Pentecost

Today in Chapel we reflected on Pentecost, which is marked next week. 

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)

No one has seen the wind.If we can't see the wind, how do we know that it is there? One way we can know the wind is there is that we can see it moves things like the tissue paper in front of the fan. We can also hear the wind move in the leaves or rustling grass. So too, when the spirit moves in our lives, we, and the others around us, see the effects. The Bible says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him." (Revelation 3:20)  We can't see the Holy Spirit, but we know he is there because we see the effects.  Today our Grade 7 students led us in chapel. They thought about the holy spirit and how to represent that to us using the different learning styles (tactile, kinesthetic, visual, physical etc.) We thank our father for sending your Holy Spirit. We are thankful to hear him speak into our hearts and feel him move in our lives. We pray we will be channels for his spirit to work.

Can't Have One Without the Other

This morning at chapel we took a closer look at the throughline Idolatry Discerning.

A few of our Grade 4 students shared a skit with us that really got to the heart of what idolatry discerning is.

The fruit of the spirit we are focusing on this month is Self Control. Self control is what we need to be idol discerners. We need self control to keep the things we love in check... to make sure they don't become front and centre in our lives.

You can't be an idol discerner without self control!

What is self control? 

This cute video gave us some laughs while illustrating what self control looks like:

Then we played a game of Kahoot in our Gift Groups. What does self control look like at school and why is it important?

Easter

I looked up and I saw my Lord a coming

I looked up and I saw my Lord a coming down the road.

I looked up and I saw my Lord a weeping

I looked up and I saw my Lord a weeping for my sin

I looked up and I saw my Lord a dying

I looked up and I saw my Lord a dying on the cross

 I looked up and I saw my Lord a rising

I looked up and I saw my Lord a rising from the grave!

Alleluia, He is coming!

Alleluia He is here!

Alleluia He is coming!
Alleluia He is here!

Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Have a blessed Easter.

Faithfulness

This month we are reflecting on faithfulness.

Have you heard of  geysers?

Geysers shoot hot water and steam high into the air. 

The most reliable of these is Old Faithful, which shoots water every 60 to 90 minutes and goes off about 17 times every day. 

Old Faithful isn’t the largest geyser in the park, but it’s the one that you’re most likely to see because park rangers can predict when it will go off next.

Old Faithful is predictable - it’s faithful!

Our God is faithful!

For the word of the Lord is right and true;

He is faithful in all He does.

Psalm 33:4

And what does the Bible tells us about how we should be faithful?

Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

 bind them around your neck, 

write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 3:3

What does it look like to be faithful every day? 

“Faithfulness isn’t flashy. Faithfulness is the tiny things you do when no one is watching. Faithfulness is acting on what you know to be true and right, on the days you just don’t ‘feel it’.

(from https://www.heartwork.tv/2017/11/19/what-does-it-look-like-to-stay-faithful-in-the-midst-of-everyday-life/)

Some of our Grade 3 and 7 students shared their thoughts on daily faithfulness.

We also had some Grade 7 story tellers tell us the story of a faithful friend.

All Things Bright and Beautiful

It is good when we can care for others in community. 

God's goodness was seen when our Grade 2 class raised over $5000 for 

Out of the Cold with their dessert auction.

We shared God's goodness when our Grades 1-8 students raised $5686.00 to care for people with Multiple Sclerosis when they read and collected pledges during the MS Read-a-thon.

Grade 5 shared God's goodness when they hosted a free spaghetti supper last Friday for the neighbours that live around Beacon, in an effort to build community. 

God's goodness was shared with the residents of Tabor Manor when our JK and Grade 7 students went to visit with them last week.

Beacon felt God's goodness after a wonderful gala where generous donations were given.

When we are filled with God's goodness, it will spill out into the world around us.

 We were reminded us that we can only be filled with goodness when we have Jesus inside of us. When Ms. F. tried to clean the outside of her dirty vase, it didn't work, because it needed to be clean from the inside. Just like the vase couldn't be cleaned from the outside, we can't be cleaned from the outside with things like prayer, reading the Bible, attending church or a Christian school. We first need Jesus to cleanse us from the inside. Then we can be filled with his goodness. And when we are filled with His goodness, others will see it!

And who doesn't love watching JK sing?

Goodness Inside and Out

Philippians 2:13

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.

Today we continued thinking about goodness. 

Sometimes things look good on the outside (like a jelly bean)

But if you pick the wrong bean in Beanboozled, 

it isn't guaranteed to be so good on the inside! Yuck!

