Our last chapel before Christmas was a bit different than our typical chapel time. A couple of teachers, Miss Bagley and Mrs. Westendorf, joined Mrs. Sainburg in a Christmas skit. This skit was all about Christmas but from a unique Old Testament perspective with a little humor added too.

The script shared many different Old Testament passages that pointed to the coming Messiah.

Isaiah 7:14 says, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

We ended with a Christmas hymn that wrapped up the theme, "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus."

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

At our next chapel on January 2, Ascension Academy parent Josh Thornwall will come to speak to us. Chapel is at 10:30 a.m. every Tuesday at the dome (next to the main building). You are invited to join us!

Everyone in middle school memorized a group of verses often referred to as the Romans Road. Here are the verses the each memorized along with an audio clip:

Romans 3:23

Romans 3:10

Romans 6:23

Romans 5:8

Romans 10:9-10

Romans 10:13

Way to go! Click below to listen.

Thank you to everyone who brought in gifts for the Pregnancy Help Center! What a blessing!

Our first Christmas store was a great success and a lot of fun. Thank you to all of the parents who helped. We have a wonderful PTF! We plan to continue this tradition next year. The students also were able to decorate cookies and have hot chocolate when they were finished shopping.

Ascension Academy will be hosting an online book fair from January 2 through January 9. The books available are quality, wholesome books. From their website, "We believe that every child in school deserves access to the highest quality children's books, which both entertain and enrich the mind of the child. All of our book fairs carry carefully selected and wholesome titles, free from explicit material, foul language, sexual content (including LGBTQ), pornography, critical race theory, and dark magic. We have a variety of titles from a wide range of authors and publishers."

Students enjoyed Christmas parties on Thursday. PTF planned this event, too! Students were given their pen pal cards from students at Unity in Hope School System in Pakistan. Our students wrote back to their pen pals. The students also played a few games, had hot cocoa, and listened to a Christmas story.

January 2, Tacos

January 3, Corn Dogs

January 4, Baked Chicken

January 5, Pizza

Please remember to order lunch for the week by 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning. If you need to order after that time or change your order, email us at office@ascensionarrows.org. We cannot provide a regular school lunch to your student if an email is not received should you add or change the lunch order after 8:00 a.m. on any day that a change is made or a lunch order is added.

Jeremiah is the twenty-fourth book of the Bible and the second prophetic book. Remember, prophets were often gifted orators who used a variety of methods to communicate their point. The prophetic genre utilizes historical and covenantal lessons, sarcasm, parables, songs and chants, rhetorical questions, and hyperbole.

Jeremiah was a Levite priest living in the tribe of Benjamin. He prophesied in Jerusalem

beginning in 627 BC during the reign of King Josiah of Judah. His ministry lasted until after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. Jeremiah may have prophesied as late as 570 or even 561 BC.

The book of Jeremiah can be a little confusing, as it is arranged by topic rather than by date. Jeremiah prophesied to Judah through the last of their kings. God makes it very clear that he is giving his people a final chance to repent. God is angry over their idolatry and their social abuse. God calls his people to return to worshiping him alone and to treat each other with love and respect. His chosen people were still performing their religious rituals for the Lord—but their hearts were not serving him alone. As a result, all of the peoples’ religious rituals were empty and meaningless.

--From our Bible Roadtrip Curriculum

Students are memorizing the following verses for the first week:

K-3 Students - Jeremiah 1:5

4-5 Students - Jeremiah 1:5, 17:9-10

6-8 Students - Jeremiah 1:5, 9:23-24, 17:9-10

Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Reading this week included the following:

Jeremiah 1, 9, 18, 24, 29 (K-3)

Jeremiah 1, 6, 9, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24, 26, 29 (4-5)

Jeremiah 1, 5-6, 7, 9, 11, 13-14, 18, 20, 23-24, 26-27, 29 (6-8)

Questions to ponder:

1. When did the Lord call Jeremiah? What task did God call Jeremiah to? How did Jeremiah respond? What was God’s answer? (Jeremiah 1:4-8)

2. What should we boast in? What is truly of value? (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

3. How did God illustrate his sovereignty? (Jeremiah 18:1-17) How did Jeremiah’s heart change? Why? (Jeremiah 18:18-23)
   

4. How did the Lord say he would care for the exiles? (Jeremiah 24:4-7) How would the exiles regard God? How would their knowledge of him come about? (Jeremiah 24:7)
   

January 2, School Begins

January 2-9, Sky Tree Book Fair

January 11, Annual Meeting at 6:00 pm