Cedarville Magazine, Spring 2019

requirement.” Chapel must be more than a requirement: It must be a respite for our souls. Chapel should be a spiritually refreshing time of nourishment. A time where intellectually gifted people gather to corporately confess in humility that we desperately need Jesus. Anything done in the name of Christ must be done with excellence. This especially applies to chapel. A highly passionate team uses its gifts to prepare inspirational opportunities for students to encounter God. FALL BIBLE CONFERENCE AND MISSIONS CONFERENCE We begin each semester with a focused time of worship. The academic year begins with Fall Bible Conference. We invite incredible Bible teachers who are passionate about the Gospel to speak to our students during morning and evening sessions during the first four days of the academic year. This time together helps our students center their lives on Christ to prepare for spiritual growth throughout the semester. We use this time together to present the Gospel and offer an invitation. Even though all students write out their testimony as part of their admissions application, we regularly see 30 or more students confess Christ during Fall Bible Conference, and one year the number was in the 70s. The excitement of seeing God move creates contagious momentum, propelling us into the semester. The students break for Christmas and then return at the beginning of the calendar year. We take this opportunity to host more than 100 missionaries representing about 50 different agencies to challenge our students to consider how they can be on mission for God in their given vocation. This time together also allows us to recalibrate our lives as we seek to make the most of the spring semester. Fall Bible Conference and Missions Conference implement our motto, “for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ,” by focusing our attention on Scripture and the Great Commission. WORSHIP THROUGH MUSIC There are times when we deviate from the norm for the sake of variety or when we intentionally showcase the talents of our students during chapel. Yet typically when we come together, you can count on the focus being congregational singing that focuses our attention on God. We try to follow these rules: 1. Our music must be theologically accurate. 2. God must be the focus of worship — vertical rather than horizontal worship. 3. For the congregation to sing well, we must be able to hear ourselves and have songs that we can sing. 4. We recognize that the Word is central and use the music to prepare hearts to hear the Word preached. We have incredibly talented musicians who lead with excellence and understand the necessity of focusing all the attention toward God and not toward earthly talents. WORSHIP THROUGH THE WORD We desire text-driven messages in chapel. We want the preacher to study the Word so that he understands it well. Then he should peel the orange, exposing the juicy fruit of the Word as the audience enjoys its sweetness. 2 Timothy 3:16–17 teaches that God inspired His Word, and 2 Timothy 4:2 gives us the proper application of this truth as Paul writes, “Preach the word.” The Word must be our focus. No matter how creative we try to be, no one can say it better than God. No matter how