God’s Great Big Community

On the last weekend of the school holidays, my kids participated in the Minecraft Mob Vote. Apparently over 3.5 million people voted – and the Sniffer won, receiving over half the votes!

Now, I don’t know a lot about Minecraft – which for some of you reading this may be a good thing, for others of you it may be a bad thing!

What I do know is that Minecraft has done very well at creating a community – or, perhaps, those that love Minecraft have done very well at creating their own community.

Any organization, product, or service does better with a community – because we all do better when we feel accepted, valued, and loved. And Minecraft (as well as countless other games and products) has been able to tap into this reality very well.

At Good Shepherd, we also are a community. It is part of the essence as to who the school is. In fact, one of the school’s values – Love – is a fundamental requirement to create community, and this love within the school has infused the community from the board to the school’s leadership, to the staff, the students, and the parents as well.

While this sense of community, and the love that is within it, has been an intentional component of the school since its very start, this love and community feel exists because Good Shepherd is part of God’s “Great Big Community”, that has existed for 2000 years. It exists face to face and online, it includes all cultures and races, the young and the old, and is a place of fun, of learning, and of great connection.

And this community exists because of the love of Jesus.

You will have noticed at Good Shepherd that Jesus is at the center of everything the school does. This comes from a place of gratitude and a place of clarity within the school about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.

If you are looking for a greater experience of the love that exists within the Good Shepherd Community, I would like to encourage you to speak to Georgie Schuster, or another staff member at Good Shepherd, about some of the communities that the school is connected to where you can be supported, loved, and get to know Jesus, who has created this “Great Big Community” that we call the church.

God bless you today,

Pastor Chris.