Devotion – Life-giver

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24)

What is life-giving for you? When your favourite footy or sports team wins, does that make you feel alive? What about quality time with a person you love? It leaves you buzzing, invigorated, ready to take on the next challenge. Or maybe none of this resonates with you. What is it, then, that is life-giving for you?

And what does it mean that the Son gives life? Jesus gives life. What do we understand by that? God is our creator and literally gives us our lives, knits us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). Just as God ‘breathed the breath of life’ into Adam in Genesis (2:7), we are filled with life because of him. And life as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus, is not limited to our earthly life. Because Jesus has died, you live forever. The blood of Jesus has won salvation and forgiveness for you. The blood of Jesus has covered over the power of darkness, so no ungodly thing can completely take hold of our lives and destroy us. You have been claimed by God through Jesus to have life to the full (John 10:10).

If you want to think about it that way, we rise up to new life with Christ every day. The power of the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see how we can tap into that exciting potential of being God’s vessel and his servant day after day. Life in God is to be found in serving others around us. Hold on to the solid foundation that you have a new life in Christ today. This new life is brimming with possibilities of how to be life-giving and Christ-giving to those around you. The fruit of the Spirit will guide you in this. Today, display love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22,23). This is how your life-giving God works through you in the power of his Holy Spirit. These fruits give life to the weary, the hungry, the sick, the sad. You can be a life-giver today because your Life-Giver tenderly embraces you as a dearly beloved child worth dying for.

How can you be a life-giver today?

Jesus, my loving Life-Giver, I am so grateful to be included and accepted by you and that you would consider me worth dying for. I thank you for my life with all its joys and challenges, and I offer it to you today as a humble offering. Do with my life whatever you will; use me according to your purposes. Open my eyes and ears to be life-giving to the people around me today. Amen.

Prayer Points

We pray for all those who are sick and suffering, that God may comfort them and bring them back to full health

We pray for the Vuong, Zathang and Zawro families

Micah Award

To Sara for showing love, compassion and service toward others.

To Allan for showing determination and quality in his work.

Living in Community Awards

Our school is blessed to have close relationships with other organisations in our community. One of our closest relationships is with Pilgrim Uniting Church, Yarraville, which has provided support to the school for over five years. This year the church has once again generously provided special Living in Community awards for four of our students, made possible through the work of volunteers at the church’s MissionPoint Opportunity Shop.

The ‘Living in Community Award’ is awarded to students who consistently demonstrate the school’s core values of Love, Justice, Compassion, Forgiveness, Service, Humility, Courage, Hope, Quality and Appreciation.

Special friends and supporters of the school, Graeme and Sue Hodgart, presented the award on behalf of the church to the students who had consistently demonstrated these values. This year we congratulate Deborah (Year 1), Joseph (Year 2), Silver (Year 4) and Za Uk Lia (Year 4).

The school and the students are deeply grateful for the ongoing support Pilgrim Uniting Church has shown to our school and families. Our prayer is that God may continue to bless them in their work.

End of Year/Graduation 2021

This year’s special graduation celebrations will be held on Thursday 9 December. Once again, due to COVID restrictions, we have decided to have alternate arrangements for these celebrations. At 1pm, the Year 5/6 students will participate in a special lunch supplied by the school in the school hall. Following lunch, at 1.30pm, a modified Graduation Ceremony will be conducted. This event will be live streamed into the classrooms and to families who would like to be a part of the celebrations. Unfortunately, due to restrictions, no parents will be allowed on site. During the ceremony there will be a number of special presentations and speeches.

The last day of the 2021 school year is Friday 10 December. During this day the students will have the opportunity to receive their reports and say goodbye to their teachers and friends before finishing the day at 12.15pm.

More details of these events will be distributed to relevant parties in the coming weeks.

Prep / 1

In the Prep/1 classroom we have been gathering information from our peers by asking ‘Yes/No’ questions. We use tally marks to collect our information.

We can ask everyone in the family ‘Do you like vegetables?’ and share our findings.

Year 2/ 3

In the Year 2/3 classroom we have been studying a book called ‘James and the giant peach’ by Roald Dhal. You can ask us what this book is about and some of the ‘Wow’ words that we have learnt.

Year 3 / 4

In the Year 3/4 classroom we have been reading a story called ‘Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes’. We have been learning about Sadako’s life and doing activities based on the book. Ask us to tell you more about this fascinating story!

Year 5/ 6

In the Year 5/6 classroom we created ‘Compliment Posters’. We each wrote something encouraging about our classmates and then we stuck them onto a poster of ourselves. It was nice to read what our peers had to say about us.