Principal's Message
As the 2020 school year comes to a close, we inevitably find ourselves focusing on all things Christmas. After all that has happened this year I hope people will take a moment or two to ponder the person of Jesus Christ and the “reason for the season”.
If 2020 has shown us anything, it is that we need calm and wise people to lead us. But the question is, "where do they find that inner calm and wisdom?" Today I would like to suggest that we consider Jesus and what he has to say about the best way to live an abundant life. Yes Jesus is God and yes, He is the Son, but importantly (and not talked about often enough), Jesus is also one of the greatest philosophers of all time. Great philosophers have always had much to say on wisdom and thinking critically. Equally, Jesus and his Word is relevant and informative in our current cultural moment, teaching and encouraging us to be critical thinkers so that we can not just exist in the world, but to live in a way that enables us to flourish.
Jonathan T. Pennington had this to say on the topic of Jesus as the greatest philosopher:
In the ancient world philosophers were not ivory tower professors disconnected from practical life as we think of them today. Rather, philosophers were disciple-makers, calling people to adopt a certain view of how the world works and how to live in it. This is how the Bible presents Jesus. Understanding this helps us appreciate what he is teaching and what the goal of the Scriptures is – to make us wise unto salvation (2 Timothy 3:15) that we may become complete humans (3:16).
He goes on to affirm that recognising Jesus as the greatest philosopher in no way diminishes His other titles. To the contrary, recognising Jesus as a philosopher complements these other titles, reclaiming a whole of life vision for faith. This is critically important, as Christianity is increasingly being reduced to only having a voice in church or religious circles. Pennington argues that Jesus came not just for the negative reason of rescuing us from the brokenness of the world, but also to show mankind that there is a way to live that facilitates a life of abundance (John 10:10). In other words, Jesus came one into the world one Christmas long ago so that He may save us, “so that we might experience the fullness of life in God’s kingdom both now and more fully yet to come"(Pennington JT).
So this Christmas, as we take time to stop and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, I encourage you to take up the challenge of rediscovering the idea of Jesus as a philosopher; to continue to reclaim the Bible and ideas within it as words to live all of life; to not fall prey to the temptation to relegate Scripture only to the spiritual and personal realm.
Have a very merry Christmas, and I look forward to seeing you in the new year.
Andrew Manning
Principal
Pray for Bayside
Pray in thanks for God's faithfulness and provision to us as a community during this difficult and, at times, uncertain year.
Pray for the safety of College families as they enjoy time together during the holidays.
Continue to pray for decisions and plans that need to be finalised in preparation for the 2021 school year to be quickly put in place.
Please pray that enquiring families would come to visit Bayside now that
Thank you...
...for praying for us - Bayside staff, students and families - during 2020. We value your partnership and look forward to seeing you in 2021. We would especially like to thank the group of regular parent pray-ers for your support and encouragement during the year.