We began with a good old-fashioned Christmas Carol sing. Then students were invited to share their favorite family Christmas traditions. Many of these traditions involved food! We closed chapel with Mr. Lundeen reading The Story of the Christmas Guest as retold by Helen Steiner Rice, A beautiful story involving Christmas and serving Jesus by serving those in need.
Tuesday: Advent is a time of reflection. A simple worship team led us in focusing on Jesus during this advent season.
Thursday: The choirs of Timothy led us in chapel. We also had a string ensemble prelude and a harp postlude. Mr. Wiener shared a short devotion on God working in extraordinary ways through ordinary people and then gave an invitation to silent prayer.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL
A chapel of advent prayer. The students rose to the occasion by being reverent and prayerful. It was a holy time. In addition to singing, there were prayer stations: write down & pray for prayer requests and draw/journal. Also many students simply sat and prayed throughout the auditorium.
Tuesday: A small group chapel with a twist: all students were divided up according to alphabetical order by first name. Trivia: most popular girl name? Emily & Hannah. For the guys? Joshua & Michael. The groups discussed Christmas traditions and ideas to keep Christ the center of Christmas.
Thursday: The visit by the Lindloff family has become a high school tradition during advent. Mr. Lindloff was joined by his wife and three children (plus a little friend). He told the story by Jesus of how servants should act when the master is away. We should be wise and faithful and not live for ourselves. The servants did not know when the master would return, and we don't know when Jesus will return.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL
Phil Zielke returned to Timothy to speak to the middle school this time. The theme of Phil's talk was perseverance. God led him through a long trial with cancer into a new direction. He founded Phil's Friends, a ministry that supports cancer patients in Christ's name. For more information (and opportunities to serve!) click this link: www.philsfriends.org.
NEXT WEEK
High School. Tuesday: Advent singing, Thursday: choir & orchestra
Tuesday: The chapels, one after the other, showed the beauty of Christian school community. Students were given the opportunity to come to an open mic and share what they are thankful for. Words cannot describe how uplifting the chapels were.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
NEXT WEEK
High school Tuesday: small groups; Thursday: Lindloff family
Tuesday: You can watch the entire chapel online! This is a first.
Mr. Wiener spoke on iPads & our Christian faith. Chapel began with a skit about some boys so focused on an iPad game (Clash of Clans) that they ignored girls, bumped into Mr. Glover & didn't listen to the test review. Mr. Wiener then chanted about technology by candle light. The talk was about praying for God's wisdom when it comes to using technology, being honest with your self, what is success?, and how is God calling you to unplug.
Thursday: Small groups today focused on the famous passage of Proverbs 3:5-6. In what area of your life do you need to trust in God more? What does a straight path mean for your life?
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL
Mr. Lundeen spoke on fairness. There are three types of unfairness: silly, social and serious. He explained all three. Then he directed us to Romans 7. God sent Jesus into the world to solve the problem of "unfairness" caused by sin.
Thursday: We had our first hymn chapel of the year. To introduce each hymn, students shared the history of the hymns. We saying Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Great is Thy Faithfulness, Jesus Paid It All, I Surrender, and It is Well with My Soul. Timothy junior, Alex Z., accompanied us on the piano.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL
Kelly is the youth director at Faith CRC. Her talk was based on Jude verse one, "to those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ." Our core identity must be based in what God thinks about us and not what we think or what other people think. In Jesus Christ we are called, we are loved, we are kept for all eternity.
NEXT WEEK
High School. Tuesday: iPads & Faith; Thursday: Small Groups
Thursday: Josh Pardee, youth pastor at The Chapel in Hinsdale, spoke. He based his comments on the Parable of the Talents from Matthew, chapter 25. We need to live our lives with a greater sense of urgency to do God's work. And we should not spend time comparing ourselves to others, but be thankful for who we are and how God made us. Then we can focus on using our lives to do God's work.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL
We sang This is Amazing Grace, Mighty to Save and With Everything. Our chapel became a time of service. Student spread out throughout the auditorium with colored pencils, and they created cards for cancer patients. The cards will be distributed through the organization Phil's Friends. And Phil will come speak to us in chapel on November 3.
