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Faith Christian School

Hidden With Christ – Spiritual Theme 2016

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Each year we prayerfully choose a passage of scripture to be our spiritual focus for the year.  We introduce it to our students at planned events early in the year and we continue to develop it through our classes and chapels.  We also design a t-shirt that expresses the main idea of the theme so it may be kept before them throughout the year.

This year’s theme is based off of Colossians 3:3-4.  But to understand the implications and meaning of this passage we really need to look at it in its context.  In Chapter 2, Paul warns of a very real problem that we all face, that of being taken captive by the philosophies and empty ideas that are part of worldly thinking.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the worlds and not according to Christ.  Col. 2:8

Such philosophies include Post-Modernism, the insistence that truth is relative, that what is true for one person may not be true for another.  An insistence on basic human rights is an example of human traditions that are held on to because, “we have always done it this way.”  Who hasn’t heard, “It’s my life, I can do with it as I please,” as the reason to justify everything from drugs, suicide, abortion, and gender and sexual preference?  Happiness is the ultimate goal that most seek and it exemplifies one of the basic world principles that is prevalent everywhere we turn.  These and other similar worldly ways of thinking are promoted almost continually to us through every medium that is out there; music, TV, movies, books, and social media.  The idea that sums up all of these is, “It is all about me.”   Life is about what I like, what I believe, what I want, what makes me happy.

Paul knows the danger of falling into such a pit and warns believers not to fall prey to it.  Captivity is not only possible but very common among believers and non-believers.  The reason it is a trap is that none of these philosophies actually work in reality.  Truth cannot be subjective to individuals because the same thing cannot be both true and false at the same time.   To suggest otherwise is not only illogical, but foolishness.  The sky cannot both be blue for one person and green for another unless we change the basic definition of color.  And if we do that, how can we function in community, both communicating and understanding one another when it comes to color?  If we operate off of our basic human rights, we will frequently trample on the basic human rights of another.  If a mother is able to choose abortion because it is her basic human right, then what about the right of the unborn?  If everyone has basic rights, then the right of the mother should not and must not supersede the right of the child.  And if happiness is the ultimate goal for everything and everyone, there will be times when what makes me happy will make others very sad.  It would make me very happy to take your car, but it would leave you sad at the very least.  Our views of what brings happiness will collide with one another and anything but happiness will ensue.

So if it’s not “all about me,” then who or what is it all about?

For the true believer in Christ, Paul made it clear:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.   Col. 3:1-2

Instead of being earthly-focused, we need to be heavenly-hearted and minded.  Clearly our emotions and our thoughts are to be focused more on the heavenly realm than the earthly.   What is it that our hearts are set on?  Our education, career, prestige, marriage, family, acceptance, position, power, possessions, or wealth?  These are things that ultimately keep our hearts focused on ourselves and the things of this world.  What is our mind set on?  Pleasure, fun, other people, personal happiness, problems, injustices, fears, mistreatment, enemies, or retaliation?  All of these keep us from focusing our mind on Christ who sits at the right hand of God.

Which brings us to our theme verse:

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  Col. 3:3-4

For the believer in Christ, Paul pronounces his or her death.  This is not a physical death or spiritual death, but a death shared with Christ that separates us from the world and its desires.  How much does a dead person care about the world and its pleasures?  Does the dead worry about mortgages and debt, and making plans for the weekend?  No, of course not, they are dead!  So it is with the believer.  Setting your heart and minds on things above should not be that difficult because we too are dead.

Paul goes on to remind us of the great mystery that we are “hidden with Christ in God.”  When we think about being hidden, there are several ideas that may come to mind.  Are we hiding because we are in fear?  Are we hidden in Christ so that we may find safety?  While these are reasons people hide, it is not the primary idea that Paul is conveying.  Instead, he wants us to see that our hiding in Christ is a change of identity.  When we are hidden in Christ, it is Christ who is seen and not us.

