AWESOME!

This afternoon a kindergarten student showed me his shirt and it said, “This is what awesome looks like!”  His shirt made me think of a discussion that the administrative team had last Wednesday.  We were celebrating Colossians 1:27-28 as the verse of the day, To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.  After reading the verse, we discussed all of the great things that are happening at Lansing Christian School.  The list is impressive so I thought I would share it with you! 

·         Teachers are working on writing essential questions.  On a daily basis teachers are doing a great job of making the questions part of what they are doing in their classrooms.

·         Redoing the website has been a gigantic task and It has been wonderful seeing the results and hearing the positive feedback.

·         We continually hear about the high quality of our teachers and how they connect to our students.  The teachers work so well together and are good at communicating with each other.

·         When you think about the part of the verse which says, “present everyone fully mature in Christ,” I see the impact Lansing Christian School is having on students through retreats, chapels and the teachers.  It is amazing the things that the school is doing intentionally which affect how our children interact with each other and the world around them. 

·         It is great to see our kids and how they are being transformed.  “Be transformed,” is not just a theme; it is a reality!

·         As our teachers have worked through the process examining the curriculum and inputting information into CurriculumTrak, it is exciting to see other schools looking to LCS as a model.  It is encouraging to hear other schools look to teachers at LCS as leaders in the global educational community. (CurriculumTrak is our online organizational tool for our curriculum.  Through the program we are able to access curriculum at other schools and they may access ours.)

·         It is wonderful to see our teachers have the opportunity to influence our students for Christ.

·         As we are begin our technology pilot which will integrate IPads into our curriculum in first and eighth grade, it will be exciting to see the impact interactive learning will have on our students!

Gods Plan

Sometimes things don’t go as we have planned. Think of the list of tasks we may have at the beginning of the day and how many interruptions happen to deter us from completing everything! Then think of Joseph… how he was sold into slavery and later was imprisoned. All of that craziness could not have been on Joseph’s task list. Joseph’s take on the situation was about how God had planned everything from the beginning. He is quoted in Genesis 45:6-8, For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

When we are concerned when our day doesn’t go exactly how we have planned, remember Joseph and what Romans 8:28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Okay, now back to my list!

Generosity

Recently I heard this story related by Don Denyes during a sermon:  A small church in southern California was preparing for their missions conference.  They decided that they would like to build a hospital in Africa.  Offerings for missionary projects in this church usually totaled around $25,000, but they were told that they would need to raise $160,000 to build the hospital.  There were those who said why even try, we could never raise that much, let’s try something else. 

They began very early to challenge their people towards this African hospital project and the people took it to heart.  The kids would have lemonade stands during the summer to make a little bit of money to give towards the project.  It was interesting in this small community that this project grabbed hold of the psyche of even those who didn’t know Christ.  The Christians were talking about it at work and they were talking about it in their neighborhoods.  Soon people who had no interest in the gospel of Christ, but who were interested in helping people in general, began to give to this hospital in Africa, and they gave, and they gave.  When the mission conference came they didn’t raise $25,000, they didn’t raise $160,000, they raised over a half million dollars.  The pastor said that the amazing thing wasn’t the way the funds came in, but the way it affected the people in the community,  He said, “Generosity is the new evangelism.”

As we wind up the school year we are working to raise funds, not for a hospital in Africa, but to fund scholarships for children in our own community.  Many children at Lansing Christian School depend on the generosity of others to assist them as they learn and become salt and light to our community.  Would you be able to help by donating to our scholarship fund?  Click here to donate today through our safe link online.  It’s easy; simply click the “Donate Now” button at the top right corner.

The Long Reach of God

It is amazing how far God can reach to bring His children to Him.  In the book The Faith of Condoleezza Rice she relates an incident where she had moved to California to teach at Stamford and hadn’t yet found a church to attend.  She was in Lucky’s grocery store on a Sunday morning when a gentleman walked up to her and told her he was purchasing food for his church picnic.  When he noticed she had long slender fingers, and no wedding band, he asked if she played the piano, because his church needed a pianist.  She agreed to help out and was amazed that God would reach out and touch her life when she was in Lucky’s Supermarket!

Pray with us today as we work with our students, encouraging them as God continually shapes them into terrific Christian young men and women who will become salt and light to the world. If you have questions about Lansing Christian School programs call Superintendent Pam Campbell at 517-882-5779 x101.

Sun Glasses!

Oh! Wow! I can hardly see! The sun is in my eyes! I need to put my sun glasses on. How many of you have had sun in your eyes and needed sun glasses to block the glare?

In the morning as I drove towards the shiny sun, I had my sun glasses on and my visor down to block the brightness. It reminded me of the way many things get in the way and block our relationship to Jesus Christ. We allow many distractions and responsibilities to come between us and the Son of God. During chapel this morning I challenged our elementary students to take time to read their Bible and pray. Specifically, we reviewed many distractions and activities. We talked about cutting back and taking time out of our busy lives to make time for devotions. Many of our elementary students agreed that they would devote 30 minutes to reading their Bible and praying. Bible reading would be a great family activity. Take some time with your children to help them prioritize and plan for devotional time. Please join the elementary students and me in answering the question: What are things that you could identify in your life that blocks your relationship to God? Complete the process by joining me in prayer and daily Bible reading, dedicating ourselves to unblocking our relationship with Jesus Christ!