Autumn Term 1

In the collective worship box each week

Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)

• Bible
• Cross
• Candle

For this week – have a small globe, some animals and fish, leaves and flowers, a moon and sun picture, a torch, 2 lego people or figures

Making links

This connects with the concept of Creation and panel 1 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the creation concept symbol in your box.

Additional resource – Bible Infographics for Kids pages 8-9 ‘How on earth did it all begin?’

Digging deeper and learning more

The biblical narrative begins with a poetic account of the creation of the world, it tells us little about the creator, God, simply suggesting the pre-existence of the deity. There is a logical progression to this description of how our world was formed, moving from the creation of light to the formation of land sea and sky, which was then populated with plants, then animals and finally humanity. Two prototypical humans are placed in a specially planted garden, but fail in their obedience to God; from this spring all the hazards of life. 

The title Genesis literally means beginnings; in its unfolding chapters it accounts for the foundation of the Hebrew nation and God’s first covenant or agreement with the created world. The opening chapters do not pretend to offer a scientific explanation, nor offer complex details of any particular evolutionary progression. It is instead a timeless tale accessible to people throughout history, independent of esoteric knowledge, framed in myth, legend and story but featuring individuals who are revealed as only too human.

Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the normal time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.  

Opening responses

If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:

We take out the Bible 
And think about God the Father
We take out the cross 
And think about God’s son, Jesus
We light the candle
And think about God , the Holy Spirit

If you are using this for class worship – take out the items in the box (see notes for the teacher) and place them in the centre

Big question – I wonder what we are going to be thinking about today

Hold up or point to the Bible and explain that this year we are going to be journeying through the Bible together in our collective worship. 

When we read a book where do we start?

That’s right at the beginning…..

Read Genesis 1

The Lion storyteller Bible – In the beginning

You can use the items in the box to help tell the story

A brief overview for the teacher 

Every story has to have a beginning and the Bible starts with an account of how our earth was formed. Genesis, literally means beginning and in its early chapters this book presents a poetic progression of creation that begins with light. It moves on to describe the origin of sky, land and sea and how they are populated with plants, sea creatures and animals. In a final act humans are given responsibility for this world; a planet that is repeatedly described as good. 

God chose to plant a garden called Eden for his people, Eve and Adam; a place for them to tend and enjoy. It was a perfect place to live, but sadly, they broke the rules that God had laid down, and not only was creation spoilt, but the family relationship between the creator and his people was permanently damaged.

Wondering questions

I wonder which one of these days you like best?
I wonder which day is most important?
I wonder if we can leave out any one of these days and still have all the days we need?

Have a large basket with paper leaves and ask each pupil to choose one.  (if it is appropriate you could go outside and choose some leaves.) Talk about the wonder of the natural world and how no two leaves are the same.

Ask pupils to think about what they are thankful for and draw or write about what they are thankful for on their paper leaf.  Display the classes’ thankfulness in your reflection area and encourage pupils to add to it through the week.

Reflection and Prayer 

Ask some volunteers to read out their ‘thank you’s’ from the paper leaves 

Play it’s All Good (Beautiful World) – Bob Hartman’s Rhyming Bible Songs – Lyric Video –

Play Video

It's All Good (Beautiful World) – Bob Hartman's Rhyming Bible Songs – Lyric Video

In the collective worship box each week

Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)

Bible

Cross

Candle

For this week – Duplo blocks,  Lego blocks or Jenga blocks, the word hello in lots of different languages 

Making links

This connects with the concept of the fall and panel 2 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the fall concept symbol in your box.  

Further resources

You could show a video of the story

Play Video

God's Story – Tower of Babel

Digging deeper and learning more

The archaeological record suggests that a civilisation developed in Mesopotamia in the fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. One feature of this society was their stepped buildings, ziggurats, presumed to be temples of some sort, apparently reaching high into the heavens. The creation narrative implies that humanity developed from one common stock, presumably sharing the same spoken language. This would aid the ready transition of ideas and the swift deployment of technological advances. While this ability to cooperate had obvious advantages, there appeared to be an inherent risk.

The story of Babel reflects on the besetting weakness of humankind, pride in their achievements and a tendency to self-aggrandisement. Not content with their civil engineering skills they were soon claiming that they could do whatever they wanted. God’s concern for the risk that this posed for the created world was so great that intervention was necessary. The simple confusion of languages was sufficient to prevent the perceived catastrophe, people were less able to work collaboratively.  

Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the normal time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.  

