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Christmas Devotions Eight - The Birth of John Foretold

Read Luke 1:5-25 JUST THE FACTS 1. Who was Zechariah? What was his wife's name? (v.5) 2. Who visited Zechariah in the temple? What was the message? (vv. 11-17) 3. What happened to Zechariah? Why? (v.20) LET'S TALK 1. Was Zechariah's inability to speak a punishment or a blessing? Explain. 2. In what way would John "go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah" (v.17)? Why did the angel compare John to the Old Testament prophet? WHY THIS MATTERS God kept the promise he had ma...

Christmas Devotions Seven - The Messiah Will Come From Bethlehem

Read Micah 5:1-5 JUST THE FACTS: 1. What town was the prophet talking about? ( v. 2) 2. What did the prophet say about this small town? ( v. 2) 3. What would this ruler be like? ( vv. 4 - 5) LET'S TALK: 1. What do you think it means that the ruler over Israel would be one "whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (v. 2) 2. How has Jesus' greatness reached to the ends of the earth? Discuss. WHY THIS MATTERS: Christ existed long before history began. He was present at the cre...

Christmas Devotions Six - God will Come to Save

Read Isaiah 35:1-10 JUST THE FACTS: 1. How would the desert and wilderness rejoice? ( vv 1-2) 2. What would happen to blind people? Deaf people? Lame people? 3. What would be the name of the highway? ( v 8) LET'S TALK: 1. A 'contrast' shows the difference between two things, such as the contrast between desert land and land that has plenty of rainfall. How many contrasts can you find in this passage? 2. Who will walk on the Way of Holiness? How do you picture this? What will it be...

Christmas Devotions Five - The Branch from Jesse

Read Isaiah 11:1-10 JUST THE FACTS: 1. What gifts would the Spirit give this "shoot" (v. 1) When the Spirit rested on him? ( v. 2) 2. What would the "shoot"wear his belt? As his sash? (vv. 6-9) 3. What animals are mentioned in this reading? How will these animals someday behave? (vv. 6-9) LET'S TALK: 1. Why do you think Isaiah talked about the Messiah's coming by using words about growing things, like the "Branch" and the "shoot" (v. 1)? What sometimes happens when you cut off a pla...

Christmas Devotion Four - God's People Ask for Salvation

Read Psalm 80:1-19 JUST THE FACTS: 1. Where does God sit? (v. 1) 2. What did this writer ask for? (vv. 2-3) 3. What happened to the vine? (vv. 8-11, 16) LET'S TALK: 1. Why do you think the writer used the word picture sof a vine? Why not just say "Israel"? 2. What did the people promise to do if God sent them a ruler? (v 18) What did they mean by saying they would call on God's name and not turn away? WHY THIS MATTERS: God's people continued to plead with God to show mercy and save the...

Christmas Devotion Three - A Child is Born

Read Isaiah 9:1-7 Just the facts What event was coming? (v.6) What are some of the names this special child would have? (v.6) How long would this king reign? (v.7) Let's talk What is it like when everything is dark? What about when someone turns on the light? How does this news bring people out of 'darkness' and into 'light'. (v.2) This child would have several names. What does each of them mean to you? Discuss each one. Why this matters Though God's people were facing a frightening...

Christmas Devotions Two - The Sign of Immanuel

Read Isaiah 7:10-8:10 Just the Facts What did God want Ahaz to do? (7:11) What was the sign God promised to send? (7:14) What was the boy going to eat? (7:15) Lets talk This prophecy was meant for Ahaz's time, but it was also a foreshadowing of Jesus' coming. Why do you think the prophet gave two meanings to these verses? "Immanuel" (7:14) means "God with us". When do we use the name "Immanuel" today? Can you think of a song about Immanuel? Why this matters The sign God gave to Ahaz ...

Christmas Devotion One - Davids Forever Kingdom

Read 2 Samuel 7:1-17 Just the Facts: Who gave God's message to King David? (v. 4) What did God promise his people? (vv. 10-11) What did God promise David and his descendants? Lets Talk: What do you think it meant in David's time to "establish a house"? In what way are families important in our culture today? How is your family important to you? Who were your ancestors? How many generations can you identify? What is it like to imagine having children and grandchildren who will come...

Christmas Devotions Introduction

Over the remainder of Term 4 we will post some devotions you can do together as a family. There are three per week (20 in total) based on the book The Family Reading Bible: The Christmas Story. These will give the big picture of God's grace in sending Jesus, our Saviour to live on earth and walk among us. Families are important to God and yours matters to Him very much. He wants your family to be a safe, loving haven where you can raise your children to love and obey Him and believe in His Son,...

2016 Term 2 - Amy Carmichael (1867 - 1951)

"Please help me! Please don't send me back!" screamed 7-year-old Preena as she jumped into Amy Carmichael's lap, clinging to her neck. The little girl had just escaped from a Hindu temple in the middle of the night while her guardians were sleeping. Preena's mother had given her to the temple priests in hope of winning the favour of the gods. Amy knew this frightened girl needed her love and protection. Amy Carmichael had come to India to reach those who did not know Jesus. She was sure God...

2016 Term 1 - George Muller (1805 - 1898)

George Muller was born in Germany in 1805 to wealthy parents. His father was a tax collector. It seems George was a troubled child; a constant liar, gambler and a thief. By the age of ten he was stealing government money from his father! His life changed when he attended university. His friend, Beta, took him to a Bible study group where he learned about God and became a Christian. At age 29 he started to achieve some big things. In 1834 he founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institute which ...

