PEACE

This assembly invites the Narrator to get involved in painting a picture of a storm at sea on large canvas, as in the style of Rolf Harris, as s/he talks and tells the story. It will take a lot of courage, but it will help if you are confident in using paints!

Narrator: If your teacher asked you today to paint a picture about PEACE what would you draw?

Think about it carefully! After all what is peace? Can it actually be painted?

Can you think what you would draw? Does anyone have any good ideas?

Invite two out to draw their pictures on a large piece of paper.

Let me tell you a story.

Someone once decided to have a big competition to see who could draw the best picture. But it wasn’t just any picture. It had to be a painting with the title ‘PEACE’.

Lots of artists took up the challenge and they decided to get straight down to work. (On powerpoint show some illustrations depicting peace)

One of them painted a butterfly, another a beautiful stream, someone else painted a dove, another a sunset on a sandy beach, another painted a candle with flowers. Someone drew a boy on his way to do some fishing, someone else painted the actual word ‘peace’. They had to work quickly, they didn’t have all that much time.

One artist though had a very strange idea for his painting on peace.

This is how he painted it. Watch closely.

(Begin painting) . . . he took some bluish green paint for the sky…some a deep blue for the sea, which looked really choppy. He needed dark green for the waves, and white for the foam. He chose a dark brown colour for the caves . . . but wait a minute this doesn’t look like a painting about peace. It’s a storm at sea. What was this artist thinking about?

Then came the day of the competition, and each artist hung their painting up for everyone to see…and along came the judges to see which painting most spoke to them of peace.

In third place the judges chose the butterfly picture.

In second place they chose the boy who was on his way to catch fish.

But first place went to the picture of the Storm at Sea.

No-one could understand the reason why this painting had been chosen. Until they noticed that high up in the cave, out of the way of the storm, there was a little ledge, and on this little ledge there was a nest, and on this nest there was a bird, and beneath her warm wings were her babies all safe and warm, even though the storm was raging right outside.

This PEACE in the middle of a storm picture was the winner.

In the bible it tells us that God is our help in times of trouble, he is a safe place we can run to if we feel worried or afraid; and that if we follow his way, we will keep our lives in a perfect peace, even though the storms may be raging.

So don’t be worried, don’t be afraid. God is with us, and will always be with us if we trust in him.

In the same way that we tell our parents, our friends and our teachers, when we’re not at peace about something, why not talk to God about it too in prayer? (use a magic finger here to let the children see the worries disappear)

‘Be still and know that I am God!’ It says in one of the Bible’s favourite songs.

Song: Play or sing Eva Cassidy's 'I wandered by the brookside'

or teach the children the single verse 'Give me peace in my heart keep me serving' ( Sing Hosanna)