The Christian life is described in lots of metaphors in the Bible. There is nothing static about being a Christian. The Bible makes it really clear that when God reaches into our lives he redeems us and make us into pilgrims on a journey towards a destination. As Christians we have a destination in view and we are no longer wandering aimlessly as we were before we knew Jesus.
The journey is often referred to in the Bible as a race, which we are called to run with perseverance. Hebrews 12:2 says, “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…”
If our lives are touched by Jesus then we are involved in a race. The question is: how am I running? Am I running? Or am I watching? To be a Christian means to be introduced to a life of action, a life of steady persistence.
Always moving forward—running the race of the Christian life
The author of the letter to the Hebrews urges his readers not to lose heart but to persevere. In order to run this race he tells us what we need to reject, how we must run and where we must look.
What are we to reject? We are to get rid of things that might impede our progress. We are to run the race with perseverance and in order to persevere we must throw off and discard that which hinders our ability to run. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” (Heb 12:1)
How are we to run? With perseverance—keeping on going and not giving up. There will be challenges and hurdles that seem almost impossible to jump over at times but we are called to endure and to keep going.
And where must we look? We are told to fix our eyes on Jesus. He is the one who died for us and makes it possible for us to even be in this race. He is one who has gone before us and is our saviour, Lord and king.
One of my children, Caleb, gets terribly carsick. Anything longer than 15 minutes in the car and you really don’t want to be the person sitting next to him! But we have found if he sits in the middle looking forward at a DVD screen that comes down from the roof of the car and wears headphones he is ok—and we prevent the vomit! Fixing his eyes on the screen in front means he isn’t distracted by the things around him and he doesn’t become motion sick.
Fixing our eyes is about setting our compass, navigating life with Jesus as our focus. It is about knowing who we worship, follow, honour and serve. The one true perfect example, but also the one who gives us strength and helps us run the race. Do we run with our eyes on Jesus and persevere through the challenges of life, learning new lessons and developing skills all for the glory of God?
The Christian life is not one of passivity but one that is active. There is stuff we are to set aside, there is sin which we need to deal with, there is one to whom we need to look—Jesus. We are not to give up too soon but we are to run with perseverance and finish the race. As we think and head into 2019, let’s be a community and people who run the race with perseverance and who look to Jesus in all we do.
Welcome to new staff members
This year we are excited to welcome some new staff. Mrs Anne Dinning returns to us and will be teaching Year 3. Mrs Madeline Christian also returns part-time teaching Social Science, Biblical Studies and Sport. Mrs Gabbi Gerritsen, after a year at Calderwood Christian School, returns to teach Maths and Science. We welcome Mrs Tracey Trautman and Mr Paul Norrie who join our PDHPE staff. In addition, Mrs Sue Brown and Mrs Christy Dallimore join our educational support staff team.
Over the school holidays some improvements have taken place around school. The computer room, C15, has been newly fitted out and the Prep renovations have been completed allowing us to offer additional spots in Prep this year.
Our school community continues to grow and we welcome nearly 50 new students between K – 12 to ICS in 2019.
Welcome all to 2019. I look forward to a year characterised by perseverance, striving to honour God in all we do and with a focus clearly on Jesus who is our hope.