HIGH SCHOOL CHAPEL Tuesday: The student chapel band led us. We sang Sing, Sing, Sing, Lead Me to the Cross, Desert Song, Build Your Kingdom and Oceans.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL Chapel on the Persecuted Church. In addition to some videos, students read Scripture and prayed. We focused on the countries of Egypt, Syria and Iran. See the video below.
NEXT WEEK High School. Tuesday: Band Assembly. Thursday: Josh Pardee Middle School: Special Service Chapel Location: Timothy Christian Schools
Tuesday: Tina Jenkins Crawley, mother of 11th grader Andrew, blessed us in song. But this chapel was not a concert, it was a time of worship. Mrs. Crawley connected with the students and led them in a time of energetic and passionate worship. She brought with her a whole band as well. Enjoy the video & photos. For more, you can find her on Facebook, iTunes and the web: http://tinajenkinscrawley.theblacksmithproject.com.
NEXT WEEK
High School. Tuesday: Chapel band leads us in worship
HIGH SCHOOL CHAPEL Thursday: Mr Pelt spoke! His talk was based on the book of Jonah, the reluctant prophet. He told us a bit of his own journey through school and various jobs that finally led to band director at Timothy. Mr. Pelt encouraged students to follow God's leading, take steps of faith, and trust that God works all things for good.
*Also, there is a photo below from the previous week from our prayer chapel.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL Chapel with a different twist today! All students got into small groups based on their grade and birth month. So we ended up with 24 groups. Then they answered questions. What was the most fun in 6th grade (for the 7th graders) or most fun at the retreat (for the 8th graders). Then the questions became more serious: what is your biggest worry, greatest temptation to sin and how are students hurt the most relationally? We will use the answers to help inform future chapels.
NEXT WEEK High School. Tuesday: Tina Crawley Middle School: Tina Crawley Location: Timothy Christian Schools
HIGH SCHOOL CHAPEL See the video for some of our special guests leading in song in chapel.
Tuesday:Matthew Pechanio and Sarah Schreiner from Church of the Ascension. Sarah led in worship with piano and voice. We sang Oceans and Holy is the Lord. Pastor Pechanio, a former TC Bible teacher, spoke on partnership from Philippians 1. True partners are more than friends. They are with you during the tight times, they help were you need it, and they are always rooting for you.
Thursday:Our first prayer chapel of the year. Students led prayers of worship and for numerous areas of the world and the Timothy community. We spent time in quiet reflection and prayer. Students were invited to write down prayer requests on our Prayer Wall. Alex Z. played the piano. Mrs. Favela, along with Mr. Pelt, led us in singing How Great is Our God.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL Our speaker was Dan Quist, TC’s director of admissions & student recruitment. In order to emphasize the chapel theme of “standing firm”, he began by singing the children’s song, Don’t Build Your House on the Sandy Land. Mr. Quist explained several Bible stories that illustrated standing firm. He also shared from his own life about the importance of standing firm for Jesus. Tim Lundeen led us in a new and soulful version of This Little Light of Mine.
Next Week High School Thursday: Mr. Pelt Middle School: 8th graders only
HIGH SCHOOL CHAPELS Tuesday:Phil Zielke shared about God's sovereign work in his life. He went from a healthy, strong athlete with specific plans about his future to dying of cancer and no plans. As he humbled himself before God, new plans formed. God led him through the long trial with cancer into a new direction. He founded Phil's Friends, a ministry that supports cancer patients in Christ's name. For more information (and opportunities to serve!) click this link: www.philsfriends.org.
