Tag Archives: jesus

The light of the world – Christmas

Topic:

Christmas

Aim

To think about the significance of light for Christians at Christmas, a festival which is all about the birth of Jesus, the Light of the World.
To consider ways in which we can show the qualities of ‘light’ in our lives.

Things you’ll need

Flip chart or similar divided into 2 columns– one labelled ‘light’, the
other labelled ‘dark’
A note pad and pencil
Words which fit the categories ‘light’ or ‘dark’ (eg love, peace, kindness, fear, lies, fighting etc) written clearly on separate strips of card or paper. Include the words ‘God’ and ‘Jesus’. You may like to have some spare strips ready so you can add other words during the assembly.
Blu-tack
A candle and matches

Bible Base

1 John 1:5
Luke 2:32
John 8:12

Content

1 Show the flip chart with the two columns labelled ‘light’ and ‘dark’. Talk about words linked with light and darkness (eg sunshine, shadows, lightning, night-time). Ask the children for their suggestions and jot them down as a reminder for yourself of what they have said.

2 Ask them to show you whether they think these words belong in the ‘light’ or the ‘dark’ column, in the following way. As you call out the words they have suggested they must either:

put their hands over their eyes to show the word belongs in the ‘dark’ column;
flick their hands open and closed in front of their eyes to show the word belongs in the ‘light’ column.

3 Introduce another way of thinking about light and darkness. Show the words on the cards you prepared before the assembly (love, fear etc) one at a time. Explain any they don’t understand. Ask the children which column each card belongs in and then stick it in the appropriate place using Blu-tack.

4 Explain that Christians believe that ‘God’ should go in the ‘light’ section because the Bible says: ‘God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all’ (1 John 1:5, Youth Bible). Ask the children if they agree with this.

5 Talk about Jesus, ‘the Light of the World’.

Explain that at Christmas time, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. The Bible says that when Jesus was six weeks old, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to dedicate him to God because that was the custom of his people.
There was an old man in the Temple called Simeon. When he saw Jesus, he tookh im in his arms. He said that Jesus would be a light for the people to see (Luke 2:32).
When he grew up, Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world. The person who follows me will never live in darkness’ (John 8:12, Youth Bible).
The Bible shows that Jesus was a man who was loving and kind, a good man who helped people and spoke the truth, a man of joy and peace. (You could remind the children of some examples from Jesus’ life).

6 If the children think these things written about Jesus are true, which side of the chart should ‘Jesus’ should go on? Christians believe that Jesus always showed these qualities of ‘light’ in his life and never those of ‘darkness’.

Application

A Christian viewpoint

Light is special for Christians at Christmas time, because they remember the qualities of ‘light’ lived out by Jesus, as they celebrate his birth. Christians believe that following Jesus brings these qualities of ‘light’ into their lives as well.

For everyone

Look at the words you have stuck in the ‘light’ column. Ask the children which qualities of light others might see in them.

Response

1 Light the candle. Ask the children: If you go into a dark room and turn on the light, what happens to the darkness? Does the darkness ever put out the light? Christians believe that these qualities of ‘light’ are ‘stronger’ than the things that are on the ‘dark’ side, just like light is ‘stronger’ than darkness.

2 Look again at the words on the ‘light’ side. Ask the children to think about situations where they might be able to show ‘light’ in the darkness.

Surprise, Surprise! – Christmas

Topic:

Christmas

Aim

To show that Christmas is about discovering more than the birth of a baby.

Things you’ll need

3 shoe boxes with lids
Christmas wrapping paper
3 gift tags
3 presents that no one would ever want! (Eg a brick, some rubbish from the bin, an empty perfume or after-shave bottle)
Sellotape
Lots of money (notes only)
A flipchart and a pen (for the ‘Response’ time)
A Christmas wrapped box containing enough sweets for all the children in the assembly (only for the Key Stage 1 option)

Preparation

1 Wrap the boxes and the lids separately with the Christmas wrapping paper. For each box, hide some of the money between the wrapping paper and the box. The paper has to be removed during your presentation, so don’t tape the edges down too well.

2 Once you’ve wrapped the boxes, place a ‘present’ into each one and write the name of the person who will receive it onto the gift tag. Choose three adults who will be at the assembly to receive the presents, to avoid upsetting children.