Opening responses

If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:

We take out the Bible 
And think about God the Father
We take out the cross 
And think about God’s son, Jesus
We light the candle
And think about God , the Holy Spirit

Can anyone remember what our story last week was all about? 

Today we are going to move forward a few chapters in God’s big story but we are still in the book of Genesis 

If you are using this for class worship – take out the items in the box (see notes for the teacher) and place them in the centre

1 minute challenge – Have a box of building blocks available.  Can pupils work in 4 or 5 small groups and see who can build the highest tower?

Big question – looking at the clues in the box, I wonder what our story might be about today?

Read Genesis 11

The Lion storyteller Bible – The tall tower 

You can use the items in the box to help tell the story

A brief overview for the teacher 

In the United Kingdom there are many regional accents or we may speak a different language; this can make communication between people difficult. This story recalls a time when everybody spoke the same language. People came together and started to build cities, places where traders and merchants bought and sold. These city dwellers became increasingly proud of their achievements and boasted that they could achieve whatever they wanted, including a tower that would surpass God.

While there is nothing wrong with mutual support and cooperation, God could see that these people were at risk of becoming arrogant and planning mischief and wrongdoing. He therefore chose to confuse the languages that people spoke, making it much more difficult to plot together. Gradually different groups of people spread out each with their own distinct language, and so new nations were formed.

Make connections back to the story of creation when everything God created was good but now people thought they could do it better, be the best, be better than God

Wondering questions

I wonder if you can think of a time when people did not listen to each other and it all went wrong?
I wonder if you can think of a time when someone just did something to help themselves and just wanted to be the best ignoring advice from others?
I wonder what would happen if everyone in your class spoke a different language: How would you play together? How would you learn together?
I wonder if you can think of a time when you helped others to be the best?
I wonder what this story teaches us about forgiveness?
There is an opportunity here to introduce the word reconciliation and discuss what it means.

Give every pupil a post it note and ask them to write a thought or prayer for the school community.  Each pupil can stick their post it note on to a Duplo, Lego or Jenga block.  Place them in the reflection area building up a tower.  Encourage pupils to add to it during the week. 

This is adapted from an activity from Prayer Spaces in schools.  you can use the instructions if you wish for your reflection area 

Prayer

Dear God

Thank you that we are all created different.  Thank you that we are all unique and have so many different ways of thinking and doing. Help us to work together, to listen to each other, to care for what other people are feeling and saying.  Help us to be a community where we can grow together. Amen

You could reword this to include parts of you school vision in the prayer

In the collective worship box each week

Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)

Bible

Cross

Candle

For this week –  a map, some stars,  the word promise, a picture of  baby and a picture of a tree

Making links

This connects with the concept of the People of God and panel 3 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the people of God concept symbol in your box.  

You could develop learning further in class using Rublev’s icon also known as ‘the hospitality of Abraham’ here are some ideas

Additional resource – Bible Infographics for Kids pages 12-13 ‘God builds his nation?’

Digging deeper and learning more

Abraham and his family group migrated some nine hundred kilometres up the valley of the Euphrates river to Haran. In the book of Genesis we read that God instructed Abraham to move from here to a new land, with this came the promise that Abraham would be the father of a great nation and through him the entire world would be blessed.

Obediently Abraham with his wife Sarah and all their household travelled around six hundred kilometres southwards where they settled in the land of Canaan. Although God had promised a son to Abraham and Sarah, they both became impatient and tried to organise events for themselves. This did not turn out well; but eventually, when they were both extremely old, their son Isaac was born. Years later Abraham sent a servant back to Mesopotamia to find a suitable wife for his son as he was wary of the local people who worshipped other gods. Isaac and Rebekah married and settled in what was to become the ancestral homeland of the Hebrew nation.

Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the normal time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.  

Opening responses

If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:

We take out the Bible 
And think about God the Father
We take out the cross 
And think about God’s son, Jesus
We light the candle
And think about God , the Holy Spirit

Can anyone remember what our story last week was all about? 

Today we are going to move forward another few chapters in God’s big story but we are still in the book of Genesis 

If you are using this for class worship – take out the items in the box (see notes for the teacher) and place them in the centre

Big question – looking at the clues in the box, I wonder what our story might be about today?  Have you ever been on a journey and you didn’t know where you were going?

