Hello, everyone.

Welcome to today's RE lesson.

I'm so pleased that you have decided to join me.

My name is Mrs. Hardy, and together we are going to be finding out lots of new information.

So let's get our thinking caps on and get ready to find out what today's lesson is all about.

I'm sure you're going to do brilliantly.

Today's lesson is taken from the unit Holy Week: what do the stories say and what is their meaning? This lesson is called Good Friday: different Christian Commemorations.

Now, the reason we've called it different commemorations rather than celebrations is because Good Friday is a really sad and serious day for Christians.

They wouldn't call it a day to celebrate; they would call it a day to commemorate.

Together in this lesson, we are going to find out why Good Friday is such a special day for Christians.

And by the end of the lesson, I want everyone to be able to say, I can explain why Jesus' Crucifixion is so important for Christians and how this is commemorated on Good Friday.

Now, in today's lesson, there are gonna be five keywords that I want you to learn and I want you to be able to remember after today's lesson has ended.

We'll go through each of the words together.

I'll say it first and then you'll repeat it after me so that we get a practise of saying the words that we're gonna learn about today.

So the first word that we are learning is ecumenical.

Ecumenical.

Well done.

Now, this word means when different groups of churches, Christian churches come together and they work together as a team.

So rather than working on their own, they work together.

Okay, the second word that we are learning today is forgiveness.

Forgiveness.

Now, that's the process of being forgiven.

Next one, Good Friday.

Good Friday.

Now, this is the day that Christians remember Jesus' death on the cross.

The next word we're learning is gospels.

Gospels.

The gospels are the stories of Jesus' life and teachings, and they've been put together in these books called the gospels, which literally means good news.

Now, our last word today is sacrifice.

Sacrifice.

Now, in the context of today's lesson, that means surrendering as an offering to God.

So well done.

Put all of those keywords into your head and look out for them on the upcoming slides.

Let's begin.

In the first part of our lesson, we're going to be answering this question, what story do Christians tell on Good Friday? And in the second part of our lesson, we're going to be answering the question, how do different Christians observe Good Friday? Are you ready to find out about the Good Friday story? Well, excellent.

Let's begin.

Now, to start us off, we've got Aisha here who's going to explain why it is that we are using theology to help us learn in this RE lesson.

Now, she says that "Theologians are interested in stories, texts, and traditions.

We can better understand people's worldviews by examining what the deeper meaning of these stories, texts, and traditions are.

We can also look at the difference they make to people today." So we're going to be looking at religious stories around Good Friday, and we're going to be using the tools of theology to better understand different Christian worldviews about Good Friday.

And now I would like to introduce you to the lovely Gemma.

Gemma is a Salvationist.

This is a particular type of Christian that goes to a church called The Salvation Army.

She has a Christian worldview and she regularly reads the Bible.

Let's see what she has to say.

"In the Bible, there are four books called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

They are known as the gospels and they tell me the good news about Jesus' life and death." So there are four gospels and we now know what they're called.

They're called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and Gemma has just reminded us that gospels means good news.

So they contain the good news about Jesus' life and death, according to Christians.

Now, I wonder what you already know about Jesus.

Stop the recording and talk to the person you're with about everything you can remember about the life of Jesus.

Off you go.

Welcome back.

So you've had an opportunity now just to recap all of the information that you already know about Jesus.

So let's find out why Christians think that Good Friday is an important day to think about Jesus.

So one of the stories that Gemma reads in the gospels during Holy Week is the story of Jesus' sacrifice.

This story is also known as the Crucifixion, which is when died on the cross.

And here we have a picture showing what happened on that day.

Gemma says, "I believe that Jesus died so that people could be friends with God.

This is why we call it Good Friday even though something sad took place." Let's have a little check for understanding.

So what story do Christians tell on Good Friday? Is it A, the Crucifixion, the story of Jesus dying on the cross; is it B, the Nativity, the story of Jesus being born in a stable; or is it C, the Resurrection, the story of Jesus coming back to life? Pause the recording and write down your answer, A, B, or C.

Welcome back.

What answer did you put? It's A.

So the story that Christians tell each other on Good Friday is the story of the Crucifixion, the story of when Jesus died on the cross.

Well done if you got that correct.

Now, Christians believe that on Good Friday, Jesus was taken to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and He was put on trial.

