HOPE CONNECT
a new and convenient way to connect the HOPE community
December 19, 2019
Important Dates
DECEMBER 2019
19th ~ Last day of Semester 1 - finishes at 12pm
JANUARY 2020
8th ~ 2nd Semester start
13th - 17th ~ Lower Primary Camp Week
16th ~ Year 10 Camp Meeting at 2.45 pm @HOPE
NOTE: parents and students are invited to the meeting
17th ~ Mocks start
17th ~ ISSAPP Track & Field Sec. @ISPP
30th ~ Mocks end
31st ~ Sports Day
FEBRUARY 2020
10th - 14th ~ CAMP WEEK
17th - 19th ~ No School
27th ~ Parent Teacher Interviews
A message from our Director
I was watching an advertisement for an American hamburger chain (Chick-fil-A) this week and it had a powerful message about time. It talked about lost time and time that flies but its main point was that Christmas should be about together time. As we take a break for Christmas may we have the opportunity to make the time to be together. The Christmas story though, is about God entering into time and becoming one of us. The creator of the universe who existed outside of time chose to be constrained by time and yet when we read the gospels Jesus always had time to touch someone, to heal someone, to encourage someone and even to challenge someone.
In Ecclesiastes 3 Solomon words have stood the test of time and are a good reminder for us all:
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
In verse 11 Solomon refers to a concept that is outside of time - eternity, when he states that God has set eternity in the human heart. As a Christian I am part of a much bigger story that includes both time and eternity.
This Christmas may you take the time to reflect on the significance of Jesus entering time as part of God’s plan to provide a way for us to live with Him in eternity.
David Ware
Notices
Library closing early
Due to school finishing at lunchtime on Thursday, the library will be closed for the semester at 1pm. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Christmas Celebration
December 16, 2019
1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part,
but then I will know fully,
as I am fully known.
The Christmas of His Return
The Christmas break will be from December 20 to January 7. School will resume on Wednesday, January 8th.