Assemblies Online Secondary

Play one of the following songs as students and staff enter the hall.

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own by U2 (2005) available on the album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (Island, 2004)
Out Of Time by Blur (2003) available on the album Think Tank (Food, 2003)
All Time Love by Will Young (2006) available on the album Keep On (SonyBMG, 2005)

Ask for a volunteer to come onstage and have their mind read. Treat the exercise very seriously, and ask the volunteer to look straight into your eyes and to concentrate really hard on what you ask them to think about. Then ask them to think of a number between 1 and 100. Maintain eye contact (possibly while rubbing your own temples and looking pensive) before making your guess. The chances are that you will be wrong. When this happens, act very surprised. Make comments along the lines of 'well that's never happened before' and proceed with another mind-reading challenge. Possible challenges would be:

• Guessing a number from 1 to 100 (as above)
• Guessing a colour chosen by the volunteer (possibly their favourite colour?)
• Guessing what the volunteer had for breakfast that morning (make your guess something very unusual, such as 'kippers', to maximise your chances of being wrong)
• Getting the student to draw a simple picture on a pad of paper, and guessing what it is they have drawn
• Guessing which card from a normal pack of playing cards the student has picked from the pack

After two or three (hopefully unsuccessful) challenges, thank your volunteer and send them back to their seat. Explain to the students that in the real world, things don't always work out as we would like. Things go wrong and there are very obvious limits on our abilities. By contrast, in the rest of today's assembly you are going to be thinking about something that seemed to go wrong, but which actually went exactly as it was planned.

[Use some or all of the four Nick O'Time Video downloads with this activity. To preview all four (as a single clip) click on the play button below. If you then decide that you want to include any clips in your assembly, use the links at the bottom of the page to download as required.]

Explain to the students that you want them to guess whether Assemblies Online's resident Stuntman Nick can achieve a number of tasks within a specified time limit, and prove himself worthy of the title 'Nick O'Time'.

There are four separate challenges that Nick undertakes. You can use all or some of them. They can be shown in any order, but we recommend that you either show the Milk challenge first or not at all (as it begins with the introduction to the whole series of challenges).

When playing the clips, pause each one when the post-it note effect appears on screen explaining the details of Nick's challenge (e.g. 'Drink a pint of milk in 15 seconds). Ask the students to indicate with a show of hands whether or not they think that Nick will succeed in his task. Repeat this process for as many of Nick's challenges as you have the time and inclination to show.

At the end of the final clip, point out that sometimes Nick failed, whereas on other occasions he achieved his goal right at the last moment. In today's assembly you are going to be thinking about another task that was completed at just the right time.

Start time: 2.02.29 (beginning of chapter 35 of the DVD)
End time: 2.06.15
Clip length: Three minutes and 46 seconds

The clip starts with an alien-looking landscape rising out of the sea, with Lex Luther (Kevin Spacey) looking on from his helicopter. It ends with a close-up of Superman's body after he has plummeted to earth.

If you are unable to use the clip, say the following as an alternative: 'Superman's arch-enemy Lex Luther has used technology from Superman's home planet to grow a new continent in the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately for the world, as this new land mass rapidly emerges from the water, it results in tidal waves that will kill millions and leave much of the world permanently under water. Fortunately, Superman has found out what Lex Luther is up to, and faster than a speeding bullet he's racing in to save the day. Just to make things even more tense for Superman, this new land-mass is riddled with the element Kryptonite, which as you doubtless know is deadly to Superman. Our hero uses his incredible strength to carry the vast continent high above the earth, eventually reaching the edge of Earth's atmosphere and pushing the land-mass off into the safety of space. Unfortunately for Superman, his prolonged exposure to Kryptonite has so weakened him that he falls thousands of miles down to the Earth where he lands with a monumental thump.'

[Use the Easter Superman Talk PowerPoint with this presentation]

[PowerPoint Slide 1]
Life in the movies is great, isn't it? OK, so you may find yourself in all manner of terrifying situations, but there's always a hero who comes swooping in at the last minute to save the day, usually with spectacular computer generated special effects [click]. Usually ones that are rather better than that one! Here's a more impressive example of what I mean from the film Superman Returns. The story so far:

Superman's arch-enemy Lex Luther has used technology from Superman's home planet to grow a new continent in the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately for the world, as this new land-mass rapidly emerges from the water, it results in tidal waves that will kill millions and leave much of the world permanently under water. Fortunately, Superman has found out what Lex Luther is up to and, faster than a speeding bullet, he's racing in to save the day. Just to make things even more tense for Superman, this new land-mass is riddled with Kryptonite, which as you doubtless know is deadly to Superman. Here's the clip.