Now, the gospels say that Jesus was put on trial because He was seen as a threat to the religious and ancient Roman rulers.

A crowd gathered and they were asked to choose a prisoner to set free, either a criminal named Barabbas or Jesus.

Who do you think they asked for? They could have either Barabbas or Jesus set free.

Who did they ask for? Just pause the recording and talk to the person you're with about what you think they decided.

Welcome back.

So did you decide that they would release Barabbas or did you think they were going to release Jesus? Now, to find out, I'm going to read a section from the Bible from a book called Luke, and it's from chapter 23.

And it says this, "Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, and said to them, 'You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion.

I have examined Him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against Him.

Neither has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; as you can see, He has done nothing to deserve death.

Therefore, I will punish Him and then release Him.

' But the whole crowd shouted, 'Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!' Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.

But they kept shouting, 'Crucify Him! Crucify Him!' For the third time he spoke to them: 'Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in Him no grounds for the death penalty.

Therefore I will have Him punished and then release Him.

' But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that He be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.

So Pilate decided to grant their demand.

He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will." So just take a moment to think about the outcome of that part of the story.

In this story, it says that Jesus hadn't done anything wrong, but even so, he was put on trial and the people in the crowd were asked to choose between him and somebody who was a real criminal and they asked for the criminal to be released.

How does that make you feel? Just pause the recording and have a talk to the person you're with about what you think about that part of the story.

Okay, so you've had an opportunity now to think about the decision that Pilate made and why he made it.

I wonder what is going to happen next? Let's find out.

So after the trial, Jesus was made to carry a heavy wooden cross to a place called Golgotha.

Here, the Roman soldiers put Jesus on the cross, where He died.

His friends took His body down from the cross and placed it in a tomb.

Many Christians believe that Jesus' death was a sacrifice.

So remember, we've just heard that Jesus was put on the cross in place of Barabbas and Barabbas was set free in Jesus' place.

And today, Christians believe that Jesus' death was a sacrifice to God on their behalf.

Another part in the Book of Luke, in chapter 23, there is a quote from Jesus that says, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." So in the gospels, Christians also read about how Jesus behaved towards others whilst on the cross, saying that He would like them to be forgiven.

So the gospels say that He promoted forgiveness because He asked that people who put Him on the cross be forgiven.

So a very important part of this Good Friday story is this idea around forgiveness.

Now let's have another check-in.

Can you tell me which picture here shows Jesus' sacrifice from the story of the Crucifixion? Do you think it's picture A, picture B, or picture C? You're going to stop the recording, and you can write down your answer on your whiteboard or show on your fingers if you think it's A, B, or C.

Welcome back.

Which letter did you put? Was it A, B, or C as the answer? That's correct.

C shows the Crucifixion.

A is showing Jesus' birth, so the Nativity scene, and B is showing the Resurrection, something that's coming up later on in the story.

Now here's Gemma again.

Good Friday is a serious and special day to Christians, and Gemma's experience of it is this.

She says, "To me, Good Friday is the day that marks the beginning of Jesus' ultimate sacrifice.

Jesus died so people could be forgiven and saved.

This is good news, we call it salvation and it is the reason my church is called The Salvation Army.

These song words sum it up: 'It was a bad Friday, a mad Friday, a sad Friday, but I am glad today, 'cause Good Friday means I'm alright, it's Good Friday 'cause Jesus died for me.

'" Now, the Good Friday story can seem like a terrible thing to happen to Jesus, but Christians know that this is not the end of the story.

On Easter Sunday, they know that Jesus will be back, because He is resurrected.

It means that the story of Good Friday is actually a hopeful one.

So I'm gonna set you a task.

Here's Lucas.

Now, Lucas is looking and feeling very confused.

He's just heard the same Good Friday story that you've heard and it seems like a really sad story because Jesus was hurt and He died.

And Lucas is saying, "This seems really unfair, Jesus did not do anything wrong.

So why did this happen?" So I'm hoping you can help me.

Can you create an explanation to answer the question, why might Christians think the Good Friday story is good news? You're going to pause the recording here and write down or talk about your answer, and then we'll come back together and we'll share our ideas.

Okay, off you go.

Welcome back, everybody.

How did you find that task? You were helping me by explaining to Lucas why it is that Christians might think that the Good Friday story is good news.

Now, you might have said something along the lines of, many Christians believe that Good Friday is good news as it's not the end of the story.

