For the 2025–26 school year, we once again turn to the book of Isaiah for our theme verse. Isaiah’s very name means “Yahweh is salvation,” which captures the heart of his prophetic message.

Isaiah prophesied to the Southern Kingdom of Judah between 740 and 700 BC, during the time when the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. Judah feared the same threat, yet instead of repenting, they continued to seek worldly security and persisted in rebellion against God.

Into this moment, Isaiah proclaimed God’s surprising plan of grace and glory—not only for his rebellious people but for the whole world. His message pointed to the covenant God had already made with Abraham and David, and to its ultimate fulfillment in the promised Messiah.

Isaiah challenged God’s people to embrace their role in God’s unfolding story, to live faithfully in the light of the glorious future God had promised. That is also the heart of Teaching for Transformation here at DC: we are a people rooted in God’s story, engaged in real work that forms us and shapes the world around us.

In Isaiah 54:10, God reassures His people of His eternal covenant of peace and unfailing love. Even when mountains quake and hills are shaken, His compassion will not fail, and His covenant of peace will not be removed. This is the promise we hold to in every circumstance: God’s love is unchanging, His mercy unending, His peace enduring.

Isaiah’s prophecy is filled with powerful images of restoration: deserts blooming (Isaiah 35), the Spirit poured out bringing new life (Isaiah 32), the dead rising from the dust to sing for joy (Isaiah 26). Each image points to the same truth—that God brings life where there is none, hope where there is despair, and restoration where there is brokenness.

Ezekiel, prophesying more than a century later to God’s people in exile, gives us a parallel vision in Ezekiel 37—the valley of dry bones. In this vision, God shows Ezekiel a vast plain of bleached, lifeless bones, a vivid picture of Israel’s hopeless condition in exile. When God asks, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel responds humbly and faithfully: “O Lord God, you know.”

God then breathes life into what was dead. By His Word and Spirit, the bones rattle together, flesh covers them, and breath fills them. Israel, once spiritually dead and nationally scattered, is promised new life, unity, and restoration—all fulfilled in the Messiah, the Shepherd-King from David’s line, who reigns forever.

What seemed impossible—restoration after centuries of ruin—was possible only because God is faithful to His covenant. What seemed unthinkable—life from death—was accomplished in Christ, who raises His people to newness of life.

Scripture declares:

• “You were dead in your sins … but God made us alive with Christ” (Eph. 2:1, 5).
   
• “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above” (Col. 3:1).
   
• “I have been crucified with Christ … I now live by faith in the Son of God” (Gal. 2:20).
   
• “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:10).

These images of renewal, resurrection, and restoration are why you and I gather here tonight. This is the heartbeat of Delaware County Christian School.

DC students courageously step into a valley of dry bones–perhaps in their workplaces, perhaps on the mission field, perhaps in some family circles, perhaps in their communities–as Christ’s ambassadors to bring new life to dry, barren, lifeless lands.

Our mission is to educate students who will serve God and impact the world through biblical thought and action. We deliver on that mission through innovative and exemplary education, rooted in Christ and lived out in community.

As we enter our 76th year of Christian education, we carry forward the legacy of those who have gone before us—faithful men and women who invested in the lives of students so they might be equipped for lives of eternal impact. For 76 years, DC has prepared students to step into God’s story, serving Him and shaping the world with the hope of the Gospel.

And the impact of that calling will be, as Paul reminds us, immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine.

Isaiah 54:10 shows the trajectory of redemption:

In Jesus, the valley becomes a vineyard, the divided become a people, and the King reigns forever.

This is our hope. This is our calling. This is our mission.

Amen.

Dan Steinfield
Head of School