Prayer Service for the Beginning of Year
Good afternoon & welcome.
We are all here today in the hall with new friends
and old friends
and our kind teachers
and helpers.
We know that Jesus is our friend too.
Now we will say the Sign of the Cross
in the three ways we know how
(1. In the name of the Father…
2. As Gaeilge…
and finally;
3. God came down from heaven to earth,
to remind us to love people on this side and this side
and not to forget ourselves. Amen)
Candle Prayer; ‘
Chase away the darkness.
Fill the world with light,
be a little candle flame and shine out bright’.
Why do we light a candle?
To remind us that God our Father in Heaven is always with us.
Song: This little light of mine
The best way we can make a
good beginning to this school year is
to let our little light shine.
How can we ‘let our light shine’?
Look for suggestions from students.
Photo Credit: Major Clanger via Compfight
Now it is time to say HELLO
to God our Father in Heaven.
Father in Heaven, you love me,
you are with me night and day,
I want to love you always
in all I do and say.
I’ll try to please you Father,
please help me through the day,
Amen.
I’ll try to please you Father.
That is not easy.
But if we are truly sorry in our hearts,
then God our Father in Heaven will always forgive us.
Photo Credit: °Florian via Compfight
So let’s say SORRY to God
O my God I thank you for loving me.
I am sorry for all my sins,
for not loving others and not loving you.
Help me to live like Jesus and not sin again. Amen
Let’s sing a sorry song; Forgive and forget
Photo Credit: Amber McNamara via Compfight
And now it is time to say
THANKS to God
God our Father I come to say,
thank you for your love today.
Thank you for my family
and all the friends you give to me.
Guard me in the dark of night
and in the morning, please send your light.
Amen
And now we’re going to sing
Thank you to God
If I were a butterfly
Yes today we are praying for the beginning of the school year.
For some children it has been the beginning of going to school.
There are some children who are new to the school … and some grown ups too.
As we begin today, let us make our beginning special
by going to the very beginning of the Bible,
where we read about the beginning of the world!
This story is adapted from a wonderful resource
‘Bible Stories to Draw and Tell by Julie A. Petras’
if you click on the book in this link you will see
the unique and clever way, this story is presented.
A long, long, long, long, long time ago
there was nothing
– nothing except GOD.
One day God said to Himself
I think I’ll create some things.
On the first day God said, ‘Let there be LIGHT’
and there was and God said it was good.
On the second day God said, ‘Let there be a SKY’
and there was and God said it was good
On the third day God said,
‘Let the LAND be here and let the SEA be there’
and God said it was g…..
Then God put PLANTS and TREES all over the land
and God said it was ……
On the fourth day God said,
‘Let there be lights in the sky’
and God created the SUN and the MOON
and God said it was …….
On the fifth day God said,
Let there be fish in the SEA
and BIRDS in the air’
and there were and God said ……..
On the sixth day God said
‘Let there be ANIMALS all over the land’
and there were and God said …
Then God said ‘I want to create some thing really special.
Something more like me’. So God created again.
What do you think God made?
(People)
And God said they were
‘Great!’
On the seventh day God took a rest.
Let’s sing out the Good News;
God made our beautiful world
& God is everywhere:
Photo Credit: josef.stuefer via Compfight
If I go climbing x 3,
If I go climbing, God is there.
If I go climbing on the highest mountain,
God is there cos,
He is everywhere.
If I go rowing … on the widest river …
If I go swimming … to the bottom of the ocean …
If I go driving … far away …
If I go flying … on the biggest aeroplane …
If I go sleeping … on the darkest night …
Lord God,
Thank you for this new beginning.
Help us to make the best of it
so that we will do good growing and learning this year.
Photo Credit: Khalid Al-khater If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they’re yours” via Compfight
So we are going to sing our last song for today now;
We have heard the Good News.
That makes us happy, so we are going to sing;
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.
Kia ora from Christchurch New Zealand, wishing you at Greystones a wonderful start to the new school year. For us at Our Lady of Fatima School, we are now over halfway through our year, but we love the prayers that you have put into this post and would like to use some of them in our own morning prayers. We would love you to look at our class blog when you get a chance.
Thank you for your Kia Ora from New Zealand and Dia Daoibh (God be with you all) there in Our Lady Of Fatima School from Ireland. Thank you for the kind things you said about our Beginning of Term Prayer Service. Our school year will begin on 30th August after eight weeks Summer holidays here in Ireland. We have had a heat wave and the best weather for a long, long time. There was little rain and the temperature was in the 20s. This is very unusual for us. We are looking forward to the children returning, all very happy and rested after the wonderful summer. This compares with last Summer (and many others) where there was a lot of rain. We look forward to visiting your blog. With every good wish.
Updated to add: I believe we found your blog. Just confirming that this is its address http://www.schoolground.co.nz/olofroom1 Superman is an inspiring theme and the Christopher Reeve quote is very motivating. I love the sound of the activities planned for next week. I am very struck by how practical the lessons seem to be in the New Zealand education system. The students seem to learn a lot of practical technology and life skills. I love that it is theme based also. The Irish system seem to focus more on the academic. We could learn from New Zealand I think 😉