all puffed up and seeking success

This assembly came from an assembly idea I picked up on the internet, and I can’t find it now. If this is idea yours please get in touch, give proof of penmanship and I will credit you for your idea.

I’m going to draw a picture of Billy the balloon. (Draw face on a balloon; keep blowing it up, and have pin ready)

This is what he looked like when he was small. Everyone who saw him remarked, What a cute balloon, what a lovely round face?

He had everything he could possibly wish for…

He would eat until he was fit to burst!

I wonder what kind of toys Billy had as he grew up?

I wonder what kind of trainers he wore at school?

Was he a good footballer, do you think? Yes, and he was on the first team for cricket, rugby, swimming, athletics and Frisbee throwing, but he was best at hot air sports.

When his parents and teachers asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up he said….SUCCESSFUL!

He passed all of his exams throughout school, and got top marks in everyone of them.

He worked hard, because he wanted to be SUCCESSFUL!

He went to the top university and got a degree in balloonology.

He fell in love, got married to Brenda, (blow second balloon up for Brenda, ask a child to hold it carefully) and they had lots of lovely little balloons, and had a very SUCCESSFUL career.

I wonder what kind of house he lived in, how many bedrooms it had…what kind of car he drove?

He expanded his business, he had extensions put on his house, and in every way his wealth just grew and grew, even his waistline got bigger and bigger.

His wealth was just like sea water to him.

The more he got, the thirstier he became.

Of COURSE Billy had always wanted to be SUCCESSFULl.

And everyone who knew him looked at him and said,

‘He’s SUCCESSFUL!’

He actually was everything society had trained him to be!

He was popular, he had status and wielded great influence, but the business of loving God and others was not for him!

He said to himself, ‘I am a good balloon, I deserve ALL THIS!

Billy, as you can see was a very bright and intelligent balloon! There was nothing STUPID about him, but he was a FOOL!

His favourite words were I, ME, MINE, and PERSONALLY SPEAKING and MYSELF…

He couldn’t see beyond HIMSELF…and he couldn’t see beyond this world!

He had been given so much, yet always wanted more, for HIMSELF.

All of his energy, his thinking, his time, his ideas, his resources, his wealth were directed towards HIMSELF!

He acted without thinking, …others didn’t matter…only HIMSELF

He had no conscience, or values, his one priority was HIMSELF!

So he said to Brenda one day,

 ‘This is what life is all about, let’s eat, drink and have a good time…so they decided to go on a world cruise.

A few weeks later a taxi arrived to take them to the airport, and then, as Billy locked their front door... (BANG burst the balloon)

Brenda had to fly off herself without him…

(let go of second balloon)

Billy was just like the man in a parable Jesus told of a rich fool who thought possessions were everything.

Prosperity in itself is not wrong... indeed Jesus was given rich gifts when he was born, he was ministered to by those who fed him, he was given shelter and lodgings, invited to feasts, all paid for by someone.

He was even given a special room for his very last meal and a rich man’s tomb for his dead body.

 But these were gifts given by people who had values and priorities and a ‘servant mentality’ like that of Jesus himself.

The rich fool had no conscience at all, he was so blind to the needs of others.

What questions arise for us today?

What should our ideal purpose in life be?

What does it mean to be rich toward God?

How should we measure success?

How much thought do we give to the wise use of the gifts and the resources we’ve each been given by God?