From the Principal’s Desk
Dear Parents,
I had a mom tell me recently in our new-family orientation that she checked out several schools in making the decision to send her child to Bethel. One of the things that stood out to her was a comment we had made at Back-to-School Night way back in September. We had said that over the summer we had lost some students and gained some students; that we were sad at losing the students, but sometimes decisions must be made to maintain the Christian integrity and mission of the school, and if these decisions are not made, the school will change.
She told me that it was so refreshing to hear because at a different Christian school (she didn’t say which one), the person leading the meeting said that their school teaches the Bible, but if parents don’t want their students to read the Bible, the students can opt out. Wow! Opt out of reading the Bible! A lot of thoughts ran through my mind, including the lack of Christianness in that school and their shame in boldly proclaiming God’s Word.
I tell parents all the time: we don’t have a secret agenda at Bethel Christian Academy, but we definitely have an agenda. And that agenda is to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, we are trying to make followers of Jesus Christ. The reason this is our mission is because of what Jesus told us to do just before He ascended into heaven. He said in Matthew 28:19: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations….” The word teach is the Greek word mathēteuō, which means “to make disciples.” Jesus wants us to make followers of Him.
Making disciples cannot happen apart from salvation, which is why we spend so much time talking about the gospel with our students and families. We talk about the gospel in the classroom, at recess, in chapel, at school programs. I always preach the gospel to new parents in our new-family orientation.
Believers should be talking about the gospel regularly. When we talk to people and when we think of people, we should be thinking about whether or not they are saved. And then we should look for opportunities to talk about the Lord and give them the gospel. A person can have boldness to preach the gospel if he himself is saved and then secondly if he is filled with/controlled by the Holy Spirit.
The gospel message, the truth that one can be saved from his sin, that Jesus Christ is his Lord, and that he knows for sure that he has eternal life, runs counter to the culture; and it always has. Yet despite this conflict, the Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” The reason Paul was not ashamed of the gospel is because he knew what it would do in a person’s life: he knew how it would supernaturally change him from living a life of sin to living a life of righteousness, how it would bring eternal life, and how God would be glorified by it. It is such a powerful, life-changing and life-giving message that Paul said he was not embarrassed by it. And neither should we.
I am glad that, by the grace of God, we teach the Bible at Bethel, unapologetically. I am thankful for God’s strength, and I am thankful for His church, the pillar and ground of the truth. By God’s grace, we will continue to teach the Bible and continue to preach the gospel.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton
Dear Parents,
I had a mom tell me recently in our new-family orientation that she checked out several schools in making the decision to send her child to Bethel. One of the things that stood out to her was a comment we had made at Back-to-School Night way back in September. We had said that over the summer we had lost some students and gained some students; that we were sad at losing the students, but sometimes decisions must be made to maintain the Christian integrity and mission of the school, and if these decisions are not made, the school will change.
She told me that it was so refreshing to hear because at a different Christian school (she didn’t say which one), the person leading the meeting said that their school teaches the Bible, but if parents don’t want their students to read the Bible, the students can opt out. Wow! Opt out of reading the Bible! A lot of thoughts ran through my mind, including the lack of Christianness in that school and their shame in boldly proclaiming God’s Word.
I tell parents all the time: we don’t have a secret agenda at Bethel Christian Academy, but we definitely have an agenda. And that agenda is to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, we are trying to make followers of Jesus Christ. The reason this is our mission is because of what Jesus told us to do just before He ascended into heaven. He said in Matthew 28:19: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations….” The word teach is the Greek word mathēteuō, which means “to make disciples.” Jesus wants us to make followers of Him.
Making disciples cannot happen apart from salvation, which is why we spend so much time talking about the gospel with our students and families. We talk about the gospel in the classroom, at recess, in chapel, at school programs. I always preach the gospel to new parents in our new-family orientation.
Believers should be talking about the gospel regularly. When we talk to people and when we think of people, we should be thinking about whether or not they are saved. And then we should look for opportunities to talk about the Lord and give them the gospel. A person can have boldness to preach the gospel if he himself is saved and then secondly if he is filled with/controlled by the Holy Spirit.
The gospel message, the truth that one can be saved from his sin, that Jesus Christ is his Lord, and that he knows for sure that he has eternal life, runs counter to the culture; and it always has. Yet despite this conflict, the Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” The reason Paul was not ashamed of the gospel is because he knew what it would do in a person’s life: he knew how it would supernaturally change him from living a life of sin to living a life of righteousness, how it would bring eternal life, and how God would be glorified by it. It is such a powerful, life-changing and life-giving message that Paul said he was not embarrassed by it. And neither should we.
I am glad that, by the grace of God, we teach the Bible at Bethel, unapologetically. I am thankful for God’s strength, and I am thankful for His church, the pillar and ground of the truth. By God’s grace, we will continue to teach the Bible and continue to preach the gospel.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton