Dear Parents and Friends of CCS,
I pray that this edition of the Parent News finds you safely abiding in Jesus as Your Master, your Savior and your ultimate Provider.
As we prepare for Semester two to begin in a couple of weeks, I want to touch on our theme verse (2 Cor. 4:5-7) for 2024-25 once again:
5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake.
6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
Interestingly, the preceding chapter of 2 Corinthians unpacks what a new covenant ministry is built on: the glory of God, access to the throne room (prayer) through the shed blood of Jesus, and the freedom that is ours as the Spirit takes control of our lives.
It is also made clear that some will not believe, because there is a “veil” over their minds, one that only Jesus can lift. They can’t receive the gospel of grace.
And then, in our theme verses, we see the outworking of ministry in context. The mission of all genuine Christian ministries must have as their center point the gospel of the Kingdom, wisely worked out in the complex culture in which it exists. This is truly a God-sized task, something I am increasingly aware of as time goes by.
Verse 6 reminds us that the core of Christian ministry is positioning our hearts to receive the light of Jesus, and in so doing become a conduit for His light to shine through us into the life of others.
There is no better plan than this, and no life hack that will make this happen. It requires us to be faithful to meet with God every day to receive His love, correction and instruction, and to recommit our lives to walk with Him throughout our day, come what may.
Lastly, the apostle Paul reminds us that we are weak vessels, and that only God can accomplish His work through us. There should be no confusion on this point.
If we are not seeing progress in the Christian faith there could be many reasons, but near the top of the list could be that we are ministering/working in our own strength with our own agenda. And that’s not the way He designed it to work in His Kingdom.
We must exercise self-awareness in order to acknowledge our incapacity, and the trust that Jesus wants to and will work through us. This is the Kingdom Way forward into a God-centered future.
And speaking of the future…
The Spring of 2025 is a season that the Board of Trustees and I have set aside to be intentional about refreshing the 2019 Master Plan, and listening carefully to God as we create a plan for the next 5 years, up through our 50th anniversary in 2028 and beyond.
You can help us with this important task by being in prayer for us as we gather for a Board/Head of School Retreat on Friday, January 24. In fact, if you are open to it, please join us in fasting and prayer on Thursday, January 23, and on into the next day as God leads.
God is doing so many wonderful things at CCS, and we are eternally grateful, because we know that it is not from us, but from Him.
And so it will be in the years ahead, as the next generation is called to rise up and bless the LORD, and we here at CCS are granted a role in their preparation and discipleship.
We take this calling very seriously. And in the days and years to come, as culture continues its spiral away from Biblical truth, we trust that God will keep us firmly centered on the Word and the Spirit.
We know it will not be easy or simple, but few endeavors that matter ever are. It’s important to be in the center of God’s will and calling, and to faithfully execute that day by day.
Thank you for your continued prayers and investment in the ministry of Community Christian School, as we continue to stand strong for the LORD and His Kingdom.
For CCS and the Kingdom,
Tom