Message for ACLE7 – Day 2 Worship

This artwork was created live during a worship devotion for Lutheran educators at the ACLE7 Free to Flourish conference, exploring the theme of Relational Schools.
The cross-shaped tree at the centre symbolises God’s love shown through Christ — the strong core from which all life and relationship grow. The roots reach into streams of living water, representing the Spirit’s sustaining grace. Branches stretch outward in community, leaves and fruit express flourishing, and birds take flight to symbolise students being sent into the world to use their gifts in service.
Together, the image and message invite us to see Lutheran schools as living, growing communities — grounded in Christ, nourished by grace, and flourishing in love and learning.

Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12–27
Theme: We Are Relational

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Friends in Christ,

Our reading today from 1 Corinthians gives us a powerful image — a body made up of many parts, each one different, yet all belonging together. Paul reminds us: “Just as the body is one and has many members… so it is with Christ.”

This is the truth at the heart of who we are. God made us to be relational — to live connected lives. We are created in the image of a relational God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — a God whose very being is love shared, love given, love received.

Being relational isn’t just something we do — it’s who we are.

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🎨 (Draw the cross-shaped trunk of the tree)
“At the centre of this image is the cross — the sign of God’s love shown fully in Christ’s death and resurrection. It is this love that holds everything together, the strong heartwood of our lives and our communities.”

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🎨 (Add roots reaching into the ground)
“The roots remind us that we are grounded and nourished in God’s grace — drawing life from the Word, from worship, and from community. Our identity and belonging begin here.”

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🎨 (Add streams of living water flowing around the roots)
“Jesus called Himself the Living Water. These streams show the Spirit’s life flowing into us — feeding, refreshing, and renewing us so that we may grow.”

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🎨 (Draw main branches spreading upward and outward)
“From this love, relationships grow — with one another, with our students, with creation, and with the world. This is how the Body of Christ takes shape: in living, learning, and loving together.”

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In Lutheran education, we see this lived out daily. Our schools aren’t just places of learning — they are communities of belonging. Places where students are seen, valued, and invited to flourish into who God created them to be.

And that’s what we’ll glimp se in the video from students at Peace Lutheran College in Cairns— the Body of Christ in action. Listen for how the children’s words mirror Paul’s image of many members, one body — all connected, all needed, all loved.

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[Video – sorry, I don’t have permission to share on this site. Here is the transcipt.]

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Those voices speak such simple, profound truth:

• That kindness matters.
• That everyone has gifts to share.
• That we are called to respect and care for one another and for creation.
• That God’s love is the life flowing through it all.

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🎨 (Begin adding leaves to the branches)
“The leaves are signs of life — acts of compassion, forgiveness, creativity, and learning. They show that God’s Spirit is alive and moving among us.”

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🎨 (Add fruit among the branches)
“And here is the fruit — the gifts of the Spirit, the good things God grows in us and through us for the sake of others. Every gift — teaching, listening, encouraging, serving — nourishes the body and blesses the world.”

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🎨 (Fill the canopy with varied leaves and colours)
“The diversity of this canopy reflects our communities — many cultures, voices, stories, and gifts, all woven together in God’s love. As Uncle Rev. Ron Williams’ words reminded us, Indigenous understandings of land and connection deepen this vision of relational life in Christ.”

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Paul says, “If one part suffers, all suffer together; if one is honoured, all rejoice together.” That’s the beauty and challenge of being one body — we are bound together in grace.

And this is where you — the teachers and staff of our Lutheran schools — come in.

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🎨 (Add a nest with birds resting in the branches)
“You are branches that provide shelter. You create safe, nurturing spaces where students can grow in faith, identity, and belonging. Like birds finding a home in the tree, children find safety and life in the spaces you make.”

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🎨 (Add birds flying out from the tree)
“And then, when they are ready, they take flight — sent out into the world to use their gifts in and for others. This is the purpose of our shared ministry: to raise up people who live out God’s love beyond these walls.”

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You are not simply deliverers of content. You are cultivators of relationships. You model what the body of Christ looks like: patient, forgiving, encouraging, supportive. And you do it not only for your students, but for each other — carrying burdens, celebrating joys, and walking side by side.

This is holy work. Every lesson plan, every playground duty, every phone call, every moment of listening or encouragement — God is using all of it to build up His body through you. You are cultivating God’s relational kingdom — one word, one act, one child at a time.

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Closing

“This tree tells our story — rooted in Christ’s love, nourished by living water, branching out in relationships, bearing the fruit of gifts, and sending life into the world. It’s a picture of the Body of Christ — growing, flourishing, and always grounded in grace.”

Thanks be to God. Amen.