Bible Base

John 3:16a

Content

1 Talk to the children about Christmas – the story of the birth of Jesus which is celebrated all over the world by millions of people.

Ask some questions to make them think about Christmas being celebrated all over the world (eg do they know which parts of the world will be hot/cold at Christmas?)
Ask if they know where we can read the story.
Explain that we give presents to each other at Christmas in the same way that the Wise Men gave their presents to Mary and Joseph for their son, Jesus. Ask if the children can remember what the gifts were.

2 Tell the children that you have gifts for three people. They are for…surprise, surprise… Read out the names on the gift tags. You could ask three children to deliver the gifts to the appropriate adults.

3 When the three people have received their presents, ask each one in turn to open them and show everyone what they have been given. Ask each person what they think of their ‘gift’! Ask them to give their honest reactions (eg ‘Rubbish!’ ‘Disgusting!’ etc). It shouldn’t take too much persuasion to encourage them to give you back your presents (and the boxes). When they do, act as if you are really disappointed about having your gifts rejected.

4 Once all the gifts have been returned to you, let the children see you smiling as if you know something that they don’t! Then choose one of the boxes and show everyone the present (eg the brick). Put it to one side and then pull out the money which is hidden in the box and lid. As you are doing this talk to the children about how X (the name of the person who received the gift) was so busy looking at what she thought was the gift, that she managed to miss the greater present. It was there for her and she would have found it if she had only looked a bit harder. Show the money. Ask the adults who were given the gifts how they feel about their loss!

Application

A Christian viewpoint

1 Read the first part of John 3:16 from the Good News Bible:

God loved the world so much, that he gave his only Son…

Explain that the Bible teaches that this is what the Christmas story is all about. Christians believe that God gave the greatest present ever – his own son, born as a baby in Bethlehem, born so that people could be friends with God.

2 Say that today…(name your adult helpers)…looked at the presents they were given and decided to reject them. We all know what they missed out now on don’t we? Explain that the Bible teaches that God gave the gift of his Son Jesus at Christmas. Some people say ‘Thank you’ to God for his gift. Some people say ‘No thanks’. And some people are still thinking about it.

For everyone

For those who believe the Bible’s teaching about Jesus, Christmas is one of the most important times of the year. Those who don’t believe, or who are not sure, can still enjoy the presents, the parties and all the good things of Christmas and in school we can all enjoy the celebrations together.

Response

1 Ask the children what things we can enjoy together about Christmas. Using the flipchart, write down their ideas and then use them as a focus for their thoughts or prayers.

2 Allow about fifteen seconds of silence to think – or talk to God – about what has been written.

Key Stage 1 option

1 Instead of the surprise ‘horrible’ present, give a member of the staff a Christmas-wrapped box which contains enough sweets for all the children (could be expensive!).

2 Ask the children whether the person receiving the gift said ‘Thank you’. Point out that they don’t know what the gift is. It could be something really horrible. Let the member of staff open the box. Then ask him/her to show the children what the gift is, explain who it is for and when they will be allowed to eat the sweets!

3 Talk about the gift God gave at Christmas and what different responses people might make to it. (Then continue as above in the ‘Application’ section.)

Attitude to Work

Note

This assembly is for use in preparation for work experience and is intended for use with older pupils.

Aim

To help pupils examine the nature of work; and to think about Jesus’ attitude to work.

Bible base

Matthew 20:1-16 – the workers in the vineyard.

You will need:

Items for task assignments: potatoes and peeler; dirty shoes, polish and brushes; pencils and sharpener; 26 cards showing the different letters of the alphabet.
A hat containing 4 cards showing assignments
4 small prizes (eg chocolate bars)
3 large pieces of paper showing:

A ‘graffiti board’ style list of issues which are part of the world of work (see Content below)
A picture of a famous person (eg well-known sports or music celebrity)
A picture of Mother Teresa

• Some music for timing the work activity (see Content below)

Content

Introduction

1. Tell pupils that as it’s the time of year for ‘work experience’, you are going to give them some practice.

2. Ask for four volunteers and give them each one of the following tasks together with the necessary equipment:

Peel three potatoes;
Clean and polish a pair of shoes;
Sharpen a dozen pencils;
Sort the twenty-six cards into alphabetical order.