Catherine, one of the youth pastors at Central Community Church, shared a wonderful message with us today about God's goodness working in us.

Just like a sponge, we want to soak up God's goodness inside us. When we are filled with His goodness, people will see that His goodness shining through us!

Our SK pm class is learning a new song Light of the World by Lauren Daigle. They shared what they've learned of the song so that we can also learn with them. 

Goodness

This week, we are saying good-bye to our Korean friends. 

It was wonderful to get to know them and we hope they have been blessed by their time

 at Beacon. We have been blessed by them.

This month, we are looking at the fruit of the spirit goodness. 

It was very kind of the SK teacher to share her cookies with the grade 4 teacher!

They looked soooo good with the pretty icing and decorations!

But Mr. B found that the cookie he had tasted terrible!

The beautiful cookie was actually full of way too much salt!

Does the outside always match the inside?

The Kindergarten students helped us look further into this question

The JK students have been talking about chefs and bakers this week. 

They used the idea of following recipes and 

thought about what would be a good recipe for goodness..

A recipe for goodness begins having God in our hearts as that's where all goodness comes from.

That's like the mixing bowl where everything belongs.

Next, you need a good recipe. God has given us the Bible with all the instructions for goodness.

Like ingredients in the recipe, there are ingredients for goodness:

But, besides good ingredients, there are things that don't belong in a recipe 

(like Borax in a cookie recipe... that's in the recipe for Slime!)

In the recipe for goodness, there are things that you don't want in your life. 

They belong in the garbage:

God has to be the main ingredient or else our lives will be like that salty cookie. They might look good on the outside, but they won't be good on the inside. After we have God in our heart, then the other good ingredients can be added. A heart that loves God and puts Him first will not only have goodness, but the other fruits of the spirit, too. When we have God in our hearts, we will want to be close to him through prayer, reading the Bible, going to church and worshiping Him. 

This recipe for goodness will enable us to shine the light of Jesus to others. 

Thank you, Kindergarten, for teaching us about goodness this week!

Servant Working

 Will you let me be your servant?

Let me be as Christ to you.

Pray that I might have the grace

To let you be my servant, too.

This month, our throughline focus is servant working.

Our Grade 1 students have been working all year on completing jobs to raise money to buy nails for Habitat for Humanity. 

They shared their update in chapel:

We are pilgrims on a journey.

We are brothers on the road.

We are here to help each other

Walk the mile and bear the load.

We then welcomed Pastor Michael Meinema from Southridge Community Church. 

He reminded us of the story of the good Samaritan and what Jesus wanted to teach us with that story. 

The pharisees were always trying to trick Jesus into saying the wrong thing or to break one of their 613 laws (603 that they had added over time to the original 10 commandments)

but Jesus wanted us to remember two important laws:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength. The second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. (from Mark 12:30-31)

Keeping that verse in mind, our students thought of what kindness and servant working looks like in our day to day interactions. They made lists in their classrooms last week. Then, all last week, when they saw evidence of servant working kindness, they jotted what they saw on sticky notes and added them to the charts. 

I will hold the Christ-light for you

In the night time of your fear.

I will hold my hand out to you;

Speak the peace you long to hear.

Each day is a new opportunity to serve those in our families, our classrooms and school community but also in our larger community. When we follow Jesus' example, we will want to serve others first.

 I will weep when you are weeping.

When you laugh, I'll laugh with you.

I will share your joy and sorrow

Till we've seen this journey through.

And finally, some of our Grade 5 students shared a reader's theatre about servant working

(and putting some superheros out of work!)

 Will you let me be your servant?

Let me be as Christ to you.

Pray that I might have the grace

To let you be my servant, too.

Epiphany

Today in chapel we welcomed our new students. 

We have 11 new students and their families joining our Beacon family this week!

We then focused on Epiphany. 

What is epiphany? Epiphany is celebrated on the day after the 12th night of Christmas. That was 4 days ago (January 6). Epiphany is associated with the wise men. After Jesus was born, the shepherds came to worship him. However, the wise men came to visit Jesus years later, not days as we sometimes believe. 

Epiphany means that something finally makes sense!

The wise men helped the rest of the world see that God had shown Himself to human beings after all those years of waiting. This video helped us understand epiphany a little better:

Our grade 5 students shared a readers' theatre about epiphany. 

Arise, shine, for your light has come 

and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

Isaiah 60:1