On Your Marks, Get Set, Go!
An assembly for Lent
by Alexandra Palmer
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To apply the qualities demonstrated by athletes to the life of Jesus.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (On Your Marks, Get Set, Go!) and the means to display them.
- Have available the following YouTube videos and the means to show them during the assembly:
- ‘Usain Bolt wins 100m gold three times in a row!’, available at: https://youtu.be/BCMnLZy3buk (1.22 minutes long)
- ‘The temptation of Jesus’, available at: https://youtu.be/mc-x4qKY6Wc (2.37 minutes long)
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Ask the children, ‘Who is this?’
Pause to allow time for discussion, and then listen to a range of responses. - Show Slide 2.
Explain that this man is Usain Bolt, a Jamaican athlete. He is considered to be one of the greatest sprinters of all time.
Show the YouTube video ‘Usain Bolt wins 100m gold three times in a row!’ (1.22 minutes long). - Show Slide 3.
Ask the children, ‘What do you have to do to become one of the world’s greatest athletes?’
Pause to allow time for discussion, and then listen to a range of responses. - Show Slide 4.
Athletes need many qualities in order to succeed.
- Ability. First, they must have natural ability in their event.
- Diet. They need to eat the right food to stay healthy.
- Training. They improve their natural ability through training. If they don’t train, they won’t be fit enough for competitions.
- Ambition/targets. An athlete’s ultimate ambition is to enter competitions and win.
- Determination. They must be determined to keep going during both difficult times (training on cold, dark mornings and evenings) and good times (taking part in competitions).
- Focus. They need to be focused fully on their training and any competitions.
- Competitiveness. Athletes need to be competitive, otherwise they will struggle to succeed in competitions.
- Supportive family. Athletes need supportive people around them. This is usually their family and their coach.
- Hard work. If athletes don’t put in the hard work, they won’t win events. They could also become injured if they don’t train.
- Attitude. Having the right attitude towards training and competing helps athletes to succeed.
- Confidence. Athletes need to feel confident to help them perform at their very best during a competition.
- Preparation. Athletes must take the time to prepare on the day of their competition so that they can perform well. - Show Slide 5.
Ask the children, ‘Can we use these qualities in other situations?’
Ask them to indicate their answer with a thumbs-up for yes or a thumbs-down for no.
Tell the children that we can use these qualities in many other situations. Right now, we are going to explore how they feature in the story of Jesus going into the wilderness. - In the Bible, it says that Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness after he was baptized by John the Baptist. Towards the end of this time, Jesus was tested by the Devil three times.
Tell the children that you are now going to show them a video about the temptations that Jesus faced.
Show the YouTube video ‘The temptation of Jesus’ (2.37 minutes long). - Show Slide 6.
Point out that this assembly is called ‘On Your Marks, Get Set, Go!’
Ask the children, ‘When do we hear these words being said?’
Show Slide 7.
Explain that these words are often said at the start of a running race. - Show Slide 8.
Tell the children that we are now going to explore how Jesus’ life was a bit like a race, requiring the kinds of qualities that top athletes need.
The ‘on your marks’ part relates to the first 30 years of his life. We know from the Bible that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and escaped to Egypt with his mum and dad because King Herod wanted to harm all baby boys. After Herod died, Mary, Joseph and Jesus returned to Nazareth. When Jesus grew up, he did the same job as Joseph, who was his father on earth, and worked as a carpenter.
When Jesus turned 30, he knew that it was the right time to stop his carpentry work and prepare himself to do the work of God, his father in heaven. He had worked hard while he was a carpenter, and he had a supportive family throughout. When Jesus started God’s work, his family supported him again when John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, baptized Jesus in the River Jordan. Afterwards, Jesus went into the wilderness. - Show Slide 9.
The 40-day period that Jesus spent in the wilderness was a time of preparation and training for him. The aim was to make sure that he was relying on God and was fully prepared for the next three years of teaching about God. We can think of this as the ‘get set’ part of Jesus’ life. - Show Slide 10.
Towards the end of his time in the wilderness, Jesus was tested three times. The first time was when the Devil asked Jesus to turn some stones into bread. Jesus hadn’t eaten at all while he’d been in the wilderness, but he knew that he must wait for the right time to start eating again, and only use his power to help others, not himself. Jesus would have needed to keep his focus on what God wanted him to do because he would have been very hungry. This is another stage in the ‘get set’ part of Jesus’ life. - Show Slide 11.
The second time when Jesus was tested was when 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. Jesus knew that God loved him and that he shouldn’t test his father in heaven in this way. It was important for Jesus to have his full trust in God.
Jesus showed his confidence in God, his father in heaven, and also showed the right attitude towards himself and God. - Show Slide 12.
Finally, the Devil took Jesus to a high mountain and told him that if Jesus worshipped and obeyed him, he would give Jesus all the places in the world. However, Jesus knew that he should only worship and obey God. He also understood that God had a plan for his life, so he was determined to do things God’s way, even though it was harder than the Devil’s way.
This temptation helps us to understand the correct way to achieve things. The wrong pathway might mean doing something wrong, but the right pathway could involve a lot of hard work. - Show Slide 13.
Now we reach the ‘go’ part of Jesus’ life. After the third test, Jesus told the Devil to go away. When the Devil left, Jesus knew that it was the right time to return home. For three years afterwards, Jesus taught people about God in various ways. He told stories called parables, like ‘The Good Samaritan’. He also performed miracles like feeding 5,000 people with a few fish and loaves, and healing people.
To do this work, Jesus would have used his God-given ability to teach about God. In this way, he could fulfil his ambition and targets.
Time for reflection
Show Slide 14.
Ask the children, ‘Why did Jesus die on the cross?’
Pause to allow time for discussion, and then listen to a range of responses.
Explain that Christians believe that everyone has done wrong things – they sometimes call this sin. They believe that this wrong separates people from God. However, God loves everyone very much and he wants to have a relationship with them. Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross because God wanted to renew his relationship with everyone and forgive them for the wrong things that they do, but somebody had to take our punishment and that somebody was Jesus.
Tell the children that Jesus didn’t have to go ahead with God’s plan of him dying on the cross, but he did. Ask them, ‘What qualities did Jesus need to do this?’
Pause to allow time for discussion, and then listen to a range of responses.
Suggestions may include bravery, obedience, courage, perseverance, hope and love.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for all the qualities that athletes have.
Thank you that Jesus used these qualities during Lent.
Thank you that we can also use these qualities every day.
Please help us to keep focused on what is good.
Please help us to persevere when things are hard.
Please help us to remember that God loves us and wants to forgive us – this is the message of Easter.
Please help us to learn to love and forgive other people.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Dollop’ by Doug Horley, available at: https://youtu.be/k1fKFAk8zfI (2.59 minutes long)
Publication date: April 2024 (Vol.26 No.4) Published by SPCK, London, UK.
