There are more than one lakh planes flying every day world wide. Can you imagine them take off and land without pilots listening to instructions from the control tower?
Similarly life and its safe flying depends much on listening to the control tower called wisdom. The Bible says, “The fear of the LORD–that is wisdom, to shun evil is understanding.”*
The fear of the Lord means to acknowledge that God is holy and he is to be worshipped with reverence and awe. It means to accept that God is the source of all true wisdom. Once you do so, you have a solid foundation to build your life upon.
The practical part of wisdom is avoiding evil. You cannot fear God on one side and allow yourself not to listen to his life-giving instructions on the other. Today, evil comes in innocent-looking attractive packages. It gnaws away at your life without you even being aware of it.
To avoid being trapped by them, ask yourself three questions:
Question number one,
“How much time are gadgets stealing away from my time to study?” Question number two,
“Does what I am doing a clear disobedience of instructions given by my parents and teachers?” Question number three,
“Are my relationships and friendships influencing me for good or bad?”
Time, obedience, relationships. If you can keep tabs on these three watchwords, you can walk in the ways of wisdom.
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
*Job 28:28, Proverbs 3:16, 4:22
Two related thoughts from the wise king, Solomon: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline (Proverbs 1:7).” and “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:10).”
and one from Psalms:
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105).
Thank you. —Stefan B. Peter, PP II K, St. Thomas School, Kumarapuram.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”
— John 3:16 Bible.
Welcome Speech
Respected Dignitaries, teachers, parents and my dear friends,
A warm good morning to one and all.
We are celebrating Christmas at our school today. It is a time we think of baby Jesus in Bethlehem. I stand here now to welcome all of you.
First of all, let me welcome all the dignitaries present here. We are so glad you came to watch our program. On behalf of the school I happily welcome all of you.
Next, I welcome our Respected Principal, teachers, parents, kochammas [caretakers] and friends to this program. May this Christmas program touch our hearts with joy.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Once again I welcome all of you.
Thank you. —Daniela B. Peter, PP II K, St. Thomas School, Kumarapuram.
Once upon a time two angels went from heaven to earth with two huge baskets to collect the prayers of people. One basket was labelled Requests and the other Thanks. When the angels returned to God, the basket of Requests was full and overflowing; but the basket of Thanks was almost empty.
Dear friends, the lesson is quite clear. An attitude of gratitude is often absent in our lives. The lack of a thankful heart may be the root cause of many human illnesses as well.
Let me now point out two things:
Firstly, an attitude of gratitude means you learn to count your blessings in life. When you do so you will find that they far outnumber the difficulties or problems you face in life. Moreover it gives you a joyous heart as well.
You can be thankful for the gift of life, your parents, home and school, your teachers, relatives and friends, for the clothes you wear, the food you eat and the place you live in. The list is endless.
Secondly, an attitude of gratitude helps you value simple joys of life. You may not have the latest gadgets to play with. Instead a thankful heart will help you to be content and satisfied in whatever situation you find yourself in.
A thankful heart will value people more than things, it will value a smile more than riches, it will find joy in giving than grabbing, and it will hold on to hope even when life’s ship moves in troubled waters.
Bless the LORD, O My Soul!
—
Daniela B. Peter and Stefan B. Peter sings the song, “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart” as part of Little Kingdom program on Harvest TV.
Today is a very special day because it is God’s gift to us. That is why it is called the Present.
Today presents us with opportunity to do good. Today is very special again because it gives us a chance to love others and encourage the weak.
Today is a very special day because it gives us a chance to act on our dreams and achieve our goals. That is why Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream today.” He said that because today’s dream is tomorrow’s reality.
Therefore let us not postpone for tomorrow what can be done today. Whoever you are, God has gifted you with an equal opportunity of 24 hours.
Let me end with the words of Jesus Christ who said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”
Yes, yesterday is gone, tomorrow might never come. So let us grab the present moment and live life to the fullest for today is a very special day. Thank you.
Did it not make your heart leap to see those beautiful diamonds out there against the dark velvet black of the night sky? Yes, it did. As a young boy resting his head on his mother’s lap and gazing up at the night sky said, “Mummy, if the underside of heaven is so beautiful, I wonder what the real side would be like!”
But I am certain that it is not just beauty that attracts us to the stars. There is a sense of wonder, amazement, and mystery at these shining pearl drops in the sky.
They make us look up. They make us think, “Who created all these?” We wonder at the wisdom of God the Creator and his power beyond imagination that makes the universe so densely punctuated with stars.
Above all, the twinkling stars whisper hope in our hearts. That is what the nursery rhyme, “Twinkle twinkle little star” speaks about. It talks about the bright and tiny spark lighting up the way for the traveller in the dark.
In life’s journey as we encounter dark nights and uncertain days ahead, let us hold on to the hope held out by the stars. There is light to shine on our life’s journey.
It is because of this hope that “Twinkle twinkle little star” has always been my favourite nursery rhyme! Thank you.
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” — Isaiah 40:25. 26 Bible NIV
“He [God] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name” — Psalm 147:3, 4 Bible NIV.
This post is dedicated to the memory of Eric Lidell, the Flying Scotsman, who won the gold medal in the 400 metres race in the 1924 Paris Olympics. His athletic achievements have been chronicled in the Oscar winning movie Chariots of Fire which was released in 1981. Eric Liddell refused to run the 100 metres, the event he was expected to win, because the heats were scheduled for a Sunday, the day he had dedicated to worship God. He was called a traitor in his country but he cared more for the honour of God than winning a medal for the king.
