This morning, our elementary chapel service was led by Chapel Team 3. As today is the day before March Break, students were permitted to wear casual clothes to school. After singing O Canada, saying the Lord’s Prayer and listening to the Land Acknowledgement, they led a time of musical worship with “One Way“. This is a song focused on devotion, faith, and surrender to Jesus as the only way to salvation, truth, and life. This was followed by “Mighty to Save“, a song about the saving power, mercy, and grace of Jesus.
The speaker for today’s chapel was Mrs. V, who was armed with a giant plastic test tube and wearing a lab coat, playing the role of Dr. STEM-ernicus. She led the recitation of the “Armour Up” sub-themes and review of this week’s sub-theme, “Armour Up with Salvation”. Before she dove into the heart of today’s experiment, she shared that today’s message about Salvation would be the most important message they have heard – more important that doing well in a math test, getting into the best high school or having the best car. She stated that some of them may have heard the message or seen the experiment before but she, along with all of the Wesley teachers, hoped that the meaning and implication would be more clear to them today and prompt them to think about taking up the gift of salvation.
She quickly recapped Week 1’s story about Paul and Silas and Pastor Jeremiah’s Week 2 message about salvation.
Next, she walked the students through the different stages (e.g. review of materials, hypothesis, experiment, analysis) of this week’s experiment which involved red food colouring, a glass of water and some bleach. At each stage, the audience had a short period of time to discuss each step with their seat partners. Then, they finally watched the experiment play out and observed how the bleach was able to turn the red water back to a clear liquid.
Mrs. V explained that when bleach was added to the red water, a chemical reaction called OXIDATION occurred. The bleach molecules broke apart the red dye molecules in the water so that we could no longer see the red colour anymore.
Chapel Team 3 then led the audience in singing “Amazing Love” – a song about God’s amazing love for us that He sent Jesus to die in our place.
After the singing, Mrs. V discussed how we can use the information from the experiment to grow in our relationship with God. She explained that God is holy and we were created in His image. We were designed to be in an everlasting relationship with Him. However, when we choose to sin, that relationship is broken (red dye in the glass). But, God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to fix our broken relationship. By asking Jesus into your life and walking in relationship with Him, your sins are forgiven and your eternal relationship with God is restored!
Mrs. V then explained how we can receive the salvation Jesus offers us, be saved from our sins, and restore our eternal relationship with God. She used the following ABC acronym.
- Admit you have sinned – be aware of your sinfulness and ask God for forgiveness.
- Believe that Jesus died in your place and rose again
- Commit your life to following Jesus – Acknowledge Jesus’s authority over your life , strive to stop making sinful choices in your life, build a relationship with Jesus and practice being more like Him. This is the most difficult part.
Mrs. V encouraged any student who felt moved to accept the gift of Salvation to speak to a Wesley teacher or staff today. Before Chapel Team 3 led the singing of “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”, Mrs. V asked that we consider singing this as a prayer to God. After the song, the audience read a prayer together, acknowledging God’s saving plan through Jesus and our need to believe, repent and live a life like our Saviour.
Mrs. V emphasized that being a follower of Jesus involves loving our neighbours. She then called upon representatives from our Grade 7 class. They introduced the March Care & Share event for The Centre of Dreams. This organization is located at McCowan and Highway 7, so they are literally our neighbours. This centre is a safe space where individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities are supported and empowered to pursue their dreams. We will be raising money to support this organization. Those who make a small monetary contribution can wear casual clothes on Thursday, March 26th. In addition, our Grade 7 students will be visiting the centre to participate in activities with the program members later this spring.
To wrap up , Mrs. V closed in prayer, asking God to help us see Him and His gift of Salvation through new eyes today. The audience also recited the benediction which asks God to help us remember His great love for us and to help us be a light and example to others in this world.