11/7/10 -  Proper 10

What a Year!

BIBLE READING

Amos chapter 7 verses 7-17

PREPARATION

You need a simple plumbline – a weight on a string

INTRODUCTION

Show the plumbline and ask for guesses how it could be used.  If the guesses are a bit wild, try hinting about the building trade. Ask someone to test the plumbline out - to see if your displays are set up straight for example.

THE MESSAGE

Many hundreds of years ago man called Amos had a very special dream.  He was just an ordinary farmer, but he felt that God was calling him to go and give a message to some people who had not been behaving as they should.  In the dream God showed Amos one of these plumblines and said he had been measuring the people to see if they were living good straight lives.  But the people had been stealing and bullying and doing all kinds of horrible things.  They were not like good straight walls at all, but crooked and out of line.

What can we test with our plumbline?  We are just coming to the end of a school year, and some of us are going to be leaving the school and going on to high school.  If we think about all the things that have happened this last year for us would it measure up as a good year or a bad year?

Invite pupils to mention some of the special things that have happened this year, or things they are proud of.  Then give them a few moments to reflect on whether there are things which happened over the year they are not so happy about or proud of – don’t ask them to share these though! 

Agree together that if you get the plumbline out again next year you will all be good straight walls!

PRAYER

Give thanks for all the things that you have shared together over the school year and pray for those who are moving on, and for those who will be joining you in September.