You are great! We are so glad you are here!

This week’s chapel was on the topic of our theme for the school year: Encouragement, which is taken from Hebrew’s 3:13 “Encourage one another daily.”

Mr. Gord Park, our spiritual life director, said sometimes encouragement is simply a case of cheerleading. It’s turning to someone and saying, “You are great, I am so glad you are here!” But encouragement is also counsel: offering good, Godly advice.

He talked about the times we have “mountaintop” or “lightning bolt” experiences – when we tangibly sense the presence of God in our lives, such as during worship, at a retreat, at a convention, or participating in a service project. But there are also times when we don’t feel God’s presence, he said. That’s when we have to remember that God calls us to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).

When there are times that we make mistakes or that we are confronted with the mistakes of others, Mr. Park said we have to “keep short accounts.”

“That’s grace,” Mr. Park said, which Christians must be able to both give and receive. “But you have to have the guts and the courage and the honesty to be in a place where you are good with God.”

Finally, Mr. Park said we have to share, because “whatever God gives you is to give away to someone else. Every gift, every opportunity, every revelation you receive is to bless and encourage someone else.”

He used the example of the Sea of Galilee, which flows out into the Jordan Valley, giving life. In contrast, the Dead Sea doesn’t flow out and it does not give life. “Something happens to you when you share, you grow in your faith,” he said.

Mr. Park said some of the best conversations we can ever have with each other are the ones about God. “When God becomes part of the conversation, what a blessing it becomes.”

At our chapel today we also heard a presentation about Rose City Kids from Lynette Andree Wierenga (Class of 2003) who explained the goals and impact of this powerful Welland ministry. She said over 400 children and their families are being blessed by the Saturday program, the home visits, the tutoring and the leadership training that Rose City Kids is able to provide. She said Rose City Kids feeds the children physically, emotionally and spiritually, and its goal is to teach the children important life truths.

“We want each one to know Jesus loves you, there is a plan for you, you can dream big, God knows your name,” she said.

Lynette said demographic research reveals Welland has high unemployment, high poverty and high household debt, and these factors put incredible stress on parents and families.

She said one way in which Rose City Kids blesses its participants is through its personalized Christmas boxes, which over 150 Smithville Christian High School students are filling. She said one mother was overwhelmed when she realized that her child was known by name by an anonymous donor who would be choosing gifts and praying for her daughter.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for filling these boxes,” Lynette said, also inviting students to consider volunteering for one of the programs.

The chapel also featured worship led by one of our student praise teams. Thank you to Mariah, Katelyn, Rachael, Caleb, Hayden, Kaleb, Tyler, Alex and Fayth for sharing your gifts of music and song.

Visit the Rose City Kids website by clicking here.