Assembly Objective:
How do we deal with broken relationships? When other people hurt us we can choose to forgive them, or to take revenge. This assembly invites students to consider how Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness can restore relationships and free people from bitterness.
Film:
The Fall Guy (Universal Pictures, 2024, certificate 12). Click here to buy the DVD online.
Bible:
Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV UK)
Supporting Values Education:
The value of Individual Liberty presupposes that we are free and responsible for our responses to the actions of others. The values of Democracy and Rule of Law recognise that we are part of a society where everyone has rights and responsibilities towards one another. This assembly encourages students to consider how to respond to behaviour which impacts their emotions and wellbeing.
OPENING ACTIVITY
How Many Times? (Game)
Invite a number of volunteers to the front of the assembly and tell them that you are going to set them the challenge of doing something as many times as they can in a minute. Set a timer.
Depending on space and the group’s likelihood of doing this activity well, you can offer one or more of the following activities (equipment in brackets):
How many keepie-uppies can you do (football)?
How many bounces of a tennis ball/badminton racquet and shuttlecock/table tennis bat and ball (bats and balls)?
How many basketball dribbles (basketball)?
How many clay pots can you make (quick drying clay/hand wash)?
How many houses with a roof, a door and four windows can you draw (paper or Flipchart and pens)?
How many press-ups/sit-ups/burpees can you do?
Using chopsticks, how many polo mints can you move from one bowl to another (chopsticks/bowls/polos)?
How many beanbags can you move from one end of the stage to another (beanbags)?
You can go as wild or as simple as you like with this activity – it could essentially be run as a mini potted sports event. Award a small prize and a round of applause to the winner(s).
Finish the activity by asking the following questions:
How many times should a person say ‘I’m sorry’ to another person when they hurt them?
How many times should that person forgive the other person?
FILM CLIP
Play the clip from The Fall Guy (Universal Pictures, 2024, certificate 12).
- Start time: 00:13:58 (‘Guys, simmer down, eyes on me. Here’s what’s gonna happen.’)
- End time: 00:22:07 (‘That’s a cut!’)
- Clip length: 8 mins 9 seconds
Jody (Emily Blunt) and Colt (Ryan Gosling) have not seen each other for 18 months. Jody is an ambitious movie director whose heart was broken by Colt when he cut contact with her after an accident on set. He has been persuaded to come back to work because he believes that Jody has asked specifically for him on the job. Meanwhile, she has no idea that he is the stunt man in the scene she is shooting. When they meet, she asks whose idea it was to bring him on set, saying that she didn’t approve him. She is furious, firstly because he has damaged her camera and ruined the shot, but mostly because she is still hurt by him. He tries hard to make it better but messes up. There is nobody else able to do the next stunt, one where he needs to be set on fire then slammed into a rock. Although the scene goes well, she insists they do it again, but not before she uses a megaphone to explain the story to him – an intense sci-fi love story about an alien who has been hurt by a human after a fling. She tells him she can keep going, but he replies that he can hit the rock better now.
TALK
Scripted Talk
Download The Fall Guy PowerPoint for use with this talk.
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Are you good at persevering? Are you the kind of person who will practise something regularly so you get better and better at it, or do you give up easily?
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- There is a theory that to get really good at something you need to practise for an average of 10,000 hours.
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- That means that to be great at something, you need to train for about 20 hours per week for ten years. That is a long time, but those of you who are good at sport or music, or any other skill, know that natural talent can only take you so far. You need to practise to improve.
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- You might be wondering what that has to do with our assembly topic for today – forgiveness. Can you practise forgiving people? Surely feeling upset or angry with someone is exactly that – a feeling. You can’t practise a feeling. Or can you? Let’s watch a clip from the film The Fall Guy and then we’ll talk about forgiveness and revenge.
