This morning, the elementary students held a special Easter chapel service in the gymnasium to remember the death and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After singing O Canada and reciting the Lord’s prayer, students listened to the Land Acknowledgement.
Leaders from Chapel Team 2 read Romans 5:8 which reveals that God loves us so much that He sent Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. To respond in gratitude to this truth, the audience sang “Lord I Lift Your Name On High” – a song of praise and thanksgiving to Jesus for coming to the world to save us.
Next, a short Good Friday intro video from the North Scituate Baptist Church was shown. There was no dialogue – only music and some words on a screen during the minute long video. It set the tone for some somber reflection about Christ’s death on Good Friday for us. To provide some narration of the death and sacrifice of Christ, one of the Chapel Leaders read from 1 Peter 2:21-25. The audience then sang “Amazing Love” to thank Christ for dying and rising again.
A second short film entitled “Risen” was shown to transition to the Good News that Jesus has risen from the dead. Once again, this film had no dialogue, only powerful music and expressive actors reenacting the scenes when Mary Magdalene tells Peter and John that Jesus’s tomb is empty and the two disciples racing to it – realizing that Jesus has risen like He said He would.
Before jumping into lively worship with the song “My Redeemer Lives”, the Chapel Leaders led the reading of two well known passages from John 11:25-26 and John 3:16. Then, one last short video was shown in which the Nicene Creed was narrated through powerful scenes as an affirmation of faith and our beliefs. This was followed by a reading from John 14:1-3 and the singing of “I Can Only Imagine” – a song about how one might react in heaven when we see the Lord.
Our Easter message was delivered by Pastor Ian from EastRidge Church in Stouffville. He explained that today is Maundy Thursday which is the day when Jesus celebrated Passover with His disciples before His death. At that time, Jesus also gave His followers a new mandate (Maundy) to love one another and to serve with humility as He washed His disciples feet. Pastor Ian then spent some time discussing Jesus’s suffering before He was crucified on the cross. He asked the students to close their eyes as He slowly read some of the details from Matthew 27. As he read from the passage, he also put in some details to help the students relate – like the pain when a bandaid is ripped off – to help them imagine the exponential pain that Jesus must have felt when his blood stained robe was ripped from his back that bore the wounds from having been whipped. Pastor Ian also talked about the humiliation that Jesus suffered when he was stripped of his clothes and stood naked before the Roman soldiers who mocked and spat on Him. This imagination exercise helped the audience “see” the suffering that our Lord went through even before He was ultimately nailed on the cross. Pastor Ian then asked an interesting question, “Is this where Jesus started suffering?” Pastor Ian answered his own question but explaining that Jesus came from a place of no suffering – heaven – to earth, where He entered into the world as a human child, crying at birth. He went through many of the pains that we experience as human beings. He didn’t have to, but He did because He loves us and wanted to save us. Pastor Ian shared that the story of Jesus doesn’t end on Good Friday with His death. It continues to Resurrection or Easter Sunday! Pastor Ian encouraged the students to dig deeper by going to a Good Friday or Easter Sunday church service, especially if their family does not normally go to church. He concluded by praying – thanking Jesus for willingly suffering and obeying God’s plan to die for mankind and asking Him to help us grow to be more like Him.
Our chapel leaders concluded the service by leading the reading of the benediction. Students were then dismissed to begin their academic day.