3. Having told everyone what the four jobs are, assign the four volunteers their tasks by asking them to pull a card out of a hat. (Comment that you are sure that more care was taken in their real work placements!)

4. Play some music (it could be on the theme of work, or some ‘busy’ music like The Flight of the Bumble-bee by Rimsky-Korsakov), while they do their jobs. After one minute, see how they’ve got on.

5. Give the volunteers a round of applause and a small reward. You could say something like, ‘Don’t expect anything like that on work experience!’

Why work?

1. Ask some rhetorical questions about the nature of work. For example:

Do we work only for what we can get out of it ourselves?
Does it matter whether we work willingly or begrudgingly, as long as the job gets done?
What is ‘work’, anyway? Is what we do in school ‘work’? or is ‘work’ only a ‘proper job’ for which you get paid? What about ‘working’ in the garden or the house all day? Is that work? Or leisure?

2. Say to your audience that as they are preparing for the world of work, it’s worth remembering some of the similarities, as well as the differences, between school and work. Display the first piece of card showing some of the different issues involved in work which may or may not be part of their working life at school or in ‘a job’. You could include: punctuality, hours, holidays, working day, rules, law, discipline, contract, clothing, illness, wages, pay.

You might talk about some of these or leave them on display whilst you make the general point that the wonderful stress-free, hassle-free, world of work out there doesn’t exist! And probably, the things you dislike about school will be present, in some form, at work.

3. Display the second card (e.g. a top sports person, a super-model or filmstar). Then display the third card – the picture of Mother Teresa. Ask some questions like:

Whose job is the most important?
Whose job is the best paid?
Are there other criteria we need to consider?

4. Talk about the fact that even though they won’t be paid for the work they do on work experience, that doesn’t mean they are not important, or that the work they do next week doesn’t count.

Say that some people on work experience have made a real difference to their place of work: because of the kind of person they are; the atmosphere they’ve helped to create. And, as a result, they’ve made a lasting impression on their workmates.

5. Tell this story: There was a man who had a big job which had to be done in one day. So, he hired some men to do it for a fixed daily rate. Half-way through the day, he realised that the job wasn’t going to be completed on time. So he took on some more men at the same rate. In the early evening, he took on some more to make sure everything was finished and packed away. All the men got the same pay. Some of them didn’t like it, but the boss told them that they’d all got what was agreed at the time they were taken on.

6. Explain that Jesus told this story (see Matthew 20:1-16) – not to make out a case for everyone to be paid the same – but to show that everyone was equally important in getting the job done on time. They all had a part to play – however small it seemed.

Application

Say that you are sure they will all work very hard during work experience, and for no apparent reward.
Tell pupils that Jesus was a worker for many years. He knew what it was like to get dirt in his fingernails and to trade and bargain for the best deals. But Jesus said something very ironic about his work. He said that the most important thing he had come to do was to serve others and eventually die for them, not to gain a reward for himself, but for the greatest free reward ever for others; the best ‘bonus’ any boss could give to anyone, no matter how deserving – the gift of eternal life…heaven.

Soap – What you are inside is important

Aim

To help pupils understand that just as we need to be made clean on the outside, so God wants us to be made ‘clean’ on the inside.

Bible base

Mark 7:20-23 – ‘dirty’ on the inside.

You will need:

5 different brands of soap
A ‘smellograph’ score chart on card Soap Smellograph pdf (3186 downloads )
A copy of ‘Reasons why I never wash’ on Card (see Content below)
2 or 3 blindfolds
A small prize (eg a bar of soap or sponge)

Preparation

Prepare cards as suggested

Content

Introduction

1. Begin by saying that if you were to mention the word ‘soap’, many people would immediately think of Home and Away or Coronation Street, but actually, there is another meaning of the word! Soap is something we use to wash with!

At Christmas or for birthdays, one of the most popular gifts is soap. Comment that you are not sure what we are trying to say to our friends and relatives about their personal hygiene, but obviously, making ourselves and our loved ones clean and smelling nice is a favourite national pastime!

2. Explain that the very first soap was made in the Nile valley around 6000BC and carried by Phoenician seamen all around the Mediterranean coastline. Soap is actually a substance made by the action of alkali on fat. Most of us don’t care about that, we just want the right colour and fragrance.

