Connect Videos
For primary school assemblies (Collective Worship) and Religious Education
Connect videos are 10-15 minutes long and explore key themes relevant to children’s experiences, whilst sharing Christian beliefs and values. Each one includes an introduction, a Bible story and a time of reflection. There is also lots of the usual GenR8 fun with puppets, silly sketches and more. The videos are accompanied by reflection and activity sheets. The searchable tables below contain information about each video’s theme with the Bible references plus all the links to the videos and resources.
There are four tables – Unexpected Easter, Life Lessons, Jesus the ... plus an extra table for the longer Assembly Presentation videos – all available for use in individual classes, in small groups or for collective worship.
Connect videos – Unexpected Easter
| Title | Key themes | Bible link | Reflection and activity ideas relating to Easter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Sunday | Palm Sunday or the triumphal entry - when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. He was not the person the crowd expected him to be. | Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-39; John 12:12-18 | Unexpected Easter |
| The Last Supper | Jesus celebrates the Passover meal with his friends. He washes their feet and shares bread and wine. It was unexpected that their leader would wash their feet - a servant's job. | Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-23; John 13 | |
| Good Friday and Easter Sunday | Jesus dies on the cross but three days later God raises him back to life again. Jesus' friends did not expect their leader to die, nor did they expect him to come back to life. | Matthew 26:36 – 28:15; Mark 14:32 – 16: 14; Luke 22:39 - 24:49; John 18-20 |
Connect videos – Jesus the …
| Title | Key themes | Bible link | Reflection and activity ideas relating to... |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jesus the refugee | God loves us all. The Bible talks about loving others and showing hospitality to strangers. | Mary, Joseph and Jesus flee to Egypt - Matthew 2:13-23, Matthew 25:35-40 | Jesus the refugee |
| Jesus the friend | Jesus is a friend who knows us, cares for us and forgives us. | Peter denies knowing Jesus - Matthew 26:31-35, John 18:15-27; Peter is given a new job by Jesus - John 21:1-17 | Jesus the friend |
| Jesus the storyteller | Jesus told stories or parables with deeper meanings. | The parable of the prodigal son - Luke 15:11-32 | Jesus the storyteller |
| Jesus the servant | Jesus demonstrates how to live a life of service to others. | Jesus washes his disciples feet - John 13: 1-17, Mark 10:43-45 | Jesus the servant |
| Jesus the role model | The way Jesus lived has inspired and motivated people to follow his example and be good role models themselves. | Peter and Matthew follow Jesus - Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1: 16-20, Luke 5:1-11 and Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:13-17, Luke 5:27-28 | Jesus the role model |
| Jesus the miracle worker | Jesus did miracles to help people when they were in difficulty and he can help us face issues today. | Jesus turns water into wine - John 2:1-11 | Jesus the miracle worker |
Connect videos – Life Lessons
| Title | Key themes | Bible link | Reflection and activity ideas relating to... |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life Lessons - New starts and change | Resilience when facing changes and challenges. Making good choices. | The story of Joseph - Genesis 37-48 | New starts and changes |
| Life Lessons - Good Friends | Friendship and loyalty are important particularly when things are difficult. | The friendship of Ruth and Naomi - Ruth 1 | Good Friends |
| Life Lessons - Inspiration | People who inspire us can motivate, encourage, and influence our lives in a positive way. | The words of Jesus: I am the light of the world - John 8:12 | Inspiration |
| Life Lessons - Truthfulness | Being honest is important but it is not always easy to tell the truth. | Zacchaeus owns up - Luke 19:1-10 | Truthfulness |
| Life Lessons - Trust (Moses) | Trust is vital - trust in the way the world works, the activities that we take part in and in the relationships we have. | Moses and the burning bush: trusting God - Exodus 3 | Trust |
| Life Lessons - Generosity | Being generous and being willing to give up things for others can help shape our lives in a really positive way. | A poor widow's gift was small but was generous - Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4 | Generosity |
| Life Lessons - Hope | Hope is important - we need to keep hopeful about the future even when we are having tough times. | Jesus brought hope and light to a blind man - Mark 10:46-52 | Hope |
| Life Lessons - You are Precious | God values each individual as unique and precious. We should also treat each other with respect and care. | The parable of the lost sheep - Luke 15:1-7 | You are Precious |
