A Message from Mr. Ferguson
Winter 2018 Update
Set an Example…in conduct
We are continuing to work through our MS theme of “Set an Example” from 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in faith, in love, in purity.” For September and October, our focus was speech. In November and December, we are focusing on conduct.
Most MS students know how they should live their lives as followers of Christ, but the question that we are focusing on asking is why? Why is it important to obey? Why should I follow Christ and live my life to honor and glorify Him? Why should I put others ahead of myself? Essentially, we want to know what the motivation behind obedience is. There are many different answers to this question, but the one that I think is the most powerful comes from John 15:10-11. Jesus tells us, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” Jesus gives us the motivation behind obedience in verse 11. Commandments exist for our joy! Jesus wants our joy to be full, so He tells us that we need to obey.
This truth is so important for our Middle Schoolers to grasp. God does not give us commands to rob us of joy, but to increase it. The challenge then becomes, “Do I believe this?” This is what we will be challenging and encouraging our students to believe. Commands are actually a form of God’s grace to us, meant to lead us into deeper more satisfying life with Him. We are prayerful for our MS students to embrace this truth and consistently choose to live a life which is pleasing and honoring to the Lord. Please pray for our efforts as a MS staff to try and point students towards to the joy and satisfaction which comes from following Jesus!
Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Drive
Last week, we finished our Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Drive and officially filled 49 boxes which will be sent to children throughout the world. This was a very practical way for us as a school to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ to the world around us. Thank you to all the families who participated in this ministry opportunity. A special thank you to 7th grader Noah Jordan and his extended family who combined together to assemble 18 boxes on their own!
We also want to thank MS parents who signed up to donate turkeys and duct tape for our annual “Turkey Bowl”. Students competed in a class vs. class bowling competition using frozen turkeys the day before Thanksgiving break. After being “tenderized” the turkeys were donated to a local church to be given to families in need this Thanksgiving season.
Middle School Food Drive
As a Middle School, we are always excited about ways in which we can physically and practically demonstrate the love of Christ to the community around us. In the 7th Grade science class, we started the year studying hunger. We researched basic questions such as, “What is food?”, “Where does it come from?” and “Why do we need it?” Each student was then required to research and present a solution that would help fight hunger. Two 7th grade students decided to implement their solution. Naomi Knight and Kailin Haffner contacted Second Harvest Food Bank and set up a food drive to take place at our Middle School December 3rd – 7th. Second Harvest will deliver the boxes to the school and pick them up at the end of the week, we just need to bring the food. We will be awarding prizes to the homeroom which donates the most amount of food. Stay tuned for more details.
Celebrating Christmas Together
At Northwest Christian Schools, we are committed to a Gospel-centered education. We know that all our students (and teachers) are excited about our upcoming Christmas vacation. This, however, is not the main reason to be excited about this season. Christmas is about God entering the world to live the life we should have lived and die the death we deserved to die so that we might be saved. This should excite us more than anything else! Our students are embracing this theme as they worship and serve Him in all they do this month: decorating hallways, presenting our Christmas concert (see below) and continuing to work hard on their academic pursuits. What a privilege we have at NWCS to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas!
Our special events are:
Christmas Chapel: We will have our Christmas Chapel on December 12th. We will be led in worship by our High School worship team and our bands and choirs will perform special music as we hear from a guest speaker, Pastor Nathan Thiry (Youth Pastor at Faith Bible Church).
Christmas Spirit Day: On December 19th, our PSO volunteers will host a delightful morning of special Christmas activities for our MS students. We want to thank the PSO for planning this event!
Christmas Concert: Our MS and HS bands and choirs will perform at Turning Point Church on December 20th at 6:30pm. Musicians need to arrive at 6:00pm. Come, celebrate Christmas with us!
All for the Glory of Christ,
Scott Ferguson,
Middle School Principal
