For about a month now, the chapel team has focused on the topic of forgiveness. We started this series with a visit from a man named Mike Flory. Mike shared his story of hardship, depression, and redemption with us. But the message he really wanted to share was that God is a God of love and forgiveness. Mike was able to turn his life around when God finally convinced him that he was loved by God and that God had a good future for him. So in light of God's forgiveness, Mike forgave himself and in time Mike was able to forgive his grandpa who had caused the terrible suffering in Mike's life.
From Mike's talk, then, our chapel team focused on these ideas: God's overwhelming forgiveness, the joy that we have when we are forgiven by God, and learning to forgive ourselves so that we may forgive others.
The first student-led chapel in this series centered on the love of God and the forgiveness we have received through the loving death of Jesus Christ. The leaders encouraged the students to write down on a note card anything that they might be holding on to for which they needed to ask God's forgiveness. Then the students were directed to let this note card go as a symbol of giving over their sin to God and receiving His forgiveness.
The next chapel was a song and worship chapel. The leaders chose songs that were upbeat and joyful. They led the students in a time of celebration and gladness, remembering the work that God accomplished on our behalf at the cross and the empty tomb.
The third student-led chapel demonstrated the importance of forgiving ourselves just as in Christ God forgave us. One student shared part of her story about striving to attain perfection and realizing the impossibility of such a goal. This reality sent her into a depression. God finally got a hold of her and showed her that she had already attained perfection in His eyes through the justification and reconciliation brought about by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now she strives to please God in everything that she does, knowing that by faith this goal is possible.
So through this series we have seen the truth of two of Christ's teachings: God loved the world so much that He gave us His only Son (John 3:16) and that this gift from the Father was purposed to bring us life to the full so that our joy may be complete (John 10:10, 15:11).
From Mike's talk, then, our chapel team focused on these ideas: God's overwhelming forgiveness, the joy that we have when we are forgiven by God, and learning to forgive ourselves so that we may forgive others.
The first student-led chapel in this series centered on the love of God and the forgiveness we have received through the loving death of Jesus Christ. The leaders encouraged the students to write down on a note card anything that they might be holding on to for which they needed to ask God's forgiveness. Then the students were directed to let this note card go as a symbol of giving over their sin to God and receiving His forgiveness.
The next chapel was a song and worship chapel. The leaders chose songs that were upbeat and joyful. They led the students in a time of celebration and gladness, remembering the work that God accomplished on our behalf at the cross and the empty tomb.
The third student-led chapel demonstrated the importance of forgiving ourselves just as in Christ God forgave us. One student shared part of her story about striving to attain perfection and realizing the impossibility of such a goal. This reality sent her into a depression. God finally got a hold of her and showed her that she had already attained perfection in His eyes through the justification and reconciliation brought about by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now she strives to please God in everything that she does, knowing that by faith this goal is possible.
So through this series we have seen the truth of two of Christ's teachings: God loved the world so much that He gave us His only Son (John 3:16) and that this gift from the Father was purposed to bring us life to the full so that our joy may be complete (John 10:10, 15:11).