Newsletter – 9 November 2021

A Word from Jason Shadie

I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.
Revelation 2:17

I have always loved this statement by Jesus in the Book of Revelation. Jesus promises to give us a new name; our true identity.

Today is the beginning of the HSC Exam period for 2021. It has been delayed due to the impact of COVID-19, but it marks the culmination of two years of senior study for our seven Year 12 students: Noah D, Marisa, Noah G, Caitlin, Jackson, Angelina, and Jade. Our Year 11 cohort will also be involved in some of these exams. This is the first time that we have hosted the HSC Exams on site at Kuyper since we began our senior school journey in 2016. It’s a big week for students, teachers and the school community!

The HSC is just one important event in the life of our students. It is definitely not a ‘defining’ moment. Our students – your children – are infinitely more valuable than the results of their exams. It is important, however, for our Year 12 students to strive for excellence and seek to honour God with their efforts. However, they are not to be defined, as individuals, by the outcome.

We live in a world that places great emphasis on the results students attain through study, or the job they have. In our culture, when we meet someone for the first time, we might ask, “So, what do you do?” Our initial assessment of the person is often shaped by their answer. It can prompt preconceived ideas about ‘who’ the person is. This can also lead to awkwardness when someone is uncomfortable revealing what they do for work because of the way they might be judged. Our culture values people based on their achievements or performance. By contrast, Jesus had a very different way of seeing people and inviting them to follow Him. He didn’t seek out those most qualified, or those with the keenest intellect. A wide range of people found their purpose with Jesus, from those gifted in finance (tax collectors) to local tradies (fishermen).

So why does our culture place such importance on what people do for work? Why is a person’s identity so often tied to their job?

With a focus on these final exams, we should remember that this is the beginning of life beyond Kuyper for our senior students. They are now stepping into the life that God is calling them to, beyond their ‘childhood’ at school. There will be significant challenges ahead; decisions that these young adults will face in deciding where they find their identity. Will they be defined by the secular culture that is relentlessly trying to shape them, or will they know that their true identity is found in Christ?

Noah D, Marisa, Noah G, Caitlin, Jackson, Angelina, and Jade are all wonderfully gifted in different and unique ways. Each of them has a responsibility to use their strengths and weaknesses – the entirety of who they are – to serve and honour God in all aspects of their lives. This includes further study and careers.

Leonard Sweet, in his foreword to The Vertical Self by Mark Sayers, says “Christianity asks you to be who you are and who you aren’t at the same time.” While this sounds paradoxical, he means that God knows our true identity even while we are distracted through our own sinfulness and the culture of the world around us. We need to be honest about who we are, and hopeful about who we are becoming.

I am praying that our Year 12 students have a clear understanding of who they are when they leave Kuyper. I want them to know this truth: God knows who they are. They are created in His image. This will be a journey for all of them. As Sayer puts it, “We must seek to understand how we have moved away from basing our identities in our God-given image and toward simply adopting identities from the culture around us.”

Year 12, don’t let the world tell you who you are. Leave behind the false identities offered by our culture, and receive the white stone, the new name, from Jesus Himself.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10

Prayer & Praise

Praise God that he continues in his sovereignty through all circumstances. Praise God for His grace towards us through Jesus Christ. He is worthy of all of our love and devotion. Worship and thank Him for His sacrifice that rescued us from death.
Pray for Joshua Miller, who is unwell in hospital at present. Please pray for healing, wisdom for the doctors, and hope and strength for Josh’s family.
Give thanks for our staff. Pray that the Lord would restore us all to full health and strength to finish Term 2 well.
Give thanks for all our students and their families. Pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit through those who know Him, to lead us in prayer, words and deeds to encourage and exhort each other and find our health, peace and direction in the Lord. Pray for protection over the hearts and minds of our children and young people.
Give thanks for our CEN schools. Pray for Dubbo Christian School, and their Principal. Pray for healing, fellowship and peace.
Pray for our 40 year celebrations; that we would be truly thankful and joyful for what God has provided and achieved for us and through us. Pray that we would continue in the spirit we began with in 1982.
Give thanks for our Kuyper families. Pray for connections to strengthen and grow in genuine community and care for eachother.
Give thanks for our Government and those in authority. Pray that they would be led in wisdom and truth to lead our country for the future good of all. Pray that “every person be subject to the governing authorities.” Give thanks that our government has been “instituted by God” (Romans 13:1).
Praise God for the faithful Pioneers of Kuyper Christian School. Give thanks for those who have continued to nurture and grow those beginnings. Give thanks for Abraham Kuyper, his vision and his teachings. Give thanks that our foundations are in Christ, who is the source of all Truth. Give thanks that we are in partnership with each other – staff, parents and carers – as we serve the Lord by nurturing children in the knowledge and love of Him. Thank Him for each individual who makes up the Kuyper Community and lead us to value the whole person, so that each one may be encouraged in their relationship with God. Thank God for the students he has entrusted to our care, made in His image, to glorify Him. Worship Him because He is holy. Thank Him for His love and faithfulness towards His creation. Praise Him as Creator God, from whom we inherit our creativity. Give abundant thanks for his mercy and grace, without which we would be lost indeed. Give thanks also for His justice, that will not fail, and His forgiveness which is freely extended to all who would accept it. Give thanks for our God and his omnipotence; his power and influence is unlimited! Give thanks for our God and his omniscience; his universal understanding and complete knowledge. Give thanks for our God and his omnipresence; he is present everywhere at the same time.
Give thanks for our Board and Executive teams. Pray for one-ness of purpose for our staff, Board, Executive team, and Association.