Key Stage 1 Assembly: Prayer

Transcription

1 Key Stage 1 Assembly: Prayer Loving God, For the people who help us every day. Thank you, Lord. For the freedom we have to help others. Thank you, Lord. For the work of The Children s Society to help parents and their children. Thank you, Lord. Key Stage 2 Assembly: Prayer Loving Lord, We pray for people like Rachel, who need help to change their lives. Help us to change the world. We pray for the people we know, those we might be able to help. Help us to change the world. We pray for the work of The Children s Society, that they might change lives. Help us to change the world. Messy Church Resources: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (hold out your hands as if taking a present) and the love of God (give yourself a hug) and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (hold hands with someone) be with us all, now and forever. Amen! (raise joined hands in the air)

2 Order of service: Gathering prayer You might like to invite the congregation to link arms with the person either side of them, if possible including across any row or pew divides, so that everyone is physically linked together as you all say this prayer opening prayer. Jesus, who left behind unimaginable riches and came to find us, Jesus, you are here. We share in God s love. Jesus, who came and walked alongside us to demonstrate God s love for us, Jesus, you are here. We never have to walk alone. Jesus, who showed us how to love all your children, especially those who are struggling in poverty, Jesus you are here. Together, we can reach out and share what we have so all are included. We make this prayer, in your name. Invite the congregation to accompany their response line with a simple action. When they say the first part, they should put one hand in front of their eyes to symbolise people being in darkness. In the second half, they should remove it to symbolise the coming of the light. Leader [cover eyes]today we recall the time before Jesus came, a time when the world was in darkness because it didn t know the fullness of God s love. [uncover eyes] Jesus saw our need and gave up everything, so that we might be included in the perfect family of love with God. Inspired by his glorious sunshine light, each of us can seek to be a small reflection of it, a candle flame, as we choose to lay down some of what we have so that those children and families who don t have enough can be seen, helped and included in the light of God s love. Jesus Christ, light of the world, [cross hands across chest then open wide and up] lead us out of darkness, to be children of your light. [hands pointing forward, slide one hand forward and the other follows] Jesus Christ, who shines the light of love into our lives, [cross hands across chest then open wide and up] lead us out of darkness, to be children of your light. [hands pointing forward, slide one hand forward and the other follows] Jesus Christ, who calls us to follow the way of light, [cross hands across chest then open wide and up] lead us out of darkness, to be children of your light. [hands pointing forward, slide one hand forward and the other follows]

3 Jesus Christ, who calls us to lay down our lives to help bring light to children in dark situations, [cross hands across chest then open wide and up] lead us out of darkness, to be children of your light. Loving Jesus, who led us out of darkness so we can become children of light, give us the brightness to shine in the world, the commitment to follow your light and the courage to face dark situations so that all can become children of your light. We make this prayer in your name, Order of service: Prayers of penitence You might use simple actions alongside each stage of the worship in order to symbolise independence/selfishness, repentance and surrender to God and a willingness to come alongside others in our community. Invite people to put their hands on their hips. Leader: Loving Lord, who gave up everything for us, we are sorry for the times when we think mostly about ourselves, our own needs, our own wants, our own comfort, our own independence, our own personal interests. We are sorry that we often seek to do very little for you, for those closest to us and for those immediately visible to us, for those who are on the edge of our society, hidden behind closed doors trapped by the fear of money running out, for those frightened to tell others what they need because they don t want to be difficult. Loving Lord, as we celebrate you giving up everything for us, we are sorry that we so often end up thinking of ourselves even more than ever, our own wants, our own comfort; our own way of doing things, our own special traditions. We are sorry that we often end up excluding you from a central place in our celebrations and don t do everything we can to share what we have so others can enjoy celebrating too. Invite people to open their hands up and out in front of themselves. Loving Lord, we are truly sorry and we want to be different. Help us to open our hearts to you, each other, and to all your children again. Help us to open our eyes to the work of The Children s Society who can help us reach behind doors that will always be closed to us personally.