The ‘smellograph’

1. Display the ‘smellograph’ score chart.

2. Explain that you are going to have a competition. Ask for two or three volunteers. Blindfold them and explain that they are going to have to smell five different brands of soaps (eg Dove, Palmolive, Imperial Leather, Fairy washing-up liquid, Ariel washing powder). To make it easier, you could tell them in advance the five brands they have to choose from. The winner will be the contestant who can recognise the most brands of soap correctly.

3. In turn, ask the contestants to smell the different soap brands one at a time. Record their verdicts on the ‘smellograph’.

4. When the contest is complete, take off the blindfolds, reveal the results and award the winning contestant a prize of a bar of soap, or a sponge!

Reasons why I never wash

Ask the pupils whether they think our national obsession with cleanliness is really necessary. Tell them that one young person didn’t think so. He gave these reasons for why he never washed (display the ‘Reasons why I never wash’ list on card):

I was made to wash when I was little, but I got bored with it, so I stopped.
None of my friends get washed. I’d look stupid if I started!
I haven’t got the time.
I still get washed on special occasions, like Christmas and Easter!
The bathroom’s always too cold!
Maybe when I’m older, I’ll start getting washed. I’ve got plenty of time.
There are so many different brands of soap. How do you know which one to choose?
People who wash are hypocrites – they reckon they’re cleaner than other people.
People who make soap are only after your money!

Application

Point out how silly these reasons for not washing are. We all need to be clean. Life wouldn’t be anywhere near as pleasant if we all stopped washing!
The Bible makes it clear that it’s not just on the outside that we need to be made clean. It talks about our wrong attitudes, actions and thoughts (called ‘sin’), which make us unclean and keep us separated from a holy, pure God. The Bible also talks about Jesus, who was born in a dirty stable, in a dirty world, and who wants to clean up people’s lives on the inside.
Comment that it is interesting that people often give very similar reasons for saying ‘no’ to God, as the young person gave for saying ‘no’ to soap. Ask the pupils to look again at ‘The reasons why’ list, and try to replace the references to soap and bathrooms with God, the Church and being cleaned up on the inside.
Conclude with a few moments of quiet for pupils to read through and think about ‘The reasons why’ list in the way you have suggested.

Who is the greatest? Serving others

Aim

To show pupils that in God’s eyes, the greatest of all is the servant of all.

Bible base

Mark 9:35 – the last will be first.
John 13:1-17 – Jesus washes the disciples’ feet.

You will need:

Some sheets of A4 paper for making paper aeroplanes.
A bowl of water and a towel for the feet washing exercise.

Content

Introduction

1. Ask the pupils: ‘Who is the greatest?’ Say that for some people the answer might be…(say the name of a popular, successful football team); or for someone else it might be…(say the name of a singer or group who has recently had a number one hit). Give one or two examples of your own favourite celebrities – possibly provoking some groans from the audience!

2. Comment that everyone will have a different answer, according to their interests and allegiances.

3. Continue by asking, ‘But who is the greatest here?’ Say that today, you are going to find out.

The great aeroplane contest

1. Ask for three or four volunteers to take part in a ‘Who is the greatest?’ contest.

2. Explain that you want the volunteers to make a paper aeroplane from the A4 paper provided. They will then launch their aeroplanes from a raised point in the room (eg standing on a chair, or on the stage). The winner (‘the greatest’) will be the person whose paper plane travels the furthest.

3. Act as commentator whilst the contestants make their planes, building up the excitement and drama of the contest. When they are ready, ask each competitor to launch their planes in turn. Ask the audience to allow each plan to land and then the pupil nearest should pick up the aeroplane and hold it aloft as a ‘marker’ showing the next contestant the distance he/she must try to beat.

4. When the contest is over, announce the winner and reward them with a ‘tremendous’ prize (hand them a sheet of A4 paper) – an aeroplane! Give everyone a round of applause. Keep your volunteers at the front. Ask the winner how it feels to be the greatest (great designer, great scientist, great inventor and great test pilot) – officially!