- [PowerPoint slide 5]
- In the clip we’re about to watch, a stuntman (Colt) is returning to a film set for the first time since having a terrible accident. Before his accident, Colt was in a relationship with Jody, but he has cut all contact with her as he didn’t know how to be with her when he was recovering. She has been very hurt by his behaviour and hasn’t seen him for 18 months. Now, Colt has been told that Jody is directing a movie, and that she has asked specifically for him to be the stuntman on the film. In fact, Jody has not asked for Colt, and has no idea that he has arrived on set. Let’s watch the clip and find out how she reacts when she sees him.
- Play the clip from The Fall Guy (Universal Pictures, 2024, certificate 12).
- Start time: 00:13:58 (‘Guys, simmer down, eyes on me. Here’s what’s gonna happen.’)
- End time: 00:22:07 (‘That’s a cut!’)
- Clip length: 8 mins 9 seconds
- Jody (Emily Blunt) and Colt (Ryan Gosling) have not seen each other for 18 months. Jody is an ambitious movie director whose heart was broken by Colt when he cut contact with her after an accident on set. He has been persuaded to come back to work because he believes that Jody has asked specifically for him on the job. Meanwhile, she has no idea that he is the stunt man in the scene she is shooting. When they meet, she asks whose idea it was to bring him on set, saying that she didn’t approve him. She is furious, firstly because he has damaged her camera and ruined the shot, but mostly because she is still hurt by him. He tries hard to make it better but messes up. There is nobody else able to do the next stunt, one where he needs to be set on fire then slammed into a rock. Although the scene goes well, she insists they do it again, but not before she uses a megaphone to explain the story to him – an intense sci-fi love story about an alien who has been hurt by a human after a fling. She tells him she can keep going, but he replies that he can hit the rock better now.
- [PowerPoint slide 6]
- Colt has hurt Jody by ignoring her and breaking up with her. Months have passed but Jody is still deeply hurt by Colt’s behaviour. When she encountered him on her film set, she was furious. She wanted him fired from the set but because there was no-one else who could perform the stunt she was stuck with him, so she decided to take revenge in different ways. I wonder how many examples of her anger you spotted.
- She made him repeat the stunt unnecessarily. She used the megaphone to make sure that everyone else on set heard what she was saying to him. She used the plot of the film to make it clear how he had made her feel. By doing all these things Jody wanted to hurt and humiliate Colt. If we had kept watching the scene we’d have seen that Jody made Colt do the stunt again and again.
- [PowerPoint slide 7]
- Did Colt deserve to be hurt and humiliated? Probably. He had treated Jody badly and broken her heart.
- [PowerPoint slide 8]
- Would it make Jody feel better to hurt Colt? Probably in the short term she felt good, but in the long term it didn’t make the relationship work again, and she still felt miserable.
- When we are upset and angry, our natural response is to fight back and hurt the person who has hurt us. To choose not to fight back but to forgive the other person is hard and feels unfair.
- [PowerPoint slide 9]
- Take a moment to think about a time when you’ve had a choice about whether to forgive a person who has hurt you. Perhaps someone in your family has behaved badly towards you. Perhaps you’ve been in a relationship or a friendship where the other person has let you down or upset you. Think about how you felt. Did you take revenge? Did you want to hurt the other person? Did you choose to forgive them?
- Forgiveness doesn’t mean letting the other person off with what they have done. It means choosing not to take revenge or to remain angry towards the other person. You can choose to forgive someone even when they have not said sorry, and even when they don’t deserve to be forgiven.
- [PowerPoint slide 10]
- Colt had hurt Jody, and although he knew he hadn’t behaved well, he didn’t say he was sorry. Even so, Jody could still have chosen to forgive him.
- [PowerPoint slide 11]
- Forgiveness is hard. It’s not a feeling. It’s a choice.
- [PowerPoint slide 12]
- For Christians, forgiveness is a very important idea. Christians believe that all human beings need forgiveness. People hurt and anger other people with their words and their actions. Christians believe that people also hurt and anger God with their words and actions, but that God chooses to forgive through Jesus’ death on the cross. God also expects that when a person has been forgiven, they should also choose to forgive the people who have hurt or angered them.