Today we are going to hear about Abraham and his family who went on a long journey but God send some signposts to guide them on their way

Read Genesis 17:1-8, 18:1-15, 21:1-7

A child called laughter (Bob Hartman’s Rhyming Bible)

You can use the items in the box to help tell the story

A brief overview for the teacher 

Abraham is the founding father of the Hebrew nation, the Israelites, and his story starts with a journey that God asked him to undertake. A journey which began in the city of Ur. Abraham and his family first travelled around seven hundred miles north-west to Haran and then moved on another seven hundred miles or so southwards to Canaan where they eventually settled in the hill country. Although God had promised a son to Abraham and Sarah, they both became impatient and tried to organise events for themselves. This did not turn out well; but eventually, when they were both extremely old, their son Isaac was born. The promise that Abraham would have more ancestors than there are stars, contained the seed of another great promise, that through him the whole earth would be blessed.

Wondering questions 

I wonder what went through Abraham’s mind every day on his long journey?  I wonder what kept him going?

I wonder Have you ever made any promises? Have you been able to keep them? We should only make promises that we can keep! 

I wonder how Abraham felt when he was told he would be his descendants would outnumber the stars?  How many stars are there in the Sky? That’s a lot of descendants!

Use the family tree activity from Prayer Spaces in Schools

You could begin this as part of your reflection time in collective worship and encourage pupils to add their thank yous for people through the week

Prayer

Ask some pupils who want to to say thank you for people in their class and school and those who guide them and help them 

You could set a home challenge this week

God promised Abraham his descendants would outnumber the stars. Every time Abraham looked up at the stars, he would be reminded about God’s promise that God would make him the father of a great nation. Go outside when it is dark and see how many stars you can count. See what constellations you can spot. As you look at each star say ‘thank you’ for something 

 In the collective worship box each week

Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)

• Bible
• Cross
• Candle

For this week –  

Making links

This connects with the concept of creation and panel 1 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the creation concept symbol in your box.  

Further resources

Christian Aid develop Harvest resources every year

Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the normal time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.  

Opening responses

If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:

We take out the Bible 

And think about God the Father

We take out the cross 

And think about God’s son, Jesus

We light the candle

And think about God , the Holy Spirit

In the collective worship box each week

Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)

• Bible
• Cross
• Candle

For this week –  2 figures representing Jacob and Esau (these could be lego figures)  a bowl and spoon, a scroll ( to represent the birthright) a question mark ( to represent choices)

Making links
This connects with the concept of the People of God and panel 3 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the people of God concept symbol in your box.  

Further resources
Here is a video version of the story you could use

Digging deeper and learning more
Detail is important, but especially when it comes to establishing the first born of twins. Isaac and Rebekah had twin boys; Esau was the oldest and was heir to everything. Although born just a little after his brother Jacob would have no share in this destiny; that is until Esau showed how little he valued his heritage by swapping it for a portion of bean stew. Old and partially sighted Isaac knew his death was imminent and so made proper provision, he sent Esau hunting before blessing him. Rebekah favoured Jacob and tricked her husband. Jacob appeared, dressed in his brother’s clothes bearing a savoury stew. Isaac was unable to see clearly so relying on touch to identify his son gave Jacob the patriarchal blessing. Esau was furious and threatened to kill his twin. Sensibly Jacob fled, but as he rested on the way he had a dream in which God spoke to him, promising to look after him and to bring him back to the ancestral lands. 

Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the normal time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.  

Opening responses

If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:

We take out the Bible 
And think about God the Father
We take out the cross 
And think about God’s son, Jesus
We light the candle
And think about God , the Holy Spirit

Can anyone remember what our story last week was all about? 

Today we are going to move forward another few chapters in God’s big story but we are still in the book of Genesis 

If you are using this for class worship – take out the items in the box (see notes for the teacher) and place them in the centre

Big question – looking at the clues in the box, I wonder what our story might be about today?  

Make connections 

Today we are going to hear about Isaac  – he is the son of Abraham and Sarah that were heard about last week.  This is many years later and Isaac is now an old man with sons of his own. 

Read Genesis 27:1-34, 28:10-15 

The Lion Storyteller Bible – the bad brother 

You can use the items in the box to help tell the story

A brief overview for the teacher 

Abraham and Sarah’s son, Isaac, married Rebekah had twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Though they were twins they were very different, Esau was the outdoor type who enjoyed hunting, but Jacob was happier staying close to home. As the eldest son Esau, was to receive the family inheritance, but he cared little for it, preferring to swap the future promise for a tasty bean stew. When father Isaac was very old and his eyesight failing Jacob and his mum conspired to trick him into blessing him instead of Esau. The deceit worked and Esau was extremely angry to have been cheated by his brother. Jacob had to flee. As he rested on his journey he had a dream in which God promised that he would be with him wherever he went. Even though Jacob had messed up God was working out his big plan.