From time to time, I play hide-and-seek with my grandkids.  When we do, they often ask if they can hide with me.  They do this for a number of reasons.  They think my hiding place will be a good one and if I am hard to find, then they too, will be hard to find.  They also like to be with me and want to be like me, and hiding with me is being like “papa.”  There is also the tactic of a double layer of hiding as well, for if they hide with me and behind me, I will be visible but they will not.  It is almost as if they cannot be seen because of me.  It is these ideas of hiding that Paul is referring to.  If we are in Christ, we want Christ to be visible and not us.  We desire to be with him and like him.  His identity becomes our identity.  Thus the verse continues:

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  Col. 3:4

Instead of life being all about us, it is all about Him.

With this new identity, everything is different.  As Paul continues in Colossians, he elaborates on the things that are put to death in the believer (Col. 3:5-11).  He also elaborates on the things that believers are to endeavor to put on (Col. 3:12-17).  These are the ideas that we will continue to study as we focus on the theme throughout the rest of the year in our classrooms and in chapel.

We want the theme idea to be visible and on the hearts of our students and their families as we journey through this year.  One way we are encouraging this is by asking students, staff, and parents to periodically reflect on what it means to be hidden in Christ and share something about it in writing through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.  Whenever this is done, we ask that #hiddenwithchristfcs be used to identify it.  This will allow anyone who wants to see what the discussion is to pull up the various things written by searching the hashtag.  The more written and shared, the more we encourage one another in this pursuit.

We have also produced a Faith Christian School exclusive T-shirt based on the themes.  All the students have been given one and they may wear them to school as a uniform shirt on days other than chapel days.  Every time students wear their shirt, they are reminded of our theme that we are hidden with Christ.   Every time they see another student with the shirt, they are encouraged to set their hearts and minds on things above.  We have some extras available for families to purchase and wear as well.  Please let the office know if you are interested in one.

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Please join us this year by diving deeply into the Word of God that we may together discover all that it means to be “hidden with Christ in God.”  #hiddenwithchristfcs

 

New Year’s Resolutions

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New Year’s Resolutions

Welcome to 2015! 

How many of you were ready for a new beginning? What resolutions have you made? 

Eat less and work out more?

Spend less and give more?

Spend more time with the Lord and less time on social media?

Spend more quality time with your kids and less time at work?

It isn’t like we really need a new year to make changes, but January 1st seems to be the jumping off point that many of us need to kick start our motivation and send us on our way to following through on those resolutions. A fresh start. A new opportunity to do that thing that you’ve never done before. A chance to put hard things behind you and look ahead to the exciting things God has in store for you. Two verses come to mind when I think of a new year:

1 Corinthians 2:9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

Lamentations 3:22-24 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 

Most of us walk into the new year with great expectation—that this year will be better than the last! That our resolutions will somehow make us happier and healthier. We especially like to think this if last year was a difficult one. We look ahead with great hope that physical ailments, financial struggles, death of loved ones, relationship troubles, work disappointments, and other difficult circumstances will leave the year 2015 untouched. And yet, most of us know that 2015 will probably bring troubles and worries along with it’s joys and triumphs. So what resolutions should we make?

Psalm 73:25-26 says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Is one of your resolutions to truly desire the Lord and to seek Him fully this year? If so, you can anticipate a GREAT year! Not because it will be perfect or because you will be perfect. Not because it will be easy or because we will be spared hard times. We can look forward to 2015 with joy and excitement because God is the strength of our heart and our portion forever—not just this year, but for all of the years to come. 
He will be with us through whatever ups and downs this year will bring. Praise the Lord that He follows through on every one of his promises, even when the “resolve” in our resolutions waiver.   

When I Think of Baby Jesus Lying in a Manger

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by Dick Buckingham, Administrator

When I think of the baby Jesus in the manger, I hear crying.

This little Infant wrapped so tightly in the swaddling clothes and lying suspended on a bed of hay was as comfortable as His mother could make Him. And yet I’m sure I can hear crying.  He, though God the Son, was also completely human, and human infants cry.  The Bible doesn’t specifically say that He cried, and our manger scenes always depict a pleasant faced Child, and even some of our carols claim “no crying He makes,” yet I am sure I hear crying.  Babies cry when they are hungry, tired, uncomfortable, or just when they want to be held and loved.  Jesus was a baby just like us, and had the same needs and desires, so I’m sure there must have been crying.  What led the shepherds to the manger where Jesus lay?  Yes, the angels told them they would find Him in a stable in Bethlehem, but there was certainly more than one stable.  Did they have to search each one of them until they found Him?  Or could it be as they entered the quiet, sleepy little town that they paused with hand cupped to ear, straining to hear the distinct sound of a newborn infant’s cry?

