Newsletter – 24 August 2021

Something that I can honestly say I always enjoy about my role at Kuyper, is the freedom to talk openly about our wonderful creator, Father God, every single day. Aside from all the learning activities which are delivered from a Christian perspective, through a biblical lens, perhaps some of the most fruitful discussions that occur in the Year 6 classroom are those which are prompted by our daily devotions. Most recently, our School@Home devotions have, at times, been just as fruitful and exciting as those we enjoyed face to face.

Two weeks ago, our daily devotions led us to discuss how Jesus often used parables to speak about the Kingdom of God. What exactly did He mean? Is the Kingdom of God a place and if so, where is it? We learned that rather than simply being a reference to heaven, the Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom which covers all of God’s creation. This includes the universe and beautiful planet earth, which we call home. During our discussion, we learned that in the beginning, God created the world, along with humankind, and it was perfect. However, when humankind sinned, this led to separation from God.

The devotion which Mr Hottinger shared with the Kuyper community tied in beautifully with the Year 6 devotions: The Good News! Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, rose again, and ascended into Heaven. This is extremely good news! The Gospels are all about this good news, and the Kingdom of God. Mr Hottinger threw out a challenge to all students, to create their own short videos and share the good news, spreading the gospel from person to person.

The Bible tells us that when we repent of our sins and choose to follow Jesus, we not only receive the Holy Spirit and have eternal life with Him to look forward to, but we also become part of God’s kingdom on earth. The Bible also tells us that it is our Christian duty to preach the Gospel. Just a few days after seeing Mr Hottinger’s devotion, three Year 6 students put together their own individual gospel videos, which have been shared with the Kuyper community.

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone”.

Mark 16:15

Two of the parables that Year 6 read this term are; the parable of the sower, and the parable of the growing seed. The parable of the sower teaches about the hearts of those who hear the good news. Some hearts are described as hard, some are shallow, some are crowded, and some are fruitful. The primary focus of the parable of the growing seed is the Kingdom of God. Year 6 agreed that most of us have memories of planting seeds which have been lying in a packet for months. We discussed how the seeds are watered and checked often, in anticipation of seeing the seeds come up. To begin with, nothing seems to be happening. How amazing it is though, when after a few days, plants start to become visible.

The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens.

Mark 4:26-28

When we first tell others about Jesus, perhaps nothing seems to happen. Yet like the seeds under the soil, we cannot see the work God is doing in the hearts of those with whom we have shared the good news. After a while, we might begin to see a change in one of our friends, and then another, and another. Whether we see the fruit of our labour or not, we should continue doing our part in spreading the Gospel. We must be willing to carry on with confidence that all things, including the growth of the Kingdom of God, are under the control of our heavenly Father.