Wondering questions 

I wonder what part of the story you liked best?

I wonder what part of the story was the most important?

I wonder if you agree with what Jacob did? 

I wonder If you were in Jacob’s position, what would you have done?

Reflection activity :

Ask pupils to look at their hands

Our hands are a helpful reminder of the choices we make choices to make.
We can choose to use our hands for good things

Showing friendship and kindness by shaking hands, waving hello or reaching out a hand to help someone

We can also use our hands for bad things, they can also be used to hurt people.

Just like we learned in the story of Jacob and Esau. We all have a lot of choices to make every day – some are small, some are big.

Spend a minute looking at your hands and think about how you will make your choices today.

Who will you talk to when you have big decisions to make?

You could have ask pupils to draw around their hand and encourage pupils to add the good choices they make this week to the reflection area 

Prayer

Dear God,
Thank you that we can make our own choices.
Help us to remember that our choices have consequences.
Please help us when we have difficult choices to make, 

to make decisions that are helpful to us and to others.
Amen.

In the collective worship box each week

Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)

• Bible
• Cross
• Candle

For this week –  the figure from last week representing Jacob, a picture of a suitcase, a toy camel

Making links

This connects with the concept of the People of God and panel 3 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the people of God concept symbol in your box.  

Further resources

Here is a video version of the story you could use

Play Video

God's Story: Jacob Wrestles

Digging deeper and learning more

Jacob had tricked his father into blessing him and escaped his twin brother’s threats by fleeing to his maternal uncle. Here he married and settled down and swiftly built up his own flocks and herds making him very wealthy. After many years God spoke to him challenging Jacob to travel back to his ancestral lands and face his brother. Aware that Esau might still harbour enmity he sent gifts ahead of him before dispatching his family too, calling on God to keep his promises, the same promise as had been made to Abraham his grandfather. Jacob stayed alone overnight by the river, possibly a little apprehensive. That night the Biblical narrative tells that his sleep was disturbed and he spent the entire night wrestling with an unseen assailant. Jacob was tenacious and even in defeat demanded that he receive a blessing. God spoke with Jacob, blessing him and symbolically changing his name to Israel, one who wrestles with God and other people.

Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the normal time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.  

Opening responses

If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:

We take out the Bible 
And think about God the Father
We take out the cross 
And think about God’s son, Jesus
We light the candle
And think about God , the Holy Spirit

Can anyone remember what our story last week was all about? 

Today we are going to move forward another few chapters in God’s big story but we are still in the book of Genesis and we are still learning about Jacob

If you are using this for class worship – take out the items in the box (see notes for the teacher) and place them in the centre

Big question – looking at the clues in the box, I wonder what our story might be about today?  

Today we are going to hear more about Jacob and what happened after he ran away

Read this part of the story spans 4 chapters Genesis 28-32 Jacob wrestling with God:  Genesis 32: 3, 22-32

Lion Storyteller Bible – The runaway 

You can use the items in the box to help tell the story

A brief overview for the teacher 

Jacob fled his family home and went to live with an uncle. There he married and settled to breeding goats. Eventually he decided that the time had come to return to the family, even though he knew Esau had threatened to kill him. He sent his large family and valuable herds ahead of him with gifts for his brother. As he rested the night before he was to meet Esau, he realised that he was not alone. All through the night Jacob wrested with this unknown visitor. Neither could gain any advantage until Jacob’s hip was dislocated, but even so he clung on to his opponent, demanding that he receive God’s blessing. It was an altogether strange experience, but Jacob knew that he had met God face to face. He now had a new name, Israel, a name that reflected his struggle with God.

Wondering questions 

I wonder how Jacob felt as he left home for his uncle’s house?
I wonder what Jacob thought after meeting with God?
I wonder how Jacob felt as he travelled back to his brother Esau?
I wonder what part of the story you liked best?
I wonder what part of the story was the most important?

Jacob had to face some challenges but God stayed with him and helped him to face those challenges and learn from them.  We too face challenges, some small some big.  

Hand out a footprint to every pupil and ask them to think about a challenge they are facing. You could display the following instructions

‘If you want to, you can write your challenge on the footprint and stick it onto the ladder. You might want to ask God to help you with your challenge.’

You could have a display with a ladder that the footprints are attached to, linking with the story.