Jesus comes back to life on Easter Sunday in the Resurrection.

Or you might have said, many Christians believe that Good Friday is good news because Jesus died as a sacrifice, meaning they can be shown forgiveness by God and be friends with God again.

Did you have any other answers? Well done for that task.

We are going to move on to the second part of today's lesson, which is going to answer the question, how do different Christians observe Good Friday? So that's asking what do they do on Good Friday to commemorate that day? Here's Gemma again.

Let's find out what she does on Good Friday.

On Good Friday, Gemma goes on a March of Witness.

Different churches join together and tell the Good Friday story to people in their community.

They walk along a main road, stopping to tell different parts of the story from the gospels and to sing hymns.

Gemma, what have you got to tell us about this? She says, "When churches join together like this, it is called being ecumenical.

It shows that different churches can work together.

We all think the Good Friday story is special." Thank you, Gemma.

So sometimes people think that churches are on their own and they don't come together and work together, they want to be on their own, but that's not the case here.

They come together to go out into the community and share the news of Good Friday.

Let's do a check-in.

We've got a multiple choice here and I want you to tell me which description gives the best meaning of the word ecumenical.

Is it A, a number of Christian churches working together; is it B, a church event that only takes place on Good Friday; or is it C, a Christian who prefers to worship alone? Take a moment to have a little think about what your answer is, and either write it down on your whiteboard or show me with one, two, three.

Have a little bit of thinking time.

Off you go.

Welcome back, everybody.

Which letter did you choose? Let's find out what the real answer is.

So the description that gives the best meaning of the word ecumenical is A.

That's when a number of Christian churches all work together.

Great job if you got that one right.

Now we're going to talk to Asher, and Asher is somewhere different on Good Friday.

Let's find out more.

Now, Asher is also a Christian, but he observes Good Friday in a different way to Gemma.

On Good Friday he goes to Trafalgar Square in London, along with many other people, to watch a special play called a Passion Play.

And you can see in the picture we've got Nelson's Column in the background, and then we've got actors pretending to be people from the Good Friday story.

We can see the Crucifixion taking place and the Roman soldiers standing guard whilst people who knew Jesus stand at the side and look at what's happening.

Now Asher's gonna tell us a little bit about this experience.

He says, "To me, watching the Passion Play on Good Friday makes me think about the sacrifice that Jesus made.

I feel that I better understand what Jesus went through by watching the story being acted out.

It makes me emotional watching it." He says, "I feel thankful for what Jesus did and it makes me focus on Easter and what it means rather than it just being like any other holiday.

I understand that now there will be forgiveness for the things I do wrong rather than blame." Thank you, Asher, for sharing that with us.

He also says, "I like that different churches come together to put on the play.

All of the actors come from different churches but work together to ensure that the play goes well.

Being ecumenical shows people who are not Christian that churches can join together as one big family." So that was quite similar to what Gemma told us as well.

When she goes on that March of Witness, it's not just her church that are doing that, but it's all the churches in the area coming together and going out together to tell the story of Good Friday.

So let's just do a little check of that understanding.

Which two reasons did Asher give for going to see the Passion Play at Trafalgar Square? Did he say A, it's to better understand what Jesus went through; is it B, because it makes him feel like he's on a holiday; or is it C, to see Christians working together like one big family? Have a little moment to think about your answer and write it down.

Okay, off you go.

Welcome back.

Now, you had to find two reasons this time that Asher gave for going to see the Passion Play.

Which two did you choose? It's A and C.

So he goes to better understand what Jesus went through on Good Friday and he likes to see Christians working together like one big family putting on that play.

Now, even though he's travelling to London for this special event, it's not like being on a holiday.

It's a different feeling.

It is a commemoration of a religious event.

It's not a holiday time.

Now, here's Ann.

Canon Ann Easter is a priest, and so she holds a special service in her church on Good Friday.

So again, we've got a different Christian observing Good Friday in another different way.

During the service at her church, everyone visits different images of the Stations of the Cross.

So I want you to remember that phrase as well, Stations of the Cross.

She says, "Good Friday is a solemn and serious time.

In the church, we take away the flowers and do not use colourful drapes or vestments and we cover up the statues and pictures.

It can be unbearably sad thinking about what happens in the story." Now, let's just take a moment to think about what is happening in Canon Ann Easter's church.

They have Stations of the Cross.