2016 Term 1 - Stations of the Cross - Passion Week

There is so much that has been happening at school with camp, sports events and yesterday's trip to the Waikato Art Museum. All of these exciting events are a very important part of our curriculum and we appreciate all the support you have given us in these. This week we are building up to Easter and this is our focus. At school our student leadership team and staff have put together a 'Stations of the Cross' which we would be thrilled to have you visit. This shows some of the important themes o...

2016 Term 1 - William Tyndale (1494 - 1536)

In the last edition of the newsletter I shared with you details about our house teams and how we have related them to biblical aspects. In these next editions I want to share with you the significance of the people our house teams are named after. We have four house teams, each named after a person who has been a significant role model for us in achieving great things for God. We have related biblical symbols and colours to each team and related them to the twelve tribes of Israel and the four c...

2016 Term 1 - The Significance of House Teams

We have had an excellent start to the 2016 school year. All our classes are up to speed and by now you will be aware of the planned activities in different classes your children are in. Thank you to all those who came to O' Night a few weeks ago. This explained how things work in your child's class and what to expect this year. Make sure you remember the invitation to come in and see your child's teacher at any time through the year. Please don't wait for any school interviews as school is a par...

2016 Term 1 - Welcome and Introduction

Welcome to the 2016 school year. We all hope you have had a superb Christmas break, enjoyed celebrating Christmas and had a great time with your family. 2016 promises to be a big year and I look forward to telling you about different things as the year progresses. Our Kid on the Rock unit, school camp, 'Own Your Own Devices' in the Senior room, modern learning environments and other key events will all be big news over the next few weeks. Every term is always a big one here at Matamata Christi...

Term 4 2015 - A Christmas story. Life - It's yours to choose

With Christmas just a few weeks away we have been doing a lot to build up to the Christmas message. To celebrate the last newsletter of the year I want to retell a story and Christmas message I read from the Reverend Simon Allaby of the 6:19 Trust in the UK. When Simon was a child he and his family would spend Christmas each year with an aunt and uncle. They had an unused fireplace which his aunt would decorate with a bed of newspaper in the grate and then carefully place gold and silver pain...

Term 4 2015 - Ernest Shackleton

For Terms 3 and 4 our core values are perseverance and diligence. This is the last message I'll share on this topic this year. We have talked about many great people and this week my last one is on the great explorer Ernest Shackleton. This (abridged!) story has been written by Biblical Foundations Coordinator Dan Fennell who is based in Indonesia: Have you ever been extremely cold? Imagine being trapped in Antarctic ice for 634 days. For 21 months, from morning to night you are frozen! That w...

Term 4 2015 - Steve Jobs

For Terms 3 and 4 our core values are perseverance and diligence. As a staff we are trying to develop this in our students as it is one of the most effective values we can develop in ourselves and not always something New Zealanders are good at. In the last edition of the newsletter I told you about the inspiring story of Thomas Edison, one of the most famous inventors in history. While today's story is not about a Christian who persevered, it is an example of a top businessman who has stuck i...

Term 4 2015 - Thomas Edison

For Terms 3 and 4 our core values are perseverance and diligence. As a staff we are trying to develop this in our students as it is one of the most effective values we can develop in ourselves and not always something New Zealanders are good at. In the last edition of the newsletter I told you about the stirring post-war story of Sir Winston Churchill, one of the most famous men in history, and the advice he gave at a university speech. Today we turn to one of the world's most famous inventors...

Term 3 2015 - Sir Winston Churchill

For Terms 3 and 4 our core values are perseverance and diligence. As a staff we are trying to develop this in our students as it is one of the most effective values we can develop in ourselves and not always something New Zealanders are good at. In the last edition of the newsletter I told you about how our Asian cultures tend to value perseverance and achievement comes as a result. Today I want to tell you about a post-war story of Sir WinstonChurchill, one of the most famous men in history, ...

Term 3 2015 - President Abraham Lincoln

For the next two terms perseverance and diligence are our combined core values we are focussing on. As a staff we will be trying to develop these in our students as it is one of the most effective values we can develop and not alwayssomething New Zealanders are good at. We would love for you to support us with this at home. You can do this byshowing your children how you do this (it may end up being a great challenge). Children learn a lot from their parents and your example is crucial to them...

Term 3 2015 - The Man Named George

This term our core value is on perseverance. As a staff we will be trying to develop this in our students as it is one of the most effective values we can develop in ourselves and not always something New Zealanders are good at. Last week I told you how Abraham Lincoln persevered. This week let me tell you a story I like to tell about a man named George: George came from a slave family working on the plantations in America. At 13 years of age he decided he wanted to go to Princeton to train...

Term 3 2015 - The Story of Somebody

Last term we focussed our core teaching value on truthfulness and in the end of term assembly I told the story about 'Somebody'. This was a story I made up based upon four characters; Somebody, Anybody, Everybody and Nobody. I took these characters from a story I once read based upon Nobody bothering to get a job done. My story includes a fifth character, Busybody, and is based on Somebody having trouble telling the truth. If you missed the assembly here's the story below. The Story of Some...

Term 3 2015 - William Wilberforce

This term our core value is perseverance and diligence. As a staff we are trying to develop this in our students as it is one of the most effective values we can develop in ourselves and not always something New Zealanders are good at. In the last edition of the newsletter I told you the incredible story of George and what perseverance did for him. This week let me tell you about the incredible life of William Wilberforce and what he went through to abolish slavery in the British Empire: Wi...

Term 3 2015 - Joseph Dresnan

This term our core values are perseverance and diligence. As a staff we are trying to develop this in our students as it is one of the most effective values we can develop in ourselves and not always something New Zealanders are good at. In the last edition of the newsletter I told you the incredible story of William Wilberforce and what perseverance did for him. This week I want to share about a story I heard while attending a principal's meeting some years ago led by a man, Joseph Dresnan, w...