Application

Comment that it’s a good feeling to be ‘the greatest’, getting all the glory and lots of attention. Then say that the Bible has something to say on the subject. Read these words from the Gospel of Mark: ‘Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all’ (Mark 9:35, Good News Bible). Say that this seems a strange way to describe greatness.
Jesus’ way of looking at things is not the same as ours. On one occasion he demonstrated this to his disciples by getting down on his hands and knees and washing their feet! An amazing thing to do – as you can imagine – considering they were living in a hot country and had been wearing sandals. Jesus said that he expected his disciples to do the same sort of things for one another, and that the most important people actually live as though they are the least important!
Bring out the bowl of water and the towel and ask the winner of the paper aeroplane contest how he/she feels – considering that they are ‘the greatest person’ here – about washing the feet of the losers. If the winner agrees, let him/her do this! If they are obviously uncomfortable about doing it, take the heat out of the situation by saying that we don’t have to wash one another’s feet literally! Whatever you ‘winner’ decides to do, point out that there are lots of other ways we can act as servants to one another (give some examples).
Comment that when people are asked to list those who they consider to be great, today or in the past, those included are nearly always people who have served others in some way.
Challenge ‘the winner’, and everyone else, to think of how they could serve others today.

Seeking life

Aim

To help pupils understand that there are different ways of looking at life; and to consider Jesus’ claim that he is the source of life in all its fullness.

Bible base

John 10:10; 14:6 – Jesus came to give us life.

You will need:

5 large cards – 4 of which should show the word ‘life’ written in 4 different ways; and the fifth showing the word ‘JESUS’:

Card 1 – l I f e
Card 2 – l I F e
Card 3 – L i f e
Card 4 – L I f E
Card 5 – JESUS

Content

Introduction

Begin with a simple word association game, where two volunteers must say words associated with a given theme alternately (eg for ‘holidays’, your volunteers might say words like: ‘sand’ , ‘sun’, ‘fun’ etc). As soon as one person hesitates, call up someone else to take over. Use other themes, like: ‘school’, ‘breakfast’, ‘sport’ etc. Then introduce the theme ‘life’. They will probably find this more difficult.

Life

Comment that it’s interesting how we find something we all have so difficult to describe! Say that you can think of at least four ways of describing life. Suggest that maybe they can identify with some of these ways of looking at life.

l I f e

1. Display Card 1 which shows the word ‘life’ written with a capital ‘I’. Say that some people spell ‘life’ this way. Explain that ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’ are three of the most commonly used words in the English language. The person who sees life in this way puts him or herself first in life. They are number 1! There are things they want to do, places they want to see, money they want to make – and woe betide anyone who gets in their way! This person is a self-made man (or woman) and proud of it! They can look after themselves and don’t need anyone!

2. Tell the following story: A man was walking along a cliff. He slipped and fell and was hanging on for dear life, to a small bush, on the edge of the cliff. Although he was an atheist, he called out, in desperation, ‘Is anybody there?’ To his amazement, he heard a reply: ‘Yes, I’m here.’ He cried out again, ‘What do you want me to do?’ The voice said, ‘Let go of the bush, and I’ll save you.’ He paused for a moment and then cried out, ‘Is anybody else there?’ He couldn’t take the risk of trusting his life to anyone!

l I F e

1. Display Card 2 which shows the word ‘life’ written with the letters ‘I’ and ‘F’ as capitals. Say that some people spell ‘life’ in this way – with a big ‘IF’ in the middle. This kind of person says things like:

If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
If there is a God, why did my loved one have to die?
If there is a God, why doesn’t he prove it?
If I can just get through my exams, then I’ll have time for God.
If God gets me that job I want, or that girl/boyfriend, then I’ll believe in him.

2. Tell this story:

Tommy was saying his prayers one night and his mum was with him. He prayed, ‘Dear Lord, if you get me that mountain bike, I’ll be good for a whole week.’ His mum stopped him and told him that wasn’t the sort of prayer God wanted to hear. ‘You can’t do deals with God,’ she said.

Next week he was praying again, and this time he prayed, ‘Dear Lord, if you get me that mountain bike, I’ll be good for two whole weeks.’ His mum stopped him again and repeated the same warning.

Some time later, his mum was doing some spring cleaning. In the airing cupboard, under some towels, she found a statue of Mary. She wondered if Tommy was behind this, so she went into his room to see if she could find him. He wasn’t there, but on the window-sill was a note in his handwriting which said, ‘Right, God, if you ever want to see your mother again…’!

L i f e

1. Display Card 3 which shows the word ‘life’ written with the letter ‘L’ as a capital. Say that some people spell ‘life’ in this way with a capital ‘L’, because, after all, ‘we’re all learning, aren’t we?’. They say things like:

‘I mean, no one’s perfect are they?’
‘We can only try our best, can’t we?’

