Bible passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:12–28
Aim: to help the children understand that we all need help, advice and encouragement to live right; to help children think about starting well in their new school year.
You will need: a range of methods of communication (such as a scroll, letter, email, text message or FaceTime), four flags, semaphore alphabet (search online for a suitable version), paper and pens, small prize (optional), a child-friendly version of the Bible.
Before the session
Before the session, read the whole of 1 Thessalonians. Note the kind of things Paul says about the people in Thessalonica: they were an example (1:7) and caused the word of God to be spread across mainland Greece (1:8–10). He praises them for their faith and that they carried on with God, even though people had started to oppose Paul (chapter 2). He urges them to keep holy and devoted to God (chapters 3 and 4). Put together a quick summary of what Paul says to the Thessalonians, which you can tell the children during the assembly. Choose some key words from 1 Thessalonians 5:12–28 that Paul uses to encourage his readers and write those out on sheets of paper.
Introduction
Show the children all the different forms of communication you have gathered together. Try to include some that the children will recognise and some they may not (if you can find an old answering machine or pager, that would be fun for the children to see!). Chat about each one, and say how easy or difficult it is to use them. Which do the children use themselves?
Game
Ask for two pairs of volunteers. Give one member of each pair two flags each and place them at the front of the space. Give the other two a pen and paper each and place them at the back. Give all four volunteers a copy of the semaphore alphabet (you could also project this onto a screen, so that all the children can play along). Give the children with the flags words or a short sentence to spell out. This could be something like ‘Hello’, ‘How are you?’ or ‘This is difficult!’ The players with the flags have to spell out their message to their partner across the room, who should write down what they think it is. Once they have finished, congratulate the players and give them a small prize, if appropriate.
Introducing the letters in the Bible
Ask the children how difficult it seemed to be to send a message using the flags and semaphore alphabet. Hold up your Bible and say that the books that come at the end of the Bible are almost all letters. They were written to encourage people all over the known world as they tried
to follow God. The message of Jesus – the message that Christian people still follow today – wasn’t very old, and people found it tricky to live God’s way, just as Christians do now. People, like a man called Paul, travelled round to teach them and help them. Paul wrote lots of letters to new churches to help and encourage them.
Bible story
Tell the children your summary of 1 Thessalonians. Remind them that many new Christians found it hard to know how to follow Jesus and often got things wrong. Go on to read 1 Thessalonians 5:12–28. Explain that this is the end of Paul’s letter, he is summing up all his thoughts and encouraging the people of Thessalonica. As you read, give the key words out to children for them to hold up at the front.
Once you have finished, look back at your key words. As the children start a new school year, do any of these words apply to them? Point out that Paul’s encouragement to the Thessalonians about how to live can also be applied to us, even if we’re not a follower of Jesus.
Reflection
Ask the children how these key words might apply to their new class, teacher, lessons and school life? Allow a few moments of quiet for them to think about this. Then, if appropriate, thank God for Paul’s encouragement and ask him to help us start well in our new year at school.
