Jesus Christ is Lord!
Dear Parents and Friends of CCS,
Welcome to the new school year! What a summer it has been here at CCS. So many great things are going on — but I’ll just highlight a few this week.
First and foremost is the incredible work our facilities staff, led by Robert Wicker, did in preparing our brand new spaces, the Bethesda Room (formerly the Primary Carport) and the exciting King’s Crossing space at Four Oaks Plaza.
The former space will house our new Bethesda Academy program, an extension of our Educational Services Department that will serve students who may not be able to achieve a high school diploma, but who have many wonderful gifts and are precious in the sight of God.
Bethesda Academy, under the leadership of Lawson Smith, will not only benefit those students in the program, but our general population of students as well. They will learn how to interact and share life with a group of people who are different in some ways, but really are just like them: persons made in the image of God, and therefore worthy of dignity, respect and honor.
Our other new space, King's Crossing, will serve our Seniors, the class of 2025, as they begin to transition toward launch in the spring.
The space is designed to have a contemporary feel, more like a coffee house than a traditional classroom, to foster collaboration and creativity. Most of their classes will be held at King’s Crossing, and the emphasis will be on the new Ascend program that is designed to prepare students for their post-high school destinations, including internships and apprenticeships with Christian business owners in the Tallahassee Metro area.
King’s will also serve as a rehearsal space for various CCS groups, as well as a site for a number of meetings requiring a smaller space.
We also have plans for King’s to be used for a worldview-focused evening event series. Much more on this in future posts!
Right now we are especially grateful for a very smooth start to school, and a positive response to our changes in drop-off procedures. So far, so good — thank you!
Before I close, I want to announce our Scripture for 2024-25, 2 Cor. 4:5-7:
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
This is such a rich text, and it will be a great joy to unpack it throughout the school year.
Our emphasis in this process will be on the character and work of Jesus, and particularly on the truth of Jesus being Lord of all.
From this text we draw our Theme for 2024-25:
Proclaim Jesus as Lord
This connects nicely with our 2023-24 Theme, Stand Firm in Love.
Clearly “standing firm” is only possible as we worship Jesus as Lord of all, since He is the Source of the love and power that we so separately need to carry out His mission here on earth.
In closing, I pray that as we walk together throughout this year, we would all come to see and experience Jesus as our One Thing, as the Source of our love and power, and as Lord and Master over every situation that may come our way.
We are in a very real sense “in His hands”, and from that place of security and safety we can walk in joy and peace.
Thank you for choosing CCS, and for making the best investment you could possibly make in the education of your children!
Now may God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from them, receive all of the glory as we continue to move step by step toward becoming a truly extraordinary school, for the greater glory of God.
For CCS and the Kingdom,
Tom
