Hotshots: Who's the Greatest?

more by Jason Gardner | Youth

TITLE: Who's the Greatest?

Note this is an assembly/talk with a distinctly Christian edge so make sure it’s appropriate eg. When invited to speak during a Christian festival, Easter or Christmas or at a school where they’re happy with you presenting a particular faith perspective.

Preparation:

This works best by projecting powerpoint images of the ‘celebrities’ but as they’re so well known it’s not essential. Remember to update the combatants if you need to!

Crowd participation:

Say: ‘I don’t know if you went to see the film King Kong but in it Kong fights 3 huge dinosaurs and wins. That got me thinking in a fight between other celebrities, movie heroes and big monsters who would win? Let’s put this to the vote.’

Note: whoever’s name gets shouted the most wins.

Let’s see if we can get a couple of finalists.

Between Kong and the Dragon from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, who would win?

Take the winner of each bout and pit them against other fictional beasts until you have a finalist.

Eg. This is how it might go after first round.  Kong versus Jaws,  Kong versus Legolas from Lord of the Rings, Kong Emerges as victor.

 
NB. If using powerpoint only have the image of the contender on the screen for subsequent bouts as you don’t know who the crowds are going to pick. Eg first image Kong versus Dragon, second image Jaws, third image Cave Troll etc

Now lets find another finalist:

Homer Simpson versus James Bond, The winner versus Halle Berry as Catwoman, the winner versus Spongebob Squarepants.

So now we have our two finalists? Who will win?

Eg. Homer Simpson versus King Kong.

Talk:

Some of these characters we’ve looked at are big time heroes. Guys like Legolas and James Bond and of course Homer Simpson. They’re people we may really admire and when it comes to fighting off hordes of Orcs, or super villains who want to rule the world or a donught eating contest they’re the people you’d want by your side.

In a way they’re role models. They’re the kind of people whose lead you want to follow if ever there was an alien invasion of earth.

But what about the day to day? Lets face it sometimes the biggest daily challenge we have isn’t about fighting off a few dinosaurs unless they’re stopping you getting to the next level on your playstation. The challenges we have are maybe trying to get along with people we often disagree with, be they family or friends. Or maybe it’s the challenge of focussing - how will what I do today help me accomplish my goals in life? Maybe it’s the challenge of deciding what those goals are.

Fictional heroes like James bond can’t help us so what about real heroes?

Where can we find a role model who’ll help us with those issues with day to day living your life?

You may take your cue from people you want to be like, sports stars like David Beckham or singers – like Ozzy Ozbourne. You may find role models from people in history who stood up to injustice, William Wilberforce who led the move to abolish slavery in this country, Martin Luther King who fought for racial equality in the U.S. Emily Pankhurst who fought so women could vote in the U.K.

My biggest role model in life is one of the most if not the most influential figures in history. Jesus started off life as a carpenter, never moved that far away from his home, never led any great military movement, and as far as I can remember didn’t have any fights with dinosaurs.

Yet 2000 years later 2billion people still choose him as their role model. Now that’s because a lot of people, like me, believe that he was God. But it’s also because he taught that in order to win the big fights in life you have to win the small fights first.

If you want there to be peace in the world you have to learn how to make peace with those close to you, in your home, in your school, in the street. Because if we can’t get on with our friends, our teachers, our family how can we expect nations to get along with each other.

Jesus is somebody worth following. Somebody who taught that if you treat others as you would like to be treated then we can make heaven on earth. A world where King Kong, James Bond and even Spongebob Squarepants can all live in peace.

 

Further Illustrations:

Christian Perspective:

Luke 9: 46-48. The disciples arguing about who is the Greatest. Jesus make a child stand amongst them…. Being great isn’t always about being the biggest and best but about putting others first.

Quotes:

From the Empire Strikes Back:

Luke says to Yoda ‘I’m looking for a Jedi master a great warrior.’

Yoda: ‘hmph, wars do not make one great.’

Albert Einstein: ‘Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.’

Film Clips:

A clip of a climactic ‘fight’ scene where the heroes face off against the villain. Eg, ‘Fantastic Four’ ‘Ghostbusters’ ‘Harry Potter’

Powerpoint hints:

Images of all the versus characters plus Pankhurst, Luther King, Wilberforce and Jesus as carpenter from the Passion. (google image search)