Chapel Devotion Guide - Second Semester

CHAPEL 2023-24

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VOLUME 2

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GOALHEARTED One of the best ways to accomplish anything in life is to know what you’re aiming at. In Hebrews 12 we’re instructed to, “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith” because pursuing a deeper relationship with Him is the highest and most essential pursuit of our lives. As we seek to become Wholehearted, let us submit our will to His as we learn to follow His way.

CHAPEL

2023-24

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Change of Heart One of the great challenges we face in achieving our goals is inconsistency. Here’s the pattern: you lay out a good goal. “I’m going to work out!” “I’m going to do better in math.” “I’m going to spend less time on social media.”

Then you start with great momentum. Somewhere along the way, however, you miss a workout. Maybe you got injured and had to take a break, maybe you stayed out too late and couldn’t get up, or maybe something more enticing distracted you. Whatever the reason, now your perfect streak is an inconsistent one, the beginning of the end - it’s so much easier to stop altogether once you’ve practiced stopping once.

You start by getting all your homework done for math and a couple weeks later you’ve reverted to your old habits.

You deleted Snapchat and Instagram, but then a friend told you a story and you just had to see, so you reinstalled them…the beginning of the end!

This is true in our spiritual pursuits as well. You might come back from a beautiful Christmas service with a strong desire to be closer to God. You start praying every day and commit to being in church more. You make it a week, two weeks, a month, but inevitably something happens.

In Galatians 5:7 Paul asks what we wonder about ourselves in these situations, “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?”

James Clear wrote a book called Atomic Habits, in which he describes an important step of developing a habit being not action, but belief. He says, “Good habits can make rational sense but if they conflict with your identity, you’ll

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fail to put them into action.” His implication is clear, make the habit you’re hoping to build a matter of identity and you’ll be much more likely to succeed.

I think James Clear plagiarized Jesus whose entire sermon on the mount makes this point very clear (no pun intended…). Jesus made a series of statements like this, “you’ve heard that it was said, you should not murder, but I tell you, don’t hate…” (Matthew 5:21). Jesus is trying to help us see that obedience in God’s kingdom is first and foremost about a change of heart.

Jesus and James are saying the same thing, it’s not about what we do as much as it’s about what we believe. To change our habits, we first need a change of heart.

Perhaps before you finalize your goals for this year, consider what you believe. Maybe you’ve never been able to sustain a consistent pursuit of physical health because you really don’t believe the sacrifice is worth it. Maybe you struggle in math because you really don’t believe you need it. Maybe you don’t prioritize God and live in a way that honors Him because you really don’t believe He loves you.

Consider Paul’s words in Romans 10:9-10, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

In your goals this year, pursue a change of heart and your habits will follow. #goalhearted

VERSES: Galatians 5:7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?

Romans 10:9-10 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

PRAYER:

God, we are limited. We try to do good things; we try not to do bad things and we struggle with inconsistency. This tempts us to feel alone, isolated, and vulnerable. We’re tempted to think that you don’t care and that leads to disastrous results. So, we confess what you said and choose to believe it. You said you will never leave us or forsake us thank you this is true. You said that you formed us in your image in our mother’s womb and you counted the hairs on our head, thank you this is true. You said you are a good father who gives good gifts to us, thank you, this is true. Thank you, God, for loving us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Do you think it is valuable to make goals for yourself? Talk about a goal you’ve made before and how it turned out.

2. Using personal fitness as an example, why do you, or people in general struggle to maintain their fitness goals?

3. What do you think about the idea that beliefs drive behavior? Think of an example in your life where something you believed caused you to behave a certain way.

4. A. W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Take a moment to reflect on God. Write out a few words that describe who He is to you.

5. C. S. Lewis disagrees strongly with Tozer’s idea and says, “How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important.” Of what you know about God from Scripture, what does God say about us? Take a minute to write out how God thinks of you.

CHAPEL

2023-24

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GOALHEARTED

Heart Rate Monitor I got frustrated the other day after realizing that I’d forgotten to turn on Strava before the three-mile walk I’d just finished. I said out loud in frustration, “I don’t get credit if it’s not tracked!” The people I was with laughed at me, rightfully so.

On the other hand, I find that tracking metrics like distance, speed, or reps is an essential part of building and maintaining an effective fitness plan. And when I look back on my week, it helps me to stay more consistent if I’ve tracked what I’ve done. For me, I don’t know if I’m pushing myself to an appropriate stress level if I don’t know how far, how fast, or how many I did last time.

A few years ago, I was training for a big race and picked up a book I thought might be helpful called The Triathletes Training Bible, by Joe Friel. You’ll need to read the book to get accurate technical details, but here’s one of the things I took away from it: to build endurance you need to maintain peak exertion over a set distance largely independent of time. And central to all his biometrics is an accurate heart rate.

