CRU Update
Last week at Shore, we had our Christian Focus Week, and we were fortunate enough to hear from a number of guest speakers during various lunchtimes. On Thursday and Friday, we continued to look into the Gospel of Mark. We began with a game called “Did Jesus say it?” where we were given a quote and tasked with figuring out whether Jesus or another celebrity (such as Ed Sheeran or Dr Collier) said it. Then, we were lucky to welcome back Old Boy Isaac Lanham to give a brief interview and Bible Reading on Mark 10:35-45.
After that, we heard a talk from Daniel Becker, who began by recounting his experience of seeing King Charles in person at his church. The King was surrounded by the media and treated very specially, as you may expect from a ruler. However, Daniel described Jesus instead as a servant king. Instead of being treated like a ruler, he was treated horrifically, being mocked and spat on and eventually crucified. In Verse 45, Jesus reminds us all that “even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus is the perfect example of a ruler who came to serve – through healing blind men such as Bartimaeus when no one else came to his aid. And we ought to not only trust in Jesus but also follow him in our lives. We often pride ourselves on our glory in sports, academics and other co-curricular activities, but we rarely take a step back and place others’ interests before our own, just like Jesus did. Jesus was the ultimate servant king who was willing to die to serve us.
Moving forward, we will have CRU on Thursday lunchtimes for Years 7 to 8 and Friday lunchtimes for Years 9 to 12. In addition, there is a weekly Bible study run every lunch for each Year group, and an exciting weekend camp held with Abbotsleigh coming up soon. You don’t need to be a Christian to come to CRU – all you need is yourself and an interest in looking further into Christianity with a supportive group of friends, a soft drink and a sausage sandwich.
Science and Christianity (Wednesday lunchtime) – Dr Frank Stootman
Doesn’t science disprove the Bible? Is it even possible for both science and Christianity to exist together? These questions are commonly raised when considering Christianity, and last Wednesday, we were fortunate to have astrophysicist Dr Frank Stootman come into the Christian Studies department at Shore to explain his perspective to us.
Dr Stootman noted that science and Christianity have not historically been at war but, for many, were closely linked together. In fact, many scientists who have made great discoveries are said to have had a faith of their own, studying God’s creation to learn about it.
Additionally, Dr Stootman emphasised the general resonance between science and the Bible, especially in the opening section of Genesis. Examples of this include the way humans were created last by God in the Genesis account, while scientific records also agree, or the idea of the Big Bang generally aligning with the account of God creating the earth.
InterCRU at Ravenswood
The question of identity is central in today’s world. On Friday, a handful of Shore boys headed out to Ravenswood for InterCRU for Term 2 to consider this idea more deeply. InterCRU is an event where schools from across the North Shore come together to enjoy some food, learn from God’s Word, praise Him and pray together for one another’s schools.
Ravenswood and Knox were hosting together, and their band began by leading us in two songs: 10000 Reasons and Man of Sorrows. Following this, we played a fun game of Four Corners Trivia before some Ravenswood students shared about their experience of their CRU group and the way God has been working at their school.
After this we moved into the Bible reading and the talk where the passage was 2 Corinthians 5:11-21. The speaker, Jesse spoke about the way we were made in the image of God, linking this to the idea of how, in the game Super Smash Bros, each character was made with a purpose, and they thrive when embracing this identity, using their skills. Similarly, our purpose is to be in relationship with God and reflect Him. However, we have failed to live in this way, with all of us falling short of God’s glory. Yet, by God’s grace, we are given a new identity in Christ, where “The old is gone and the new is here”. This is all made possible by Jesus, who died in our place, taking our sin away and giving us new lives so we become the righteousness of God, allowing us to live out our purpose in relationship with God, living for His glory.
To finish, each school shared prayer points, and we prayed in small groups for each other’s schools, and we drew to a close with Yet Not I But through Christ in Me.
Jayden Pan
Year 11