Today, the Grade 8 Worship Team led the elementary chapel service, starting with the pledges, The Lord’s Prayer, O Canada and the Land Acknowledgement. Then, they led the students in singing three songs: “Another in the Fire”, “Pharaoh, Pharaoh”, and “The Battle Belongs”.
Our guest speaker was Pastor Stephanie Jones from onechurch.to. Instead of sharing a Bible story today, she shared the following three Biblical truths about God:
- God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
- God is omnipresent. He is in all places all of the time.
- God is faithful.
She used two props to help her continue with her message. She chose a music stand to represent God and put it in the middle of the gym. She used a white balloon to represent us. She placed the white balloon close to the music stand and explained that when we first start out, we are close to God. However, things cause us to move away. She asked some of the students to blow the balloon and for illustration purposes, she moved it to the back of the gym. Pastor Stephanie shared that there are three main reasons why we move away from God:
- People around us do not encourage us to be close to God and we drift away from Him as a result.
- We turn our backs and lose sight of God. Pastor Stephanie picked up the balloon and turned away, so that she could no longer see the music stand.
- Storms come in between us and God, and we get discouraged when God does not show up in the way that we want Him to.
As Pastor Stephanie continued with her example, she asked, “Has God done any moving in the meantime?” She explained that the balloon moved around (by either being blown or picked up) but God (the music stand) has not. She shared that when we feel far from God, it’s because we have moved away from Him and we may need friends, family or teachers to help us get back on the right path. Pastor Stephanie emphasized that God is not playing “hide and seek” with us. He is always there for us, just like we sang in the first worship song, “Another in the Fire”. Pastor Stephanie then spoke directly to the Grade 7&8 students, saying that if they are having a hard time, they should ask for help to find God again. She concluded the service in prayer, thanking God for being the same, omnipresent and faithful, and asking Him to help us find people who will support us in our walk with Him.