Jordan Christian School

10/01/2026

10/01/2026

October Meditation:
German Reformer Martin Luther championed the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which became one of the watchwords of the Protestant Reformation. Luther taught that it is God who declares a sinner righteous, giving to a sinner a righteousness that is not our own. Righteousness cannot be earned or merited; rather, it is Christ’s righteousness that is freely imputed, or given to us, by faith. Luther rightly saw that faith is essential, commenting that “God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing.”
It is only by faith that we can call God Our Father in heaven. As we continue our theme, Lord, Teach Us to Pray, we come to the preface of the prayer that Jesus teaches us. We begin our prayer with these words, “Our Father which art in heaven” (Matt. 6:9b).
Not long after Luther, and also in Germany, Zacharias Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus wrote the Heidelberg Catechism to teach the truths of the Word of God to believers and their children. Q&A 120 of the Catechism asks why Christ commands us to address God as “Our Father” and answers, “That immediately, in the very beginning of our prayer, He might excite in us a childlike reverence for and confidence in God, which are the foundation of our prayer, namely, that God is become our Father in Christ, and will much less deny us what we ask of Him in true faith than our parents will refuse us earthly things.” Notice that the Reformers saw personal faith as essential – both for union with Christ that enables us to approach God as our Father, and for asking God to hear and answer us as we pray.
What an astounding truth and amazing reality the Lord Jesus teaches His disciples at the outset of this prayer. Here Jesus teaches us that we can only truly pray in faith. There is no true prayer that is not a believing prayer. And here is the beautiful doctrine of spiritual adoption: when we believe, we are united to Jesus Christ by faith. Believers are adopted sons and daughters of God, for the sake of Christ, their Elder Brother. All the benefits and privileges that entails belong to the children of God. We approach God our Father!
As we begin our study of the Lord’s Prayer, how necessary it is that we know God to be our Father. In his sermons on the Lord’s Prayer, Puritan Thomas Watson says that all who know God to be their Father will have a filial disposition. The term filia or filius comes from the Latin words for daughter or son, which speaks of the love and duty that a child owes a parent. Additionally, Watson says that we may know God to be our Father when we resemble Him, by living holy lives. Finally, Watson states that we may know God is our Father “by having His Spirit in us.” Children of God are born again of the Spirit, are led by the Spirit, have the witness of the Spirit, and love to converse with their heavenly Father.
In typical Puritan fashion, Thomas Watson then offers ‘uses’ (applications) that can be drawn from the theological truth that God is our Father. One of these applications is that God’s children may take comfort. Here is the short list Watson presents of the happiness we may enjoy if God is our Father: He will teach us, He has affection for us, He will pity us, He will take notice of the least good He sees in us, He will take all we do in good part, He will correct us in measure, He will intermix mercy with all our afflictions, the evil one shall not prevail against us, no real evil shall befall us, we may go with cheerfulness to the throne of grace, He will stand between us and danger, we shall not want anything that He sees to be good for us, all the promises of the Bible belong to us, He makes all His children conquerors, He will now and then send us some token of His love, He will spare us, He will put honour upon us at the last day, He will settle a good inheritance upon us, we are not left as orphans, and we will not be disinherited!
Briefly, Jesus also teaches His disciples to call God our Father – meaning that we pray corporately for and with other believers as we collectively belong to the family of God. What a beautiful thing that we may have brothers and sisters in Christ who share in the same love, hold to the same faith, and live in the same hope, praying to our heavenly Father.
Finally, Jesus also teaches us in the preface of this prayer that our Father is in heaven. Q&A 121 of the Heidelberg Catechism explains that this is added “lest we should form any earthy conceptions of God’s heavenly majesty, and that we may expect from His almighty power all things necessary for soul and body.” When we pray to our Father in heaven, we are also reminded to be more heavenly-minded. Martin Luther once quipped, “Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see.”
Dear friends, let us meet together at the throne of grace, praying to our Father in heaven.