This kind of person treats life a bit like a driving test. It’s as if they believe at the end of time, God will tot up the number of points they got and, hopefully, they will just about manage to scrape into heaven! But unfortunately, some of us just don’t learn!

2. Tell this story: There was a man who was doing a parachute jump. He pulled the cord – nothing happened. He pulled the emergency cord, and still nothing happened. As he was heading towards earth at a hundred and twenty miles an hour, he passed another man on the way up!

‘Hey’ he shouted at him, ‘Do you know anything about parachutes?’

‘No!’ the man replied, ‘Do you know anything about gas ovens?’

We’re all learners!

L I f E

1. Display Card 4 which shows the word ‘life’ written with the letters ‘L’, ‘I’ and ‘E’ as capitals. Say that some people spell ‘life’ in this way because, as we all know, there are many voices wanting to get our attention out there in the world, and we have to try to decide which is the truth and which are lies. Sadly, some people have ended up living their lives according to the lies they have hard and believed, like:

‘You’re worthless, you’ll never be any good,’ ‘You’ve got to look good to be accepted.’
‘Go on, do it, everyone does it.’
‘Go on, take it, it won’t do you any harm.’

2. Tell this story:

There was a person who jumped out of a sixteen storey building just to see what it felt like. Half-way down, he shouted to his friends, ‘See! So far so good!’

Application

1. Say that Christians aren’t very good spellers, because they spell ‘life’ like this: JESUS (display card 5 which shows the word ‘Jesus’). It’s not because they can’t spell, but because Jesus said things like:

‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6, Good News Bible).
‘I have come…that you might have life – life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10, Good News Bible).

It was as if Jesus was saying, ‘This is life, knowing me!’ These are amazing claims that are worth checking out.

2. Conclude by challenging pupils to ask themselves: ‘What am I going to base my life on?’

The truth is…

Bible base:

John 8:32; John 14:6

Aim:

To encourage students to think about what ‘truth’ means, whether they are always truthful, and why Jesus said that he is ‘truth’.

Things you’ll need:

Statements for the ‘True or False?’ quiz.
For the game of Call my Bluff: a ‘word’ written out for display on a large piece of paper; 3 definitions written on cards, 1 of which is correct (choose a word that the young people are extremely unlikely to have heard before, and that, preferably, sounds funny).

Preparation

Prepare what you’ll need for the ‘True or False’ quiz and the game of Call my Bluff.

Presentation

1 Start by telling the students that you are going to read out some statements and they must decide whether they are ‘true or ‘false’.

Use your list of statements prepared beforehand. You could include factual statements which are definitely either true or false, and also include some which are to do with beliefs, opinions and values in order to encourage discussion, for example:

The acceleration due to gravity is 9.81 m/s on Earth [True]
Mozart wrote ‘Twinkle twinkle little star’ [True]
The Battle of Hastings took place in 1066 [True]
Life exists on other planets
I love my parents
The sun rises in the east
God exists
Smoking is bad for your health
The Bible is true

Talk about some of their answers. Ask them what criteria they used to decide if the statement was true or false.

2 Play a version of the TV quiz game, Call my Bluff.

Display the ‘word’.
Ask for three volunteers to come to the front who think they can convincingly say what the word means. Give each person one of the ‘definition’ cards. Only one person has the card with the correct meaning; the other two ‘meanings’ are incorrect.
Get each of the volunteers to read their card, then to tell the audience what the word means as convincingly as they can.
When the three volunteers have finished, ask the audience to vote on which they think is the true meaning.
Now, reveal the ‘true’ one. Again, ask the question: What criteria did you use to decide if what you were being told was true or false?

Reflection

Ask: ‘So, what is truth?’ Get the students to come up with some definitions. Depending on time, you could ask for a volunteer to write up some of the suggestions on a flipchart or OHP for everyone to see.
Read out the two Bible passages (John 8:32 and John 14:6). Ask the students some open-ended questions about the passages, for example:

The Bible speaks of Jesus as being ‘the truth’. What do you think that means?
What is meant by ‘the truth will set you free’? What ‘truth’ was Jesus talking about?

