A Bold Move
Being brave
by Claire Law
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To consider the bold moves that we can make in life.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the Powerpoint slides that accompany this assembly (A Bold Move) and the means to display them.
- Have available the following videos and the means to show them during the assembly:
- ‘We’ve just moved to a remote island we’d never visited’, available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55131049 (1.56 minutes long)
- ‘Miracles of Jesus: lake stories’, available at: https://tinyurl.com/y5lgeb7q (5.12 minutes long) - Optional: you may wish to ask a student to read the Bible passage in the ‘Assembly’, Step 8.
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Point out that you’ve used a particularly bold font for the word ‘welcome’ because this assembly is all about the bold moves that we can make in life. - Ask the students, ‘What do we mean by the word “bold”?’
We often speak about colours, patterns and product designs as being bold. In this sense, ‘bold’ means having a strong, vivid or clear appearance. For example, we might observe that a particular teacher has an especially bold way of dressing. - However, when we use the word ‘bold’ to describe a person, action or idea, it has a slightly different meaning. It denotes ‘a willingness to take risks; confident and courageous’.
That’s the meaning that we are going to focus on today: people who make bold moves. That is, people who show courage and confidence, and are willing to take a risk for the greater good. - Show Slide 2.
Introduce the students to Buffy and Alex. This couple recently moved from their home in Bristol to the Isle of Rum, a remote Scottish island that they’d never visited before.
Show Slide 3.
Many of us would consider this to be a bold move. Let’s watch a short video to find out how it came about.
Show the video ‘We’ve just moved to a remote island we’d never visited’. (1.56 minutes long) - It is a bold move to set up home in a new place, but it takes real bravery to throw your belongings in a van and set out for life on a remote island that you’ve never even visited! Yet that’s what Buffy and Alex did, as we saw in the video.
The Isle of Rum is in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. It has a population of between 30 to 40, depending on the time of year and seasonal workers. Only two children attend its primary school.
Naturally, it would be hard for people who were potentially interested in moving to Rum to do so without a job offer and a home to go to, and this has been a problem for many years. However, the local community trust decided to change that, so they raised the funds to build four new eco homes that had high-quality broadband installed, and then invited people to come and rent them. They received more than 4,000 inquiries, and in the end, 440 serious applications were made. Alex and Buffy were two of the applicants and are now busy settling into their new life on Rum. - The idea of leaving a home that you’ve known for a long time and boldly stepping into the unknown is not a new one. Throughout history, many people have believed in a cause or an idea to the extent that they have willingly left behind their old life to make a bold move towards a fresh start.
- One of these people was Andrew, a fisherman mentioned in the Bible.
Show Slide 4.
Andrew, along with his brother, Simon Peter, was called by Jesus to leave behind his home, his work and his family to come and follow Jesus as a disciple. That decision was life-changing, and led to Andrew dedicating his life to Jesus. Andrew continued to tell people about Jesus after the crucifixion and resurrection, and eventually was himself crucified for his faith. He is now the patron saint of several countries, including Scotland. - Let’s listen to one of the gospel accounts of Andrew’s bold move to follow Jesus. Here is the account given in Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 4.18-22).
Show Slide 5.
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon Peter and his brother, Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’
At once, the fishermen left their nets and followed him.
As Jesus went from there, he saw two other brothers: James, son of Zebedee, and his brother, John. They were in a boat with their father, Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately, they left the boat and their father and followed him. - Let’s take a moment to consider this bold move from Andrew’s perspective.
Show the video ‘Miracles of Jesus: lake stories’ up to 1.11 minutes. - Andrew - like all of the disciples - made the bold move to leave his home and the security of paid work to follow Jesus so that he could learn from him and then tell others the good news of the gospel. The text tells us that Andrew, like the other three fishermen disciples, got up ‘at once’ and ‘immediately’ followed Jesus. This must have taken courage and can certainly be considered a bold move. It offers us both an example and a challenge.
Time for reflection
Let’s take a moment to reflect upon the bold moves that we may be called to consider in our own lives.
- One bold move might involve taking a risk in our learning and rising to some new challenge.
- Another might involve taking the bold step to believe in ourselves when we are feeling low and lacking self-confidence.
- For many of us, it might involve making a bold move with our friendships, welcoming into our friendship circle someone who is new to our class, school or friendship group.
- Taking the step of following our faith and trusting in God can also be a bold move.
Let’s pause to consider the bold moves that we face in our lives.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Let’s consider the qualities and values that we’d like to adopt today to help us make bold moves that will lead us towards happiness and fulfilment.
Pause to allow time for thought.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
We pray for courage, wisdom and the ability to make life-enhancing choices about the risks and challenges that we face.
In our times of doubt and fear, help us to be strong and willing to trust in you.
Help us to make choices that bring us fulfilment and happiness.
We pray for the courage to live out our faith in daily life.
Amen.