[Start time: 2.02.29 (beginning of chapter 35 of the DVD)
End time: 2.06.15
Clip length: Three minutes and 46 seconds

The clip starts with an alien-looking landscape rising out of the sea, with Lex Luther (Kevin Spacey) looking on from his helicopter. It ends with a close-up of Superman's (Brandon Routh) body after he has plummeted to earth.

If you are unable to use the clip say the following (in addition to the scene setting information as above: 'Our hero uses his incredible strength to carry the vast continent high above the earth, eventually reaching the edge of Earth's atmosphere and pushing the land-mass off into the safety of space. Unfortunately for Superman, his prolonged exposure to Kryptonite has so weakened him that he falls thousands of miles down to the Earth where he lands with a monumental thump.']

[PowerPoint Slide 2]
Did you see the look on the faces of the men and women as they watched Superman carrying the huge rock up into the sky? They were awestruck at what they were seeing. Whether they fully understood the danger or not, they must have realised that Superman was doing something that only he could do, something way beyond the powers of any normal man or woman. And again, as Superman fell, fell, fell to earth, hopelessly weakened by his exposure to the Kryptonite, everyone watched to see what his bravery in saving the world had cost him.

But that's just the movies, isn't it? Real life isn't like that. We live in a world divided by wars, by prejudice, by arguments and fallings out, and we just don't expect a hero to arrive at the last moment to save the day. [PowerPoint Slide 3] Well, Easter is when Christians celebrate precisely that - the moment when they believe that God carried out his plan to save humanity from the world's biggest problem, at just the right time.

[PowerPoint Slide 4]
John's gospel tells us this:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:16-17 (New International Version)

[PowerPoint Slide 5]
Like Superman, Jesus is in the business of saving the world. At Easter, Christians across the world celebrate the death of Jesus. It may seem an odd thing to celebrate, a death, but Christians believe that Jesus' death was no accident of history. Instead, Jesus' death was the central part of God's plan to save the world that he loves so much, to make sure that nobody has to miss out on being with God in heaven forever.

[PowerPoint Slide 6 - initially blank]
You see, the biggest problem that humanity faces, according to Christians, is that we can't live up to God's perfect standards. I mentioned earlier the hatred and violence that we all experience, either by watching the news, or just by going through our normal day to day lives. [click] We can all think of people we know who we don't like, and [click] we can all think of people who we could point our fingers at as being an example of what's wrong with the world.

[PowerPoint Slide 7]
But the Bible teaches that everybody is part of the problem. We're all what's wrong with the world. There's a lot that is wonderful about humanity, and about each individual human, but there's also a basic problem in our hearts - we're selfish, we're unkind to other people and we make a mess of our planet and a mess of our lives. More than this, all of us have an instinctive desire to not give God his rightful place, because we would rather put ourselves in charge.

So what's God's response to this? The passage we read earlier tells us that, despite our rejection of him, despite our rebellion against his authority, God doesn't want to condemn the world, but to save it. And that's why Jesus had to be born and had to die. Here's another passage from the Bible:

[PowerPoint Slide 8]
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8 (New International Version)

[PowerPoint Slide 9]
At just the right time, God acts to save the world. With Superman, the right time was before the growing land-mass had caused too much devastation; with God the right time was before humanity deserved to be rescued. God knew that humans were powerless to save themselves, and that the only hope was for him to do something.

[click] And that is what Easter is all about - God showing how much he loves the people that he made. Superman was willing to carry the huge weight of that lump of rock far away from the world, even though he knew it meant exposing himself to deadly Kryptonite. Similarly, Jesus was willing to carry the huge weight of our rebellion against God, to be punished in our place and to die, so that it would be possible for anyone who puts their trust in him to live with God forever. At the heart of the Christian message is a fantastic free gift from God: eternal life - the very best of things, given freely to rebellious sinners - the very worst of things. Whether we like it or not, the Easter message is a challenge to all of us: how are we going to respond to a God who shows such love and power in carrying out the ultimate rescue mission? 

