Sin and mud: an assembly for Lent

You will need a bucket with some soil in it, a bowl of clean warm water, a couple of towels and some soap. (It is a lot but it is worth it!)

Show the children the bucket of soil and add water to it to make mud.
Ask them who likes to get muddy.
Bring out one child, ask them their (name) and ask them to get their hands all muddy.

Say the problem about getting muddy is that we need to get clean again. Why does (name) need to get clean.
Among answers, there will hopefully be:
Because if they don't they'll make other people muddy, they'll get sick from germs, the mud will stick onto them.

Talk about how many Christians use Lent as a time to look at mud - not the mud on the outside, but the mud on the inside of our lives:
- unkind things
- unkind words
- we want people to be fair to us, but we are not always fair to them
- we sometimes don't do the right thing because we are frightened of what others will say
- we tell lies and then further lies to get ourselves out of the lies we have already told
- we don't say sorry, or we take people for granted
And we realise that we need to clean up.

The problem is that we can't clean ourselves up. We try to be good, to pull our socks up, but it never seems to work.

Give (name) a clean white towel and ask them to clean themselves up. They simply get more muddy and the towel gets muddy.
Ask a teacher, or get someone sensible to come to front, and help (name) wash their hands in the water and dry them with a clean towel.

As they are having their hands washed, say how Christians believe that we can't make ourselves clean on the inside, but that we need Jesus to make us clean. Jesus is the only person who can really clean us on the inside. He forgives us and he can start to get rid of the inner mud, if we ask him.

Finish with a prayer thanking God for his forgiveness because of Jesus, and asking him to make us clean on the inside

Seeking what is lost

THE LOST COIN (KS 1/2)

Based on the story of the widow and the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10)
You will need 11 cut out coins, and possibly a torch

Who likes being told off when they have been bad?
Who likes someone else being told off when they have been bad?
It makes you feel really good.

Jesus tells a story to people who think that they are very good and that others are bad and think that God should punish them.
But it is also a story for people who know that they are bad and who think that God is going to punish them.

It is the story a woman who has 10 coins.

[Tell the story with 10 cut out coins. Count them out into the hand of a volunteer. Then count them out again - this time keeping 2 together so there are only 9. Ask children what she should do. They'll say 'Look for it'. Have an additional coin somewhere in the hall. Look for it yourself, then form a search party etc.] 

Why does she search?  She could have said 'I've got 9. That is enough'.
Because they are precious/important to her

What does she do when she finds them?
She has a party.

Jesus says God is like that.

God is into search and rescue!

He doesn't want to punish people who do bad.
Instead he has come to find people who want to be good, but who find that we do bad - and he comes to rescue us.

Why? Because we are all precious to him, and he doesn't want to lose any of us
When he finds us, he has a big party

Emptying the rubbish: an assembly for lent

A primary assembly:
You will need some cleaning utensils and a hoover. 

Sun is shining - shows up all the dirt and cobwebs.
Time for a spring clean

It is a good time for a spring clean, so I've brought along the brush, dustpan and hoover. Who can give me a hand?

But often it is not just the house or the school that needs cleaning up. Sometimes we need cleaning up. If you've been involved in a mud fight, you come back from a football match, and you get home. mum picks you up and drops you in the bath. You are filthy and you need a good scrub.

But it is not just the house that needs cleaning; it is not just our bodies. What is inside also needs cleaning up!

We're a bit like hoovers.
The hoover cleans up rubbish. But where does the rubbish go?
And what happens if you don't empty the bag?
[loses suction - sucking power - and eventually clogs up]

And as we go through life we collect the rubbish. And there are times when we need to empty the bag:
So what is some of the sort of rubbish we need to empty
- owning up if we've done something wrong (not carrying the fear that we are going to be caught out)
- saying sorry (not carrying guilt)
- forgiving someone (not carrying the resentment)
- telling someone (parent, teacher) that we are hurting or frightened
- ask for help (not trying to do something all on our own)

Lent is that time of year when Christians have a bit of a spring clean.

Hoovers are not able to empty themselves. They need someone to do it.
And we can't empty ourselves.
That is why Christians come to Jesus and ask him to help us empty the bag of all the rubbish that is inside us.

You don't need to say sorry!

(for KS1 and KS2)

Sorry can be an easy word to say

I have 3 boys. There are times when they fight with each other. We tell them 'Say sorry'. They say 'Sorry', but you know that they are not sorry. They are only saying it because we've told them to. In fact they are quite pleased that they hit the other and what they're really sorry about is that they didn't hit them harder. 

Sorry can also be a very hard word to say. 

Sometimes I think sorry is a harder thing to say when you really are sorry.

Friends know that.
There are some people who say to their friends, 'You can only be my friend if you say sorry'
But it is not always true. What is important is not necessarily what you say, but what you feel.

I'd like to tell you the story of two people who were friends

Jesus had invited Peter to come and be his friend. Peter has said Yes
Peter tells Jesus that he will never ever let him down. 'I will never let you down'
But Peter does let Jesus down badly

Jesus was in trouble - big trouble, serious trouble. In fact the biggest trouble you could be in. They had arrested him and were going to kill him - not for anything he had done wrong. They were just trying to get him.
Peter followed Jesus: someone says to him, 'You were with Jesus'.
Peter - because he is frightened - says No. Not just once but three times. And Jesus hears
Peter is crushed

He feels horrible about himself
He didn't do what he said he would do
He worries what Jesus will think of him
And then Jesus is then killed. Peter thinks that he will never have the chance to put it right.

But 3 days later, because Jesus is the Son of God, he rose from the dead.

Now what would you do if you were Jesus?
Would you ditch Peter? After all he ditched you.
Would you say, 'Peter you can only be my friend if you say sorry?'

Peter never says sorry  - Peter shows that he is sorry
When he does it, he actually goes away and because he feels so bad about himself he cries
And when he is told that Jesus is alive, he is one of the first to run to see if it is true
And when Jesus appears, Peter jumps out of a fishing boat to get to Jesus

 Jesus doesn't ditch Peter
He doesn't say to Peter: 'You can only be my friend if you say sorry'.
That might be just a bit too hard for Peter to say, at this point.
Jesus knows that Peter is sorry - and so all he asks Peter is, 'Will you still be my friend?' He asks him that question three times.

If your friend lets you down, and actually you know that they feel bad about what they have done
- don't ditch them
- don't even say to them, 'You can only be my friend IF you say sorry'. Good friends don't do that.
Instead go to them and ask, 'Would you still be my friend'?

Unconditional love

KS 3/4
Based on John 3:16
No props, although could use song 'For God so loved the world' by John Hardwick
http://www.johnhardwick.org.uk/media/sheetmusic/For%20God%20So%20Loved%20The%20World.pdf
Also useful to have text of John 3:16

It is exam time. I wonder what motivates you?

Some of your parents may have said to you: 'We'll give you £100 if you get an A star!'
It is a conditional gift. If you are good enough, we'll reward you.

That may be right for you, but I have to say that I am grateful that God is not like that.

God does not say to us, 'If you are a good person then I will give you eternal life'.
We may try our hardest - but we just end up putting pressure on ourselves and making the lives of others unbearable. We either think we have succeeded or become proud; or we think we have failed, and feel condemned

Fortunately God is not like that. God offers an unconditional gift.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

We don't need to prove ourselves worthy. We simply need to receive.