Assembly Objective:
- How do we feel when we face big problems and challenges in our lives? This assembly explores the Bible’s teaching that the creator God loves us and that nothing can separate us from that love.
Film:
- Maleficent (Disney, 2014, certificate PG). Click here to buy the DVD online.
Bible:
- Romans 8:38-39 (New Living Translation)
Supporting Values Education:
- The value of Individual Liberty is based on the notion that we are free and responsible for our own actions. But the value of Respect also causes us to draw inspiration from great examples of how others live in this world. This assembly invites pupils to consider the Christian belief that there is a creator God who constantly loves us.
OPENING ACTIVITY
Test of Strength (game)
- Ask for two volunteers who think they are strong. Explain that the challenge is for them to see which of them can hold a large pile of books without dropping any. Start by giving each contestant a pile of six or so books, then one at a time add more to each pile (you might want to get an assistant to help with this, so that each of the contestants gets the additional books at more or less the same time – you placing books on one contestant’s pile, the assistant on the other). Keep going until one of the contestants drops their books. Congratulate both contestants and send them back to their seats with a round of applause. You could give a small prize to the winner if you wanted.
- Explain that in the rest of today’s assembly you are going to be thinking about the strongest force in the world.
Love is… (something to think about)
Download the Love is PowerPoint for use with this activity.
- Display the quotes on the PowerPoint. You could either play them without comment, perhaps with appropriate accompanying music – pretty much any one of the thousands of chart hits about love – or with no soundtrack, but with your own observations and comments to each of the quotes.
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Love doesn’t make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile (Elizabeth Browning).
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species (W. Somerset Maugham).
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- Love is everything it’s cracked up to be, that’s why people are so cynical about it (Erica Jong).
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit (Peter Ustinov).
- [PowerPoint slide 5]
- Love is more than three words mumbled before bedtime. Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day (Nicholas Sparks).
- [PowerPoint slide 6]
- Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that (Michael Leunig).
FILM CLIP
- Play the clip from the film Maleficent (Disney, 2014, certificate PG)
- Start time: 0.29.20 (in chapter 6 of the DVD)
- End time: 0.31.39
- Clip length: 2 minutes and 19 seconds
- The clip starts with the three smaller fairies telling Maleficent to ‘Stay away from the Princess’. The clip ends with Maleficent exiting, cackling as she goes.
- The clip shows Maleficent place a curse upon the Princess, pronouncing that no power on Earth can bring this magic to an end.
TALK
Download the Love Maleficent Talk PowerPoint for use with this presentation.
Scripted Talk
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Gravity. No one has ever seen it, yet it’s one of the strongest forces on the planet. Although it’s technically the weakest of the four fundamental forces recognised by science (behind the strong nuclear force, electromagnetic force, and the weak nuclear force), on an astronomical scale, gravity has an effect far greater than any of the other fundamental forces. It’s gravity that keeps the Earth spinning around the Sun, it’s gravity that keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth, which in turn has a gravitational effect on the tides and the oceans. It’s gravity that stops us from falling off the planet and out into space. Gravity has a huge, powerful impact on each one of our lives. Is it the most powerful thing on Earth? We’ll see.
- Here’s a clip from the film Maleficent, where one character unleashed what she claims is the most powerful force on the planet. Maleficent is a powerfully magical creature. In this clip she seeks revenge on the King who betrayed her, abusing her trust and cutting off her wings in order to gain political power. Maleficent bided her time, and when King Stefan had a child, she turns up at the baby’s Christening. See what she says about the gift she bestows on the baby.
- Play the clip from the film Maleficent:
- Start time: 0.29.20 (in chapter 6 of the DVD)
- End time: 0.31.39
- Clip length: 2 minutes and 19 seconds
- The clip starts with the three smaller fairies telling Maleficent to ‘Stay away from the Princess’. The clip ends with Maleficent exiting, cackling as she goes.
- If you are unable to play the clip, say, ‘In the film Maleficent, the title character is the wicked fairy godmother from the classic fairy-tale Sleeping Beauty. In the scene where Maleficent bestows a curse upon the infant Princess, Maleficent proclaims that there is no power on Earth capable of bringing her curse to an end.’
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- Maleficent felt that her magic, in particular the curse she put on the infant Princess, was the strongest force in the world. She said herself, no power on Earth could end the curse, it would last to the end of time.
- [click] Christians believe that humanity is under a curse. Because people have rejected God’s rule, humans are cut off from God, facing eternity without him. [click] Fortunately, Christians also believe that unlike Maleficent’s curse, there is a stronger force. They believe that God provided a way of breaking the curse through Jesus’ death on the cross. Because of this, Christians believe that anyone who puts their trust in Jesus can be reconciled with God and become his friend again. [click] Unlike in the film clip, there is something more powerful than the curse.
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- The apostle Paul, one of the leaders of the early Christian church, wrote this:
- And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39, New Living Translation.