When I think of the baby Jesus in the manger, I hear crying.

But perhaps it is not His cry that I am hearing.  Maybe I am hearing the future echo of wailing and weeping, mothers mourning the loss of their own young sons.  For it was to this very town King Herod sent his men in search of this One, but in the process of searching, all male children under two years of age were killed.  Oh, the mournful wails these mothers must have made as they grieved over their children.  Could it be that the Infant in the manger, though not responsible for their losses, grieved with them as He was the One who was targeted by this senseless decree?  Perhaps it is His tears of loss over these little ones that I hear in the manger.

When I think of the baby Jesus in the manger, I hear crying.

Yes, I think it is the sound of mourning that I hear, the mourning of a mother in the funeral procession of her child.  But the town I see now is not Bethlehem, but the little village of Nain, and the woman, a widow; the dead child, her only son.  Yet the One from the manger is here too, grown now, and with great compassion He stops the procession, and for a moment, His face shows grief.  But then the tears of mourning on the mother’s face become tears of joy as the boy in the procession is raised to his feet by Jesus – alive!

But once again the sound of mourning fills my ears and I turn to see another parent pleading with Jesus to come, heal his sick child.  Jesus leaves with him immediately, but on the way a message is delivered to the father, “too late, the child is dead.”  Oh, had Jesus only been found sooner, if only they had rushed more quickly to her side.  But now only grief, and sorrow, and tears.  Yet Jesus walks on to the place where she lay and as before He raises her to her feet.  She too has been brought back from the dead!  Though Jesus warns the father not to tell anyone, he cannot contain the joy from bursting forth.

Once again the sound of crying is heard.  This time, in another place a woman in tears comes to Jesus.  It is difficult to tell what grieves her so.  Perhaps it is something within her that causes her to bow at His feet, and with her own tears she begins to wash His feet, and dry them with her hair.  Though Jesus is criticized for this woman’s actions, it is clear something wonderful has taken place.  She had entered the house a sinful worldly woman.  But now she leaves with tears of joy.  What just happened here?

There is no time to linger, as once again the sound of crying rings out.  Two sisters mourning at the loss of a brother.  And Jesus arrives much too late to save this man, a friend, not a stranger.  I am sure I see a tear on His face as well as he approached the tomb.  Others are present mourning the untimely loss of this member of the community.  In the midst of the wailing I hear Him cry out, “Lazarus! Come forth!”  And as before with the children, the dead man is raised to life and steps out of the tomb, no longer bound by the clutches of death.

Yet the crying continues and I am compelled to seek it once again.  This time it leads me to the hill outside of Jerusalem.  It is hard to approach for the crowds are there, shouting and jeering.  A mad howling mob.  I push my way to the front and am astonished by what I see.  There before me and all the rest of the crowd, three crude crosses with three men hanging on them in crucifixion.  What a commotion as the mob screams out their contempt for the one in the middle.  A small group of women stands mourning to one side.  Soldiers are casting lots for clothing at the foot of the central cross.  For a moment I study the face of the One to whom all this attention is directed.  He looks familiar, yet I’m not sure who it is.  He is so beaten and bloodied it is hard to make out.  Just then He cries out, “Father, forgive them.”  I look closer.  Wait!!  Could it be?  Yes!  It is Him!   It is the One who was in the manger.  Jesus, who raised the dead children to life, whose feet the woman had washed and who brought Lazarus out of the tomb.  It is He who hangs there – dying?  I don’t understand.  Could not the One who brought life to so many save His own?

Dazed and confused I begin to run for the sight is too much to bear.  There are thoughts I don’t understand running through my head.

I am startled once again as I come upon a single woman, kneeling before a tomb.  She is weeping.

