Money isn't everything

To explore our attitude to money.

by Peter Knight

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To explore our attitude to money.

Preparation and materials

• Prepare the game show in advance – you could wear a costume, add game show type music and/or have glitzy cards to read the questions from.
• Read through the story in Mark 12.38 – use a child-friendly version or prepare to tell it in your own words.

Assembly

1. Ask: would you rather be rich or famous? Explain that one of the richest men in the world is Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft – refer to any Microsoft programmes the children may know from school or home.
   
   How much do they think Bill Gates is worth? The annual Forbes magazine's list of The World's Billionaires has ranked Gates as the richest person in the world from 1995 to 2007, with recent estimates of his ‘worth’ at over £30 billion.
   
   The Queen is rich and famous. David and Victoria Beckham are rich and famous. There are probably many people who are rich but not very famous but can you think of anyone who is famous and not rich?
2. Introduce the game show: Who Wants To Be A Zillionaire? A volunteer is invited to answer these questions.
   
   £1 question: Who is the founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men in the world?
   (A) Bill Bailey; (B) Rusty Gates; (C) David Bailey; (D) Bill Gates
   
   £100 question: In In the Night Garden, who is not in bed?
   (A) The Wiggles; (B) Iggle-piggle; (C) Upsidaisy; (D) The Pontipines
   
   £1,000 question: Which famous TV personality was 80 years old in 2008?
   (A) David Attenborough; (B) Terry Wogan; (C) Bruce Forsyth; (D) Harry Hill
   
   £100,000 question: What is the national flower of Wales?
   (A) Rose; (B) Thistle; (C) Daffodil; (D) Shamrock
   
   £1,000,000 question: What is the first book of the Bible?
   (A) Exodus; (B) Genesis; (C) Isaiah; (D) Jeremiah
3. Finish with the £Zillion question: What do you think of this story?
   
   Read or retell the gospel story of the widow’s mite (Mark 12.38). Then ask the children what they think Jesus was ‘getting at’. Explain that learning the true value of things is worth more than all the money in the world – in fact it’s worth zillions!

Time for reflection

Reflection

What do you value most?

What is most important to you?

What would you miss most if you lost it?

Prayer

Dear God our Father,

Your son Jesus was not rich.

He didn’t own a house and had very few possessions.

Yet he is the most famous person who ever lived.

He taught us that there are many ways to give generously apart from money.

He taught us that we have many gifts to be generous with.

Please help us to give generously of our time, friendship and love.

Amen.

Song/music

‘'Tis the gift’ (Come and Praise, 97)