Secondary: Current Assemblies

REWARDS
By Stuart Kerner


Suitable for Whole School


Aim

To reflect on the fact that the easy option isn't always the best.

Preparation and materials

• Some enticing chocolate (e.g. a Ferrero Rocher).
• You will need to prepare a lump of blutak with a pound coin hidden inside (preferably trodden on in front of you), and a chewed and battered pen with a five pound note secreted inside the barrel (left seemingly discarded on the floor nearby).
• This assembly is particularly appropriate for groups who are close to exams.
• Scripture reading is from Luke 15.11-22.

Assembly

1. Begin by asking for a volunteer. Tell them that you are feeling generous today and give the volunteer the chocolate. Ask them whether they would like to eat it now or wait until you've finished speaking and swap it for something else which might be better. Hopefully they will agree to wait. (Just in case they choose to eat it, have some more chocolate on hand for another more patient volunteer!)
2. Say to your audience that you may know a story Jesus told, which is often referred to as 'The Prodigal Son' - ask if anyone knows what the word 'prodigal' means. The word means 'wasteful and extravagant' like the young man in this story. Read Luke 15.11-22.
3. Tell the audience that sometimes quick fixes and easy options which we think will get us what we want usually lead us into disappointment and regret.
4. Going out with your mates when you should be revising for exams may seem like a great idea at the time - revision can be very dull and boring - but when you fail to get the qualifications you need, regret is all you will have left.
5. Now tell your volunteer that they have been very patient and you are now in a position to offer them something else instead of the chocolate.
6. Look flustered as though you have lost your swap items, and hurriedly pick up the blutak and pen from the floor. With an unconvincing smile offer these to your volunteer as an exchange for the chocolate. The chances are they will refuse.
7. Show the audience the blutak and pen saying that these seem like far less attractive options than the chocolate, but ... (pull the blutak apart revealing the pound coin and remove the £5 note from the pen) ... perhaps the seemingly less attractive option is sometimes the better one!

Time For Reflection

Reflection:

If life was an event in the Olympics it would be an endurance trial like the Decathlon, not a sprint like the 100 metres.

The grass is sometimes greener, but only because the other field probably contains more cowpats!

Prayer:

Lord,
Grant us a vision of what you would have us do with our lives,
And give us the confidence to keep going when things get tough.
Help us to avoid taking the easy option,
And supply us with patience and endurance to complete the course.

Amen.

Song

'The Lord's my Shepherd' (Come and Praise, 56)