CRU Update

At CRU this week, we continued studying the book of Exodus as we have throughout the Term. We focused on the story of the Passover — a tradition representing God’s love and power towards his people that many Christians continue to celebrate today. We began with a fun miming game led by Will Lo Russo, with students splitting into groups and finding creative ways to imitate the steps of the Passover. Sam Holt then gave this week’s Bible Reading from Chapter 12 of Exodus.

Mr Gallant (or Josh as most older students would call him) presented this week’s talk. We were treated to no less than 35 slides in about six minutes, including a beautiful visual depiction of our separation from God through sin, showcasing Mr Gallant’s immense artistic talent. Josh began with an intriguing example of the masterminds behind Alcatraz — a trio who miraculously escaped from one of the most notoriously inescapable prisons in the world. The situation for the Israelites would be looking equally as bleak — they were under the harsh regime of Pharaoh who had withstood nine plagues yet would not yield and free the Israelites out of slavery.

However, this chapter of the story of Exodus tells us God had an ‘escape plan’. Through the ceremony of the Passover, God tells each family to take a lamb and paint its blood on their household and they will be saved. On that night, God would begin His final plague upon Egypt. In verse 12 He says, “I will pass through Egypt and strike down every first-born of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the Gods of Egypt”, but those who had blood painted over their household would be saved. This highlights God’s dedication and immense power to His people which eventually proves successful, for in verse 31 Pharaoh yields and tells Moses “Leave my people, you and the Israelites!”

Yet the Israelites’ escape from Egypt does not even come close to the greatest escape story of all — that of Jesus helping us ‘escape’ from death. The lamb in the previous passage is symbolic of Jesus’s sacrifice — a perfect man dying for his people. Through God’s fulfilment of His promises to His people, God points towards a far bigger promise. If you trust in Jesus, you will have eternal life. Note how big of a promise this is — that God has complete power over our lives and He can save us from death. If you don’t call yourself Christian now, knowing that Christ died so that we can have eternal life, it ought to be something worth investigating, especially given that God fulfills all His promises as we can see from the previous passage.

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 while enjoying a soft drink and sausage.

Jayden Pan
Year 11