| Life Lessons - Who is My Neighbour? | One of the greatest commandments in the Bible is to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. | The parable of the Good Samaritan - Luke 10:25-37 | Who is my Neighbour? |
| Life Lessons - Words, words, words | Words are powerful. Christians believe we should fill our minds with good things and use kind and encouraging words. | The power of words - Proverbs 15:4, Philippians 4:8, James 3:4-6 | Words, words, words |
| Life Lessons - Keep Going | When we face difficult times we may feel like giving up but we can choose to keep going, to persevere. | A miraculous catch of fish - Luke 5:1-11 | Keep Going |
| Life Lessons - Letting Go | Forgiving others isn’t easy, but it can set us and others free from bad feelings. | The Lord's Prayer - Matthew 6:9-13; Jesus talks about forgiveness - Matthew 18:21-22 | Letting Go |
| Life Lessons - Starting Small | The small things that we do can have a big impact. | The parables of yeast and the mustard seed - Matthew 13:31-33, Luke 13:18-21 | Starting Small |
| Life Lessons - A Time To... | It is OK to have difficult feelings like fear and sadness, but how we cope with them is important. | A time for everything - Ecclesiates 3:1-8; Jesus calms the storm - Matthew 8:23-27 | A Time to... |
| Life Lessons - Asking For Help | It is not weak to ask for help. If we are finding something hard, we should ask for help. | Jesus heals the centurion's servant - Matthew 8:5-13 | Asking for Help |
| Life Lessons - Making Wise Choices | The best choices are not always the easy ones. | The parable of the wise and foolish builders - Matthew 7:24-71 | Making Wise Choices |
| Life Lessons - I can do it | We sometimes need to try things that look difficult, even if we feel inadequate. | Gideon learns to give it a go - Judges 7 | I can do it |
| Life Lessons - Working Together | We can achieve much more if we work together as we all have different gifts and talents. | Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem - Nehemiah 8; There is strength in diversity - 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 | Working Together |
| Life Lessons - Trust (Miriam) | Trust is important in relationships with others, particularly in difficult situations. | Miriam and her baby brother Moses - Exodus 1:8-2:10 | Trust |
| Life Lessons - Changing for the Better | If we make mistakes we can choose to say sorry and make changes for the better in our lives. | Zacchaeus changes on meeting Jesus - Luke 19:1-10 | Changing for the better |
| Life Lessons - What's on the inside | It is important not to judge on appearances. | The boy, David, is chosen as the next king of Israel - 1 Samuel 16:1-13 | What's on the inside |
| Life Lessons - Facing Giants | Our worries can seem like giants - we may need courage to face them. | The young David meets the giant, Goliath - 1 Samuel 17:1-50 | Facing Giants |
Assembly presentations
| Title | Key themes | Bible link | Reflection and activity ideas relating to... |
|---|---|---|---|
| We can make a difference | We can all make a big difference in the world by loving our neighbours as Jesus taught. | Jesus feeds more than 5000 people with five loaves and two fish - John 6:1-14 | We can make a difference |
| Easter - Forgiveness and saying sorry | The resurrection of Jesus and the Christian belief that he died and rose again so that we can be forgiven for all the wrong things we think, say and do if we are truly sorry. | Jesus is buried but comes back to life - Matthew 27:57 - 28:1-15 | Forgiveness and saying sorry |
| Christmas - The Gift | God's gift came to us in humble wrapping, but Christians believe he is God's son. | Jesus was born as a gift to the whole world - Luke 1:1-20; Matthew 1:18 - 2:12 | The Gift |
| Forgiving isn't easy | Forgiving each other is not always easy. We all get things wrong, so it is important to forgive others. Christians believe God is always ready to forgive us. | The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant - Matthew 18:21-35 | Forgiving isn't easy |
| Easter - Love | The Christians belief that Jesus died in our place and took the punishment for all of their individual sins. | The story of Good Friday when the crowd chose Barabbas to be freed and Jesus to die - Luke 23:13-25 | Easter - Love |
| Advent - Getting Ready | Advent, which for Christians is a time of preparing and waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the son of God. | John the Baptist who told people to get ready at the start of Jesus’ ministry - Luke 3:1-18 | Advent - Getting Ready |
| Christmas - Immanuel, God with us | Christians believe that God sent Jesus into the world so that we could know God through him. | The Christmas narrative with the visits of the shepherds and wise men to the baby Jesus - Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2:1-12 | Immanuel, God with us |