In our theme “let me tell you about my Jesus,” we have seen the John 1 passage before, but this week I want to focus in on vs. 4 and 5.

What got me thinking about this characteristic – Jesus is the light of the world, in my work in preparing for the annual Christmas program. There are many verses to choose from, but the classic verse from Isa. 9:2 is really got me going with this thought:

Isa 9:2   The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2  He was in the beginning with God.

Joh 1:3  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Joh 1:4  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Joh 1:5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

In the opening lines of the song, “Here I am to Worship” are this:
         Light of the world you step down into darkness
         Open my eyes let me see.
         Beauty that made this heart adore you
         Hope of a life spent with you.

Jesus did step down into a spiritually dark world, and He was the light of all men. When He did enter our sphere, as noted in Isa 9:2, He was that great light. Note that the people when this light appeared were walking in darkness and had been doing so for some 400 years. That condition has not changed much in 2000+ years. People are still working overtime to cast aside any thought that Jesus is the saving light.

This light was so great that darkness ever so ever tried to squelch the light but could not. Jesus overpowered the darkness by conquering the grave. Because of this victory over death and darkness, “we can walk in the light as He is the light.” – 1 Jn 1:7. Lastly, in the Isa. 9 passage it states that “on them
the light shone. What strikes me about this little phrase is that those that the light shone on had no say on whether or not it “hit them.” They were simply recipients of a very beneficent gift, yet they rejected the gift. The love of Jesus is the same in that we need to accept the gift by believing that He is the Christ, the Son of God that was raised victoriously.

As you celebrate during this holiday season, may you exhibit/reflect His light to those around you.

Shifting gears, continue to lift up the staff as they work to impress upon the students the need to keep their focus on Jesus. Satan’s worst fear is that the students would do just that. So, he is in an all-out attack to divert the student’s attention to other things.

It is hard to believe how far we have progressed in the school year already. In just a few short weeks, Christmas will be here. Wow! Generally, the school is running pretty smoothly. Yes, there are some unexpected hiccups, but that is to be expected.

The ”biggy” season ending tournament took place this past weekend with the girls volleyball team placing second. From the reports that I heard, there were some tense moments as some of the scores were really close.

This week is also a “biggy” week as many of the 9-12 th grade students will travel with chaperones to the Creation Museum and Noah Ark. The group leaves early, early on Thursday morning and returns on Sunday. Please pray for safe travels and for profound moving of the Holy Spirit as the students spend time together and at these venues.

In an effort to spread the word about VCS, you can help by leaving a review of the school at this address:
https://www.niche.com/k12/school-survey-sweepstakes/ You have the chance to win up to $1000.

Help Wanted: Two (or more) people for the Christmas play – one (or more) for props and set and the other(s) for costumes.

Wanted: One or two more individuals that could sub teach when needed. A bachelor’s degree is needed.

Wanted: Basketball coaches – boy and girls for the upcoming season.

Operation Christmas Child – shoe box packing will take place on Nov. 14th. Please plan accordingly to have appropriate items ready to be packed – elementary, or permission slips and money for the secondary students.

We started the more intense 1-hour rehearsals this week for the Christmas play. It is so fun to see and hear the characters take form as the students really begin to get into their character.

The next regularly scheduled VCS Board meeting will be on Nov. 8th . (New date – changed due to Parent Teacher Conferences.) (Please make sure that you vote that day.)

Continue to pray for God’s holy fire to rain down daily.

Pressing forward for His glory,
Ron