2010 Chapel Video

The Prodigal God - He is extravagantly generous in His response and takes the initiative to find us. God comes running to find us, and at Advent he stepped into history. God us with us.

From Luke 2:1-4. There is hope in the incarnation. The campus community was reminded of this hope as they shared communion together.

Quirinius, a seemingly unimportant player in the Christmas story, was merely a parenthetical interruption in the book of Luke, to indicate a time in history when not much else was going on.

The story of the birth of Jesus is remarkably peculiar. The critical role of Mary highlights the strangeness of God's choice, and the positive message that choice suggests to us.

Many of us have a photographic memory of our lives, seeing only ourselves, but not the father. The prophetess Anna recognized Jesus and (through him) saw the father. Will we recognize him?

Christ loves us and chose us. Do you love Jesus? Do you need a second chance? Do you need to give someone in your life a second chance?

We cannot live in disobedience to God's will and live victorious lives. It is possible to run from God and still stay home, like the prodigal son's brother. Being good is not enough, we must make peace with God and then build our Ebenezer of remembrance.

God calls us to insane and radical obedience by placing lions in our path to conquer as in he did in Benaiah. These opportunities set the trajectory of our life in the direction of God's plan.

There are four critical life decisions that are important preparation for marriage. Make peace with your loved ones, make peace with your past, let go, and let God.

In regard to preparing for marriage there are three key life disciplines that are important. Get into the word, get in community with believers, and get in the practice of prayer.

Preparing for marriage is vitally important. In the process of preparation there are three critical life lessons. Learn contentment, learn to trust God, and learn to discern.

The journey to understanding our true identity in Christ, and our Secret Name is to repent of the name, renounce the name, and replace the name with the name our Heavenly Father has for us.

Through candid disclosure, Kary discussed personal identity struggles and addictions. His redemption came as a process of understanding the love of our Heavenly Father, and recognizing the lies of Satan

We all have at least three names: A birth name, a given name, and our secret name from God. We tend to believe lies about our heavenly Father and about ourselves, but God wants to set us free so we can find our true identity in Him.

God wants to empower us, but first we have to be forgiving people and deal with our fears. As God empowers us, we are also to empower others. We may be the only Bible people read.

Before we are called to go, we are called by God to sit in His presence. Once we submit to the process of being cleaned and changed we can go with God, and change the world one person at a time.

Our indescribable God wants us to passionately choose to follow Him. All He has is available to us, just like it was for the brother of the prodigal son. We can choose to embrace all that is available from out heavenly Father today.

From Nehemiah 2:17. We need to be zealous about the vision to rebuild in areas God has given us, just as Baruch approached his task in Nehemiah. "If you have not found something to die for, you have not found a reason to life."

From James 1:27. Scott shares from his experience of ministering to the homeless in Skid Row in the inter-city of Los Angles.

Most often, Satan will tempt you by glamorizing sin; yet his motive is always to kill and destroy. So keep your cage clean. As the apostle Paul told Timothy, live with a pure heart and clear conscious.

Rather than always wanting the spectacular, our focus on Jesus should be toward obedience. If we ask the right questions, we will get the answers we are looking for.

The blind man's plea for help identifies first of all his recognition of Jesus as Lord. Jesus' response to "bring him here" teaches us of his desire to become one with us. We surrender our lives to Him and He transforms out heart.

Truthfulness to God awakens the sleeping giant of forgiveness, which then leads to a life of freedom and the renewing of your mind.

The tough answer to the question of why the world is not turning to Christ is rooted in the reality that Christians lack the ability to engage in an intimate and personal relationship with God and others.

From Matthew 4:32 and 9:35. We need a Jesus Church, Jesus University, and a Jesus revival. So, what did Jesus do? He shares about his own miraculous healing, and communicates that God is able to heal us through anointing.

From Galations 2:20 and Romans 12:1. Surrendering ourselves fully to God's plan for our lives is the path to true freedom and peace.

From James 4:13-14. We are not all equal, except in one regard. Everyone has only one life to live. How are we living out the "dash" in our lives?

2010 Revival services on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University.

2010 revival services on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University.

2010 Revival services on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University.

The Dad in the Prodigal Son story is a clear picture of our Heavenly Father. As a father gently teaches a child to walk - celebrating the victories, and picking the child up when falls happen - our Heavenly Father engages with us on our spiritual journey.

A glance back at how David was anointed as king of Israel reminds us that God looks at the heart. Our heavenly father wants authenticity over appearance.

Using the illustration of four chairs, Rev. Britton describes four conditions of the heart. If we love Jesus, we will obey with a willing heart. It is for this freedom that Christ died to set us free.

Introductions of the Spiritual Life council are made and each spiritual life group featured. Student Vice President for Spiritual Life - Jordan Bergren - shared about the Biblical mandate and importance of worship and prayer.

From Luke 15. God the Father has Prodigal Love that is unconditional, unwavering, unrelenting, reckless, and extravagant. Our loving Father provides an open mind, open arms, and open heart to us.

From Luke 15. The choices made by the two sons described in the Prodigal son story leads us to ask if there is a third, better way. The good news is: Yes, there is a better way.

From Luke 15:17. The foundation for the semester theme, of focusing on heart issues, is introduced. By means of clear imagery, Dr. Bowling communicates truths from the story of the Prodigal son - a story in which we can easily recognize ourselves.

To frame his message for the final chapel of the semester, Rev. Holcomb read the Dr. Suess book entitled, "Oh, The Places You Will Go!" We do not know where this life will take us, but we can be certain that wherever we go, God will be there.

Dr. Bowling challenges students to press on no matter what circumstances come. It is at those moments when life becomes most difficult, that God's grace becomes most apparent. By faith we must forget what is behind - focus on the future - and press on.

The seniors of the graduating class of 2010 provided the music and testimonies for this special chapel service. Class President Dustin Hogan and the senior student leadership created this meaningful time for their underclassmen.

From James 2:15-16 and Philippians 2:3, Mike shares from his experience in visiting third-world countries about how we are called to love, since we have been loved.

From Mark 8:35-36. Mike shares his testimony of how active love convinced him of the reality of Christ.