WORKS OF ART

Smiles, laughs, and hugs far outweighed cautious hesitancy last Tuesday morning as a new school year began at ACS Elementary. At least that’s what I saw when I greeted students and families in the parking lot. I hope the energy and enthusiasm carried into the hallways, classrooms, and playground as students connected with our staff and one another.

At our middle and secondary campuses, the mood was more subdued, but I still captured some genuine joy while visiting one of our grade 5 classrooms. I even heard cheers from our secondary students as they participated in the first chapel of the year. Whether students were energized or more sedated, I hope each one heard a consistent message: they are seen, known, and cared for at ACS, and we are excited to begin the school year with them as part of our community. 

We Are God’s Handiwork

Each year, ACS chooses a theme verse that we unpack in classrooms, chapels, and events. This year, our theme comes from Ephesians 2:10: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The apostle Paul wrote these words to the Ephesians to conclude a beautiful unpacking of the Gospel in the previous nine verses, reminding them that they have been saved by grace, not by works, and that their salvation is an unearned gift from a God who loves them.  Similar to Paul’s desire for the Ephesians to understand God’s heart for them, we want our students to understand some important truths from our theme verse.  

First, that each one of them is God’s handiwork; the word handiwork is a translation of the Greek word poiema, from which we get the word poem. Each one of us is a piece of poetry, written by the Creator of the universe. We are works of art, and like art, no two pieces are the same, nor do they tell the same story. This is true for us. God is an artist crafting our lives. We may not always like what we see; we may not always understand it, but this verse should give us confidence that we are carefully crafted art that will, in the end, reflect the desires of the Creator. 

On Purpose, For A Purpose

Second, as God’s work of art, he has created us on purpose, for a purpose, and this purpose is to do the good things that he has prepared for us to do. We want our students to understand that God wants them to live active lives in response to his goodness. Sometimes the good works God has prepared for us can be as simple as being kind to classmates or showing hospitality to a new student. Other times, these good works might push our students to serve others in the Abbotsford community, in Nicaragua, or wherever else God calls them.

Notice that our theme verse doesn’t say that these good works would be easy; however, these two truths, when taken together, tell us that because we are God’s handiwork, he has prepared these things for us to do. We can do them only because he made us purposefully to do them! 

There is so much more to unpack in our theme this year, and I hope you take some time to connect with your kids to hear how this is happening on our campuses. Be sure to listen to our two theme songs: Made for This by LifeTree Kids and Yet Not I, But Through Christ In Me by CityAlight. Our students are already singing them in chapel.

For now, let’s remember that each one of us is a beautifully constructed work of art, intentionally crafted by the Creator of the universe.  As his work of art, he has created us to do good things, which we are fully equipped to do. 

I am excited to start another year together at ACS and look forward to hearing many stories about the good things we get to do in response to God’s goodness to us.