Thursday:Small groups. Our first school-wide small group chapel. Like last year, all students are divided into small groups according to grade and gender with two student-leaders & a teacher. After a couple of ice-breaker questions, Proverbs 2:6-10 was read and discussed. We all need more of God's wisdom in our lives!
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL Our new song leader, Tim Lundeen (TC class of '99), led us in singing Blessed Be Your Name, Lay Me Down and Arms Open Wide. Mr. Wiener then directed a skit with students based on Matthew 7:24-27. We need to build our house on the rock of Jesus Christ, not the sand of this world.
NEXT WEEK High School, Tuesday: Matt & Sarah; Thursday: Prayer Middle School, Wednesday: Dan Quist
Tuesday: The high school chapel band led us in worship. Enjoy the video! Thanks to Nate, Kendra, Emily, Tabitha, Jack, Alec, Cassidy, Andrew and Jared. Thursday: The 1st graders joined us, all three classes. We sang, they led us in the Lord's prayer, and Mr. Wiener shared a story using the Octoberfest set. The theme of the story was that God wants to use us to be good friends to others. And you can be a good friend by spending time with someone.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL The high school chapel band led us in worship. See the video above! NEXT WEEK High School. Tuesday: Phil & Friends; Thursday: Small Groups Middle School: Chapel Theme (1 Corinthians 15:58) Location: Timothy Christian Schools
HIGH SCHOOL CHAPEL Tuesday & Thursday:We had two days of inspiring testimonies from students about mission trips. Students served, received from others and were changed, all for the glory of God. We heard from students representing many churches: Faith CRC, Lombard CRC, Elmhurst CRC, Bethel OPC, Immanuel Lutheran, and CCOB. Hannah D. also shared about a trip to Honduras. The chapel opened with a Spanish/English greeting & prayer by Ana D. and Ellie V.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL: We finished our chapel about summer teacher photos and how God worked in their lives. We heard from Mr. VanderBill, Mrs. Adams, Ms. Strauss, Ms. VandenBerg and Mr. Grit. At the end of chapel there was a fun slideshow featuring middle school students' summer photos.
NEXT WEEK: High School Tuesday: Singing; Thursday: with the 1st graders Middle school: Singing
Tuesday: Mr. Wiener led a chapel on the summer reading book by James Grisham, The Testament. Various quotes were highlighted, and we were challenged to think more deeply as a Christian. Mr. Lindloff read an extended passage that highlighted some major discipleship themes of the book. In the book there is a strong call to follow Jesus with unwavering devotion. Click link to see the quotes used: The Testament quotes
Thursday: Mr. Hamelinck and Mr. Piersma interviewed the seniors on homecoming court. Besides a hoola-hoop contest for the girls and a one-handed push-up contest for the boys, the students talked about what they like about Timothy and what God is currently teaching them.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL Teachers shared photos from this summer and talked about how God worked in their lives. This week we heard from Dr. Hoeksema, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Ridder, Mrs. Sytsma and Mrs. Schwarz.
NEXT WEEK
High School. Tuesday & Thursday: students share about summer mission/serve trips
Middle School: more teacher photos and student sharing
Tuesday: Mr. Boven's yearly message is always thought-provoking and his unique style keeps attention. He simply explained what a Reformed Christian perspective on life is. After a brief shout-out to Reformed theology, he focused on what it means to be a steward. We should live our lives knowing that ultimately God gives us everything we have. We are God's; everything we have is God's. So how can we faithful honor God with the use of our time, talents and treasures?
Thursday: Ten teachers shared a photo from the summer. We guessed which teacher went with each photo. Then the teachers shared how they were encouraged spiritually this summer.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL
The 8th graders met with high school student mentors. The 7th graders wrote down prayer requests and in small groups reflected on how to "stand firm" in the faith. We ended chapel together by singing with Mrs. LeGrand. We sang "Ah, La, La, La", "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" and "Blessed Be Your Name".
NEXT WEEK
High School. Tuesday: on the summer reading book, The Testament; Thursday: Senior Homecoming interviews