God knows us all

To show that God knows and loves us all.

by Jan Edmunds

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To show that God knows and loves us all.

Preparation and materials

• You will need a large honeydew melon and a knife, a board to cut it on and a dish to put the seeds in.
• An OHP would be useful for the poem.

Assembly

1. Ask the children if they know how many children there are in the school. Have they any idea how many people live in their town? There are thousands. We cannot possibly get to know all of them. We make friends with some of them at school or through our family. The more we see of other people the more we get to know them and some become our very special friends.
   
   How many people do the children think there are in the world? There are many millions. It would be impossible to count or know them all. Yet Jesus told his followers, ‘God knows you and loves you all.’ (‘The Lord is good to all’ – Psalm 145.9.)
2. Show the children the melon and say that you want them to imagine it is the world. Cut the melon in half and hold up one of the two halves so that they can see the seeds inside. Say that the seeds represent all the people in the world. Scrape the seeds out into a dish and show them to the children.
   
   God looks down on the world just as we can look down on the melon, and he can see us all just as we can see the seeds.
3. Invite the children to help you read the poem.
   
   God knows us all
   by Jan Edmunds
   
   If you look inside a melon, a lot of seeds you’ll see.
   The world is full of people that are just like you and me.
   Some may differ slightly by the colour of their skin
   Or speak another language, from the country they live in.
   To God we’re all important and he gives his world to share.
   And all his gifts surround us to show his love and care.
   
   Spend a little time discussing the poem to make sure the children understand its meaning.

Time for reflection

Prayer

Dear God,

Look down upon us and keep us safe.

Teach us right from wrong and be with us today and always.

Amen.

Song/music

‘I belong to a family’ (Come and Praise, 69)