So there are pictures around the church, each with a different part of the story of Good Friday in a picture, in a painting.

And what happens is that the people in the church stand in front of the painting and they look at it and they think about what it depicts and what it means.

Now, the people in the church might have a Bible reading similar to this read to them as they look at a picture of the Crucifixion.

Now, the one I'm gonna read to you is taken from Matthew chapter 27.

So remember, Matthew is another one of those gospels that Christians read to find out more about the life of Jesus.

And in this part of the story it says, "From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all of the land.

About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' which means 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth shook, the rocks split.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, 'Surely He was the Son of God!'" So just spend a moment having a think about what hearing that Bible verse and looking a picture of the Crucifixion would make a person who is a Christian think of.

What would it help them to reflect on? What would it mean to them? Turn and tell the person next to you what you think about this idea of the Stations of the Cross in church and people spending a lot of time thinking through the story of Good Friday with their church members.

Welcome back.

I hope now you can see that it is a very serious and sad time for Christians, but a time when they get to really deeply think more about Jesus and what happened in His life and what it means to them.

Now, I think Ann has got some more information to tell us about her Good Friday experience.

She says, "Between midday and 3:00 PM, we think about the story of Good Friday.

We look at 14 traditional parts of the story from the gospels, from Jesus' arrest to the Crucifixion.

We reflect at each station by reading from the gospels, talking about that part of the story, and then quietly thinking about it and its meaning for us today." Thank you, Ann.

That's really helpful.

So let's just check with this true or false.

Do we understand about the activities that Christians take part in on Good Friday? Are they the same for each person? So just think back, we met Gemma, we met Asher, and we met Ann.

Were they the same for each person? Have a little moment to think about that, and you're gonna put your thumbs up if you think that's true and you're gonna put your thumbs down if you think that's false.

So can you do that in three, two, one.

It was false.

Why is it false? Because there are many different activities Christians can take part in or observe on Good Friday.

These include going on a March of Witness, watching a Passion Play, or reflecting on the Stations of the Cross.

Well done to you if you got that correct.

Now, I have another task for you.

This time we're going to think about Gemma, Asher, and Ann and the activities that they participate in on Good Friday, and I wonder if you can remember what is similar and different about the events they attend.

Can you fill in this sheet to show me where they go and what they do? You can do it independently or work together to complete the sheet and then come back and show me what you've done.

Off you go.

Welcome back, everybody.

So you had a big task to complete.

You were going to complete this table to show the similarities and differences in the ways that Gemma, Asher, and Ann all participate in Good Friday activities.

So, Gemma, what could you have written for her? You may have said, where is she? Well, she's on a March of Witness.

She's in her local community.

She's walking along the streets.

And what is it that she does with her group of people? They join together, lots of different churches, to walk around the local community reading stories about Good Friday from the gospels and singing hymns together, and maybe playing their instruments as well.

And then we had Asher.

Where was he? Well, he was at Trafalgar Square, and at Trafalgar Square he was watching a Passion Play.

Do you remember, it was being performed by people from lots of different churches all coming together to see that story from the gospel being acted out and helping people watching the play to understand the story better and to really think about the events that happened.

And then lastly, we heard from Ann, who stayed in her church, but with her congregation, with the people of her church.

And together they went around the Stations of the Cross, spending time at each one, looking at a painting or a picture and listening to one of the stories from one of the gospels and really thinking about what Jesus went through and what it means for them today and having that time to reflect.

When you completed your sheet, did you have something similar to this one? Or maybe you had some even better ideas.

Well done for that work.

Now we've come to the end of our lesson.

So let's go through our short summary, making sure that we remember all of the things that we learnt in this lesson.

Do you remember at the beginning I said we had a lot of facts and a lot of information to take in? So let's see what we remember.

Now, there are stories in the gospels about Good Friday and the death of Jesus.

And do you remember that Gospels means good news and Good Friday is the day that Christians commemorate? Christians believe that Jesus' death was a sacrifice and that His death means that people can be close to God.

Christians believe that because of Jesus' sacrifice, there will be forgiveness when they do something wrong instead of blame.

And lastly, Christians observe Good Friday through church services and ecumenical events where different churches work together.

Well done for today.

You worked really hard.

That was a lot of information to take in and you did a fantastic job.

You should be really, really proud of yourselves, and I look forward to seeing you in our next lesson.

Take care.