This morning, our Worship Team opened our elementary chapel service by leading O Canada and the Lord’s Prayer. After listening to the Land Acknowledgement, they led the upbeat singing of “My Lighthouse“ with all the actions. This is a song about trusting God to guide and protect you through personal storms, doubts, and difficult times.
Next, representatives from Grade 4 updated the audience about our recent Care & Share Food Drive for the 105 Gibson Centre. Ms. Iun also shared some stories provided by the 105 Gibson Centre about how compassion and generosity have helped families in giving dignity, hope, and a path forward in some of their most difficult moments. We give praise to the Lord for allowing us to collect 3123 items for families in need in our community!
When the announcement ended, the Worship Team Leaders reviewed our theme verse from 1Timothy 4:12 and each of the steps to train to be like Jesus. They also took the opportunity to introduce a Christian athlete named Cade Cowell. He is an American soccer player who signed his first professional contract when he was only 15 years old! From an early age, he knew that having focus was critical and putting God first was the most important thing. He always says, “In Jesus’ name, I play.”
After spending a minute to discuss with an elbow partner what they can do to keep focused, the audience stood up and praised God with “Lord I Lift Your Name on High”.
Next, two grades stood up and recited their memory verses for the other students. The Grade 7 classes presented Romans 12:9-13 which is a passage about love in action. The Grade 8 class recited Psalm 139:13-16 which is a passage in which King David praises God for designing him and knowing him intimately even before he was born.
The Worship Team then led the students in singing “Living Hope”, one of many favourite songs at Wesley. The students filled the gym with praise, especially during the chorus.
The conversation then continued about focusing on Jesus. A member of the Worship Team read the Bible passage taken from Mark 12:28-34. This passage explains that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The second most important is to love your neighbour as yourself. Loving God and your neighbour is more important than anything else.
This Bible passage led straight into the first of this school year’s teacher interviews. Ms. Romeo was asked to share how she focuses on loving God in her daily life. She explained that she starts and closes the day with prayer to the Lord. She emphasized that it is important to remember that everything we have comes from God. When asked about how she focuses on loving others, she simply said, “…by showing kindness and respect.” She explained that showing love is not just through hugs. We need to think about how we would like to be treated. She also made an important remark in her discussion – that showing God’s love is not something that you should always receive praise for, hinting that humility is something else that one needs to keep in mind. Lastly, she reminded us that everyone and everything is part of God’s creation and we need to respect that.
To respond to the message, the Worship Team lead the singing of “I Just Want to Be A Sheep”. The service ended with the reading of the benediction and another exciting Grade 8 Walkathon promotion video reminding students to take advantage of Thanksgiving to gather more support for our upcoming fundraiser.