- One of Jesus’ disciples – Peter – asked Jesus about forgiveness. Perhaps Peter knew that forgiving people was hard. Perhaps Peter had been hurt and angered by someone again and again. In any case, Peter decided to ask Jesus how many times he should forgive another person. Jesus’ reply was radical.
- [PowerPoint slide 13]
- Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV UK).
- [PowerPoint slide 14]
- How many times does Jesus say you should forgive someone? Not seven times, but seventy-seven times! In fact, in the Bible the number seven is often used to describe something that is perfect or complete, so Jesus is probably saying that you should keep on forgiving until you don’t have to any more. That’s radical! It’s like saying that instead of making Colt keep slamming into the wall, Jody should choose to say ‘I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you.’ Forever!
- At the start of this assembly we talked about practice. We said that to become great at something, you had to practise it for 10,000 hours! What Jesus told Peter is quite similar. He told him that people had to keep practising forgiving others.
- [PowerPoint slide 15]
- Forgiveness is hard work. It’s easy to talk about it, but harder to do it, but I want you to think one more time about Jody. Do you think that taking revenge on Colt made her feel better in the long run? Do you think that it fixed the situation between them? No.
- Taking revenge and choosing not to forgive a person who has hurt us doesn’t actually solve the problem, but choosing to forgive sets us free from feeling resentful and angry.
- [PowerPoint slide 16]
- Nelson Mandela, the leader of South Africa, who spent 27 years in prison simply for speaking out about injustice had every reason to feel angry and resentful about how he had been treated. This is what he said about holding onto a grudge against another person:
- ‘Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.’
- Nelson Mandela understood that resentment and revenge only makes the situation more painful, and it doesn’t solve the problem. Choosing to forgive a person who has hurt us sets us free, even if we have to do it 7, 77 or 10,000 times!
Headings and Bullets
Download The Fall Guy PowerPoint for use with this talk.
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Welcome.
- Are you good at persevering?
- Do you practise something regularly so you get better and better at it?
- Or do you give up easily?
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- 10,000 Hours.
- There is a theory that to get really good at something you need to practise for an average of 10,000 hours.
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- 10,000 hours = 20 hours per week for 10 years.
- Natural talent can only take you so far.
- You need to practise to improve.
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- Forgiveness.
- Can you practise forgiving people?
- Surely feeling upset or angry with someone is exactly that – a feeling.
- You can’t practise a feeling.
- Or can you?
- [PowerPoint slide 5]
- Introduce the film clip.
- A stuntman (Colt) is returning to a film set for the first time since having a terrible accident.
- Colt was in a relationship with Jody, but he has cut all contact with her since the accident.
- She has been very hurt and hasn’t seen him for 18 months.
- Colt has been told that Jody is directing a movie, and that she has asked specifically for him to be the stuntman on the film.
- In fact, Jody has not asked for Colt.
- How will she react?
- Play the clip from The Fall Guy (Universal Pictures, 2024, certificate 12).
- Start time: 00:13:58 (‘Guys, simmer down, eyes on me. Here’s what’s gonna happen.’)
- End time: 00:22:07 (‘That’s a cut!’)
- Clip length: 8 mins 9 seconds.
- [PowerPoint slide 6]
- How many examples of revenge did you spot?
- She made him repeat the stunt unnecessarily.
- She used the megaphone to make sure that everyone else on set heard what she was saying to him.
- She used the plot of the film to make it clear how he had made her feel.
- By doing all these things Jody wanted to hurt and humiliate Colt.
- [PowerPoint slide 7]
- Did Colt deserve to be hurt and humiliated?
- [PowerPoint slide 8]
- Would it make Jody feel better to hurt Colt?
- Probably in the short term she felt good.
- In the long term it didn’t make the relationship work again, and she still felt miserable.
- When we are upset and angry, our natural response is to fight back and hurt the person who has hurt us.
- To choose not to fight back but to forgive the other person is hard and feels unfair.
- [PowerPoint slide 9]
- Think about your life.
- Think about a time when you’ve had a choice about whether to forgive a person who has hurt you.
- Perhaps someone in your family has behaved badly towards you.
- Perhaps you’ve been in a relationship or a friendship where the other person has let you down or upset you.