4 Help us to open our hands in willingness to care more about you and your children, than ourselves. Challenge us and change us to generously share what we have so that all children can be helped and cared for in the way you desire, in a way that reflects your love. We make this prayer, in your name. May the Father s overwhelming love, Jesus sacrificial generosity and the Spirit s gentle hunger for change come and fill us again. Loving God, restore us and renew us so we can reach out beyond ourselves to you, to each other, and to the children in our country who need our help. Inspire us to work together to make things different. Order of service: Thanksgiving You might like to encourage the congregation to put their hands together and offer a round of applause alongside their response words each time. Explain that they will have to raise their voices to be heard over this and explain that this is a good thing, because it s right to make a joyful, loud noise to thank God for all He s done directly, and through the work of The Children s Society. Thank you, Jesus, for leaving heaven s beauty and splendour to come to find us. We praise you, Lord Jesus! You came to find us. Thank you, Jesus, for coming alongside us and drawing us back into the fullness of God s love. We thank you, Lord Jesus! You come alongside us. Thank you, Jesus, for showing us how to seek out and help all who are on the edge. We trust you, Lord Jesus! Yours is the perfect way to follow. Thank you, Jesus, for the work of The Children s Society and for every child they help, especially those living in families struggling to make ends meet. We glorify you, Lord Jesus! You lead us to love like you do. Thank you, Jesus, that you give us all the chance to join you in reaching out to these children. We worship you, Lord Jesus! We want to give like you do. Order of service: Prayers of intercession We pray for children growing up in families struggling to make ends meet.

5 Lord Jesus, it hurts to think about this. Part of us would rather not. We d rather look away. Help us to reach out, and come alongside them. We thank you for the Christingle and the ribbon that represents your loving sacrifice, wrapping itself around the world. We ask you to wrap your loving arms around each child in need today. Be close to each one who doesn t have enough of the basic things they need, who is avoiding telling a parent or carer to avoid causing more stress; or who is frightened of what might happen or of people finding out how hard things are at home. We ask you to keep opening our eyes to see them and help them, directly in our communities, and through the work of The Children s Society throughout our country. Come, Lord Jesus, hear our prayer. We pray for the work of The Children s Society. Bless their projects to help children and to champion their rights to our government. Help them to continue to challenge us to care, give and speak up on behalf of others. Bless every area of their work. Uphold their staff in your love and may every child who comes into contact with them continue to receive the love and practical care they need. Come, Lord Jesus, hear our prayer. We pray for the research and campaigning work of The Children s Society striving to raise awareness about those in difficult situations, and explain the effects new policies might have on them. Help us all continue to speak up for children who don t have a voice. And help those with power to hear what we are saying and prioritise children and their childhoods above power, popularity or money. Come, Lord Jesus, hear our prayer. We pray for ourselves. We cannot love like you do in our own strength we are quick to focus in on ourselves again and slow to remember those we cannot easily see, or whom we would rather not remember. We ask that you would keep filling us up so we can keep reaching out and coming alongside, just as you do. Come, Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.

6 Order of service: Offertory prayer Lord Jesus, who gave up untold riches for us, we offer you back today this small reflection of your love. We ask you to bless this money and the practical care and genuine love that it will help resource. We pray that every child helped through The Children s Society as a result of this generosity will receive a rich demonstration of your love. Order of service: A Christingle holding prayer Lord Jesus, I stretch out my hands and receive this gift, and I hold it tight because it is mine. My Christingle. Light, fruit, sweets, colour, but so much more precious than this. I hold in my hands a picture of your love. I imagine all the other special things I might hold. Lord Jesus, help me to remember those with little or nothing to hold, especially other children who don t have enough to eat or a safe place to live. Today, as I hold my Christingle and remember you, I pray that you would make me someone, like you, who will reach out my opened hands to give and love like you do. Order of service: Blessing Invite the congregation to turn and face a neighbour on one side of them so that everyone is looking at someone else as you say this blessing. Encourage them to smile their biggest smile at each other as they do so. May the light that is Jesus lead you always. May your heart be more for the people around you than yourself. May your resolve be to reach out in love and come alongside those in need with God s generous compassion. And may your life be a witness of the blessing that comes with giving, for the sake of all God s children, and for the glory of God s name. Prayers and Prayer activities Sharing our good gifts You will need: lolly sticks, a bowl of sweets and two containers containing wet sand.