09/25/2026

One of our highlights here at JCS is having guests and guest speakers come in! Highschool had a guest speaker yesterday, and Grades 1-4 had their first Service in Action Event: We welcomed Anchor Christian Home's staff and a few residents to share about their ministry and also some Grand-parents to play some games!

08/26/2026

June Meditation:
Summer is growing season, and much growth happens in nature and in agriculture. Gardens and fields of crops are ripening and the transformation across the landscape throughout this season is remarkable. Children often grow considerably through the summer as well, which often goes unnoticed until the uniforms and shoes from last season are completely outgrown! Yet, with all the growth that happens through the summertime, it is during the school year that we especially anticipate growth in our students – academic growth that is, and by God’s grace, spiritual growth as well!
How do we seek for growth in learning and in loving the Lord? Charles Spurgeon once said, “As well could you expect a plant to grow without air and water as to expect your heart to grow without prayer and faith.” Our school’s motto expresses it well – Ora et Labora – pray and work; and notice, prayer comes first! We need to pray, and to prayerfully work, looking to the Lord to bless the means for growth.
Our theme for the upcoming school year is prayer, using these words, Lord, Teach Us to Pray. One of Jesus’ disciples asked Him this after Jesus had spent time in prayer (Luke 11:1). Jesus then taught His disciples what has become known as the Lord’s Prayer – recorded not only in Luke 11, but also as part of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. Throughout this school year, we will be studying the Lord’s Prayer together, considering the address and various petitions of the prayer month by month as found in Matthew 6:9-13. Let us also study this Prayer prayerfully, with the humility of the disciple, crying out, Lord, teach us to pray!
The Lord’s Prayer is a special prayer, not only because it is taught to us directly from our Lord, but as it is a model or pattern prayer. Church father Tertullian called this prayer, breviarium totius evangelii – a breviary and compendium of the gospel – and Puritan Thomas Watson said, “It is like a heap of massive gold.” May we grow in grace through this school year as we mine this gold!
Gold mining takes considerable effort, and prayer also may not come easy. In fact, true prayer is unnatural – it is the Holy Spirit Himself who must enable us to pray. Yet, for a believer in Christ who is born again of the Spirit and is made a new creature, prayer becomes most natural. Just as a newborn cries the moment he or she is born, even so a believer prays. This is what the Lord said of Saul of Tarsus after he was converted on the road to Damascus – “behold, he prayeth” (Acts. 9:11). Even still, to continue in prayer is something believers are exhorted to as it requires faith in exercise to enjoy such communion.
In the coming months we will look more closely at how we are to pray and what we are to pray, but it is good to consider for a moment why we must pray, and what really is prayer? Our Reformed Confessions are excellent resources to reference as we look at the Lord’s Prayer as both the Heidelberg Catechism and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms unpack the prayer of our Lord in detail. The Heidelberg Catechism asks this very question in Q. 116: Why is prayer necessary for Christians? Here is the simple answer to this why question: “Because it is the chief part of thankfulness which God requires of us; and also, because God will give His grace and Holy Spirit to those only, who with sincere desires continually ask them of Him, and are thankful for them.”
Notice the wisdom of this answer: prayer is included in the part of thankfulness – and it really is the chief part of thankfulness when we commune with our God in prayer, for it shows Him our trust, our dependence, and our gratitude. We give the Lord our hearts when we pray! Prayer is also commanded; it is our duty that the Lord requires of us. Yet, as all of God’s commands are, it is to our advantage and for our good! God hears and answers the prayers of His people, and prayer is the means through which the Lord gives grace – and growth in grace! May we experience much growth as we pray together for and with one another through this school year, all to God’s glory and praise.

06/02/2026

If you like to keep things clean and are keen on interacting with students and staff in a Christian school community, please contact Mr. Paul Wagenaar ([email protected]) for more details.