If you walk three miles and your heart rate never picks up, then you can say you had a nice stroll. You can celebrate that you were active, and perhaps the casual walk is significantly better than sitting in a desk chair with respect to overall health choices, so it is an unequivocal success!

On the other hand, if you walk three miles today and your heart rate skyrockets – your Apple Watch, Fitbit, Garmin, Vital or whatever, reads 152 bpms, that is an entirely different story! You are working hard, and your body is telling you through your heartrate that it is responding to accommodate the effort.

The Bible gives us similar advice about our spiritual fitness.

Hebrews 12:1-3 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

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For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

If we do not exercise our physical hearts we will get out-of-breath walking up the stairs. In our spiritual lives, however, we grow weary and lose heart when we don’t walk with Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 speaks straight to this tension as well, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

There is a helpful parallel between caring for our bodies and caring for our souls, both require paying attention to crucial signs. Perhaps you’ve gotten to the top of a hill and bending over breathing hard have said, “Man, I’m out of shape!” Your heart’s telling you to move more. On the other hand, maybe you hadn’t made the connection yet that when you’re crippled with anxiety and worry, or overcome with anger, or fear, or lust that these are signs too; signs that you need to walk more with Jesus. Present your requests to Him, consider His sacrifice for you on the cross and strengthen your heart for the journey of faith.

If you’re going to work out, it might help to pay attention to your heart rate, it’s a helpful metric to let you know how you’re doing. And, as you continue walking with Jesus, keep tabs on the condition of your heart. The more you walk with Him the better conditioned you’ll be to face the stress of life. The goal is not to eliminate tensions (that’s not possible, really) but to build strength. So, grab a heart rate monitor and let’s go. #goalhearted

VERSES: Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 46:10 He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’

PRAYER:

Jesus, you are the only one who truly knows the condition of our heart. There are so many things that pass through our minds and bodies that do not honor you. Yet, despite our sinfulness, despite our worries, anxieties, and fears, you love us unconditionally and desire to walk with us to keep us from losing heart. Give us a vision of your love and goodness that we might see you and your sacrifice and be strengthened by it. In Your name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Describe your experience training for a sport or sporting event. What are the things you look for in helping you track your progress?

2. What do you love about training and what do you find difficult or frustrating about it?

3. How has your heart rate factored in as an important metric in tracking your fitness goals?

4. In Hebrews 12:3 we discover that not considering Jesus causes us to grow weary and lose heart. Talk about a time you’ve been comforted by your relationship with Jesus during a difficult struggle.

5. Would you describe your walk with Jesus as similar to, or different from the kind of consistent discipline required to train physically?

(Or learn a language, or get good at an instrument, etc.…). What could you start doing today to “get in better shape spiritually?”

CHAPEL

2023-24

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1.21

GOALHEARTED

The Best Cardio I think if you ask ten people what the best cardio exercise is you will get 10 different answers, and you might get a lot more information than you bargained for. In fact, I typed, “The best cardio” into Google to see what might come up and there was an endless list of options. Of course, that’s because there are endless ways to get your body moving and your heart pumping. It also depends on your goals, if you want to lose weight that’s very different from if you’re trying to build muscle while decreasing your BMI. There is, after all, a wide gap between HIIT and dance classes, but both activities will get your heart pumping, both are great cardio options. You can swim, run, do burpees, row, jump rope, get a membership in a climbing gym, walk around your block briskly, or go to bootcamp to join the Marines. Every one of these activities will get your heart pumping and will benefit you physically.

But with all our focus on health, fitness, and physique, have we forgotten that our hearts are more than a muscle?

Have you ever been startled by something and discovered that your heart was racing? Have you ever held your breath and found after a little while that your heart was pounding in your ears? Have you ever had a near miss in traffic and experienced that flood of adrenaline and struggled to “calm your nerves.”

Your physical heart is connected to your emotions, thoughts, relationships, successes and failures, fears, and hormones. Your heart beats like you’d just done ten burpees even while you’re sitting on a roller coaster or laid back in a soft chair in a movie theater.

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Considering all of this, I think we need to aim a little deeper when considering the question, “What’s the best cardio?”

If you strengthen the muscle of your heart so you can run a marathon, but you never deal with the strife at home, you won’t have peace. Maybe you can sprint to the top of the stadium steps ten times in a row without slacking your pace, but how does your heart do when it’s rejected by your best friend? Perhaps you’ve had success trimming the inches on your waistline, but do you trust God with your finances, safety, and future?

In the end, our physical hearts will grow weak, they’re not designed to beat forever. Our souls, however, will live into eternity.

When Jesus was preparing His disciples for the time that He would no longer be with them, He gave them a goal for their hearts, i.e., He gave them the best cardio plan. In John 14:27 He says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

The best cardio is not the activity that only strengthens the muscle, it must include the things that will address the soul.

