We thank God for the privilege of prayer and for his model prayer--the Lord's Prayer. It is comforting to be able to call upon his name in every trouble and know he will answer us. We know God has promised to strengthen us and give us the courage to face this life of trouble and sorrows.

We thank God for his sacraments. God brought us to faith through baptism. Now we have learned to examine ourselves so we can take the Lord's Supper with our fellow Christians. We know we are assured of the forgiveness of our sins through the body and blood of Christ.

We thank God for giving us our pastors and teachers. They have done a great job teaching us the Word of God. We should help them to keep on teaching the Word of God by helping them out by giving generously to pay their salaries.

But Jesus has also given us work to do. He has commanded us to "go ye therefore and teach all nations." We can start by telling our friends, family and neighbors about the wonderful works of God. We can invite them to church. We can send missionaries to the whole world by giving our offerings to our Synod.

We have also learned reading, writing, and mathematics. These subjects taught us how to use the gifts that God gave us. We can use these skills to earn a living here on earth. We can serve God by supporting our families with the necessities of life, but by also giving part of our income to the work of the church.

We have been taught to set goals in our life. We have been taught skills to prepare us for our life on earth, but we could get these skills in any public school. But here in our Lutheran school, we have been taught to seek the highest goal of all--eternal life in heaven. And to this goal we pray that we may all be faithful to the end of our days here on earth so that we may be with God forever in heaven.

THIS IS WHAT A CHRISTIAN EDUCATION MEANS TO US!