You are safe in his hands

To encourage pupils to trust in God’s protection.

by Guy Donegan-Cross

Suitable for Key Stage 2

Aims

To encourage pupils to trust in God’s protection.

Preparation and materials

• Picture of Edwin van der Sar, preferably making a ‘save’:http://tinyurl.com/qbj3o99

• Glass bowl – preferably decorated.
• Marshmallows or grapes.
• Optional: as pupils come in, have the video Van der Sar Compilation from YouTube playing in the background.

Assembly

1. Call a pupil out. Ask him or her to hold the glass bowl. When the pupil is holding it, say that it is worth a million pounds, so please don’t drop it. The pupil remains at the front during the assembly.
2. Show a picture of Edwin van der Sar. Explain that as goalkeeper for the Manchester United soccer team, he had a ‘safe’ pair of hands. He kept the ball from entering his team’s goal for 1,302 minutes, a world record in one season! That means that for almost 15 games of 90 minutes each, no one was able to score even one goal against his team while he was guarding the goalposts. But one goal by an opposing team in March 2009 ended his record.
3. Say that some hands can really make you safe, can really hold a lot.
   

   Ask two pupils to see how many marshmallows/grapes they can hold in one hand and give them thirty seconds in which to do it. Count them out and then let them eat the marshmallows/grapes (if appropriate).

4. The Bible says that God always holds us in his hands: King David, one of the Bible’s biggest heroes, found comfort in the safest pair of hands – God’s hands. He wrote of God’s protection in Psalm 138: ‘You stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me’ (v.7).
5. Bring forward the pupil holding the glass bowl. Explain that eventually the pupil will drop this bowl – and that it is not really worth a million pounds! But you are much more precious to God than any bowl. God’s hands are more reliable than Edwin van der Sar’s, than yours or mine.

Time for reflection

Prayer
Thank you, God,
that you never let go of me.
Amen.

Song/music

‘He’s got the whole world, in his Hand’ (Come and Praise, 19)