2013 Chapel Video

God gave us a redemptive mandate, and there is not reality in which we are here to simply exist. We are a sent people, mandated to establish permanence and invest in the infrastructure of our city. It is to be a long-term commitment intended for the welfare of our city. When we are sent people, our presence will have an impact.

Our cultural narrative is one based on ambition and achievement. God does not rebuke ambition, but he redirects and redefines how this is used in our lives. The description of greatness in the Kingdom of God is best defined as servant-hood. So, in the Kingdom of God we are all called to greatness!

The way we learn to live the way of Jesus is by finding our identity in the one who created us, and learning what it means to trust. Trusting doesn’t mean we don’t doubt or will never have questions. Trust is coming to the place in our relationship with God where we realize that He will have the last word in every situation, and that is always a good thing.

The secret of God’s transformative power is revealed in the life of Jesus Christ. As He dwells in us we think is thoughts, live His life, demonstrate His love, and offer His forgiveness. This mystery is about impartation not imitation. We cannot live this life, but we allow Him to live in us. We offer our hands, hearts and minds and He uses us. Christ in us is the hope of glory, and we reach perfection when we fulfill the purpose for which God created us.

If you could not fail, what would you attempt to do for Jesus? God gives us a vision which is His plan and plants it as a dream in our hearts. Then we set goals, which is a dream with a date. God has made each one of us leaders in regard to the call He has for our life. As you walk in the will of God you are not wasting time, but focused and determined to do everything possible to bring the vision to reality.

Together in community we are much better than when we are apart. We can experience God in context of a group in a unique way. Shared experiences and stories bond us and help us grow together in our spiritual walk.

God made us in His image, but we have in turn made God into our image. Jesus made clear that when we see Him we are seeing the Father. So, our view of Jesus is vitally important. Jesus is both our savior and Lord and sets the agenda for our lives. Clarifying our image of Jesus based on the word of God and His life is critical in our spiritual journey.

God uses the good experiences and bad ones from our past to help shape our future. These experiences equip us to help our brothers. Stir up the gifts God has given you and prepare to serve Him. Don’t offer God anything that costs you nothing. As we are obedient God will fulfill His Word.

Chaplain Holcomb interviews three urban missionaries from Chicago – Kourtney Seaman, Derek Diehl, and Carlos Lonberger. The story of their call to the city and how they are living out the mission is a compelling account of how God is working in everyday settings through lives committed to serving Him.

The kingdom of God is only limited by our obedience to go to the places God calls us to go. Christ chooses to work through us to bring the world His message of light, life and hope.

We have been reconciled with Christ and are His ambassadors to the world. Christ uses instruments, such as a stick in Moses life, or people to accomplish his purposes. What if we were available for His purposes?

Fear can paralyze us from moving forward with God’s plan for our life. In reality we have nothing to fear, because He has promised to be with us through everything he calls us to do. God has not called us to be successful, but He has called us to be faithful.

The 2013 recipient of the Maggie Sloan Crawford Award shared from her passion to be agents of change in a world full of injustice. In her discourse she states that the antidote for despair is action, and behind every manifestation of injustice there is beauty that God created. Our call is to uncover and reclaim the beautiful. In a world full of need we are prompted to ask, “What is mine to do?”

Immediately following the launch of his ministry Jesus ministered to the socially marginalized: a leper, a Gentile, and a mother-in-law. The model is clearly portrayed that when we receive we serve, which in turn results in the pattern repeating for the building of God’s kingdom.

Those who are in Christ are a new creation. When our hearts are in line with God’s we can be who He wants us to be, and are enabled to live in ways that are about His Kingdom, not ours. The process is transformation, not behavior modification. It is a God-thing – a nature change – the old is gone, and the new has come.

Everyone needs a place like Bethany in their life! Jesus found respite among friends in Bethany, because it was a place where expectation allowed miracles to happen. It was also a place of love and acceptance.

Up until the time of John’s ministry, which prepared the way for Jesus, we were subject to the methodology of the old covenant. Jesus Christ represents the new covenant and the Kingdom of God. His love for us calls us into relationship with Him.

Our heavenly Father assumes the responsibility of getting our attention. As we walk in obedience He intervenes and directs our path. If we are listening He is involved in our decisions and direction.

Becoming a part of the Kingdom of God is about responding to His call to become one with Him. Apart from Him we are nothing and not complete. A whole new being is created from the togetherness that takes place when Christ lives in us.

Jesus is God! Jesus emptied himself of all that made him God during his earthly life. He was a man filled with God and sourced with God in the form of the Spirit at the point of baptism. The fullness of the Spirit is an intermingling of our person with God. He saturates our entire being in the New Covenant which is based on a DNA type of relationship with the Heavenly Father.

