The elementary chapel service was held this morning on a Thursday as the gym will be used tomorrow morning for ELC Picture Day. Chapel Team 1 was in charge of the service. They began by leading the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and asking the audience to listen to The Land Acknowledgement. Our first praise song was a familiar one, “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” with lots of actions.
Next, several of our Grade 6 students announced November’s Care & Share for Toy Mountain. Supporting CTV/ Salvation Army’s Toy Mountain has been an ongoing tradition for our Grade 6 classes for the past ten years. Our Grade 6 students will use the funds raised on Thursday, November 27th, to pay for toys they will buy to donate to Toy Mountain. Those who contribute on November 27th can wear casual attire to school.
Our Chapel Leaders then reviewed the different components of the Armour of God with our audience before kicking off the Christmas season at Wesley with the singing of “Joy to the World”.
After the joyful singing, Mrs. V resumed her role as “Sir Learns-a-lot” and launched into this week’s sub-theme, Armour up with Peace! The students watched a short but hilarious video put on by Wesley teachers to recount the story of the Shepherds and Jesus’s Birth.
Mrs. V then pointed out that we don’t often think about Mary and the shepherds as brave warriors of God but they were! Soldiers do not only fight; they help bring peace and hope to people who are living in chaos and crisis! Mary and the shepherds were warriors for God because they strapped the “shoes of peace” on their feet. Like a warrior obeying her commander, Mary chose to obey God’s command and willingly chose to bring the Prince of Peace into the world! She chose to seek peace by surrendering to God’s will rather than trying to do things in her own strength. Similarly, the shepherds chose to obey. They faced fear and doubt head on, trusting that by listening to the angels and seeking out the Messiah, they would find the Prince of Peace … Jesus!
After some Grade 4 students read some Bible passages to support the message, everyone had a little break by singing the main song of our upcoming musical, “An Out of the Box Christmas”. Those with parts in the play could be seen doing the actions to the song with enthusiasm.
Mrs. V then continued to explain that choosing God’s peace and the spreading of the Good News of God’s peace through Jesus had a DOMINO effect. The Good News has continued to this very day since we are part of it! Next, the Grade 4 students presented several ways to apply what had been taught about wearing the “shoes of peace” like Mary. This included:
- Submitting to God and asking Him to give us His peace when we feel like things in our lives are chaotic, hard, or scary.
- Seeking God’s peace rather than your own ability to find peace when you face challenges. You can’t find true peace without Him!
- Choosing to live out peace in our daily life.
- Sharing the Good News of Jesus, the Prince of Peace!
Mrs. V then ended in prayer, asking God to help us choose to share the Good News, to choose to love Him and to choose to believe in Him. Students then read the benediction before being dismissed to start their academic day.