CRU Update

At CRU this week, we continued to delve into the book of Exodus, specifically during the aftermath of Pharaoh’s rebellion against Moses and God. After a quick ‘10 Plagues’ game, Jack Holt interviewed Will McCowan on his personal life (“What’s your favourite holiday destination?”) but more importantly, deeper questions about Christianity such as what it means to be Christian. After that, Will gave the Bible Reading on Exodus 7 — a chapter that explained the first of 10 plagues onto the Egyptians after Pharaoh’s disobedience to God, turning the Nile River completely into blood.

Caleb Schmidt began the talk by asking a core question — why does God do the things he does? We usually see him do merciful things such as creating humanity and sending Jesus to free us of our sins, but in Exodus and notably the plagues, we see him using his great power. Caleb taught a couple of key lessons.

The first is that God has complete control over his creation. Often when we think about God, we see him as an abstract being — someone we only consider after death and who doesn’t play a role in everyday events. The story of the 10 plagues completely subverts this. It highlights that God has power over all of nature and humanity. When God turns the Nile into blood, he is showing Pharaoh that he is in control over Pharaoh. In Chapter 9, he even tells Pharaoh “For now I could have stretched out my hand…and wiped you off the Earth”. Thus, God is not only intending to harm the Egyptians, he is also demonstrating to Pharaoh (and to us) his omnipotence over creation.

The second lesson (and reason that God turned the Nile into blood) is that God uses his power not to harm but instead to raise his people. The enslaved Israelites had been subject to awful conditions. God highlights his mercy towards his people by using his power to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites out of Egypt — essentially the only way that Pharaoh would be convinced into freeing the Israelites out of slavery. This great display of power and mercy goes to show the extent of God’s care for his people. Note that God’s people encompasses all of us and all of his creation, not just the Israelites, and his love and mercy over us can be seen everywhere — most notably in sacrificing his only son Jesus to free us from death.

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. This is a great opportunity to learn about the Bible, especially for new Year 7 boys. You do not 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.

Jayden Pan
Year 11