10/5/09  EASTER 5

Theme: All about plants

BIBLE READING

John chapter 15 verses -8

Preparation

You will need to prepare for this collective worship a day in advance by conducting an experiment in one of the classrooms - you need children who are doing work on the life cycles of plants, or have recently covered this topic. This class will help lead the collective worship.

You require several white or very pale coloured cut flowers (white carnations are ideal) and a selection of excitingly coloured food dyes. The individual flowers need to be placed in vases filled with different coloured waters - by the next day the flowers should have taken up sufficient water to dye the petals the colour of the food dye. Remember to keep one flower as a control (don't even place it in water).

Ask the pupils to be prepared to demonstrate and explain the experiment in the assembly next day. If there is a large diagram available in one of the science textbooks to show how a plant takes up water, then they can bring this also

You will also need a bunch of grapes (you can share those later with your pupil helpers!), or, failing that, a photograph or drawing of a vine/grapes.

Introduction

Have your display of coloured flowers ready on the table as the collective worship begins (all the different flowers in one vase). Ask some of the youngest children what colour the different flowers are - although they will give you the right answers, you should tell them that yesterday all the flowers were white. Ask them how they think they changed colour.

Invite your volunteers up to explain their plant colouring experiment., and to show some of the vases of food dye and the diagram. Draw attention to the one flower that hasn't received any water at all - how is that looking?

The Message

One day Jesus tried to explain to his friends how he was like a plant, not a carnation, but like a vine. Vines grew all over Jesus' home country, so everyone would know what he was talking about at once. Jesus reminded them how the lovely big bunches of grapes grew because they were attached to the strong vine plant. You can see how the flowers in the vases have been changed by the colour of the water they sucked up, and how the flower that didn't get any water is dying. The grapes would be just the same, they need to get water and nourishment from the vine to grow, if the branches were broken off of the vine they would die.

When Jesus said he was like a vine, he meant that it was important for people to stay as close to him as they possible could, just as grapes and vine branches are attached to the main stem of the vine. That way the people would be able to receive his love and all his good gifts and grow. If people break away from Jesus then they cannot get all his special gifts.

The coloured flowers show us that you grow like the things you are close to. The (red) flower turned (red) because it was placed in (red) dye. The (blue) flower turned (blue) because it was placed in (blue) dye. The (red) flower couldn't have turned (blue) or the (blue) flower turned (red) if they had wanted to! So if people stay close to Jesus they will grow to be more like him, but if other things are more important in their lives, then they will grow to be like them.

Prayer

As we grow in our minds and our hearts, as well as in our bodies, may we remember that we will grow to be like the people and things that we are attached to.

Pray that we will grow up to be attached to the right people.