This week’s bible story
The Unforgiving Servant: Matthew 18: 21-35
Have you ever broken anything? It could be a toy or a plate from the kitchen or even a bone in your body. Some things that are broken cannot be mended, but it is often possible to mend things that we have broken. If we care for our environment, it is a very good idea to try to mend things rather than always throwing them away and then buying new things. For example, what might use to mend the following things if they were broken: a hole in the toe of my socks? a ripped page in a book? a handle that has come off a mug? a puncture in my bike tyre? a cut finger?
What could you do about mending a broken friendship?
When you fall out with one of your friends, you can’t mend that friendship with a needle and thread, or some sellotape, or superglue or a puncture kit or a sticking plaster. Read the story about the Unforgiving Servant.
Jesus explained to his friend Peter that God is like the king in the story: Christians believe God forgives us every time we tell him we are sorry for the wrong things we have done, and he wants us to treat our friends in a similar way – forgiving them each time they say ‘sorry’ to us.
Reflection:
What would you say was the key word in that story? The key word could be ‘forgiveness’.
Have a think about these questions:
‘What does it mean to forgive someone?’ (KS2) or ‘What kind of things do you need to say sorry for? (KS1).
At the end of the Bible story Jesus tells us that, if we have done something wrong, we need to say sorry to God and then he will forgive us. In a similar way, if you have fallen out with a friend, two things often need to happen: if you know you have done something wrong or upset someone, you need to be brave enough to say sorry to that person. The person to whom you have said sorry then needs to forgive you.
So, going back to the questions at the beginning of the assembly:
What might I use to mend a broken friendship? A good answer to this question would be ‘forgiveness’.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for today’s Bible story about forgiveness.
Thank you that if we say sorry to you, you give us a fresh start.
Please help us to be forgiving people here in this school.
Amen.
This week’s bible story
‘We should learn to forgive.’ (Ephesians 4.32)
Read this story about Omar and his friend Freddy.
Reflection:
Forgiving helps friends to be friendly again.
Forgiving others makes us happier.
In the bible, it says ‘We should learn to forgive.’ (Ephesians 4.32). It doesn’t always mean it will be easy to forgive. It is something that we need to learn and something we will get better at.
Prayer:
Let us say together the prayer that Jesus taught us: The Lord’s Prayer.
In this prayer, we are reminded about forgiveness: ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’
This means that when we do something wrong we should ask for forgiveness and we should learn to forgive others when they do things that upset us.
This week’s bible story
The son who left home continued: Luke 15: 11-32
This half term, our bible story that Jesus told was about the son who sold his share of his father’s farm he was to inherit and went off to the city intending to enjoy himself. You will also remember that, in the end, he decided it was a big mistake and went back home to beg his father’s forgiveness. Much to his surprise, his father forgave him completely and even threw a party for him. That’s where we left the story last time, but Jesus did not end it there – he also talked about the eldest son, who had stayed at home.
Read the story of the Lost son continued.
Reflection:
Consider the feelings of the father, the eldest brother and the younger brother at each stage of the story.
How many things related to our homes and families do we often take for granted?
Prayer:
Father God,
Help us to share gladly in the success of others.
When someone does well, may we be happy to congratulate them.
When someone falls, help us to comfort them.
Forgive us when we take things for granted and help us to appreciate all the good things we have.
Amen
This week’s bible story
Jesus is friends with Zacchaeus: Luke 19: 1-10
Have you ever heard the story of Burglar Bill – Bill goes out every night. Getting into houses through open windows and taking things. Until one night, Bill found a baby, and that changed his whole life …
There is a Bible story about a man who stole from other people. He took extra money when he gave them their tax bills and became very rich on all the money that he stole. Zaccheus was a little man and that small people can’t see in crowds. Read the story of Zacchaeus to find out what happened to him.
Reflection:
Jesus loved everyone when he lived on the earth. It didn’t matter how bad people were, Jesus was always there for those who needed him. This is true for us too – no one is so bad that God doesn’t love them. And the more time we spend with God – praying, thinking about him, finding out about him, the more we want to be like Jesus; kind, helpful and good. Just like Zacchaeus, Burglar Bill changed his ways and tried to be more like Jesus by loving those around him.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that Jesus loved Zacchaeus even when he wasn’t making the right choices. Help us to love all of those around us.
Amen
This week’s bible story
The Lost Coin: Luke 15.1-9
Read the story in Luke 15.1-9.
Or suppose a woman who has ten silver coins loses one of them – what does she do? She lights a lamp, sweeps her house, and looks carefully everywhere until she finds it. When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, and says to them, ‘I am so happy I found the coin I lost. Let us celebrate!’
It doesn’t seem much of a story, does it? A woman loses a coin, she searches high and low, then she finds it and is so pleased that she throws a party for her friends – it’s hardly Harry Potter, is it?
The coin must have been valuable for the woman to search for it so hard and long and to be so pleased when she found it.
This is a parable – a simple tale that is meant to give listeners something to think about. Even this very simple story can have a big meaning.
Reflection:
If I lose something that doesn’t matter to me –
an old leaflet, a broken pencil, a toy I don’t play with any more,
if I lose something that doesn’t matter to me,
it doesn’t bother me much at all.
If I lose something that does matter to me –
some money, my lunch, my favourite toy,
if I lose something that does matter to me,
I search and search and don’t stop until I find it,
or until I know it’s really lost.
Jesus said that God looks for me like that:
searching high and low
never letting go
making sure I know
that I’m so
very, very special.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that you love us so much you would search for us just like the woman searched for the lost coin. Help us to show our friends how much they mean to us.