Even though Eric Liddel had turned his back on his favourite event, he focused on the four hundred meters and trained for it. At the start of the finals of the event he went around shaking hands with all his competitors. And then, as shown in the movie, someone ran to his side and placed on his hand a folded square of paper. As he unfolded it, he found these words written on it: It says in the old book, “He that honours me, I will honour.” It was a verse from the Bible. And when the race began, Liddell starting from the outer lane simply ran fast as if he were running for his life. And came out first in world record time.
A little over a year, he just disappeared from the limelight by going to China as a missionary teacher with the good news of Jesus, to the land where he was born to missionary parents. During the Second World War he was interned in a camp by the invading Japanese and was held in a compound which housed more than one thousand five hundred foreign residents of China. He spent the rest of his life by having Bible studies, taking classes on chemistry for the youngsters there, organizing games for them, and even carrying water for the sick and the elderly. He died of an inoperable brain tumor at the young age of 43. His body was buried and a simple wooden cross put up with his name Eric Liddell written with boot polish.
Eric Liddell’s life has inspired many athletes including some gold medal winners in the Olympics in later years. I have dedicated this podcast to his memory because of the tremendous inspiration his life has been to me. May his life be an inspiration to you too to run the race of life well and finish on a note of glory.
If life is a race, you have to run. Staying still is not progress. It does not matter if others get distracted and do not focus on the race. You need to keep on running forward.
If life is a race, the destination is ahead. You cannot run if you keep looking back. An occasional backward glance can help you know how much distance you have covered already. But look ahead and run. Forget the past.
If life is a race, you have to run with patience as well as perseverance. Train yourself early to endure hardships. Then you can discipline yourself to run the long distance of life.
If life is a race, you should know the goal towards which you run. Otherwise it is a meaningless run. Run so as to win the prize.
If life is a race, at some point joy comes from helping others to run and succeed in life as well. Even though you run to win, many of your friends need your encouragement. Remember that.
If life is a race, and you did not know it, there is still time even though time is short. The one who starts late still has a chance to be rewarded. So it doesn’t matter if you were slow to start. Success comes even to those who started late.
If life is a race, make sure that you finish. Do not yield to despair or be discouraged. Be strong. Know that God will act for those who trust in him. He will bring to completion what he has begun to do in your life. There is glory awaiting you beyond the finishing tape!
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”– Hebrews 12:1z Bible.
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” — St. Paul (Philippians 3:13, 14 Bible NIV).
Family is God’s gift to us. A family begins when a man and woman is joined together in marriage to become husband and wife. A family then consists of father, mother and children. It is the first unit that God created and blessed. Therefore we should thank God for families.
It is in families that we grow up. It is here that we are loved and cherished. It is in the family that we have joy and fun.
Families give us our first identity. What a blessing it is to have a home to go to where you are accepted and belong to. It is also a great joy to have grandparents and brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and cousins.
There is an atmosphere of love and joy in our family. We have times of prayer together, we eat together and we have fun together as well.
We learn our first lessons in life from our family. The most important lessons we learn are that of love and trust, obedience and respect, hard work and honesty. It is in the family that we learn to share our resources and appreciate the talents and abilities of others.
Festival seasons are joyful occasions in the family. That is a time family members come together, have fun together, visit places together, exchange gifts and even team up together and play. Such colourful occasions remain in our memory for a long time. We often love to see the pictures of such times together in our family photographs and albums as well.
Let me conclude by saying that there are thousands of children in the world without a family. Among them are the homeless and the orphans and even the refugees. Let us remember them in our hearts even as we thank God for the blessing of a family. Thank you.
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching” — (Proverbs 1:8 Bible).
“I had always thought that the laughter of the little children in an empty cathedral was the most beautiful of all hymns of praise”– Corrie ten Boom in her book Tramp for the Lord.
It is said that you sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
Yes friends, our habits form our future. So let us cultivate healthy habits.
There are four kinds of habits. They are: Spiritual
Physical
Educational and Social
All of them are important for children.
Spiritual habits
include praying to God when we get up in the morning and thanking him for the gift of a new day. We should also pray when we start to study to ask God to give us wisdom to learn.
Physical habits
include brushing our teeth in the morning, taking bath properly and wearing clean dress. We should also spend some time playing in the outdoors so that our bodies stay healthy and strong.
Educational habits
include reading and studying well, listening to teachers, doing homework and going to school regularly. We should try to take part in all the activities of the school as it will help to improve our personality.
To conclude, healthy habits will help us to excel in life. Only children with excellence and character can build a strong democratic nation. Like good friends, healthy habits will stay with us always. Thank you.
Note: Covid–19 virus outbreak around the world in 2020 has compelled all, including children, to wash their hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub, It can kill viruses that may be on your hands. Thus washing hands has become a very important healthy habit.
We all use the word respect quite often. But what does it mean? It means esteem for the worth or excellence of a person.
First of all we should respect ourselves. Each one of us is created in God’s image. Each one of us is unique—a very special creation of God. Therefore each one of us should value ourselves highly.
Secondly we should respect our elders. It includes our parents, elders, and teachers. In doing so we are respecting not only their age but their wisdom and the good they have done to society.
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
“However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband” — St. Paul (Ephesians 5:33 Bible).
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as your live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers” — St. Peter (1 Peter 3:7 Bible).
