DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Coming as Guest
This week our Year 9 students spent time in Brisbane on their Street Retreat an experience that invites them to step outside their comfort zones, listen deeply, and encounter others in a spirit of humility and compassion.
At LORDS, our service-learning is grounded in the idea of “coming as guest.” Rather than arriving to fix, save, or solve, we come to listen, learn, and understand. We recognise that every person we meet is made in the image of God each with a story, dignity, and wisdom of their own.
Our students met people whose daily lives look very different from their own, yet who share the same hopes for belonging, safety, and purpose. As guests in those spaces, they discovered that service is not about doing for others but being with others.
Jesus modelled this beautifully throughout the Gospels. He often came not as the host or hero, but as a humble guest eating in the homes of others, sitting with those on the margins, and reminding us that God’s love is found in relationship.
When we come as guest, we open ourselves to be changed. We see with new eyes. We notice the sacred in unexpected places on city streets, in quiet conversations, in the courage of others.
As we reflect on the Street Retreat, we give thanks for the people who welcomed our students, for the staff who walked alongside them, and for the God who continues to teach us that true service begins with presence.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Philippians 2:3
Let us continue to learn what it means to come as guests open, grateful, and ready to see Christ in every encounter.
- This year, we will be praying for families in our community and their needs: Coleman, Collard, Columbus, Condello, Cooke, Coombes
- Give thanks for the safe return of our Year 9 students and staff from Street Retreat
- For our Year 12 students as they prepare for their external exams
- That we can have a positive end to the school year