Peace cannot be trained; it must come through trust. Train physically! It’s important. We cannot accomplish all God would have us do if our hearts aren’t healthy, but in training your body, don’t neglect your soul. #goalhearted

VERSES: John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 37:5-6 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.

PRAYER: Jesus, in your gracious foreknowledge and wisdom, you saw fit to leave us with the Holy Spirit who would know how to give us the peace we so desperately need in the difficult situations we face. Thank you! Help us trust you with our whole hearts that we might have peace. In your name we pray, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. In your opinion, what’s the best cardio exercise? (Activity: have everyone find their pulse and take their heart rate - time them for 15 seconds while they count their heart beats. They can multiply their result by 4. Then have them do 15 jumping jacks and do it again.)

2. Tell a story about a time you were startled or stressed, and your heart rate skyrocketed immediately.

3. Describe peace. What would peace look like in these scenarios: 1) Going into surgery 2) Getting into a car accident 3) Struggling financially 4) Facing rejection from friends/loved ones 4. Jesus promises that He will leave us His peace through the Holy Spirit.

Describe a difficult situation Jesus faced and how He responded with peace.

5. Is it possible for communities of people to have peace if the individuals in those communities do not have peace within themselves?

CHAPEL

2023-24

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HOPEFULLY DEVOTED There is a pervasive brokenness that plagues all of our relationships that are not rooted in Christ. How do we build healthy and sustaining friendships?

How do we know when to open up our hearts to others and when to protect ourselves with appropriate and healthy boundaries. How do we love our future spouse God’s way and how do we make decisions today to set ourselves up for that preferred future? God’s word answers these questions. And it is the person who lives their life in wholehearted devotion to God who benefits most from God’s blessing in relationships.

CHAPEL

2023-24

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Besties What makes someone your bestie? Common interests?

Similar outlooks on life? Your families have been friends your whole lives? Trust? Or maybe it’s something less innocent like peer pressure, proximity, or guilt. There are a lot of complicated reasons why we choose to spend time with people; why we might throw around a term like bestie.

Relationships are central to most everything we do and think about. From the moment we’re born and look up to our parents, and every day after, our lives are filled with relationships. We are bound to each other, for better or worse. Because of this it is important to formulate our beliefs about relationships. How we think about what we want from others and, how we think about our responsibilities to them. And where do we turn to formulate these beliefs?

I think most of us would say that what we want from our bestie is to be acknowledged. To be seen, known, understood, loved, accepted, treated justly and kindly etc.

But, unfortunately, even with our friends, this is often not the case.You get (or at least feel) rejected. You must navigate complicated situations where being associated with one person gets you in trouble with another. Loyalties shift, interests wane, tensions arise, people change. Perhaps, this catches us off guard because it’s not what’s presented on social media feeds, movies, and music. Even though the closing scene of Grease shows Sandy and Danny riding into the sunset like everything is going to work out, we all know that the drama will continue tomorrow, it always does.

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We need a better foundation. One that will stand up under the friction and pressure of real relationships. In 1 Peter 5:56 Paul says this, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

In Philippians 2:3-4 he adds this, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

The way we become a community that lifts each other up and carries each other’s burdens is through humility. It is easy to find fault in the person who hurt you but in humility we recognize that we have hurt others. It is easy to place blame and give in to anger, but in humility we recognize that we are guilty. It is easy to withdraw and isolate ourselves from others in defense, but with humility we can step forward in love and confront difficult situations.

As you’re building your relationships and navigating the dynamics of being in community with others, consider flipping your mindset. Rather than trying to find your bestie, work to become the kind of person someone would be blessed to have as their bestie.

VERSES: 1 Peter 5:5-6 All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 133:1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

PRAYER: Jesus, you describe yourself in Scripture as a friend to sinners. You make it clear that you are available for us in any and every situation and that we can turn to you in prayer and expect to be seen, known, and loved unconditionally. You truly are everything we constantly search for and expect from others. Teach us to know you this way. Reveal yourself as a friend. In your name we pray, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What is something you really love about your bestie?

2. Talk about someone you’ve known for a long time that just “gets you.” What about them leaves you feeling known and understood?

3. In what ways are you the kind of person that others love knowing? In what ways would you like to be better as a friend?

4. What is humility to you? C. S. Lewis says humility is not, “thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”

What do you think about that?

5. Do you think it is possible to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vein conceit?”

What role does your relationship with God play in your everyday relationships?

In your relationship with your bestie?

CHAPEL

2023-24

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GOALHEARTED

Soulmates Have you ever met someone and after a brief interaction felt like you’d known them for years? Maybe they love the same sports or have read the same books. Maybe you found out some little things you have in common like playing dungeons and dragons or playing pranks on others. Maybe you share a birthday, or your families come from the same country or hometown or neighborhood. When you meet someone like this, there is an instant connection, like you’ve found a long-lost sibling. You might call a person like this your soulmate.