- Did you take revenge?
- Did you want to hurt the other person?
- Did you choose to forgive them?
- Forgiveness doesn’t mean letting the other person off with what they have done.
- It means choosing not to take revenge or to remain angry.
- You can choose to forgive someone even when they have not said sorry, and even when they don’t deserve to be forgiven.
- [PowerPoint slide 10]
- Colt and Jody.
- He knew he hadn’t behaved well but still didn’t say he was sorry.
- Even so, Jody could have chosen to forgive him.
- [PowerPoint slide 11]
- Forgiveness is hard.
- It’s not a feeling.
- It’s a choice.
- [PowerPoint slide 12]
- For Christians, forgiveness is a very important idea.
- Christians believe that all human beings need forgiveness.
- People hurt and anger other people with their words and their actions.
- Christians believe that people also hurt and anger God with their words and actions, but God chooses to forgive through Jesus’ death on the cross.
- God also expects that when a person has been forgiven, they should also choose to forgive the people who have hurt or angered them.
- One of Jesus’ disciples – Peter – asked Jesus about forgiveness.
- Peter decided to ask Jesus how many times he should forgive another person.
- Jesus’ reply was radical.
- [PowerPoint slide 13]
- Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV UK).
- Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’
- [PowerPoint slide 14]
- How many times does Jesus say you should forgive someone?
- Not seven times, but seventy-seven times!
- Jesus is probably saying that you should keep on forgiving until you don’t have to any more.
- It’s like saying that instead of making Colt keep slamming into the wall, Jody should choose to say ‘I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you.’ forever!
- [PowerPoint slide 15]
- Forgiveness is hard work.
- It’s easy to talk about it, but harder to do it.
- Do you think that taking revenge on Colt made Jody feel better in the long run?
- Do you think that it fixed the situation between them?
- Taking revenge and choosing not to forgive a person who has hurt us doesn’t actually solve the problem, but choosing to forgive sets us free from feeling resentful and angry.
- [PowerPoint slide 16]
- ‘Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.’
- Nelson Mandela, the leader of South Africa.
- Who spent 27 years in prison simply for speaking out about injustice.
- He had every reason to feel angry and resentful about how he had been treated.
- Nelson Mandela understood that resentment and revenge only makes the situation more painful, and it doesn’t solve the problem.
- Choosing to forgive a person who has hurt us sets us free, even if we have to do it 7, 77 or 10,000 times!
Photo copyright for The Fall Guy Powerpoint: Slide 1 Pixabay.com / Slide 2 Pixabay.com / Slide 3 Pixabay.com / Slide 4 Pixabay.com / Slide 5 Universal Studios / Slide 6 Universal Studios / Slide 7 Universal Studios / Slide 8 Universal Studios / Slide 9 Pixabay.com / Slide 10 Pixabay.com / Slide 11 Pixabay.com / Slide 12 Pixabay.com / Slide 13 LumoProject.com image 15 / Slide 14 Universal Studios / Slide 15 Universal Studios / Slide 16 South Africa The Good News / www.sagoodnews.co.za / Slide 17 Pixabay.com / Slide 18 Pixabay.com
RESPOND
Prayer
- [PowerPoint slide 17]
- Dear God, teach us to forgive those who hurt and upset us. Help us to forgive even when we don’t feel like it. Thank you for forgiving us even though we hurt and upset other people. Amen.
Reflection
- [PowerPoint slide 18]
- Play some reflective music and show the slide with the quote from Nelson Mandela. Ask students to spend a moment thinking about the quote, and as they do so, read out the following questions.
- Why is resentment like poison?
- Why is resenting or not forgiving someone like drinking poison?
- What does poison do to a person?
- What could you do to forgive someone today?
YOU WILL NEED:
- A copy of The Fall Guy (Universal Pictures, 2024, certificate 12). Click here to buy the DVD online.
- The Fall Guy PowerPoint.
- A timer and any equipment you need for the challenges in the Opening Activity (balls, bats, polo mints, chopsticks, beanbags etc.)
Ethos Education 
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