This morning’s elementary service was led by Chapel Team 3. After singing the national anthem and reciting the Lord’s Prayer, students listened to the Land Acknowledgement. The Chapel Leaders then led the audience in a time of musical worship by singing three songs – “Inside Out”, “This Little Light of Mine” and “I Will Follow”. Each were preceded by a short reading from the New Testament to introduce the song or give it some context. The students responded in praise that filled the gym, especially during the chorus of “I Will Follow”.
Next the Chapel Leaders reviewed our theme verse from Ephesians 6:10. They also recited the five “Armour Up” sub-themes that we have been learning about this year. The latest one is to “Armour Up with Salvation!”
Our guest speaker this morning was Pastor Jamie Shurr from The Dwelling Place Church in Hagersville, who continued with a message about Salvation. As a new speaker at our school, he began by introducing himself. He quickly shared some of the amazing things that he has done (or is doing) such as being a pastor, missionary, volunteer fire fighter, and volunteer in an international emergency search and rescue response team. However, he primarily considers himself to be a “professional story teller”. Pastor Shurr’s message focused on John 14:6. With great animation and enthusiasm, he asked the students to repeat three key words – Way, Truth and Life. At first, the students were shy. However, with encouragement and creatively demonstrating how a Haka from New Zealand would belt out a cry, the students were soon shouting “Truth” in a similar style. After briefly explaining the components of the verse, Pastor Shurr revealed a prop that he had brought with him – a 3-D poster of a hole. He put the optical illusion on the ground and began telling a story. Once again, using his dramatic creativity, he engaged the students and acted out a story about a man who , on Day 1, woke up, had breakfast and left his home. However, he didn’t see the hole on the ground and fell in. He managed to climb out but it was a struggle. On Day 2, the man repeated the routine and fell again because he had forgotten about the hole. On Day 3, the man remembered the hole but thought he could use his strength to jump over the hole. He was not successful and fell in again. On Day 4, the man remembered the hole and thought he could rely on his intelligence and walk around it. However, he could not “outthink” the situation and still fell in the hole. Finally, on Day 5, the man made a decision and chose to take a different path and avoided the hole completely. After the dramatic skit, Pastor Shurr explained that the hole is the sin in our lives. We cannot avoid falling in using our own strength, intelligence or desire to go around it. It is only through following Jesus, a completely different path – a new WAY – that we can find the truth. Once we make the choice to follow Jesus, He transforms us and we cannot stay silent about it. Pastor Shurr then launched into a story about a girl in Iowa in 1881who chose not to stay silent when she knew that the bridge near her house had been destroyed in a raging storm. Despite the torrential rain, she made it to the train station miles away to stop the train from leaving, sparing the lives of hundreds, as the bridge crossing was part of the train route. Pastor Shurr shared that God uses events in our lives that open our eyes, like his experience in Haiti when he was 14 years old. His “take away” for the students was to encourage them to share their stories with others so that people can know that Jesus is the only way, truth and the life. He closed by asking the audience to pray a responsive prayer with him, thanking Jesus for loving and dying for us and asking Him to help us trust and commit our lives to Him.
To respond to the message and end the service, the Chapel Leaders asked the students to read the benediction together. After reciting the theme verse again, they were dismissed to start their academic school day.
