Reverend Mark led Collective worship on Hopes and Dreams. 

He showed them some pictures and told them a story about three trees. 

Once upon a time, there were three trees growing side by side in the forest. They were friends and they used to spend their time chatting together. Even though they were more or less the same height and they were all growing in the same place, they were very different.

The first tree loved beauty.

The second tree loved adventure.

The third tree loved God.

One day, the trees were talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Instead of their dreams coming true they were made into other things.  Then, one cold winter’s night, everything changed for the first tree. A baby was born – clearly no ordinary child. Angels sang. Shepherds and kings came to visit him. Guess which animal feeding box his mother used as a cradle? When the first tree realized what had happened, its heart filled with joy.

About 30 more years passed by before everything changed for the second tree.

When it was out in the middle of the lake, a terrible storm blew up and the little tree was sure it was going to sink. Then something incredible happened. One of the men on board stood up.

‘Peace! Be still!’ he said to the wind and the waves and they obeyed him.

When the second tree realized what had happened, its heart filled with joy.

‘My dreams have come true after all. I may not have carried a great explorer, but I have carried the maker of heaven and Earth.’

Not long after that, things changed for the third tree, too. A carpenter came and took it away, but, to the tree’s dismay, he did not make it into anything beautiful or even useful. Instead, he made it into a coarse wooden cross.

‘Oh no! This is the sort of cross soldiers use to put criminals to death!’ thought the third tree.

It should have been the worst day of the tree’s life – except for one thing. The man on the cross was Jesus – the man Christians now believe to be the Son of God.

When the third tree realized what was happening, its heart thrilled with joy.

‘My dreams have come true after all. I may not be the tallest tree in the forest, but, from this day on, as the cross of Christ, I shall always point people towards God.’

In the story, each tree had a plan for its future, but it seemed that God had a different plan for them. Initially, God’s plan did not seem as exciting as their original plans, but, eventually, God used each one of them to play an important part in the life of Jesus, from his birth to his death.

We all have hopes and dreams for our futures and that is a good thing and Christians believe, if they ask God, he will show them his plans for their future.

 Prayer

These are the words of an old blessing.

In your journeys to and fro

God direct you;

in your happiness and pleasure

God bless you;

in care, anxiety or trouble

God sustain you;

in peril and danger

God protect you.

Amen.