Chapel Blog
Chapel topics in the middle school and high school are based on the Bible verse and theme selected for that school year. The lessons taught by the verse are broken down into monthly themes, and then taught weekly in chapel. Chapel blogs are written by Spiritual Formation Director John Bishop, Westminster administrators and teachers, and even students, and complement the teachings in weekly chapel.
2025
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Watch Your Back
Imagine working all summer to earn a spot in a group. Maybe it’s a job, a competitive team, or even just a tight-knit circle of friends. You’ve made smart, strategic moves. You’ve prepared. You feel ready for the challenge. Then come two grueling days—an intense, high-pressure experience clearly designed to test and eliminate those who don’t measure up. But you push through.Read More
You give it everything you have. Finally, someone with authority pulls you aside and says the words you’ve been hoping to hear: “You’re in.” Your heart leaps. You did it. Relief and excitement flood in as you begin to imagine the benefits, the camaraderie, the recognition that comes with being accepted. But then, just as you’re settling into this moment of triumph, a seasoned member of the group sits down beside you. They glance around, lean in, and say quietly, “Hey, congrats on getting in… but just a heads up—watch your back.” -
Trust Fall
Read MoreYou’ve been hurt by someone, right? Maybe your mom, overwhelmed by the pain of a broken marriage, chose a new partner and left you to navigate the confusion of divorce. Or maybe a friend posted something hurtful on Snap, leaving you to carry the weight of betrayal and embarrassment.
Unfortunately, these kinds of experiences are all too common. Trust is hard to build and incredibly easy to break. But why is that? Why can’t we all just get along?
The Bible gives us a sobering answer: we can’t—not on our own. In Genesis 3, we’re told how this all began. With one act—taking the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—humanity gained wisdom but lost its innocence. From that moment on, the ability to naively trust others disappeared. Suspicion, shame, and blame became part of our story.
When I was in college, I joined a program to develop my leadership skills. As part of that process, I did a “trust fall.” Blindfolded, arms crossed over my chest, I stood on a platform and was told to fall backward into the arms of my teammates below. Thankfully, they caught me—and this story doesn’t end with a trip to urgent care.
The reason exercises like that work is simple: trust is built through experience. We learn to rely on others when they consistently show themselves to be dependable. For most of us, our default setting is “don’t trust.” It takes effort, time, and intentionality to rewrite that script—especially with people we don’t know.
But here’s the hope: while humanity may have broken trust, God never did. And through Christ, He’s not just rebuilding our trust in Him—He’s showing us how to rebuild trust with each other. Healing begins when we move toward others not in blind naivety, but in grace-fueled courage.
Trust, once lost, may be hard to recover—but in God’s hands, it’s never beyond redemption. -
Blessed in My Mess
Read Moreby John Bishop, Director of Spiritual FormationLast week, we explored the foundation of our identity—that before we are anything else, we are deeply known and unconditionally loved by God. From this secure place, we are invited to grow in love for others.But this week confronts us with a harder reality: the tension between that divine love and our undeniable brokenness. We all have moments—perhaps more often than we’d like to admit—when we feel unlovable. Our lives, yours and mine, are messy. Even with the best intentions, we fall short. We try to do the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons— and still, we stumble.So, what do we do with that?Life doesn’t pause to let us sort it all out. It keeps moving without our permission. The world doesn’t stop when we struggle, and it doesn’t wait for us to heal. But as followers of Jesus, we aren’t left to navigate the mess alone. He’s with us, and He’s made a way through the chaos.
The question isn’t if we’ll struggle—it’s how we’ll move through it. And the answer isn’t found in perfection, but in grace.How can we be blessed in the middle of our mess? By leaning into the truth that God’s love isn’t earned by our success or lost in our failure. His love is constant. It doesn’t waver based on our performance. It doesn’t depend on how “together” we have it. It’s unchanging, unfailing, and it meets us right where we are.When we choose to keep walking—humbled, dependent, and willing—He meets us there, in the mess, with grace. This is how we are blessed: not by perfection, but by His presence.This week let’s explore what it means to be blessed in the mess—to live loved, even when we don’t feel lovable, with the hope that through this experience, we can extend that same grace to others. -
Blessed to Be Me
by John Bishop, Director of Spiritual FormationRead More
When asked to name the greatest commandment, Jesus responded immediately by quoting Scripture from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind—and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37–39)
In this message, we’re focusing on the second part: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
This raises an important question: How can we love others well if we don’t first understand how to love ourselves?
Let’s be clear—this isn’t an invitation to selfishness or self-centeredness. Instead, it’s about recognizing the true foundation of your identity: you are made in the image of God.
Before you are male or female, short or tall, Hispanic, white, Black, Asian, or anything else...
Before you are athletic, smart, artistic, musical, funny, driven, or talented...
You are first and foremost an image-bearer of God.
This truth is foundational. When we accept this, we begin to understand what it really means to be loved. Not based on what we do or who we are in the eyes of others, but simply because we are God’s creation.
When you truly embrace this identity, you begin to see yourself through the eyes of God—perfectly loved and perfectly accepted. And as we grow in our acceptance of being known and loved by God, we become more able to love others with that same unconditional love.
This is a profound and freeing truth. It doesn’t puff us up with pride, but it fills us with gratitude. It frees us from the need for constant validation and comparison because we already have everything we need in Him.
It allows each of us to say—not with arrogance, but with deep gratitude: “I’m blessed to be me.”
When you know who you are in Christ, you can love others as Christ loves you. You can give love freely, without needing to take anything back in return; you can truly love your neighbor as yourself.
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2025
Westminster Christian School, located in Palmetto Bay, Florida, is a private, college-preparatory school for children from preschool through twelfth grade.