Haven't you heard the news?

"And we've heard this story all our lives. Still we feel the pain of the crucified. And the end still comes as a surprise."-Ben Shive (songwriter)
 
Dear Alumni,
 
     “Haven’t you heard the news?” Two thousand years ago two disappointed men said this to a stranger who joined them on their journey away from Jerusalem.  They told the stranger about how Jesus, a man who held such promise to be the king and savior of Israel, had just been killed on a cross.  The stranger listened to them and began to tell them a story.  He used their sacred scriptures to explain how the savior they were looking for was a servant who would die and through death triumph over evil, suffering, and death.  The men listened intently and invited the stranger to stop with them for dinner.  As the stranger broke bread, they recognized Him for the first time.  It was the man Jesus, who had died in Jerusalem just days before! When Jesus left them, the two men ran back to Jerusalem to find Jesus’ followers and ask, “Have you heard the news?  Jesus is alive!”   
     
     In the year 2019, like those two men walking from Jerusalem we often look at our daily life, ourselves, our communities, governments, the world around us, and wonder how anyone can see good news. Evil reigns; self-interest wins; nature is broken; our friends and family suffer; our future is bleak.  The man who held such promise died on a cross.... “Haven’t you heard the news?” we might repeat to anyone who would say otherwise. 
     
     For many who have grown up going to church, a Christian school, or who’ve heard Christian friends and family talk, we’ve heard the ‘good news’ so many times.  Jesus is alive. He died to pay for our sins, so that we can have life with God.  Jesus is the most powerful, most loving, and most accessible person we can know.  And yet, somehow, we don’t ‘hear’ this story as good news. We hear it as old news. Or we don’t actually hear it at all.  It’s the nice story that ‘Christian people’ believe.  The too-good-to-be-true story that we aren’t quite sure we believe. Is it good news?
     
     C.S. Lewis’ mission in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” was to give us a new way to “hear” and understand the story of the gospel. He took a story many thought they knew, and through the imaginative world he created, he challenged his readers to see the story in a new light. In the same way, we hope you might think about this story in a fresh way tonight.  Maybe you’ve heard this story your whole life, and maybe you haven’t. Is it really good news or a story you take for granted?
     
​     In the year 2019, a stranger walks up to us, asks why we are so discouraged, and if we have ears to listen and eyes to see, begins to speak to us saying “I am the resurrection and the life...”
 
     Have you heard the news?
                                                                                    -Jeremy Davis

P.S. To see photos of the event, please visit PACA’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/PACA.School/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10157225136376234

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From Robin Rugg, Superintendent:
 
I am thankful to the many students, teachers, parents, alumni and friends who made “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” possible. God has blessed our community with many talented individuals, who came together to support this production. We had over 250 attendees at both Friday and Saturday night performances. I am always amazed at the talents God gives to our students. During this Thanksgiving season, I am grateful for God’s faithfulness and provision over my personal family and over the PACA family. I wish you a Great Thanksgiving.
 

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Have you heard about the new designed classrooms being built at PACA?  We hired the architecture firm, Sete-Cinco Arquitetura, to create a new learning environment based upon modern classroom research. These new classrooms will allow students like you to learn by coming together to share, collaborate and create. Find out how you can be a significant part of this project at https://www.paca.com.br/alumni-campaign.html.