06/01/2026

June Meditation:
"What would you say to someone who came to you asking how to obtain eternal life? What if this person was a good person, kind, honest, upright, recognizing the law of God and confessing to keep this law blamelessly? This person even recognized God and acknowledged Jesus to be a good teacher, demonstrating humility and urgency in desiring to know the answer to life’s biggest questions. We know what Jesus would do, because this scenario confronted Him in His lifetime here on earth. Jesus would look at such a person with love and point out the idolatry and the sinfulness of covetousness that is keeping such a person from trusting in Him alone for salvation. Now, it’s true that we cannot look into hearts as Jesus does, yet it is also true that the sin of covetousness is a pervasive sin that infects the hearts of all who are self-righteous and of all who are unrighteous alike. The gospel writer says, “Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 10:17).
We have come to the final month of this school year, and the final consideration of Holy Love under the theme, Living Contentedly. We have studied this theme through the Ten Commandments, considering each one a month at a time. As we come to the tenth commandment, do we still approach the law as the rich, young ruler did? He told himself that he kept all of these commandments from his youth up. He didn’t see any reason for conviction of sin, he didn’t have any desire for repentance and faith, and he didn’t feel any need for the gospel of Jesus Christ. In reality, he didn’t know anything of Holy Love even though he claimed to keep these same commandments. If this describes you, friend, let this tenth commandment convict you of your sin and your need for the gospel today:
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s” (Ex. 20:17).
Just as the first commandment (against idolatry) pervades all of the other nine, so this tenth commandment (against covetousness) does the same. All of the commandments are violated through this one.
Puritan Thomas Watson spells this out one by one with vivid examples: the covetous breaks the first commandment for “mammon is his god”; the second, for he bows down to “the graven image in his coin”; the third, as Absalom, who vowed to get his father’s crown; the fourth, as the covetous “will ride to fairs on a sabbath: instead of reading in the Bible, he will cast up his accounts”; the fifth, the covetous “will not honour his father, if he doth not feed him with money”; the sixth, as Ahab killed Naboth to get his vineyard; the seventh, as “an adulteress for money sets both conscience and chastity to sale”; the eighth, as Achan, stole the wedge of gold; the ninth, as the perjurer takes a false oath in “hopes for a dividend”; and the tenth, plainly by endeavouring to get his neighbours goods for himself. Watson calls covetousness a “mother-sin, a radical vice” quoting Scripture directly, “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).
What is more, this commandment is especially directed at the heart. This is vividly captured by the Heidelberg Catechism’s simple and profound exposition of this tenth commandment. See how comprehensively the Catechism describes what the tenth commandment requires of us: “That even the smallest inclination or thought contrary to any of God’s commandments never rise in our hearts; but that at all times we hate all sin with our whole heart, and delight in all righteousness.” (Q. 113).
St. Augustine of Hippo was a young man who relished living in sin, though he knew better from his Christian upbringing. He gave himself to immorality and worldly philosophies, seeking to find fulfilment and satisfaction for his covetous heart. One day, a small child’s voice saying tolle lege or “take up and read” encouraged him to open a book of the apostle Paul’s letters and the Lord used his reading of Romans 13:13-14 to convict him of his covetousness: “Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Augustine later confessed to the Lord, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.”
Truly, contentment is the antidote to covetousness, and true contentment is found only in God, resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the One who never had the smallest inclination or thought contrary to any of God’s commandments, the One who conquered sin and earned our righteousness. He is the One who has gifted eternal life and peace to all who are in Him by faith. Amazingly, that eternal life begins already in the here and now for believers, and this command exhorts us to live contentedly, resting in His love."

