Who is my neighbour?
Themes: Being 'a good neighbour'; the stories of The Good Samaritan and The Lost Sheep; Jesus the teacher.
Summary: This assembly, suitable for an act of collective worship, explores the question 'Who is my neighbour?' It encourages children to think about the things that they might learn from the stories of The Good Samaritan and The Lost Sheep and how our world might be a better place if everyone treated their 'neighbour' well.
Resources: the image gallery 'Who is my neighbour?' (see 'Key links')
Key links
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Assembly framework (pdf)
Print out the assembly framework ready for use
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Who is my neighbour?
Click through the images to consider who is 'a neighbour'
The video:
Love your neighbourJesus
The first story is one of Jesus' most important parables - The Good Samaritan - and explores Jesus' answer to the question 'Who is my neighbour?' Jesus tells a story about a Jewish man who is robbed and left for dead, who is finally cared for by a Samaritan - that is, someone expected to be an enemy of Jews. The second story - The Lost Sheep - is told by Jesus in response to complaints that he has been mixing with the 'wrong kind of people.' In the story a shepherd has 100 sheep, but goes in search of one that is lost, risking his own life to rescue it.
Duration: 4' 14"
End of speech: '...Jesus used lots of stories like this to teach people to think about how God treats people and how we should treat everyone else.'
Story questions
Why did Jesus tell the story of The Good Samaritan?
When Jesus told the crowd 'Love your neighbour' he was asked the question 'Who is my neighbour?' He told the story in order to answer this question
How many people see the injured man lying in the road?
Three - the priest, the priest's helper and finally the person who comes to the injured man's aid: The Good Samaritan
Where is the third person from?
He is from Samaria - so he is called a 'Samaritan'
Why is it unusual for the Samaritan to help the injured man?
The Samaritans and the Jews were enemies
Why did Jesus tell the story of The Lost Sheep?
Jesus had been criticised by holy men for talking to everyone equally. He told the story to explain why he did so (ie to show that everyone is important and that God loves everyone)
What did Jesus say the story of The Lost Sheep showed about God's love?
That God loves everyone
Suggested framework
| Content | Guidance |
|---|---|
| 1. Entry music | Play the theme song from the TV series 'Neighbours'. |
| 2. Introduction | Display the first image from the gallery 'Who is my neighbour?' Ask the children to suggest some answers. You could do this in conjunction with the remaining images in the gallery, which display some possible answers - eg someone who lives next door, someone who lives near me, someone I sit next to in class, someone in another country, anyone. You could take a vote at this stage to identify who the children regard as 'neighbours'. |
| 3. The video | Play the video. It begins with a short introduction to the Christian religion and the context for these stories. The story of The Good Samaritan ends at 2' 32" with the words '...you go and do the same.' You might choose to stop at this point. There follows a link between the way Jesus treated people and another of his parables, The Lost Sheep, which begins at 3' 04" and ends with the sentence '...Jesus used lots of stories like this to teach people to think about how God treats people and how we should treat everyone else.' |
| 4. After the video | Use the Story questions to help recall of the events and to help children make links between the stories. You will need to adapt some of the wording of the reflection if you used only the first of the stories. |
| 5. Time to talk | Take another vote about 'who is my neighbour' and compare the result with the first vote. Ask the children to decide what are the most important messages from the story(ies). Share feedback as time allows. |
| 6. Time to sing | An opportunity to sing your chosen song. Suggestions from BBC collections are below. |
| 7. Opportunity to reflect | 'We've been thinking today about being a good neighbour and loving others, as Jesus taught in his parables... We've thought about what these two stories might mean...and whether we can learn from them ourselves... I wonder how Jesus' stories changed the people who heard them..? I wonder whether they might change us..?' |
| 8. Opportunity for prayer | 'Dear God. Thank you for Jesus' stories about how we should treat others and about the love that Jesus had for everyone he met. We are sorry that our world is not like this all the time. Please help us to be the best kind of neighbours that we can be - and be loving towards others. Amen.' |
Suggested songs
| Song | Collection | Significant words |
|---|---|---|
| 'Chain of love' | All about our school, no 14 | 'Different race, or creed, or colour / We are the same underneath our skin' |
| 'Being a friend' | All about our school, no 8 | 'Being a friend is the best thing you can be' |
| 'Every colour under the sun' | Come and Praise: Beginning, no 31 | 'There's room on the earth for you and me / There's plenty of room for all' |
