We have gathered together to worship God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and to learn more about Jesus, the light of the world.
This term we will be thinking together with our families about the value of joy.
Ask your child / one of your children to read the following Bible verse: John 8.12
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
This morning we are going to listen to a story about a girl who was looking forward to going to a gymnastics class.
Eleanor was peering through the kitchen window, feeling miserable. She had been looking forward to her gymnastics class all day. Her mum had promised that they could set off early and have a picnic in the park on the way. Eleanor loved the new park with its shiny swings and slides. But now it had started to pour with rain and she didn’t feel like getting cold and wet.
‘Are you ready, Eleanor?’ Mum shouted, making Eleanor jump.
‘No!’ she shouted back grumpily. She really didn’t want to go out any more.
‘Eleanor, it’s time to go,’ said Mum, sounding frustrated. ‘Let’s put your wellies on and get going.’
‘Do I have to?’ grumbled Eleanor. ‘It’s raining out there. I’d rather stay home and I don’t want to get wet and now we can’t have a picnic and I can’t play in the park! It’s not fair!’
‘Come on now,’ said Mum crossly. ‘We’ve got an umbrella you can use and you’ll enjoy gym class once you get there.’
Eleanor did what her mum asked. She put on her coat and wellies and got the umbrella ready. When she went outside, Eleanor shivered. She felt sad. She had looked forward to something all day and now it felt like everything had gone wrong.
Mum took hold of her hand and they set off. Somehow it felt better when they were walking. When Mum suggested that they jumped in the puddles, Eleanor forgot to be sad, but instead she laughed and laughed.
Her feet were warm inside her wellies and she felt safe and happy holding her mum’s hand. She got a little wet, but it was much better than she thought it was going to be.
When Eleanor arrived at the gym class, she had a big smile on her face.
‘Well done,’ whispered Mum, smiling, too. ‘Walking through the rain wasn’t so bad, was it?’
Explain that the story is meant to teach us an important lesson. Ask the children if they can guess what the lesson is.
Listen to a range of responses.
Point out that there is a famous saying: ‘April showers bring May flowers.’
Ask the children if they can guess what the saying means.
Explain that April is often known as a month where there are a lot of rain showers. The month following April is May. May is often sunny and lots of summer flowers begin to appear. The April rain is what brings us the most beautiful flowers. The beauty of the flowers follows the rain, hence the saying, ‘April showers bring May flowers.
Explain that sometimes, we go through difficult times in our lives. We may feel sad or lonely, or things may seem to go wrong with our families or friends. These can feel like dark, ‘rainy’, gloomy times. However, in those times, it is important to hold onto people whom we know and trust.
Eleanor, the girl in our story, didn’t want to go out in the rain. But to get to gym class, which she enjoyed, she had to go through the rain. When we go through hard times, we can know that happiness will come again. In our story, having an umbrella, wearing wellies, wearing a coat and having her mum helped Eleanor through the rain, and she was even happy at some points during the rain. In the same way, we have people and things in our life that can help us through hard times.
Ask the children for examples of people whom they can turn to in difficult times.
Remind the children that they never need to go through a hard time on their own. It is important to talk about the way they are feeling and to ask for help.
Christians believe that the Bible teaches that God is with us during the April showers as well as when we see the flowers in May. Christians believe that God is close to those who are hurting and that God gives them hope.
Let’s sing together the following hymn
https://www.worshipworkshop.org.uk/songs-and-hymns/hymns/give-me-joy-in-my-heart/
GIVE ME JOY IN MY HEART
- Give me joy in my heart keep me praising
Give me joy in my heart I pray
Give me joy in my heart keep me praising
Keep me praising till the end of day .
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna
Sing hosanna to the King of kings
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King.
- Give me peace in my heart, keep me resting,
Give me peace in my heart I pray
Give me peace in my heart , keep me resting,
Keep me resting till the end of day.
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings,
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King.
- .Give me love in my heart , keep me serving,
Give me love in my heart I pray,
Give me love in my heart , keep me serving,
Keep me serving till the end of day.
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna ,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings,
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King.
- .Give me light in my heart, keep me shining,
Give me light in my heart I pray,
Give me light in my heart, keep me shining,
Keep me shining tlll the end of day .
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings,
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King
- Give me light in my heart
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you that when we experience hard times, there are people who want to help us.
Thank you that when we experience hard times, you are there with us.
Thank you that we know hard times will end and we will experience joy and peace again.
Please help people who are feeling sad and lonely at the moment during the coronavirus epidemic.
Please help us always to be looking for ways in which we can help to bring joy to others.
We pray for all our friends, families and school community and look forward to the joy we will experience when we can all meet again.
Amen.
