I have been struck, again and again during the last week, by the consistent and much-valued expressions of community spoken about by staff, students and parents that I have met. It is no exaggeration that words and expressions like “special”, “incredible”, “different”, “makes such a difference”, and “the reason we love this school” have been spoken to me in each of these introductory conversations.
I count it a deep privilege to be sharing so many of these reflections about our College in such a condensed timeframe, and it is such encouragement to hear.
I was reading Romans 12 in my personal devotion time this week and had cause to ponder the challenges that Paul placed before the Roman church. It seemed a timely moment for me to be reading this, as I reflected on the richness of our College community, and its impact on so many of its members.
It reads as follows:
God’s grace has been given to me. So here is what I say to every one of you. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given to each of you. Each of us has one body with many parts. And the parts do not all have the same purpose. So also we are many persons. But in Christ we are one body. And each part of the body belongs to all the other parts. We all have gifts. They differ according to the grace God has given to each of us. Do you have the gift of prophecy? Then use it according to the faith you have. If your gift is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. Is it encouraging others? Then encourage them. Is it giving to others? Then give freely. Is it being a leader? Then work hard at it. Is it showing mercy? Then do it cheerfully. Love must be honest and true. Hate what is evil. Hold on to what is good. Love one another deeply. Honour others more than yourselves. Stay excited about your faith as you serve the Lord. When you hope, be joyful. When you suffer, be patient. When you pray, be faithful. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Welcome others into your homes. Romans 12: 3-13 (NIRV)
God brings us together with such a multiplicity of gifts, with expertise and skill, to enhance and build up one another. The context of love that is expected as we engage together is a huge challenge and one which gives us the daily opportunity to humble ourselves before one another as we seek God’s will together.
I am extremely thankful that we meet each other with these different gifts and with a call to come together with Christ at the centre of our interactions. May God continue to bless our comings and our goings, our formal and our informal, our intentional and our incidental; it is my prayer that our community glorifies God in all it does for its next 41 years through us and the generations to come. I look forward to being part of this exciting journey with each of you – as the writer to the Hebrews (Ch10, v 24 – NIRV) said “Let us consider how we can stir up one another to love. Let us help one another to do good works.”
educating 4 life, too 
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