  Could it be her child that lays here, perhaps her brother or husband?  It doesn’t matter.  Jesus, the one who was able to turn tears like these into cries of joyous praise is dead.  He is no more.  Sorrow overwhelms me as I slip to my knees on the ground a distance from her.   I bow my head and begin to cry tears of my own.


But wait!  What is that sound?  I look up to see the massive stone that had been rolled against the tombs opening begin to move, slowly at first, but then more quickly.  I don’t know what is happening.  There is no one on the outside pushing the stone, it could only be someone…on…the inside.  Finally the stone is moved completely and my eyes are riveted at the entrance when what appears to be a man steps forward.  He leans down and raises the woman up.  He touches her face so tenderly.   When she sees Him, she cries out with joy and astonishment.  I look carefully at the man.  Could it be?  Yes!  Yes!  It is He!  It is Jesus!  He is not dead!  He is alive!  He who raised others to life has been able to defeat death Himself!

In my amazement and surprise, I failed to realize that the crying I have been hearing had not ceased.  Who could be weeping at a time like this?  I looked up to see that it was Jesus!  And He was looking at me!  “You are dead in your sins, my child,” He said to me.  “Come forth, come forth from your bondage to sin.  Let me set you free.”

Now I understand why the woman who had washed His feet with her tears was crying.  She had not lost a loved one whom Jesus had raised up again.  She had been dead in her sins and Jesus had set her free.  Now I understand the utter joy of the parents and the sisters as they welcomed back their loved ones.  I am alive!

When I think of the baby Jesus in the manger, I hear crying.

They are my own tears of joy, for Jesus has given me life.


Do you hear the crying too?  Is Jesus weeping for you, calling you to come forth from your death in sin?  O come, O come, come to this One in the manger and let Him raise you to new life.

Did You Hear a Who?

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by Jennie Smith
Secondary Principal

“If you can’t see it, hear it or feel it….it doesn’t exist!,” said Sour Kangaroo to Horton, and anyone else who would listen.

As I sat in the movie theater watching Horton Hears A Who with my three boys, I was struck by the amount of discussion material packed into this movie!  In case you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, here is a quick summary (spoiler alert).

Horton, an energetic elephant, hears a noise from a speck of dust that is travelling through the air.  That speck holds the entire world of the Whos.  Horton has to get that speck of dust to a safe place – otherwise, all of the Whos will perish.  However, Sour Kangaroo does not believe there is any world on that speck of dust and since she is the official boss of the forest, she attempts to convince everyone that Horton is wrong.  She hires an evil vulture, Vlad, to get rid of the speck.  When Vlad is unsuccessful, Kangaroo organizes a mob who ties up Horton and threatens to put the speck in a boiling vat of oil.  All Horton has to do is to deny the existence of the world on the speck and all will be alright.  In the end, the speck is saved and, in a shocking turn of events, Horton forgives Sour Kangaroo and befriends her.

There were so many things to talk about with my kids after we saw this movie!

Knowing God Exists
We started by talking about Kangeroo’s thought that “If you can’t see it, hear it, or feel it…it doesn’t exist.”  I asked my boys if they thought that was true.  We discussed how many people think the same of God – that because you can’t see Him or hear Him, He must not exist.  We talked about how we know God exists – and how we see Him, hear Him, and feel Him.  We see Him in His provision for our family.  We hear Him when a Scripture speaks directly to our pain or convicts us.  We feel Him when we have unexplainable peace in the middle of the dark times.  It was wonderful to hear my young boys realize that they do hear God, they do see His hand, and they do feel Him.

Renounce Your Faith
Later we moved into a discussion about the end of the movie when all Horton has to do is say the world of the Whos does not exist and all will be alright.  There will come a time, and it may be in the time of our children’s lives, where we are asked to renounce God or lose our lives.  Those times are quickly on the horizon.  But my children and I talked about times they are asked to reject God in their actions.  It is hard when you are asked by friends to do something you shouldn’t.  It’s very difficult to say “That’s not right.  I can’t participate in that because God would not be pleased.”

I love this passage from 2 Timothy 3:12-15:  “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

We need to encourage our kids to be strong in their faith, just like Horton was strong in his conviction and was willing to face a vat of oil for the truth.