Note: Be careful how you speak about these verses, remembering that there may well be faith groups other than Christian present in the assembly. Where appropriate, use the phrase, ‘Christians believe that…’.

3 Can students think of some ways in which knowing or telling the truth about things makes them ‘free’, and examples of how being lied to, or not knowing the truth can hurt people or make them confused?

Respond

In a time of quiet:

Invite the students to think of a time recently when they have not been altogether truthful. Invite them to say sorry to God for their actions and thoughts.
Say that one of the reasons Christians believe that the truth sets us free is because we can be forgiven through Jesus for all we’ve done wrong, including not always being truthful.
Read out John 8:32: ‘You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ (NCV)

Pancakes – Lent

Bible base:

Mark 8:31–38

Aim:

To help students think about the meaning of Lent.

Things you’ll need:

Two or three pancakes – made slightly thicker than usual.
A frying pan.

Preparation

Prepare your pancakes! You may only need one – the others are spares in case the first one gets broken.

Presentation

1 Ask the students what they think is special about this time of year. Help them, if necessary, towards the answer: Pancake Day!

2 Show the frying pan with one of the (cold) pancakes already in it. Ask if anyone is good at flipping pancakes. Ask for a couple of volunteers and let them try, Encourage applause for the best effort and let your volunteers sit down.

3 Now ask the students if they know the reason for Pancake Day. Encourage some answers, then briefly talk about their responses.

4 Talk about Lent, explaining that it is the time leading up to Easter. Jesus spent 40 days fasting (going without food) in the desert, thinking and praying about what God had sent him to do.

5 Explain the reason for Pancake Day. Some Christians believe that they should give up foods, as a way of showing that they are remembering Jesus’ time in the desert, spending more time praying and fasting as Jesus did. In order to clear out food from their store cupboards, people used to make pancakes. Then, during the time of Lent, they wouldn’t eat any rich foods. This tradition led to us having Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. Ask whether any of the students are intending to give up something for Lent (eg chocolate).

6 Show the pancake to the students again. Holding it up, talk about what a wonderful thing a pancake is – it can be used for all kinds of things! Give some silly examples, acting them out as you say them, for example: ‘You could use it to shine your shoes; as a face cloth; to wash under your armpits; as a hat; to play Frisbee.’ Then say, ‘Or, you could eat it.’ Begin to eat it! You could pretend to offer it to some of your audience as well!

Reflection

Put the pancake to one side. Then talk briefly about Easter. Explain that at the first Easter time, just over 2,000 years ago, Jesus died a horrible death on a cross. He gave up his life. Christians believe that he gave up all he had in heaven to come to earth for us.
Lent is a good opportunity to take some time, like Jesus did, to think about what God wants us to do with our lives. Or, to consider if there is anything in our lives which we think God would want us to give up.
At this point, you may wish to read Mark 8:31,34–36. Explain that these are some words from the Bible about Jesus when he was talking about his death.

Response

In a short time of silence, invite the students:

to take a moment to think about how they would feel if they had to give up something very precious to them. Ask them to reflect on how Jesus gave up his life for us.
to think about what God might want them to do with their lives.
to think whether there are things in their lives – apart from chocolate – which aren’t right? Encourage students to make a decision to change, asking God’s help to do so, if they’d like to.

Egg Race – Easter

Bible base:

John 11:25,26

Aim:

To help students learn more about the meaning of Easter.

Things you’ll need:

Three Cadbury’s Creme Eggs (or similar)
An advert for Cadbury’s Creme Eggs (or similar)
A stopwatch
Mini chocolate eggs – enough for one for everyone in the assembly (optional, depending on school and your finances!)

Preparation

Find out, if possible, the current ‘world-record’ for time taken to eat a Cadbury’s Creme Egg, or have a suitable other ‘record’ ready (eg from other schools, youth groups etc visited).

Presentation

1 Ask the students some questions about Easter eggs, for example:

Who likes chocolate?
How many Easter eggs did you get last year?

2 Show an advert for Creme eggs. Show them a Cadbury’s Creme Egg – hinting that someone in this assembly might get the egg!

3 Tell them the ‘record’ time taken to eat a Creme Egg. Ask if anyone thinks they could beat that.

4 Ask for two volunteers (who like Creme Eggs!). Give them both a Creme Egg and challenge them to see who can eat their egg in the shortest time. Will either of them beat the record?

