and he places a high value on all of us. He has a purpose for each person here, even though that might not including getting a number 1 single in the charts!

Response

Encourage the young people to close their eyes as you read the following verses:

Psalm 139:13,15
1 Samuel 16:7
Ephesians 2:10

Give the opportunity for response in a time of quiet, encouraging the young people to think about what they mean to God, and what plans he might have for them in the future.

Prayer – Parable of Pharisee and tax collector

Aim

To help pupils understand that prayer is part of a relationship with God.

Bible base

Luke 18:9-14 – the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

You will need:

A mobile phone

Preparation

Arrange, in advance, for someone to be waiting for a phone call from you during the assembly. It could be your mother or father or someone posing as them. Alternatively, you could arrange for the person to phone you during the assembly (when you are ready, dial the number you want and let it ring a couple of times as a signal to the person to ring you back).
Rehearse the phone conversation in advance, along the lines indicated in the Content section below.
Rehearse your reading or telling of the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14)

Content

Phone home!

1. Begin by saying that you have got your mobile phone with you this morning (show it to the pupils). Comment how amazing it is that you can speak to anyone you like, as long as they are near a phone, within a few seconds. How is that possible? There are not so many messages rushing around the earth. This phone is not even connected by wires or cables! The technology is incredible!

2. Mention that you were told that ‘orange’ ones were good, but the shop only had black ones in stock!

3. Suggest that you could make a call, here and now, from the assembly! Explain that you know someone who is in, because you always have a chat on the phone at this time of day. Tell everyone that it’s your mother or father (don’t say the number!). Say that everyone will have a chance to talk to him or her. Ask the audience to keep very quiet until you give a signal and then they must shout, ‘Hiya Mum (Dad).’ Give the audience a practice at doing this before you phone.

4. Make the call and during the (pre-arranged) conversation, make sure you include the following:

Say thank you for something;
Say sorry about something;
Ask for a favour;
Make it appear that you are listening to some advice (eg by saying something like, ‘OK I will’);
End by saying, ‘I love you’ so softly that you have to repeat it, to your ‘embarrassment’! Let everyone say ‘Hiya Mum (Dad)!’ and end the call.

5. Comment that your mobile phone is a good one but it’s got its limitations. For example, you have to keep it turned on and the batteries fade; it has to be within range and, as with any phone, the person you are trying to call has to be in and has to want to talk to you! Say that you doubt whether you could talk to the Queen, although there was a Canadian journalist who once managed it!

Talk with God

1. Explain that you have another mobile phone that’s usuable any time and at any range. It has free rental and there are no charges for calls. It’s called ‘prayer’. Christians think of prayer as being like a two-way conversation, a bit like using the phone. Then add that they may have noticed, though, how some people treat phones as though they are made for one-way conversations! They forget that there are two parts to a phone. Ask if they have ever had that sort of experience? (Hold the phone, outstretched, away from your ear!)

2. Comment that some people treat prayer like that, too. They keep on talking at God, instead of having a conversation with him.

3. Read or tell the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) from a contemporary version of the Bible.

Application

Make the point that although we may not feel good enough to pray, that is the very attitude God is looking for in prayers! Instead of long, formal prayers, the Bible shows people talking to God as a person – which is what he is!
Remind everyone that during your telephone call earlier, there were three very important things you said: there was a ‘thank you’, a ‘sorry’ and ‘a please’. And those are exactly the sort of things that many Christians try to include in their prayers with God: telling him about all the things that have happened to them and are going to happen; all the different ways in which they have felt, happy, angry, disappointed. Conversation with God – prayer – is about being real with someone who is always at the end of the line, never out, never switched off, and who never has flat batteries!
The conversation you had on the phone earlier also included your listening to some advice and being reminded of some things you had forgotten. And there was also a chance to say how you felt about your mum (dad). For the Christian, these things are part of prayer too.
Conclude by reminding everyone that conversation is part of a relationship; and prayer is part of our relationship with God. Like all relationships, it needs working at! Encourage pupils to talk with God. It’s good to talk.