Amen
This week’s bible story
Moses: Exodus 20.1-17
Moses is one of the great biblical heroes and is revered by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. There are many stories about this great and inspirational leader, but one of the things that we most associate with Moses is the Ten Commandments. The ten commandments are ten instructions about the way people should live if they are to be happy and live together in peace.
Read the story of Moses and the ten commandments.
Moses tried to keep the people’s spirits high and led them on through the desert until they came to the Oasis of Sinai. Here, there was water and food and they could set up their tents for a while. It was on Mount Sinai that God gave Moses a list of rules about the best way to live.
Reflection:
The first three commandments are about loving God, but the others are about loving other people. The world would not be a good place if everyone just did whatever they felt like doing all the time. If there were no rules, people could do bad or unkind things and get away with it. Rules are important so that we learn about what is right and wrong, good and bad, helpful and unhelpful. Rules are there for a reason: to help us stay safe.
In the New Testament part of the Bible, Jesus spoke about a new commandment that has two parts. He stated that people should love God and love others. How could we do that today?
Prayer
Dear God,
Help us to see that rules are there to keep us safe and happy.
Help us to love other people and to act in a way that shows care for them.
Help us to follow the best ways.
Be near to us when we find it difficult.
Guide us to live together in peace and harmony.
Amen.
This week’s bible story
The Lost Sheep: Luke 15.3-7
Have you ever received a card with the words ‘Love from . . .’ written in it.
What do you think the words mean. ‘What does “love” mean?’
The dictionary defines it as ‘a strong feeling of affection’.
Think about things that they love. Who are the people whom they love? Who loves you? How does it feel to be loved?
There are times when everyone feels alone or unloved. Maybe we have done something wrong and are in trouble, or maybe we just feel down in the dumps and it makes us feel like no one cares about us very much.
Christians believe that no matter what happens to us, God always loves us. There are many stories in the Bible about God loving people. One of them is the story of the lost sheep. In this story, the shepherd loses a sheep, but cares for it so much that he looks and looks until the sheep is found again.
Read the story from Luke 15.3-7. The story makes the point that no matter how many of us there are in our school, our family or the world, each one of us matters to God. Remembering this can help us never to feel alone and always to feel special.
Reflection:
Let’s think about the people who care for us and show us love.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Let’s think about the people whom we love. How can we show love to them?
Pause to allow time for thought.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for the people who love and care for me.
Please help me to show them that I am grateful and a happier person because of it.
Being loved makes me feel safe and happy. I feel warm inside and special.
Help me to love others so that they may feel that way, too.
Help those people who feel lonely and sad.
May they remember that they are loved by you and are never alone because you are always there.
Thank you for loving me.
Amen.
This week’s bible story
‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.’ (1 Corinthians 13.4-8)
In February, we celebrate Valentines Day. This was originally the day for the Church to celebrate or remember St Valentine, but over time, it has developed into a day to send cards, buy presents or flowers and celebrate love. What do you think love means?
Watch this video of Anna and Hans from Frozen. Anna and Hans have apparently fallen head over heels in love: love at first sight! Ask the children what love looks like to Anna and Hans. There is so much more to love than this. Love is something that we all experience, and in different ways: the love of parents or carers, of grandparents, siblings, friends . . . these are all different types of love, but they all give us a glimpse of what love is.
Reflection:
There is a passage in the Bible that tells us more about what love is like. It is a passage that is often read at weddings.
‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.’ (1 Corinthians 13.4-8)
This definition sets the bar pretty high! In truth, as human beings, we do boast and we aren’t always patient and kind. However, when we feel love, we get to experience the qualities in this definition, such as patience and kindness.
Christians believe that love is God’s gift to earth, so when Jesus came to earth and died on the cross, he did it to demonstrate this love.
How we can show this love to others. How can we be the people to demonstrate love in the world around us?
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you for your gift of love.
Please help us to show this love to other people.
Amen.
Christmas Dinner
What an amazing Christmas dinner we have all had together. The kitchen staff have been beavering away so that we could enjoy our traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings (plus vegetarian option!) 
We all enjoyed sharing a joke or fact from our Christmas crackers.
It was great to celebrate as a whole school family.
Some of our nursery children joined us too!
Key Stage 2 all made party hats to dazzle us with. You may even spot a few sporting a moustache.
So thank you to our amazing staff!
This week’s bible story
Perseverance despite circumstances: Daniel 6:1-28 (omit verse 24)
Read the story of Daniel (omit verse 24 for younger or sensitive children)
Daniel was captured, along with many more of God’s people, and taken to live in a foreign country. In this country, they had different traditions and customs and it was not acceptable to worship God. But Daniel chose to continue serving God. Even though it meant that he was risking death, Daniel knelt down and honoured God by praying three times a day.
When the king discovered that Daniel was breaking the law by praying to God, he had Daniel thrown into a den of hungry lions. God stood by Daniel and rewarded his unwavering commitment to righteousness by protecting him from being eaten by the lions.
Reflection:
Do you think Daniel was lazy, or a hard worker?
When Daniel found out that he would be thrown into a lion’s den if he continued to pray, what did he do?
Why do you think Daniel continued to kneel down to pray instead of praying quietly in his head so that others could not see that he was praying?
How did God reward Daniel’s perseverance?
Prayer:
Dear God,
We can often end up in situations when life feels hard or difficult or when we feel we are out on a limb compared to everyone else.
Help us to persevere when times are tough.
Amen