Use a stop-watch for timing. Make sure that both competitors start at the same time, on your ‘Go!’. Encourage support for both (making sure that both volunteers have support!). You could ask half the audience to support one competitor, and one part the other one. Build up the atmosphere by commentating as the contest develops.

Cheer the winner. Announce the times. Is there a new record? Award the winner another egg as their prize.

Reflection

Comment that it’s great getting – and eating – Easter eggs at Easter, but what’s the point of them? Ask the students to suggest some answers.
Respond to answers given by students. These might include:

New life
Baby chicks being born
Spring/new life beginning
Jesus coming back to life.

3 Talk briefly about the answers you receive, making sure that the above are included. Then go on to explain that Christians believe Jesus’ death and resurrection – his coming back to life – mean that forgiveness, new life and the chance to start again are possible for everyone.

Response

1 In a time of quiet, ask students to think about:

What does Easter mean to me?
Are there any ways in which I need to make a new start?

2 Pray, if appropriate, then wish everyone ‘Happy Easter’!

Optional extra: Tell students that you’re going to give them each a mini-Easter egg as they leave. As they eat it, ask them to think about anything they need forgiveness for, or ways in which they need to make a fresh start. Say that they could even ask God to help them with that. (Make sure you encourage them to put the wrapping in a rubbish bin!)

Enigmas – Easter

Aim

To show pupils that the only reasonable explanation of the mystery of the empty tomb is that Jesus rose from the dead.

Bible base

John 19 – the death and burial of Jesus
John 20:1-10; Luke 24:1-12; Matthew 28:1-15 – the empty tomb;
John 20:11-29; 21:1-22; Luke 24: 13-53; Matthew 28:16-20 – appearances of Jesus after his resurrection.

You will need:

Either a digital projector & laptop or visual display cards.

Preparation

Prepare display cards or powerpoint for each enigma

Content

Enigmas

1. Explain that you are going to play ‘enigmas’. An enigma is another name for a puzzle or a riddle. You are going to describe some situations. The contestants have to work out how and why those situations have come about. For the sake of time in this assembly, they may only ask a maximum of three questions to which you can answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

2. Ask for six volunteers to make two teams of three people each. Each team takes turns in trying to solve the following ‘enigmas’. Display each ‘enigma’ in turn, so that everyone in the audience has the opportunity to consider them. Here are the ‘enigmas’ (NB: they are quite well known situations, so be prepared for quick answers!):

In the middle of a field is a hat, a scarf, a pipe, a carrot and a few lumps of coal. (Answer: A snowman has melted.)
A man goes into a pub and asks for a glass of water. The man behind the bar takes out a gun and points it at the man’s head. The man says, ‘Thanks,’ and walks out. Why? (Answer: he had hiccups! The barman frightened him to make the hiccups stop.)
A man is pushing a car along. He can see a hotel in the distance and he knows that when he gets there, he’ll have to give the owner of the hotel a lot of money. Why? (Answer: He’s playing Monopoly!)
An empty ship is floating in calm waters. It is far from any port and is in no danger of sinking. There is no one on board, there are no signs of a struggle and it hasn’t been reported missing. Why? (Answer: It’s a plastic toy boat in someone’s bath!)

3. Whether the two teams get the answers right ot not, give them all a round of applause and then pose the next situation to the entire audience:

• A cave hollowed out of a rock has been used as a grave. The mystery is – it’s empty. Inside, the sheets which had been wrapped around the body are lying on the floor. Why?

4. Suggest a few questions people might ask in order to solve this ‘enigma’, and follow each with the answer. For example:

Did the person really die? (Answer: Yes. He was executed by experts.)
Was the body stolen? (Answer: No. The body was never produced.)
Did this person appear alive to anyone after his execution and disappearance from his grave? (Answer: Yes, to well over 500 people on various occasions.)

5. Say that the most reasonable explanation for this ‘enigma’ is: this person must have risen from the dead!

Application

Explain that the enigma you have just solved is not a made-up one like the ones in the game earlier. This enigma is actually the key to the Christian faith.
Many people through the centuries have asked many more questions than these about this amazing event. And they have ended up coming to the conclusion that Jesus Christ – the person buried in that grave in the cave – did come back to life from the dead, and he could only do this because he was none other than God himself.