Devotion - Tip of the iceberg

How great are God’s riches! How deep is his wisdom and knowledge! Who can explain his decisions? Who can understand his ways? As the scripture says:

‘Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give him advice? Who has ever given him anything, so that he had to pay it back?’

For all things were created by him, and all things exist through him and for him. To God be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11: 33 - 36

Speaking with the cameraman who shot most of the IMAX movie Antarctica, I asked him what impressed him most during his filming trip. He mentioned the awesome beauty of the icebergs. Each morning on the trip south by ship, he would go up on deck to watch as the morning sun shed its yellow light over these frozen giants. ‘What blows your mind’, he said, ‘is that we only saw the tip of the things. The other ninety percent is under the water!’

There is much of himself that God has revealed to you in his word. He is the author of nature. He sustains what he has created. He is all-loving and forgiving. He has conquered the power of death and evil by sending his Son, Jesus. But there is much of God that remains a mystery. You and I have only witnessed the tip of the iceberg. What wonders await us when we know in full what we now only know in part!

Mighty God, I offer my humble praise to you for all you do and all you are. Glory be to you, O Lord! Amen.

by Simon Cooper, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

Prayer Points

We pray that God may give our government goodwill and wisdom as they make decisions for our country

We praise God for the wonderful spring weather

We thank God for our freedom of speech and ask that He will guide us in how we use this freedom

We pray for the Romero, Thang Ngak and Thuale families

Micah Award

To Vabeihu for displaying quality in his work

To Zerika for showing appreciation of others

From the Principal

This week’s focus value is love. The word ‘love’ is used frequently every day…’I love chocolate cake’, ‘I love your new dress’, ‘ I love holidays’ and of course ‘I love Richmond’! It is easy to rattle these sayings off in conversation, but what do we really mean when we use the word ‘love’?

Some synonyms for love include adore, worship, care for, devotion to, kindness, peace, trust, resilience, happiness, have esteem for and honour. Some of these may apply for the statements mentioned above; however, these meanings seem too strong for most of the sayings.

So what does love mean from a Christian perspective? For Christians, the expression of love is always a response to God’s love. It is a way of being that leads to inner peace. Love flows from the heart and manifests itself in caring, kind and respectful thoughts, words and actions.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of Gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

Psalm 136: 1- 3

When you consider a passage like this, the word love takes on a whole new meaning and the synonyms make more sense. The word love now manifests itself in a whole new response from us. In response to the love God has shown us, we strive to demonstrate grace, forgiveness, and compassion in our relationships with others; we are courteous, caring, kind and respectful in our words and actions; and we develop relationships based on trust, honesty and diplomacy.

Our challenge as members of the Sunshine Christian School community is to continue to shine God’s love through all that we do and say.

Prep/ 1

In the Prep/1 classroom we are learning about the types of relationships that God has with different people from the Bible.

We wrote: Noah trusted, listened to and obeyed God. Ask us how Noah did all these things.

Year 1/ 2

In the Year 1/2 classroom, we are learning about multiplication. We demonstrate this operation by drawing arrays and using repeated addition. Ask your child to explain this to you and perhaps do an array together.

Year 3/ 4

In the Year 3/4 classroom we have created a daily schedule using appropriate structure and correct use of am and pm. Feel free to ask us which day we chose and what happens throughout that day.

Year 5/ 6

In the Year 5/6 classroom, we have been learning about Algebra. We have been trying to find the unknown value by using the special rules we need to remember. Ask us how to solve unknown values at home!