Students and staff gathered at the all-school Christmas Chapel on December 22 to celebrate the greatest gift ever given — the gift of God’s Son, Jesus — who brought salvation to the world. Students from preschool to the 12th grade participated in the chapel program with drama, vocal, and instrumental presentations. Crossroads Fellowship senior pastor Matthew Mouliert encouraged everyone in his chapel message to accept the free gift of salvation.
Gail Alford, the Elementary Principal and Early Education Director, opened the chapel with prayer and then introduced the 2nd grade classes, who sang the song “Hark” from the Christmas cantata they performed on December 9. Alford then introduced a dramatic video entitled, “The Christmas Promise,” which featured the PreK3 and PreK4 classes dressed up as angels, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, and other characters from the gospels of Matthew and Luke as they presented the story of Jesus’ birth. CLICK HERE to view the “Christmas Promise” video.
Upper School Principal Meg McHale introduced the Middle School Band, who was followed by the 5th Grade Worship Team that got everyone on their feet to join them in singing “Feeling Like Christmas” and “Born is the King.”
Pastor Mat then presented his chapel remarks, which included asking four students to read portions of the Christmas story from Luke 2. Pastor Mat asked them to identify one word that was repeated in each passage and the readers — Raquel Crespo, Hudson Dingman, Ryleigh Gregas, and Kaden Kraus — all agreed that the word repeated several times was Savior.
“Jesus was sent to earth some 2,000 years ago to rescue us,” Pastor Mouliert said. “My favorite verse is Luke 19:10, where Jesus says that He came to seek and save the lost. That’s the hope of Christmas — that Jesus is our Savior and all God wants you to do is accept this free gift of salvation.”
There were several light-hearted moments during the chapel. Classes from preschool to high school were challenged to decorate Christmas trees or classroom doors with the theme based on the carol “The 12 Days of Christmas” and the winners of these contests were announced during the chapel.
Robin Genter’s PreK4C class won 1st place in the preschool division of the Christmas Tree Decorating Contest and Laura McCarthy’s 3B class and Amy Williams’ 5B class tied for 1st place in the K-5th grade division. McCarthy’s class chose seven swans a-swimming as their tree’s theme and Williams’ students chose 12 Drummers Drumming as their theme. Tenets of the Christian faith were assigned to the meaning of each of the 12 days and were displayed as part of the decorations.
Evelyn Altier’s 6B class won first place in the middle school division of the Christmas Door Decorating Contest and Tori Flath’s 11th grade homeroom class won 1st place in the high school division of the Christmas Door Decorating Contest.
The audience also participated in an Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest, cheering loudly as they voted for their favorite students to win first place. The K-5th grade winner was 3rd grader Alba Reed and the 6th to 12th grade winner was 12th grader Jada Logan.
The chapel concluded the High School Worship Team performing “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” Chief School Administrator Karen Oblen closed in prayer, after noting that the prophet Isaiah foretold of the coming of a baby, born of a virgin, whose name would be Emmanuel. “The name Emmanuel means God with us,” Oblen said. “As you celebrate Christmas with your families, I pray that you will remember that God is always with you, He will never leave you.”