- [click] Nothing can separate us, wrote Paul, from God’s love. Not death, not life, not angels not demons, not fears, not worries. Nothing. Maleficent may have claimed that no power on Earth could stop her curse, but Paul goes further – he says that nothing in the Earth or in the sky can separate us from God’s love. For Christians, God’s love is the most powerful force in the Universe.
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- That’s not just a wishy-washy ‘isn’t love lovely’ statement. [click] That’s a statement about God’s authority: he’s in charge; nothing can stand between him and what he wants for us. We may not live in a world where horned witches go around cursing babies, but we do live in a world where there’s a lot of pain and suffering and things that are hard to live with. The Bible promises that there is something beyond that, and something that is more powerful than that. [click] Paul specifically mentions our fears and our worries among the things that can’t separate us from God’s love. That means that God is bigger than the things we worry about, whatever they are. He’s bigger than the problems that we face. It’s up to us to decide whether to let him help us face them, or to face them on our own.
Headings and Bullets
Download the Love Maleficent Talk PowerPoint with this presentation.
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Gravity: One of the strongest forces on the planet.
- Technically the weakest of the four fundamental forces.
- Astronomically, gravity has a far greater effect than the others.
- Gravity keeps the Earth orbiting the Sun.
- Gravity keeps the Moon orbiting the Earth, which controls our tides.
- Gravity stops us falling off the planet.
- Gravity has a huge, powerful impact on our lives.
- Is it the most powerful thing on Earth? We’ll see.
- Introduce clip from Maleficent:
- One character unleashes what she claims as the most powerful force on the planet.
- Maleficent has powerful magic.
- Here she seeks revenge on a king who wronged her.
- See what she says about her gift for the king’s baby.
- Play the clip from the film Maleficent:
- Start time: 0.29.20 (in chapter 6 of the DVD)
- End time: 0.31.39
- Clip length: 2 minutes and 19 seconds
- The clip starts with the three smaller fairies telling Maleficent to ‘Stay away from the Princess’. The clip ends with Maleficent exiting, cackling as she goes.
- Gravity: One of the strongest forces on the planet.
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- Maleficent said her curse was the strongest force in the world.
- No power on Earth could remove the curse, it would last to the end of time.
- Christians believe humanity is under a curse.
- [click] People have rejected God, and are cut off from him forever.
- [click] Unlike Maleficent’s curse, there is something stronger than this one.
- Christians believe God provided a way of breaking the curse, through Jesus’ death on the cross.
- Christians believe that anyone who trusts in Jesus can be reconciled with God.
- [click] There is something more powerful than the curse.
- Maleficent said her curse was the strongest force in the world.
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- The apostle Paul, one of the leaders of the early Christian church, wrote this:
- And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39, New Living Translation.
- [click] Nothing can separate us, wrote Paul, from God’s love.
- Not death, not life, not angels not demons, not fears, not worries. Nothing.
- Paul goes further than Maleficent: nothing in the Earth or in the sky can separate us from God’s love.
- For Christians, God’s love is the most powerful force in the Universe.
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- That’s not just a wishy-washy ‘isn’t love lovely’ statement.
- [click] It’s about God’s authority: he’s in charge.
- Nothing comes between us and what God wants for us.
- Not a perfect world: pain and suffering all around.
- The Bible promises something more powerful than that.
- [click] Paul says our fears and worries can’t separate us from God’s love.
- So God is bigger than the things we worry about, whatever they are.
- God is bigger than our problems.
- It’s up to us to decide whether to let him help us face them.
- That’s not just a wishy-washy ‘isn’t love lovely’ statement.
Photo Copyright for Love Is Assembly PowerPoint: Slide 1 public domain / Slide 2 public domain / Slide 3 Wes Washington / Slide 4 Allan Warren / Slide 5 public domain / Slide 6 Bahudhara heart picture in all slides www.iStockphoto.com
Photo Copyright for Love Maleficent Talk Assembly PowerPoint: Slides 1, 3 and 4 iStockphoto.com / Slide 2 Disney Enterprises
RESPOND
Prayer
- Dear God, thank you that you are more powerful than anything we might face in our lifetimes. Thank you that whatever problems we face, we can handle them with your help. And thank you that we need never live without your love. Help us to remember your love for us, and to let it strengthen it in our daily lives. Amen.
Reflection
- What are the things that you worry about? What difference does it make to hear that God is more powerful than those things? Has anything you’ve heard today made you want to take a different approach to whatever problems you face in your life?
YOU WILL NEED:
- Maleficent (Disney, 2014, certificate PG). Click here to buy the DVD online.
- Love Is Assembly PowerPoint.
- Love Maleficent Talk PowerPoint.
- A large collection of heavy books, or similar, if you are using opening activity: test of strength.
- (Optional) small prize for test of strength game.
- (Optional) Appropriate chart song about love for the Love Is PowerPoint.
Ethos Education 