Power

To explore the Christian belief that God sends the Holy Spirit to give his followers power for life

by The Revd Sophie Jelley

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To explore the Christian belief that God sends the Holy Spirit to give his followers power for life.

Preparation and materials

You will need:

• Two folded newspapers (and some spares).

• Several fish shapes cut out from single sheets of newspaper (about 10 cm long). You will only use one but it is good to have spares of this too.

• You may want to practise ‘flap a fish’ in the privacy of your own home first!

• Some examples of toys/gadgets that require different types of power to work, e.g. remote-control car, battery book, clockwork toy, polystyrene plane, water toy, etc.

Assembly

1. Say that it’s amazing the different kinds of toys you can buy in the shops that need some kind of power. Show the different things you have brought and ask what kind of power each one uses – battery, clockwork, hand-powered, etc.

2. Explain that we are going to try a game based on a kind of power and that you need two volunteers. Stand the two children next to each other and give each one a folded newspaper. Place the paper fish on the ground in front of them. The game is called ‘flap a fish’, and what they have to do is work together to flap this fish over to the other side of the room, by flapping their newspapers. They have to try to keep the fish moving at all times.
   
   Continue until they have done it. If it has been enjoyed you may wish to repeat the game with another pair of volunteers, depending on time. Explain that the fish was moved from one side of the room to the other by an invisible power (air movement).
3. Say that Christians believe that followers of Jesus need power too. Not power like batteries or electricity, but God’s power – the power that is brought by God’s Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that God sent this power to the believers (those who followed Jesus). They heard the blowing of a mighty wind rushing down on every one of them. They suddenly had power to do things they had never done before.
   
   The toys/gadgets we looked at earlier need power to do the job they were made to do. The fish flappers needed the power of their muscles to move the fish. If Christians are to live in the way that Jesus asked them to (loving everyone, forgiving others, not thinking bad thoughts or saying bad things) they need special power from God himself: the power of the Holy Spirit.
   
   Christians believe that Jesus promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who believe in him – the Holy Spirit is his power to help people live in the way he wants them to.

Time for reflection

Reflection:

Think about your home and all the things that use power to make them work: telephones, washing machines, television, DVD player, computer, kettle, lamp, car, CD player, toys.
Imagine what your home would be like without power to make things work.
Think about the power you have to do good – how will you use it today?

Prayer:
Thank you, God, for the many different kinds of power that make things work.
Thank you that you gave a special kind of power to your followers, the Church.
Thank you that you still give the power of the Holy Spirit to your followers today.
We ask that your Holy Spirit will help us to live in the way you want us to.

Song/music

‘Light up the fire’ (Come and Praise, 55)