[Use the Easter Superman Talk PowerPoint with this presentation]

[PowerPoint Slide 1]

• Always a dramatic last-minute rescue in movies
• [click] usually with spectacular special effects
• Here's an example from Superman Returns

The story so far:

• Lex Luther is growing a new continent
• Causing tidal waves and death for millions
• Superman races to the rescue
• New continent is riddled with Kryptonite - deadly to Superman

Show clip from Superman Returns

[PowerPoint Slide 2]

• Awestruck faces of watchers
• Superman doing what only Superman could
• Everyone saw what Superman's bravery had cost him

Real life not like the movies

• Our world full of war, prejudice, arguments
• We don't expect a hero to save the day at the last minute
• [PowerPoint Slide 3] Easter: God's perfectly timed rescue plan

[PowerPoint Slide 4]
Read John 3:16-17

[PowerPoint Slide 5]
Like Superman, Jesus is in the business of saving the world

At Easter Christians celebrate Jesus' death

• Not an accident, but the central part of God's rescue plan
• Making sure that nobody has to miss out on being with God forever

[PowerPoint Slide 6 - initially blank]
Humanity's big problem: not good enough
We can all think of:

• [click] people we don't like
• [click] people who are examples of what's wrong with the world

[PowerPoint Slide 7]
Bible teaches that everybody is part of the problem

• Lots good about humanity
• But a basic problem - people are selfish
• Instinctively people put ourselves, rather than God, in charge of our lives

God's response

• Wants to save the world, not to condemn it
• That's why Jesus had to come and die for the world

[PowerPoint Slide 8]
Read Romans 5:6-8

[PowerPoint Slide 9]
At just the right time, God acts to save the world

• For Superman, the right time was before the new continent caused too much devastation
• For God, the right time was before humanity deserved to be rescued
• God knew humans were powerless, and the only hope was for him to do something

[PowerPoint Slide 10]
Easter: God showing how much he loves people

• Superman was willing to carry rock, even at risk of exposing self to Kryptonite
• Jesus was willing to carry weight of our rebellion, to be punished in our place
• At heart of Christian message is a fantastic free gift - the very best of things for the very worst of people: all of us
• Easter challenge: How to respond to a God who shows such love and power in the ultimate rescue mission?

Dear God, thank you for your great love for your people. Thank you that at the first Easter you acted to show that love and save the world. Help us to recognise our need for you, and to know how to respond appropriately to your love and sacrifice. Amen.

Christians believe that Easter celebrates God's great rescue plan. They believe that without God's help, humanity was helpless and hopeless, unable to do anything about their biggest problem. How does it feel to be told that you are dependent on outside help? Would you rather be told that there is something you can do to solve all your problems? How does it feel to be told that somebody has made a great sacrifice on your behalf? Do you want to show gratitude in some way? Do you resent the sacrifice because you never asked for it? Does knowing about it make any difference to the way that you want to live the rest of your life? What difference does Easter make for you?
 

If you want to include singing in your assembly, one or more of the following may be suitable:

Amazing Love (398, Songs Of Fellowship combined edition, Kingsway 2003)
My Song Is Love Unknown (400, Songs Of Fellowship combined edition, Kingsway 2003)
There Is A Green Hill Far Away (542, Songs Of Fellowship combined edition, Kingsway 2003)
To God Be The Glory (559, Songs Of Fellowship combined edition, Kingsway 2003)
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross (596, Songs Of Fellowship combined edition, Kingsway 2003)
How Deep The Father's Love For Us (780, Songs Of Fellowship combined edition, Kingsway 2003)
The Cross Has Said It All (1019, Songs Of Fellowship combined edition, Kingsway 2003) 

Ask the students to discuss the concept of sacrifice. What, if anything, would they regard as a good enough reason to sacrifice their own lives? What, if anything would they risk their lives for? (You may need to draw out the difference between the last two questions - the element of certain death, as opposed to possible risk of death.)

Ask students to research a report on people who have chosen to sacrifice their own lives for the sake of other people.