Sale goods
To show that nothing can change our worth and value in God’s eyes.
by Janice Ross
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To show that nothing can change our worth and value in God’s eyes.
Preparation and materials
-
You will need two gift items, (a) and (b), see below. These must be exactly the same, from the same shop, but one is full price, the other sale price, e.g. toiletries, photo albums, toys. They do not need to be expensive items.
- The two receipts for the above, showing the same items bought on different days at different prices at the same shop.
- Two price labels made out of card. At the appropriate time in the assembly these will be displayed in front of the above items on a table. They should be original, authentic prices.
Assembly
- Show the children item (a). Ask how much they think this might be worth. Tell them how much you paid for it, lay it on the table and put the price label in front of it.
Then show them item (b). Ask how much they think this might be worth. Tell them how much you paid for it, lay it on the table and put the price label in front of it. - Can the children suggest why there is a difference in price? If someone suggests that one is flawed, ask them to come and check for any differences. If someone suggests that you bought them in different shops, ask them to come and look at the label or original receipts.
- Ask for a volunteer to come up. Ask them to close their eyes. You are going to muddle up the two gifts and then ask your volunteer to open their eyes and look at the items and tell you which is the more expensive.
- How can something be worth less than it was yesterday, or X number of weeks ago? Explain that perhaps 100 of these items were bought in for Christmas. Perhaps 96 were sold, and this one just happened to be one of four left on the shelf. It is perfectly OK for the shop to sell it at reduced price.
Now just imagine you were this item. Imagine being left at the back of the shelf, imagine how you felt when it was finally your turn and you were marked down from £X to £X, or even had ‘Half Price’ stamped on you! Someone might be very glad of a bargain, but your sense of value and self-worth would have plummeted. ‘Hey!’ you might want to yell. ‘I am worth full price too!’ - Sometimes people can feel a bit like this reduced price item. For all sorts of reasons they feel of less worth and value than everyone else. Maybe they never get picked first for a football team. Maybe they never get admired. Maybe they watch everyone else do the things they would like to do. That can happen sometimes, even in a school.
- The Bible tells us that God knows when we feel like this. Jesus even gave his friends a little illustration about it. He told them that God knew whenever any sparrow, anywhere, any time, fell to the ground. There are millions of them, and they probably all look the same to you and me! ‘You are worth so much more to God than sparrows,’ Jesus told them.
Time for reflection
Reflection
Ask the children to look at the two objects again, and think about a time when they felt overlooked.
Think now about the sparrow, and other birds, and how important they are to God.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you that you know who I am.
Thank you that I am precious and honoured in your eyes and that you love me.
Thank you that you will always love me.
Amen.
Song/music
‘There are hundreds of sparrows’ (Come and Praise, 15)