05/01/2026

May Meditation:
“There is nothing more contrary to God than a lie.” Puritan Thomas Watson teaches a simple yet profound truth in these words – a truth well substantiated by the Scriptures. Perhaps you might think that a little white lie is a small matter, and that this statement must be an exaggeration. There must be many things worse than lying, are there not? Watson follows his statement by pointing out that the Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of Truth” (1 Jn. 4:6). Lying is contrary to God’s very nature, and it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18). Lying is an abomination to the Lord (Prov. 12:22), and it is Satan that is the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). Lying is also against the law of God, and this is what we consider in our theme of Holy Love for this month, focused on Witnessing Truth. The Ninth Commandment is clear: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Ex. 20:16).
Each commandment we study seems of the utmost relevance and importance, and truly it is. In an age where online interactions have propagated slander, harassment, and aggressive insults toward others, and where social media has produced a world of fabrication, self-promotion, and a false representation of ourselves, the law of God commands us to not bear false witness. In an age of AI-driven fraud and deepfakes complete with voice cloning, fake news and political manipulation, identity theft and other malicious scams, and in Canada, where police-reported incidents of fraud have more than doubled in a decade, the law of God condemns such acts against our neighbour.
To be clear, while digital technologies and the online world may exacerbate these issues, the root of the matter is really the sinful, deceptive heart of man. The prophet tells us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9), and as the Preacher says, there is no new thing under the sun (Eccl. 1:9). Centuries before the internet, the Westminster Larger Catechism (1647) was penned, and in great detail this catechism describes various breaches of the Ninth Commandment. Consider these: “all prejudicing the truth, and the good name of our neighbors… concealing the truth, undue silence in a just cause… speaking the truth unseasonably, or maliciously to a wrong end, or perverting it to a wrong meaning” (Q. 145). That’s not all – and the following list of sins forbidden indicate that these issues were rife long before our age: “lying, slandering, backbiting, detracting, talebearing, whispering, scoffing, reviling, rash, harsh, and partial censuring; misconstructing intentions, words, and actions; flattering, vainglorious boasting; thinking or speaking too highly or too meanly of ourselves or others; denying the gifts and graces of God; aggravating smaller faults; hiding, excusing, or extenuating of sins… raising false rumors…” Surely, we must put our hand upon our own mouths, for the ninth commandment convicts us of our sins and shows us our need for the gospel!
As we consider our theme of witnessing truth we are also reminded of the positive aspect of the law of God in the duties that are enjoined. Again, the Westminster Larger Catechism emphasizes this beautifully. For instance, we are to be “from the heart, sincerely, freely, clearly, and fully, speaking the truth, and only the truth, in matters of judgment and justice,” and we are to be “studying and practicing of whatsoever things are true, honest, lovely, and of good report” (Q. 144). In order to witness truth, we need to know the truth. What a wonder of God’s grace that He has revealed to us the truth of the Word of God, and what an amazing wonder that He has sent forth His Son into this world, He who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn. 14:6)! Jesus has kept this Ninth Commandment perfectly, and Jesus gave His life to redeem all liars, perjurers, and lawbreakers who turn to Him in truth. This is the truth that will set us free (Jn. 8:32).
Christian, consider how we bear witness to the truth. After grace, we still need admonition. Jerry Bridges lists gossip and sins of the tongue among the ‘respectable sins’ that we so easily tolerate. Yet hear the apostle James calling the tongue “a fire, a world of iniquity” (Jas. 3:6), and rebuking fellow believers with this admonishment: “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be” (vs. 10). Instead, James calls us to faithfully witness truth, exhorting us that “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (vs. 17). Let us be committed to sharing the gospel of grace, genuinely witnessing to the truth as it is in Jesus. He is True and Holy Love.

04/21/2026

Promo Video #2 - A Day In the Life
Our Secondary Students would like to invite you to a celebration of learning in Secondary, on April 23, letting you see what a day in the life is like! Please RSVP using this link or the QR Code.
Feel free to invite uncles, aunts, grandparents and friends as we show off a little bit of our learning in this interactive evening program!
https://forms.gle/Ku4HuxgBcz7kFnJf7

04/10/2026

Our Secondary Students would like to invite you to a celebration of learning in Secondary, on April 23, letting you see what a day in the life is like! Please RSVP using this link or the QR Code.
Feel free to invite uncles, aunts, grandparents and friends as we show off a little bit of our learning in this interactive evening program!
https://forms.gle/Ku4HuxgBcz7kFnJf7

04/08/2026

Our upcoming Go & Teach Conference is less than 3 weeks away! Be sure to sign up.