Dear Parents and Friends of CCS,

May this issue of Parent News find you experiencing the grace and goodness of God!

In this week’s post I’d like to focus on the next two Distinctives of Gospel Centered Education.

These Distinctives lie at the heart of our CCS@50! Vision, and are unique to how we carry out our mission here at CCS.

I share these distinctives not to boast that we are necessarily superior to other schools, or that we do all of these things perfectly, but simply to suggest that not all educational programs come from the same perspective. This is the pathway that God has laid out for us, and we rejoice in it and celebrate its uniqueness.

Please note that these do not represent everything we do or hold to be important, but are listed either because they are not to our knowledge practiced at other schools, or are practiced in a singular and unique way here at CCS.

This week we’ll focus on Distinctives 5 & 6.

Distinctive 5 Living out the gospel in the midst of suffering and challenge, in the rawness of the real world.
The majority of our graduates will not be working in vocational ministry, but will have jobs in a broad cross-section of careers and callings, and will surely endure the normal sufferings of life as well as challenges to their faith. This is why we emphasize learning to stand firm in your faith together (with like-minded people), and, when necessary, to stand alone. See GCE episode 007 here.

Distinctive 6 The end game of all we do is missions. This guiding principle is based directly on the Great Commission of Jesus. We are to bring the light of the gospel to the places we are called, in our work, in our families, in our service, in a winsome and powerful manner. Ultimately life is not all about us - it’s about God and the furtherance of His Kingdom in joyful expectation of His return. As we await this blessed event, our joy is increased as we live to glorify and magnify Him.

Next week we’ll take a look at Distinctives 7 & 8.

In the end, it is our prayer that sharing the vision that God is currently downloading will be another step toward furthering His agenda for gospel-centered teaching and learning at CCS.

May He receive all of the glory as we move step by step toward becoming a truly extraordinary school.

For CCS and the Kingdom,

Tom