I had the privilege of speaking in our Lower School chapels this week.  In an effort to provide the most age-appropriate experience for our little ones, we have broken these into three different chapel times – one for just three and four-year olds (82 of them!!!), one for Kindergarten through 2nd grades, and one 3rd through 5th grades.  In each of these chapels this week, the students sang a few songs, prayed, and heard a brief message from me.  I spoke on our theme verse for the year, I John 3:18, that says, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”  To get them thinking, I asked the children how they knew that their parents loved them.  Hands shot up around the room.  As I called on many of them, the following answers really blessed me:  “They tell me,” “They give me hugs and kisses,” “My mommy makes dinner for me and my family,” “My daddy prays with me,” and even one who said, “They discipline me.”  I asked a few more foll0w-up questions and continued to be encouraged by the words coming out of the mouths of these little ones – even the very littlest three-year-olds.

A few minutes later, I asked the kids how they know that God loves them.  The room was filled with raised hands.  And, in all three chapel times, the very first student that I called on said, “He sent Jesus!”  The next answers echoed similar thoughts of God telling us that He loves us in the Bible and taking care of us.  I hope that the kids didn’t see the tear starting to form in my eye – or, maybe I hope they did.  These kids get it.  They know that God loves them.  They know because God has told them (in His Word) and He has acted on that love.  God doesn’t just love us in word and talk, but ALSO in deed and in truth.  That’s what I John 3:18 teaches us.  We are to love in words and talk AND then we are to act on those words.  God did it for us.  We are called to do the same.

I closed with talking to the kids about ways that we can love God – by telling him (in singing songs, in praying to Him, etc.) and by actually doing it (obeying Him, loving our neighbors, etc.).  The kids were all smiles as we closed in prayer and told God that we loved Him, sang one more song to Him, and then were charged to live it out as they continued in their day.

Although a little exhausted after each message (it takes a good bit of energy to keep their attention), I left each chapel believing that I had probably been blessed more than the kids.  Then, that thought was solidified as I walked past a couple four-year-olds on the playground.  One little boy came up to me, hugged my leg, looked up and said, “Know what?  My daddy prays with me, too!”  OOOPS – here comes another tear!

It is such a joy to partner with Christian parents who are seeking to raise their kids in a home where Jesus is King!

 

 

WOW – it is hard to believe that the first week of the 2015-16 school year has come to an end – and what a week it was.  It is with great joy that I am able to announce that Westminster Catawba Christian School kicked off the new year with 443 students (25 more than last year).  God has been faithful to bring wonderful families to us who are looking for a kingdom education for their children.  Over the last couple weeks, we have hosted back-to-school grade-level gatherings for each grade to welcome the new families and to enable returning families to reconnect.  We have welcomed new faces to our faculty and staff.  I have even heard a few of them uttering the words, “Yay School!” as they go about their business.  Our athletic teams are already competing – and we are really excited to host our Back 2 School Tailgate party next Friday evening (8/21).  There is an excitement in the air as we look ahead – believing that God will continue to work!

At the same time, I am very aware of the many needs all around us.  As a matter of fact, I was asked to speak in our first Upper School Chapel this morning and challenged our students to be looking for needs around them.  I spoke from our annual school verse – I John 3:18.  In context, the passage reads:  “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (I John 3:16-18)  The passage itself is challenging!  It calls us (those who are God’s children) to do more than love in word and talk but to also love in deed and in truth.  So many pithy statements come to mind – “talk is cheap…”, “the proof is in the pudding…”, and “actions speak louder than words.”  There may be some truth in these, but this passage says so much more – because LOVE is the action in question.  Loving is hard.  It is hard to say it – and even harder to do it – at least to REALLY do it.

In this passage, Jesus is set up as the hero who laid down his life for us.  But, even before He died for us, he LIVED for us – and set the example as to how we are to live.  He did what verse 17 calls us to do – to “see his brother in need.”  To see this, we must be looking out and not just at ourselves.  Then, we have to do something about what we see!  I challenged our kids and our teachers (with a finger pointing back at me!) to be looking for those in need – and then love them!  This might be a new student who doesn’t know many classmates yet.  It may be a student hurting because of relationships outside of school.  It might even be a peer who is questioning her faith.  These people are all around us.  Needs are all around us – at school, in our neighborhoods, in our homes, and in our churches.  We must see (recognize) the need and then LOVE in word/talk AND in deed/truth.

May God continue to bless WCCS this year – and may He do so by allowing us to see the needs around us and then empowering us to love those in need!