Forgive!
The last lesson from the movie is an important one.  Sour Kangaroo was so mean to Horton!  She was cruel in her words and her actions and she almost killed Horton’s Whoville friends.  But Horton forgave her; he invited her in as his friend.  What a witness that was to my kids!  We talked about the way that Christ forgives us and how we are to carry out that same forgiveness to our friends and to our siblings.  A great verse for the family to memorize is Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

I didn’t expect to go to the movies that day and walk away with deep theological conversation ideas for my kids.  But it was a beautiful time of encouragement and one we speak of often.  What a beautiful illustration of some of life’s toughest lessons.  Have you seen great movies that lead to amazing conversations with your kids?  Leave some ideas in the comments below or interact with us on our Facebook page!

I’m Scared!

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by Jennie Smith
Secondary Principal

I can’t watch the news anymore.  We live in such a fallen, sinful world, and the news on the news is never good.  Murders.  Robberies.  And don’t even get me started on Ebola!  There is so much to be scared of, and I can be the biggest scared-y cat of them all.  Just the other night, there was a police helicopter going around and around in the middle of the night, and someone was on the megaphone saying unintelligible things.  I laid there for hours feeling fear (and listening to the police scanner app I have on my phone) while the rest of my family slept in peace.


Sometimes, I think I must be the only one who experiences this crazy level of fear.  Thankfully, I’ve realized that even great heroes of the faith have experienced fear.  Adam and Eve hid from God out of fear after they had sinned.  Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife on two occasions, motivated by fear.  Moses didn’t want to fulfill his calling and tried to talk God out of it…because he was scared.  Saul disobeyed God because he feared the people of the land, and Peter had such great fear that he denied Jesus three times.

So, what do we do to combat fear?  

Call it what it is….Disobedience to the Almighty God
The Bible has a lot to say on the issue of fear.  I saw on Facebook this popular meme…

I‘ve been trying to do some research about the accuracy of this, and most are concluding that there aren’t exactly 365 verses, although it is a nice thought.  The most important thing is that God said “Do not fear…” many times, even though ONE time ought to be enough for us!  Here is my favorite (emphasis added):

Isaiah 41:10  “FEAR NOT, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

If God has told us not to fear, and yet we spend time in fear of the various crisis that can befall us, we are in direct disobedience to Him.  And He gives us a reason not to fear….He is our God; He will help us.


Trust, Trust, Trust
Our Father is so worthy of our trust.  Has he been faithful to you through past trials?  Has he sustained you in your times of struggle?  Has he provided for you in times of want?  Has he comforted you in times of grief?  He will never change and will speak to our pain when it arrives again.  When we understand that God is in complete control, and has all resources at his command to help us, we can exist at a new level of peace.  

Elyse Fitzpatrick, author of the book Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety (2001), says “God’s sovereignty is the only safe harbor when we’re assailed by the winds of fear, doubt, and worry” (pg. 128).  At the time when the fear of the Ebola crisis had me on edge, I googled “sermons on God’s sovereignty” and found an excellent sermon by John Piper.  I was so encouraged to be reminded that God is not surprised by any problem that we are faced with and there is not one thing that God can’t handle!

Realize that our fear does nothing to help the situation.
Did my laying there in bed, awake, listening to the dispatchers talk to the police through the night make me any less in danger?  Does imagining my boys coming down with Ebola make my children at any less risk of getting the disease?  Jesus said “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27).  Elyse Fitzpatrick (2001) says that worry “can’t change anything.  It won’t make you live one more day than God has ordained.  It won’t influence whatever you may face in the future.  Worry is powerless” (pg. 111).  The threats of bad things happening will always exist, but stewing about them does not decrease the chances of them happening to us, it only makes us feel miserable and wastes valuable time.

Our only hope lies in the fact that our God is sovereign – He knows all the things that lay before us and He is in complete control of them.  Bad things are going to happen.  Police helicopters will fly over head.  People we love are going to suffer.  We may be asked to walk a difficult and terrible road.  But He is good, and loving, and will meet us in these trials and give us exactly what we need to endure them.  Let us be like the Psalmist who said  “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).


Fitzpatrick, E. (2001).  Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety.  Eugene, Oregon:  Harvest House Publishers.

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