There is an incredible story of Jesus feeding 5000 people who had followed him to hear him teach. He does so by sharing a boy's lunch with everyone! It is miraculous – that is, it points to the divine nature of Jesus. Jesus, who fulfills our every need and is the universe's creator. It is one of seven miracles that the gospel of John depicts to highlight that Jesus is someone to take notice of.
Later in the story, Jesus describes himself as the Bread of Heaven. It's a figurative image of the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert after escaping Egypt. But it goes further – it describes the nature of God, who knows what we need and meets us there. In the case of the miraculous feeding of the crowd, it was a physical need, but Jesus says that this physical bread would only satisfy for a short time … until dinner. The reality is that we have a greater need than this, and it can't be satisfied by bread alone. In being the Bread of Heaven, Jesus says he is, in fact, God's gift to us and has come to fulfill our spiritual needs. This is offered in kindness and gentleness. It comes not with judgment but rather as a gift that frees us from judgment and will satisfy us forever. The story fills me with amazement, and I am left thankful for all that Jesus has done for me.
Friday, 28th October is World Teachers' Day
I am thankful for the opening of this term; we have already had three weeks of excellent learning. Our HSC exams began well and are continuing. We have had a wonderful Year 2 camp, a Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh camp, several excursions off-site, a First-aid course and Music-a-Viva performance. All these things are great additions to our school life, but I also want to celebrate that our very excellent teachers have been working tirelessly alongside our wonderful students for the benefit of their learning. As we celebrate World Teachers' Day, I want to say 'thank you' to our outstanding teachers. Well done!
Great work is being done here, in the day-to-day, in the Maths, English and Science classes, in Art and Music, Drama and PDHPE, in our Technology classes, in our Chapel and assemblies and in our Pastoral Care classes; Being at Heritage Christian School is a great place to be! Please encourage your child to thank their teacher(s) regularly; it helps the teacher to continue in their work – they do thrive on the encouragement – and it helps promote a posture of thankfulness in your child; a thankfulness for school and for learning and for all the things that they have been gifted. Thankfulness is one of the key attributes of those who count themselves as happy. I pray that our children will understand that being thankful to God is where they will find true joy.
I'm praying in thanks to God for our families, our students, our staff, and our school… and for a rich week of learning!
Matt Cohen
Principal
