As we wrap up the 2015-2016 school year at Westminster Catawba Christian School, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  God has blessed mightily and is, as always, deserving of praise!  He has established our school and called us to educate students to bless our world as disciples of Jesus Christ.  He has brought families to our school who are joyful seeing our children walking in the truth.  He has provided the faculty, staff, and administration to see to it that the education received prepares our students for Kingdom work even beyond the college years.  He has blessed us with a sponsoring church, and many church partners, that spur us on to bless our world.  The list of blessings really is too long to share in the form of a blog.

In the first week of this school year, I had the opportunity to lead a devotional with our seniors on their retreat.  My hope, at that point, was to encourage them to finish well.  They did just that last Friday at graduation.  I believe that one very big reason that they did finish well is that they had tremendous teachers who shared the truths of the gospel with their students in word and in deed.  My text for the devotional in August was Hebrews 13:7 that says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”

I have been reminded of the implications of this passage in many ways as we come to the end of this year.  At graduation last week, Mr. Keith Falde took the opportunity to “speak the Word of God” to the graduates in his commencement speech as he shared multiple favorite passages from the book of Proverbs.  I watched numerous teachers blessing their students with favorite Scriptures as the year came to a close.  Even the Kindergarten Program for parents had our five and six year olds reciting Scriptures, sharing the truths of the gospel, and even singing the Lord’s Prayer.  The leaders at WCCS have spoken the Word of God to our students!

The passage above also calls on leaders to live in such a way that we would want to encourage followers to imitate their faith.  But, the only way for a follower to “consider the outcome of their way of life” imitate the faith of a leader is to really know that leader.  Again, I am amazed at the relationships that have formed at WCCS between our leaders (teachers) and our students.  I have watched younger students saddened as they realize that their beloved teacher will not be moving on to the next grade with them.  I have seen and heard older students encouraging their classmates to take a class or play a sport or join a club just to be able to have a particular teacher or coach.  And, I listened during our senior chapel where several of our seniors identified their teachers as “friends that will be missed next year.”

WCCS is a special place.  We are not perfect.  But, we can say without equivocation – Remember your teachers (and coaches and directors and staff and administration) who HAVE spoken the Word of God to you… look closely at their lives and how they live and serve the King in His Kingdom… and be like them as you imitate their faith!

May 5, 2016, is the National Day of Prayer throughout our country.  The National Day of Prayer Task Force sets a theme and theme verse each year to spur us on to pray.  The following explanation can be found on their website:  “Our theme for 2016 is Wake Up America, emphasizing the need for individuals, corporately and individually, to return to the God of our Fathers in reverence for His Holy Name. To further highlight our theme, we’ve chosen Isaiah 58:1a as our Scripture for this year:  “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.””

The Lower School students at Westminster Catawba Christian School gathered together in the WPC sanctuary this morning and they were challenged to pray – and given opportunity to pray together.  WPC Children’s Pastor, Nick Turner, shared a message about prayer with the students, teachers, and quite a few parents and grandparents.  He recounted the story from 2 Chronicles 20 where King Jehoshaphat called on the people of the Lord to pray when armies rose against him.  In a very “kingly” voice, Nick read portions of the prayer from verses 5-12:

2Ch 20:5-12  And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,  (6)  and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.  (7)  Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?  (8)  And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, …  (12)  O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

I sat there listening to this prayer and imagined what topics came to the minds of our children in attendance (ages 3 – 11) when they were challenged to remain focused on God when they “do not know what to do.”  Then, I thought about the adults in the room who probably have a very different list of areas where we also don’t know what to do, but, can also keep our eyes on the same God that Jehoshaphat prayed to – who rules over all the kingdoms of the nations.  As a country, we can pray to that same God as well – and we should!  We need to, corporately and individually, return to the God of our Fathers!

As part of the chapel service this morning, we did just that.  We prayed, both corporately and individually.  While I thoroughly enjoyed Pastor Turner’s message, and am confident that the children did as well, I was most moved by the time taken to actually pray together.  Several student leaders came to the microphone, read a Scripture passage, and then asked those in attendance to pray with their prayer partner sitting next to them for a particular need – our government, churches, military, schools, and families.  It was a tremendous blessing to hear the murmuring as hundreds of children sat in groups of two and prayed!  I am absolutely confident that what we heard as muffled voices reached the ears of our King “like a trumpet!”