Prayer

Dear God 

Thank you for the story of Jacob.  Help us, like Jacob, to choose to do the right thing not just the easy thing when we face challenges.

Amen

In the collective worship box each week

Cloth with the colour of the Church year ( this week is green)

• Bible
• Cross
• Candle

For this week –  12 figures representing the 12 brothers including Joseph, a bunch of keys (locked in prison) 7 cows ( you could have images of 7 fat and 7 thin) a silver cup.

Making links

This connects with the concept of the People of God and panel 3 of the Understanding Christianity frieze you could include the people of God concept symbol in your box.  

Further resources

There are 4 stories in Bob Hartman’s Rhyming Bible you could choose from

• Coats and dreams 
• Dreams and answers
• Answers and famines
• Famines and family

Digging deeper and learning more

Given his own experience of sibling rivalry you might have expected Jacob to have done better, but he played favourites. Joseph himself, not only flouted his exclusive clothing but boasting about his dreams. Hardly surprising that his jealous older brothers ambushed him and sold him to slave traders. Honest labour and integrity led to him becoming the top man in the Egyptian household, but false accusation caused his fall from grace and an apparently unlimited prison term.

Then, while still in jail, he made a useful contact at Pharaoh’s court. Pharaoh’s sleep had been disturbed by unpleasant dreams and he sought in vain for an explanation. Joseph was sent for and when the dreams were recounted, he explained them, giving credit to God. There were to be years of plentiful harvest followed by years of famine, Joseph then suggested that Pharaoh appoint an able administrator to store the excess releasing it during the famine years.  Later Joseph’s brother came seeking food and after a touching reunion the entire family chose to move to Egypt.

Set up your worship table or centre of the class circle with the normal time (green) cloth and take out the Bible, cross and light candle.  

Opening responses

If you have school responses or opening words for collective worship say them together or say the following:

We take out the Bible 
And think about God the Father
We take out the cross 
And think about God’s son, Jesus
We light the candle
And think about God , the Holy Spirit

Can anyone remember what our story last week was all about? 

Today we are going to move forward another few chapters in God’s big story but we are still (yes still!) in the book of Genesis 

If you are using this for class worship – take out the items in the box (see notes for the teacher) and place them in the centre

Big question – looking at the clues in the box, I wonder what our story might be about today?  

Make connections 

Today we are going to hear about Joseph  – he is the son of Jacob who we learnt about last week.  Jacob had 12 sons and Joseph was the youngest.

( if you have Bible infographics for Kids you could use the family tree on page 12 to show how Abraham, Jacob and Joseph connect)

Read Genesis 39-42 

Lion Storyteller Bible –  there are 3 stories this week: 

Joseph the prisoner, Joseph the ruler (there is also Joseph the dreamer if you want to include the story so far)

Play Video

 You can select bits to give an overview of the story or use this video

You can use the items in the box to help tell the story

A brief overview for the teacher 

Worthy of a soap opera, Joseph’s story sees him sold as a slave in Egypt because of sibling rivalry. Honest labour and integrity led to him becoming the top man in the household, but false accusation caused his fall from grace and prison.

It was all about dreams, his brothers hated him because of his dreams, and in prison he accurately explained dreams of fellow prisoners from Pharoah’s court. So when Pharaoh had some nasty dreams Joseph was called upon to explain them. The dream warned of years of famine, but Joseph with God’s help, Joseph was able to offer a solution – store any excess food in the seven years of plenty, then share it out in the seven years when the harvests would fail. He was put in charge of the whole country. Joseph’s brothers eventually came seeking food and after a touching reunion the entire family chose to move to Egypt.

Wondering questions 

I wonder what part of the story you liked best?
I wonder what part of the story was the most important?
I wonder If you were in Joseph’s position, what would you have done?
I wonder what this story teaches us about friendship?
I wonder what this story teaches us about forgiveness?
There is an opportunity here to introduce the word reconciliation and discuss what it means.

Use the broken friendships activity from Prayer Spaces in Schools and link it to today’s story

You could begin this as part of your reflection time in collective worship and connect it with this activity in your reflection space to encourage pupils to think about what reconciliation means through the week.
There is an opportunity here to introduce the word reconciliation and discuss what it means.

Prayer

Dear God

Thank you for the story of Joseph and how it can help us think about forgiveness.
Help us to say sorry when we get things wrong, thank you that we can have a fresh start.
Please help us to be forgiving people here in this school.

Amen