7 Before the session, write as many good gifts as you can think of on the lolly sticks and stick these in one container. (These might include food, home, friends and family.) Explain that these sticks symbolise all the good things we enjoy. Invite people to take one, thank God for the good thing then stick it into the other container, praying for children who don t currently have it/enough of it. Pass around the sweets. Lead a short prayer for The Children s Society s work and for us all that we will share what we have with these children. Praying colour into poverty You will need: a roll of wallpaper and three coloured washable marker pens. Invite a child to lie down on the rolled out paper and another to draw around them. Summarise Annie s situation and explain you are going to pray for children like her. In one colour, write down prayer words which say how hard life might be for children living in families like hers. In the second colour, write down prayers asking for change and thanking God for The Children s Society. In the third, ask God what you could do to help or say what you would like to commit to do both individually and together. This activity can be adapted for individual use by giving each person a sheet of paper and three different coloured pens and inviting them to work through the steps outlined above on their own. A prayer of thanks for The Children s Society Lord Jesus, you came from heaven as a child and kings and shepherds saw your infinite worth, you came because you loved us, your children, and you gave everything for us because you valued us. Thank you for all those people, including The Children s Society, who work to follow your loving example. Give them everything they need to keep representing your heart to all the children they serve, whether runaways, refugees, carers, those living with disabilities or those whose families are desperately struggling to make ends meet.

8 Give them the courage to keep championing every child s infinite worth to governments, churches, social services and communities. Give us the strength to support their work to make your love known to all your children. We make this prayer, in your name, A responsorial prayer for children living in poverty All Lord Jesus, today, please help us to see Leader All children who are hungry, All those who have had to leave their home, Or are frightened they might have to soon, Because Mum or Dad or someone else says they can t pay the bills. All Lord Jesus, today, please help us to see. All Lord Jesus, today, please help us to see All children who are frightened to ask for what they need, Hiding how they feel or embarrassed in front of their friends, Because Mum and Dad or someone else is struggling and life doesn t feel safe. All Lord Jesus, today, please help us to see All Lord Jesus, today, please help us to see All the children we might be able to help, Through noticing among our neighbours, friends and family Any mums, dads or carers who are struggling and need our support. All Lord Jesus, today, please help us to see. All Lord Jesus, today, please help us to see the good work of The Children s Society to support your children and help us to work with them To work with you until every child s childhood is good. All Lord Jesus, today, please help us to see.

9 Contemporary Service: Prayer Points Prayer points Thank God for the visual symbol and reminder the Christingle provides of Jesus amazing love and how he calls us to follow him in laying down our lives for others. Thank God for the opportunity Christingle events provide over the Christmas period: Last year 836,850 Christingle candles were ordered, reaching nearly a million children with the message of light and helping thousands more by raising vital funds for The Children s Society. Pray a blessing on all the Christingle services happening this year, that they will spread the message of Jesus love and raise vital awareness and money for The Children s Society s work with children. Thank God for the work of The Children s Society (founded by The Church of England) and all the work they do: through their projects helping children living in poverty; young carers; runaways; young refugees; children with disabilities; gypsy and Roma young people; children in trouble with the law and those living with adults struggling with substance abuse; to foster better understanding between generations and to better understood the state of childhood through research projects and policy reports; campaigning and lobbying to decision makers on behalf of children. Intercede about child poverty the area of The Children s Society s work particularly in focus this year. An estimated 3.6 million children in the UK live in poverty: that s not far off 1 in 3 or the entire population of New Zealand. o Thank God for the difference made by individuals, local churches and organisations such as The Children s Society. o Pray for the heart of the nation and its leaders to change so children are prioritised.

10 o Pray also for the church that it would fully own its calling and responsibility to care for poor families.