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Commencement
Address
17 December 2005
Rev. Norm Sanders
Thank you for your most kind and gracious introduction. I am
reminded of a person introducing what was to be the guest
speaker for the occasion who simply said, “Our guest speaker
needs no introduction because we don’t have time for his
speech.”
I asked Kim McMurtry, Assistant to the President, “How long
should I speak? Kim said, “As long as you want, but the rest
of us will be leaving about 3:00.”
Commencement is when the college students who learned all
the answers discover that there are a whole new set of
questions.
We live in an ever changing society. We at Montreat College
have a Mission and Vision Statement that defines our focus
for our President, our faculty, and staff, our students, and
our Board of Trustees, and which our alumni: can support,
and be proud of. Allow me to quickly review for you our
mission statement:
Christ-Centered, Student-Focused, Service-Driven:
Equipping agents of transformation renewal and
reconciliation
Our students are examples of this statement. I will never
forget the student in the SPAS program who said, since being
a student at Montreat College, I am a better wife, mother,
employee, and student. She said with tears, I love Montreat
College.
I believe we are well on our way to achieving our goal. In
this mission, God has given us a President, a faculty and
staff, and a student body that is second to none. I believe
that the leadership of this school and the students in this
school are so far ahead of others who would dare think of
comparing themselves with us that the question is, “Which
way did they go?”
Have we arrived at the top? No! We are still climbing with
purpose in every step. We are “becoming” the leading
provider of Christ-centered higher education, enriching
lives through engagement in our communities by promoting
responsible growth, culture, and spiritual life. To reach
our goal, we are going to have to work together as a team,
praying, believing, and expecting God to use us together—The
Grace Team:
Giving together,
Recruiting together,
Becoming accountable to each other, caring about each other,
exalting Christ together.
When we
Give,
Recruit,
Become accountable,
Caring,
Exalting Christ together,
We show forth the Grace of God.
To accomplish our goals, we must be a team together.
You, parents and friends, families, students, former
students, alumni, professors and teachers, faculty and
staff, President and Board: we cannot “become” without you.
Each one of you.
Lance Armstrong, the cyclist, winner of the Tour de France,
was well ahead of the other riders, when the cheering crowd
got too close and caused Lance to fall. He got up, mounted
his bike, and fell again. Once again getting to his feet, he
looked at his hands and his feet and said, “O.K. men, this
is the day we win this race. Let’s go!” And he climbed up on
his bike and started again, and he won the race. This was
recorded on national television.
Have you fallen in your present goal? Look at your hands.
Hold them out in front of you.
Now say out loud with me, “For this I have Jesus. He is all
I need.” Now say, “O.K. team, this is the day we start for
the top. This is the day we win.” High five those around you
and say, “Let’s go!”
To learn, you must want to be taught. Winston Churchill
said, “I am always ready to learn, although I do not always
like to be taught.” A wise teacher makes learning a joy. The
desire to learn and be taught was given to you by God.
The ability to teach and equip you as an agent of
transformation was given to your professors. By God. As wise
teachers in a Christ-centered, student-focused environment,
teachers who are filled to overflow into your lives,
teachers who have and are receiving their wisdom from
Christ. Why Christ? Because in Christ are all the mighty,
powerful, authoritative treasures, untapped treasures of
wisdom and knowledge stored in Him. Wisdom is the right use
of knowledge. Knowledge in action. As wise teachers they
have committed themselves to making learning a joy. For you.
Today as we hand our symbol of you completing the course; we
hand you your degree of this stage of your college training.
We hand the torch to you. Take it, receive it, and head
straight for your next goal with purpose in every step. It
is up to you to “become” all you were meant to be, by God,
by making a difference in the market place, as a reflection
of a Christ-centered, student-focused, service-driven,
equipping agent of transformation, renewal, and
reconciliation. For the glory of God.
Everything is within your reach. Opportunities are all
around you, waiting for you to discover them. There are no
limits to what you can accomplish as God works inside of you
and through you for His glory.
As an example, George Washington Carver saw things as they
were and said, “Why?” He dreamed of things that never were
and said, “Why not?” All George Washington Carver had to
work with was a peanut and a sweet potato. Who was Dr.
Carver?
• Born into slavery
• African-American
• Worked odd jobs to pursue his education
• Received a degree in agricultural science in 1894
• Two years later he received a master’s degree and became
the first African-American to serve on the faculty from the
school in which he graduated.
• Derived over 300 products from the peanut
• Demonstrated over 100 products from the sweet potato
• Gave glory to God for what God did by saying, “God gave
these products and discoveries to me.”
All Dr, Carver had was
• The Creator God in his heart
• A peanut and sweet potato in his hands
• And a desire to watch God do the impossible by calling
into being those things great, might, and hidden things in
the mind and will of God through His servant: George
Washington Carver, an equipped agent of transformation
What do you have in your hands?
Who do you have in your heart?
What thoughts do you have in your head?
Our cities, states, country, and institutions of higher
education are desperately in need of leadership that is
Christ-Centered, Student-Focused, Service-Driven, and
Equipping agents of transformation, renewal, and
reconciliation.
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can
do.”
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where
there is no path and leave a trail.”
Robert Browning said, “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed
his grasp.”
Place your life in God’s hands. Take your hands completely
off. Let God take you to places you have never been before.
Break through the barriers. Hold yourself responsible for a
higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Be fully
accountable to God alone.
“Do more than exist, live.
Do more than touch, feel.
Do more than look, observe.
Do more than read, absorb.
Do more than hear, listen.
Do more than listen, understand.
Do more than think, ponder.
Do more than talk, say something.”
Do more than sit there, get up and lead the way.
The world is waiting for you to lead.
Two professors of Theology and Psychology were discussing
the facts of life regarding their goals in life.
Psychologist Lucy says to Professor Charlie Brown, “Charlie
Brown, life is like a cruise ship. Some people have their
deck chairs facing forward and some have their deck chairs
facing backward. Charlie Brown, which way is your deck chair
facing?” Charlie Brown says to Lucy, “Well, Lucy, I’ve
always had trouble getting my deck chair unfolded.” Many if
not perhaps all of us have been working on getting our deck
chairs unfolded. Today, as a graduate, you finally got it
unfolded. Which way is it headed? Are you looking ahead or
looking backward?
The closing scene in the movie, The Candidate, ends with the
candidate saying to his campaign manager, “We won! Now what
do we do?” Look around you at your graduating class and
silently say, “We have graduated…now what do we do?” You
could say, “O.K. teammates. This is the day we start for the
top. This is the day we win. Let’s go!”
I say to you be being filled with the knowledge of God, the
will of God, the wisdom of God. Be filled for the purpose of
overflowing as equipped agents of transformation, renewal,
and reconciliation for the glory of God.
Winston Churchill gave what may have been the most
unforgettable graduation speech.
It consisted of 4 words and he sat down. He said, “Never,
never, never quit.” He followed the suggested guidelines in
making a speech:
Be sincere: I say to you, “May your reach of faith exceed
your grasp of sight.”
Be brief: “Go mad—Go make a difference for the glory of
God.”
Be seated: Thank you!
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