The power of Jesus Christ is transformation. He offers a complete nature change, which is not something we work for or earn. He offers the complete package of His fullness living in us.

When the Lord is before and within us, He consumes every part of us – our heart, our emotions, and even our physical bodies – to the point that we live lives that are joyful and hopeful.

Jesus Christ proved Pentecost because he was a man. God shows himself through the life of the man Jesus. He was sourced by God to perform miracles, and the signs and wonders always served as a way for Jesus to point us back to the Father.

God shows himself in the man and his death. God is always before us; He is our focus, serves as our guardian, and fights off what distracts us from focusing on Him.

When we look for God we find He has already been looking for us. He invites us into a reconciled relationship with Him and others. Our hearts cannot be broken by the things that break Gods heart .. until we have the heart of God.

After featuring the Spiritual Life groups, a message regarding the hopefulness of the Gospel was shared. God takes our brokenness and makes us new. He is able to recycle our broken lives for His glorious purposes.

Biblical loves transforms us and how we relate to others. This lifestyle of love is a call to living radically and loving radically. Covering the naked, feeding the hungry, giving a drink to the thirsty, welcoming a stranger, and visiting the convict is what we are called to do …. anything else is not the Gospel.

Power is only good when it is used in service of others. We all have been given various levels of power, and Christ trusts us to be His Ambassadors in the world. It is not always “safe” to follow God’s plan … but it is good. We are called to replicate the picture of incarnation … Christ coming to live in and among the world in servant leadership.

What if the hope for the future, that God puts in us, began to shape the reality of the present? What if we allowed God to empower us to live the way He intended … right here … right now … right where we live? What if?

You can come to grips with your true identify in Christ, because of His prevenient grace. He has adopted you; He has redeemed you; You are His child, and He loves you.

In a look back at the past year’s chapel services there is a thread of hope which links our experiences together. Our fall revival speaker captured it well when he spoke of being “a prisoner of hope.” Hope brings life and strengthens faith. Our hope, established in Christ, shapes our vision of the world.

References to fire in the Bible are both a symbol of God’s presence and a sign of God’s gift. In order to keep this gift of God burning, we have to clear away the ashes, add fuel, and offer ourselves as living sacrifices. As the academic year comes to an end, Dr. Bowling exhorts the campus community to keep the presence of God alive in our lives, and as we go… to fan the flame.

A look at the story of the rich, young ruler reveals the wisdom of asking good questions, having the right attitude, and making good choices. Great scholarship can be achieved by applying these nuggets of wisdom in our approach to academic.

From the story of the women caught in sin, we learn that Jesus’ doodling in the sand was a secondary activity to focus the primary one: hearing from God, on the spot. With incisive wisdom, Jesus turned the trap into deliverance for the woman. Our heavenly father is available to speak to us in real time so that we can meet the challenges of culture and draw lines in the sand.

As a result of a four-year education at Olivet, a student ends up with more than a diploma. Defining moments which impact lives, do not show up on transcripts; But by embracing opportunities for growth a life can be changed for eternity. Someone’s life depends on our preparation both professionally and spiritually speaking.

Fifteen teams of students traversed the globe last summer and over spring break this year on mission trips. Stories from these trips are shared through testimony and pictures with the exhortation to “Bring On The Kingdom!”

In regard to Jesus Christ, our answer to the question, “Who do you say that I am?,” shapes every decision we make. The issues of social drinking should be processed through the context of this question as well. We should involve Christ in all of our decisions; and realize the impact that our decisions have on others.

Rev. Schwarcz is a Messianic Jew with keen insight regarding the significance of each element of the Passover meal. The traditional Jewish ceremony and each element points directly to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The thread of the redemption story is woven throughout the scriptures and history.

Legendary songwriter, Bill Gaither, shares about the lifestyle of generosity being incorporated into the spiritual journey. Generosity begins in a heart of gratefulness and is used in the kingdom of God to accomplish His purposes.

Embedded in the story about Jesus healing the paralyzed man, is the story of true friendship. In Christian community friendship is defined by not turning away, by gathering around the needy, by confronting destructive ways, and not being afraid to speak up. Our friends lives may depend upon our acts of friendship toward them.

Our savior walked before us and knows our pain and suffering. We do not journey alone, because He in on the journey with us. We walk in the shadow of the cross which emanates from the Light of our heavenly Father.

God and the trinity can best be described tonally - the harmony of three notes filling the space of silence. The spiritual discipline of silence is often neglected, but in actuality is the incubator of the soul, and best eco-system for spiritual growth. God is always present and available, we just need to create space in our world for silence so we can hear Him and he can speak into our lives.