A Message from Head of School, Tom Argersinger

Dear Parents and Friends of CCS,

It’s hard to believe we are once again celebrating the Advent season and recognizing our need for Jesus as we wait for His sure return.

This time of year is perhaps a mixed blessing for many who read this, where their joy in Jesus’ birth and subsequent resurrection is overbalanced by the pain of broken relationships and unresolved hurt.

For too many, it is a season of regret, where the enemy of our souls cruelly brings up past sin that has already been forgiven. For some, it is the first holiday without a loved one who has recently passed — and for others, it is a time of increased anxiety because of generational sin and brokenness that resurfaces when spending time with family.

Recently, I have been reading and meditating through the book of Philippians, written by the apostle Paul some 2,000 years ago. I believe that its message is especially timely and important for us to hear this Christmas season as we live and work in a fractured world. 

I am quoting extensively to give the context of Paul’s message — I encourage you to join me in slowly reading and turning this beautiful text over in your minds, allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal His truth to your heart, and then give you the courage to live it out in real time, regardless of your circumstance:

27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, in contending together for the faith of the gospel,

28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation ​— ​and this is from God.

29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,

30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.

1 If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,

2 make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.

4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

as something to be exploited.fn

7 Instead he emptied himself

by assuming the form of a servant,

taking on the likeness of humanity.

And when he had come as a man,

8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death —

even to death on a cross.

9 For this reason God highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow —

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth —

11 and every tongue will confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.

14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing,

15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world,

16 by holding firm to the word of life. 

  Phil. 1:27-2:16 CSB (quoted from Blue Letter Bible 12/03/25)

Finally, to all those who read this and concluded it will not “work” for them, because…(fill in the blank)…please remember this:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His word will not return without having its effect. The gospel is the power of salvation to everyone who believes. And our great God is for us, even when it seems that all the world, and even our own hearts, are arrayed against us.

This is the true message of the season: 

There is but one hope for a troubled and dying world — Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, who was tortured and died a criminal’s death and then became alive again by the matchless power of God so that we could find union with Him (O glorious day!) and have the strength and humility to live and work in this broken world, in the midst of our broken families, and within broken systems and institutions that are at best unhelpful and at worst unjust.

Believe it or not, because of this scandalous truth it is actually possible for us as children of the King to walk this holiday season in unmitigated and quiet joy, not because our circumstances have completely resolved (though that might indeed occur as we earnestly and perseveringly pray), but because as we pursue Jesus and are giving our very lives over to Him moment by moment to do with as He pleases, He comes!

“The Word (Jesus Christ) became flesh and blood, and moved into (our) neighborhood. 

John 1:14 MSG

May this Christmas season be a season of returning to Jesus, and asking for a renewed faith that will grow over time into a solid trust in God’s presence and provision — a settled confidence that cannot be eroded by circumstances and fleeting emotions. 

And may this trust be worked into our lives in such a deep way by the Holy Spirit that when (not if) we are crushed, we release the aroma of Christ, and find that our mourning has (amazingly) turned to dancing.

Let’s invite the people in our world to dance.

For CCS and the Kingdom,

Tom