This half-term's assemblies are going well, focusing entirely on Freedom.
We explain how the word has different meanings for so many; for most of us, freedom can mean a week without homework or a six-week summer holiday. For others though, freedom may be climbing onto an overcrowded boat without a lifejacket, escaping a war-torn country.
Pharrell Williams helps us illustrate the point with his music video, and it goes some way to suggest what freedom may mean to others around the world.
We can't avoid rules, which many think are the biggest restriction of our freedom, but the reality is that rules enable more freedom. Imagine a football match without a referee. Or a Highway Code with blank pages. Initially it might sound appealing but within no time it will be catastrophic. We share how the Bible is often thought of as 'a book full of rules'. In part this is true, but these 'rules' are allowing far more freedom by streamlining how we behave, act and respond to those around us.
We've been wrapping up the assembly by referring to Galatians 5:13, explaining how there is one simple rule overriding over all the others in the Bible....simply, to love one another as we love ourselves.
Loving others, with no exception, is ultimate freedom!