By Nate D. Long, Head of School
It's hard to believe we have reached the end of quarter one. 25% of our time to disciple this group of students alongside their parents is complete but what an amazing opportunity we still have to shepherd them throughout the final 75%!
I'm currently reading a book entitled The Way Back To One Another co-written by one of our very own parents, Phil Smith. This book is all about how we are created to be a people of community. To live together in pursuit of glorifying our great God. As I was reading the following portion, a metaphor from Tim Mackie, encouraged me in our focus of Abiding in the Lord this year, and how we do this together! (It's a little long but worth it!)
“Consider a bag of marbles and a cluster of grapes. A bag of marbles comprises many individual balls, each with a significant range of movement. Some marbles could fall out of the bag without affecting the others. Grapes are also individual entities, yet each grab in a cluster is connected to the same source of life. If a grape falls off the stem, it leaves a noticeable gap. Although no single grape touches all the others at once, each remains part of the same cluster--connected, interdependent, and affected by what happens to the whole. In the same way, we grow together as we remain communally connected to the vine (John 15:1-17). Mackie compares this to our Christian community: ‘The gospel creates a community of people who are personally being impacted, transformed, and brought into this organic thing that takes place when the story of Jesus is told. It's personal--but it is never private.’ Our faith is meant to play out in the context of an interdependent community.”
I'm so grateful to be in a gospel-centered community with all of you. Jesus urged his disciples to do more than just be together, he was teaching them to be interdependent as they grew in their relationship with Jesus. My prayer is that we are that type of community here at LCCS. That we grow together towards Jesus daily and that our students get to see what true community looks like through our relationships.
Be encouraged, God is doing BIG things!
