A Christian Primary School Assembly on Hope

The theme for our assembly today is “hope”

To help us think about hope we’re going to have a quiz.

3 possible answers – A, B, or C

[PowerPoint or volunteers to hold up cards; show of hands]

(1)   How many planets are there in our solar system (around our sun)?

A: 9 [scientists used to think this till Pluto was downgraded]

B: 8

C: Not sure [some scientists say we don’t really know]

(2)   How many stars are there in our galaxy, the Milky Way?

A: 200 billion

B: 400 billion

C: Not sure [guesses range between A & B]

(3)   How many different types or species of animals are there in the world?

A: 2 million

B: 100 million

C: Not sure [There are 2 million known species, but there may be as many as 100 million]

[My questions are educational (!) but maybe a bit hard? A friend suggested some that are easier and maybe more fun:]

(1)   Will it be sunny on your birthday? [Yes, No, Not Sure]

(2)   Will you get a letter in the post on Monday? [Yes, No, Not Sure]

(3)   Will you have your favourite food for supper tonight? [Yes, No, Not Sure]

[These 3 questions also have the advantage that (like hope) they focus on the future.]

There are lots of things in life we can’t be sure about.

We sometimes talk about “hoping” for something when we’re not sure about it.

Hope is about what’s going to happen in the future and often we can’t be sure about the future.

So we might say, “I hope I’ll get top marks for my homework”

“I hope I’ll get a bike for Christmas”

“I hope it will by sunny for my holidays”

But we can’t be sure about those things.

But the Bible tells us that as Christians we have a sure hope.

The Bible says to Christians:

“Our hope is like an anchor for the soul, sure and secure.”

(Hebrews 6:19, approx.!)

[What’s an anchor for?]

An anchor holds a ship firmly in place.

You want it to be sure, certain, firm and secure.

Well the Bible says a Christian’s hope should be like that.

The Bible tells us we can be sure that God loves us and will take care of us, because Jesus died and rose again for us.

God has proved his love and power to us, so we can be sure about them.

We can have confidence for the future, confidence in God and his promises.

If we trust in Jesus we can be sure of heaven and the New Creation.

Let’s say pray and say thank you to God for that sure hope and ask him to make us confident in it.