All About You!

Lent runs from 22 February to 8 April 2023

by Alexandra Palmer

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To consider what makes us the people we are, with reference to the start of Lent.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (All About You!) and the means to display them.
• Have available the YouTube video ‘The temptation of Jesus’ and the means to show it during the assembly. It is 2.37 minutes long and is available at: https://youtu.be/mc-x4qKY6Wc
• Optional: you may also wish to use the extension activity (All About You! - Extension Activity) that accompanies this assembly.

Assembly

1. Show Slide 1.
   
   Ask the children, ‘What makes you you?’
   
   Pause to allow time for thought and discussion before listening to a range of responses.
   
   
2. Show Slide 2.
   
   Explain that there are many possible answers, but here are some ideas.
   
   - Personality. Are we shy, or loud, or a combination of the two?
   - Behaviour. How do we behave in school and at home?
   - Emotions. We have a range of emotions that help us in different situations.
   - Clothes. All of us like to wear different colours and styles of clothes.
   - Clubs and activities. We all do various sports and activities.
   - Belongings. We all have our favourite toys and games.
   - School. At school, we all like different subjects to learn about.
   - Family. Our family helps to shape who we are.
   - Friends. Our friends affect how we behave, learn and play.
   - Pets. We all like different pets and animals.
   
   
3. Show Slide 3.
   
   Ask the children, ‘What made Jesus Jesus?’
   
   Pause to allow time for thought and discussion before listening to a range of responses.
   
   
4. Show Slide 4.
   
   Explain that there are many possible answers, but here are some ideas.
   
   - Like us, Jesus’ personality, behaviour and emotions would have been unique to him.
   - Jesus would have gone to school, but he would also have learnt how to read the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.
   - Jesus had two fathers: God, his father in heaven, and Joseph, his father on Earth.
   - Jesus was given unusual presents when he was born: gold, frankincense and myrrh. The message behind the gifts was that Jesus was God’s son, and would have a different life from his brothers and sisters.
   - Jesus had a cousin called John, who would become an important person in Jesus’ life and in the Bible.
   - Jesus would have spent time playing with his friends when he was growing up in Nazareth. Later, his 12 disciples became important friends when he started teaching about God.
   - Jesus’ father on Earth, Joseph, was a carpenter, so Jesus learnt his carpentry skills from his dad.
   
   
5. Show Slide 5.
   
   Ask the children, ‘What do pancakes have to do with making Jesus Jesus?’
   
   Pause to allow time for thought and discussion before listening to a range of responses.
   
   
6. Show Slide 6.
   
   Explain that Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent. Some Christians give up something that is important to them during Lent, to remember the time when Jesus spent 40 days in the desert not eating. A long time ago, Christians would give up eating all rich food during Lent, which included eggs. So, on Shrove Tuesday, people used to make pancakes and use up all the food that they weren’t allowed to eat during Lent. Nowadays, people might give up eating chocolate or buying hot drinks from coffee shops. Some people decide to take up a positive action during Lent instead, such as performing special acts of kindness.
   
   
7. Explain that the Bible tells us that Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and nights after he was baptized by John the Baptist. Towards the end of his time there, he was tested by the devil three times.
   
   
8. Explain to the children that you are going to show them a video that tells this story.
   
   Show the YouTube video ‘The temptation of Jesus’ (2.37 minutes long).
   
   
   
   
9. Show Slide 7.
   
   Explain that, after John baptized Jesus, God’s spirit came down onto Jesus as a dove. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert to help prepare himself for the next three years of teaching about his father in heaven, God.
   
   
10. Show Slide 8.
    
    Jesus’ first temptation came when the devil asked him to turn some stones into bread because Jesus hadn’t eaten for the whole time he’d been in the desert. Jesus could have given in, but he knew that he could only use his power to help others, not himself.
    
    
11. Show Slide 9.
    
    For Jesus’ second temptation, the devil took him to a high point in Jerusalem and asked him to jump off because God would tell the angels to save him. The devil was testing Jesus’ trust in God, but Jesus knew that God loved him and that he shouldn’t test his father in heaven in this way.
    
    
12. Show Slide 10.
    
    In Jesus’ final temptation, the devil took Jesus to a high mountain and said that if Jesus worshipped and obeyed him, he would give Jesus all the places in the world. The devil was testing whether Jesus would achieve things the right way or the wrong way, but Jesus knew that he should only worship and obey God.

Time for reflection

Show Slide 11.

Ask the children, ‘How is Jesus’ time in the desert connected to you?’

Pause to allow time for thought and discussion before listening to a range of responses.

Show Slide 12.

Explain that, from the moment Jesus began his work on Earth at the age of 30, he knew that one day, he would die on the cross. Christians believe that Jesus’ death on the cross was so that people could be forgiven by God for all the wrong things that they have done. This is what Christians celebrate at Easter.

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you that we are all unique and different from our friends.
Thank you for all the opportunities, activities and things that we enjoy.
Thank you for our family and friends.
Please help us to think about how we can help others during this season of Lent.
Amen.

Song/music

‘Our God is a great big God’, available at: https://youtu.be/eaXPXWBcE3I (3 minutes long)

Extension activities

1. Give each child a copy of the sheet that accompanies this assembly (All About You! - Extension Activity). Ask the children to create a poster that sums them up by thinking about what makes them unique. They could include information about their family, friends, activities, toys, favourite subjects, pets and so on.