Seniors Honors Night, June 1, 2018 Portland Christian School Message from Pastor Keane Collins (Used with permission) As parents, what have we valued about the education you ve received at Portland Christian Schools? 1. We valued the Christ-like example of your school s teachers and administrators. 2. We valued the Christ-centered instruction you have received. 3. We valued God s family in Christ that has surrounded you as a support all the way through. What do I mean by the value of Christ-like example? 34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (Joh 13:34-35 NAU) Jesus commanded us to follow His example by loving one another in the same way that He loved us. By doing so, Jesus told us that we would be an example for other people to recognize that we are his followers. For the first five or six years of your lives, we, your parents, were your primary examples of Christ-likeness. We loved you out of a deep, admiring love for Jesus which filled us and spilled over into our parenting of you. Our patience when you were upset, hungry, tired, or just behaving rather badly, our willingness to sacrifice in order to give to you, our willingness to have you sneeze into our faces, our joy in seeing you laugh and learn, our willingness to discipline you when you needed correction, all those things were done for you out of the knowledge that Jesus has been patient with us, He has sacrificed for 1
us, and He redirects us. So we followed the loving example of Jesus in the way we parented you. It was a shock for me, when Ailis reached school age, to realize that your teachers would have you for more of your waking hours each day that I or even mom would have you. That s why it was so important for us to put you in a school where the teachers and the administrators of the school would also be an example of Christ s love to you. Think back with me and remember all the teachers who have exercised patience with you. Think about all the ways they have sacrificed of themselves in order to do good for you. Think about their willingness to correct you in a way in which you knew it was done out of love. They chose to teach here at Portland Christian School because they love Jesus and decided to follow His example by loving you and all the other students at PCS. We, as your parents, and the teachers and administrators of PCS did this for your benefit because we love you. But we also did it so that you would become followers of Jesus and do the same for others. After graduation you will enter a new environment college and eventually a job in the work world. In that new environment, what kind of example will you be? There might be fewer examples of Christ-likeness in your new environment. There might even be none. People might be enamored of their own intellectuality. They might love to party. They might be in love with popular culture. They might love wealth or power. And you will have to decide, What kind of example will I be? How do I love them like Jesus? In this way, the learning by example you have received at Portland Christian School isn t ending, it s actually passing into a new phase in which you will apply your learning by making your own decisions, and you will have to decide, what kind of example will I be to others? Be something very special, very powerful, very true be an 2
example of the love of Christ, and in doing so give them proof that you are a true follower of Jesus. We placed you at PCS because we valued the Christ-like example of love of the teachers and administrators. We also placed you here because we valued Christ-centered instruction. All information is processed through the lens of a world view. Over the years at PCS, you have been instructed in lots and lots of information in literature, math, the arts, sciences, history, government. But the information isn t valuable by itself. What is valuable is how you make sense of all that information, and how you apply it successfully in life. Christianity is the only worldview which makes consistent sense of life. And it is the only worldview which produces peace and joy in a world full of trouble. 17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. (Joh 17:17 NAU) I was socialized by the worldview of popular culture. Television, movies, popular music all shaped the way I thought and felt and lived. And though they promised to give me a life of excitement, fulfillment, and wealth all the popular worldview ended up giving me was hurt, shame, discontentment, and confusion. When I finally came to faith in Jesus, He healed me, cleansed me, forgave me, and opened my mind to the truth. There was no way I was going to just let the world hurt and deceive you like it did me. I have taught you to love and listen and follow Jesus so that you know there is nothing separating you from God, so that you carry no burden of hurt or guilt on your conscience, so that you are able to form healthy, loving relationships, so that you know why you exist, why bad things happen, and you have a foundation of unshakable hope. And we chose to place you at PCS all these years because we value Christ-centered instruction. Every class in every subject every year has been digested through God s 3
perspective on the world. And on top of it, you have learned the scriptures! You have memorized so many verses, stored them in your mind and heart, so many more than I have, that you have become like a spring of water, you are a source of God s word and you will encounter people who might not know it but are dying of thirst, and you will have God s word on your tongue to give it to them right when they need it. And you have even studied theology! Incredible! You have stretched your arms across the body of God s word to answer the tough questions in life about the nature of God, the nature of people, the purpose of life, the reason why bad things happen, and the way to live in hope and confidence in the future. You are graduating with the priceless gift of the wisdom of the Creator to help you understand every situation and every argument you will encounter in adulthood, and to make choices which lead to peace and joy in a world full of hurt and disappointment, to make choices which are true and wise in a world which is deceived and foolish. So, as you make your way into university and the work world, exercise your Christcentered worldview to succeed in life, and be ready and willing to tell people the truth when life brings them to that moment when they are ready to humbly face the truth, when they have the opportunity to trust Jesus to change everything for the better. Lastly, we placed you at PCS because we value God s family in Christ. 20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. (Joh 17:20-21 NAU) Portland Christian School is comprised of beautifully diverse group of people who are drawn together by Jesus. Students, teachers, administrators, and every student s 4
extended family - we are all members of one really big family, one family which reaches across the globe and across all time - God s family bound together by faith in Jesus. I ve heard many of you students call me Mr. Collins, but when you think of my relationship to you from God s perspective, I am really more like uncle Keane, because we are all equal members in the family of God in Jesus! To me and Milena, this has been an unexpected and wonderful surprise to get to know and love so many members of the family of God at PCS. We have grown to love other families like they are our families! This is a very special group so big, so supportive, and all bound together as children of God. When you enter university, and certainly when you enter the work world, you might find as I have found that Christians tend to live like lone deer hiding in the woods. We don t naturally pull together like a family. Don t be a lone Christian hiding in the woods of popular culture! I am repeatedly surprised when I find out someone who I have known for a while is a believer in Jesus! How could I have known them for so long and not known that they are my brother or sister in the family of God! It s not good to be a lone Christian in the woods, so I have started a mission to find other Christians around me. For example, when I am at the gym, I try to chat with people and see if there is an opportunity to find out more about them. And when I find out a person is Christian, say, Hey, I like to pray for this gym and our friends who work out here with us. Want to join me in prayer? And then I invite all the other people I know who are Christian to join us in a short prayer. What does that accomplish? It knits us together for a greater purpose than working out. It gives us a sense of greater belonging and support. It reminds us that we are not alone. When you go into your next environment, don t be a lone Christian in the woods. Find out who else is a follower of Jesus. Regard them as brothers and sisters in your family of God. Exercise leadership invite them to pray together. Do this and discover the beautiful diversity and greatness of your family in God. Don t avoid other Christians 5
you can t avoid them forever, because we will all be together in heaven. Get to know and love your brothers and sisters and aunties and uncles in Christ now. Draw together the family of God! These are the values which inspired us to place you at Portland Christian Schools 1. The value of Christ-like examples among the teachers and administrators; 2. The value of Christ-centered instruction to understand and succeed in life; 3. The value of God s family in Christ to which you belong now and forever. Now that you have learned these things, now that you are adults and you will be making your own decisions, forming your own lives, I challenge you: Be an example of Christ-like love to others; Exercise the wisdom of God to understand and succeed in life; Bring together and grow the family of God in Christ among those you meet. Congratulations! Well done! You ve worked hard and succeeded, and now you are all graduating. You didn t just learn the content of your courses, you learned how to apply that content in loving example of Jesus, by the wisdom of God, to extend the family of God. Will you pray with me? 6