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Zacchaeus assembly- Give people a chance!

We did an assembly today on the theme of 'relationships'.  We Used the story of Zacchaeus to try to get across the idea that we often make judgements about people without knowing who they really are and the potential they have.




First we used a 'feely bag' to get the children to try and guess some items without seeing them. They managed to get close on most items, but they couldn't see everything about them e.g. colour.  We need to look properly to get all the facts and can't judge too quickly!


Next we told the story of Zacchaeus by acting it out with some of the children and getting the others to join in with some sound effects and with some cheering at the end.  The point we drew was that the people had made up their minds about Zacchaeus but Jesus could see who he really was and who he had the potential to be.  Zacchaeus surprised people!


After the story we told a story from real life about a time when we really got to know someone and had to change our mind about them and then we used this verse:  'People look at the outside of a person but the Lord looks at his heart' (1 Samuel 16: 7).  It had been written out in alternating blue and red words.  We split the children in half and they read it out, one side of the hall taking the red words and the other side taking the blue words.  They got really into it so we had to swap over and do it again!!


We finished off with a lit candle and a quiet reflection on those people we might need to give a chance and get to know better.  The school decided to keep the memory verse sheet and let the children add post it of their reflections on the subject over the coming weeks.

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