Summer Office Hours: Tuesday – Thursdays 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Appointments by Request)
Office hours: Mon-Thu 7:45 AM-4:00 PM | Fri 7:45 AM-2:00 PM
(916) 481-2300
Summer Office Hours: Tuesday – Thursdays 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Appointments by Request)
Office hours: Mon-Thu 7:45 AM-4:00 PM | Fri 7:45 AM-2:00 PM
(916) 481-2300
Day 3 brought three more students to the front of chapel. The theme is Be Real, and each speaker this week has taken that seriously. Today was no different. A fourth grader made the whole school laugh and then made them think. An eighth grader talked about the kind of brokenness that does not just go away. And a sophomore asked a question most students have felt but never said out loud. Research from Barna found that 77 percent of U.S. teens say they are motivated to keep learning about Jesus throughout their lives. At SAA this week, that curiosity is not abstract. It is happening out loud, in front of the whole school, every single day.
| Theme | Be Real: honest with yourself, with others, and with God |
| Day 3 speakers | Zaria (4th grade), Liesl (8th grade), Toby (Sophomore) |
| What connected all three | God meets us where we are, not where we think we are supposed to be |
| Daily practice | Students pause to pray with a partner every day this week |
| Series | Day 3 of 5 days of student-led chapel |
| School year | 2025-2026 |
Zaria was up past midnight reading Wings of Fire. Too good to stop. She knew the next morning would be rough, so she and her little sister snuck into their mom’s bedroom and turned off her alarm. Then they went downstairs and watched TV.
Mom woke up two hours late. No TV for three weeks. And they still had to go to school.
Zaria said the punishment was not the hard part. The guilt was. Her mom was late to work because of her. That stayed with her all day. Her mom forgave her. She still felt bad. That night she asked God to forgive her too.
“As for my little sister, I just think she was glad to get extra TV.”
She pointed to Zacchaeus in Luke 19, a man who had done real wrong, who climbed a tree just to see Jesus, and whom Jesus stopped for anyway.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you mess up or what you do. God will always forgive you, and he loves you even with all your mistakes.”
Liesl has broken two bones. The first was her leg at eight years old. Bike accident at school, parents waited two days to take her in, she spent the start of summer on the couch while everyone else swam outside. Two months later, healed. Cast off. Back to normal.
The second one did not go that way. Sixth grade, a trampoline park, she was just walking off the mat to leave. She tripped, heard a crack, held back tears the whole time she was putting her shoes on. Both bones in her elbow. What followed was years of PT, a surgery to re-break the arm and insert a metal plate, more PT, a second surgery. Still no full extension today.
She matched each break to a Bible story. The first: the prodigal son in Luke 15, where the father runs out to meet his son while he is still far down the road. Fast, complete restoration. The second: David, a man after God’s own heart who made serious mistakes with consequences that rippled for years. He kept coming back. God kept showing up.
Sometimes things heal quickly. Sometimes they do not. Both are real.
“When we can’t always undo our brokenness, we can know that God will always meet us in it.”
Toby opened with the altar call at Leoni Meadows. Saturday night at Freshmore, the speaker invited anyone who wanted to be 100% all in with God to come forward. Friends got up. A circle formed at the front.
Toby stayed in his seat. Not to be different. Not to be too cool. He just could not get behind a version of God that seemed to require giving up part of himself to be accepted.
He went home and asked his parents, both pastors, expecting a very pastorly answer. What he got surprised him.
“Why would God stop you from living? Since when was God the frowny overlord looking down and telling us we have to be perfect?”
He connected the feeling to the parable of the talents in Matthew. The third servant buried what he was given because he had the wrong idea about his boss. Thought he was harsh and demanding, so he hid rather than risk being tied to him. His misunderstanding cost him everything.
“Maybe I have misunderstood who God is.”
“God doesn’t have to be boring. He doesn’t have to be someone you can’t really be yourself around.”
Each day closes the same way. Chapel goes quiet. Students turn to the person next to them and ask one question: is there something I can pray about for you today?
Some lean right in. Some feel awkward. That is fine. The point is not to do it perfectly on day one. The point is to practice it every day this week.
Weeks like this give families a clear picture of what this school actually values. Students are encouraged to be honest, share real stories, and look out for each other.
Visit our Student Life page to see more of what happens on campus, or browse the Articles hub for more stories. Learn about our mission on the About Us page, and when you are ready to see it in person, reach out to Admissions and we will set something up.
Sacramento Adventist Academy is accredited by WASC and the Adventist Accrediting Association. Our mission is to honor God by preparing students for academic success and a lifetime of service.
