Thanksgiving is a good way to begin
We are thankful for all our current and former students, our graduates and donors over the years. As has been true for many years, the education GCI has provided through its formal courses has contributed to our fellowship and helped build a community of lived and informed faith in God through Jesus Christ according to Scripture. The seminary is no less a faith community than the denomination as a whole. And it represents that. I am grateful for all the relationships formed and strengthened around the world, as each of you has participated in one way or another in them. I am sure you are as grateful for these special relationships as I am. I thank the Lord our God for you all.
I’m thankful for our continuing ability to offer courses and three degrees. What has made that possible is the dedicated GCS staff, our faithful GCS Board, our quality teaching faculty, and of course, having a continuing flow of able students. The fact that all our courses are offered online has been a particular advantage at this time when we face unusual restrictions on gathering in person. All our faculty were already well adept at providing quality graduate education via our online platform. And they were grateful for that!
Of course, behind all this lies the financial support of GCI—support that was pledged over this past year. I’m also thankful for our successful renewal of our accreditation through the Distance Education Accreditation Commission. GCS has been approved to offer the M.Div. degree. That’s a development certainly to be thankful for—and one that some of you may be interested in pursuing.
But, as you know, even more fundamentally, we can all be thankful for the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ and his Word preserved for us in Scripture. Without that we would have no church and there would be no seminary. There would be no Christian worship and community at all. So, our ultimate thanksgiving must be directed to our Living Triune God.
This may sound like a Thanksgiving letter. And in a way it is—even though that holiday for us in the USA is a few weeks past us. But in this time of trial as we all face various social and civic restrictions in addition to the stresses and strains that come normally with daily life, thanksgiving is the only way to start—each day. Thanksgiving reminds us of the ultimate and victorious grace of our Triune God that even now breaks into our troubled and indeed fallen world.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God” (Phil. 4:6 NIV).
Thanksgiving is even the right place to start in our prayers, in our supplications and requests. It is also the right posture to look towards our celebration of Christmas as we approach it through the season of Advent. For certainly, that greatest Gift of all is what, or rather Who, we are most grateful for and for all time. The Gift of that first advent or coming of Jesus Christ points forward to his second advent in triumphant return. Then God in Christ will manifest the fullness of his rule and reign, his total victory over all evil, and the establishment of the completely renewed heaven and earth.
Thanksgiving to our Triune God is what prepares us and points us to our ultimate Hope. That Hope in God exceeds all earthly ideals and possibilities. That Hope alone continually sheds light into our current situation, provides us our daily bread, and sustains us in our worship and witness as his people in this “present darkness” (Eph. 6:12).
I am thankful for you all. I hope all of you will stay in touch and that many of you will be able to participate in GCS as a student, alumni and/or donor. I look forward to our upcoming term and to our graduation ceremony next summer.
Gary Deddo, GCS News, Winter 2020