There is something profound and powerful about being with someone you can relate to and connect with at this level. Being known and understood is a deep, deep desire of our heart and a person like this often leaves us feeling known and loved. Do you have a soulmate?

I think there is a romanticized idea floating around saying there is a soulmate out there for all of us. But is that a realistic idea? We’ve all stood in grocery store checkout lines to see the tabloid covers advertising the latest breakups and dramas playing out between famous people who just a year ago had been labeled as soulmates.

What’s going on here? Who’s lying to us and what’s their aim? For the tabloid editors the motive seems clear, to sell magazines and make money. Maybe it’s easy to dismiss their use of soulmate to make a buck. But what do we do about our own genuine experience of betrayal, our wounds, and the times we’ve been abandoned by those we at one time thought of as soulmates?

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We carry with us a deep and gnawing need to be understood and loved. No person will ever meet that need. No person will ever truly understand and care for your soul.

Your heart is a mystery even to yourself, how could someone else unravel it?

Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Can we really trust God like this? We have certainly attempted to trust others, and most, if not all of us, are familiar with the disappointment and pain of being let down by those we’ve trusted.

I would challenge you to take the risk with God. Read through the entirety of Psalm 139. It describes God’s complete and intimate knowledge of everything about us, yet the psalmist does not recoil from this intimate knowledge, instead, right in the middle he says, “I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

God knows our hearts. He knows every corner of our soul and He desires that we would invite Him in to share our lives with Him. You may be blessed with some people who know you fully and love you the best they can, but know one can love you like God, He is the ultimate soul mate.

VERSES: Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

PRAYER: God, you know us perfectly. You made us and there is nothing we can do and no where we can go that would change your perfect knowledge of who we are. Yet, you have made provision for us to have a relationship with you through Jesus and through Him we are perfectly known and loved.

Thank you for your grace. Thank you for making a way for us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Talk about someone in your life who shares something in common with you and when you’re with them it always comes up.

2. Talk about someone who is a soulmate in your life. What about them causes you to feel close to them?

3. Why do you think that people fall out of relationship with each other? What can be done to fix this between people?

4. What is the human soul?

5. God knows us completely and when we abide in Him, we experience His perfect love and acceptance. Talk about a moment you’ve experienced this kind of love from Him.

CHAPEL

2023-24

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The One The formula for building a satisfying and life-long marriage does not primarily hinge on picking the right person.

If that sentence causes you to bristle a little, I get it. It directly contradicts a popular idea about relationships that suggests there is someone out there who perfectly “fits” you, and all you need to do is find them and you will know, “They’re the one.” We all long for a, ‘happily ever after,’ and it would be awesome if it could simply be found. This romantic idea makes for a touching movie plot, and maybe a sentimental anniversary card, but it is not biblical; it is not even realistic.

Here are some statistics about marriages in the U.S.: 41% of first marriages in the U.S. end in divorce. For second marriages it’s 60% and 73% of third marriages end in divorce. And yet, no one shows up at the altar to get married because they’re hoping to suffer a lot of pain! What’s going on here? Most of us have been deeply affected by broken marriages. It is painful, disruptive, and costly on every level.

Here’s the sobering reality: you cannot enter the most important human relationship you will ever have with a short-term, shallow, romantic, fleeting, ideological sentiment. And you cannot experiment with sex and sexuality, the glue that is intended to hold this most central relationship together, without consequences. It’s going to take everything you and your future spouse have to make it work, and it will still be hard. The Bible does not pull any punches on describing the level of commitment required in marriage.

Genesis 2:24 says, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

You cannot get anymore committed than, “one flesh.”

Jesus was asked about marriage and divorce, in Matthew 19:29, here’s what He said, “Some Pharisees came to test Him. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” they inquired. “What did Moses command you?” He replied. They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason,

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a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

So, what can we take from Jesus’ teaching about the answer to our issues in marriage and intimacy, i.e., what is the thing that a satisfying, life-long marriage primarily hinges on? Well, it is NOT some squishy idea about finding the one. All human relationships and interactions have the potential to be enriching, fulfilling, enlightening, fun, challenging, satisfying etc. The thing that moves any relationship in this direction is commitment! This is most essentially true in marriage where we take it all the way to the level of a spiritual covenant with vows and everything.

I have spent countless hours as a pastor meeting with people whose lives were shattered over pain and brokenness in their marriages. Many of them ended in brokenness, some only came after the fact looking for help and healing. But there were some who pushed through, got counseling, did the hard work of changing, letting go of bitterness and resentment, and making it work. You might want to argue that some people shouldn’t stay together, and that’s true, but that doesn’t make it good, and it doesn’t eliminate the pain. It is because of the hardness of our hearts that we must make these kinds of difficult decisions.

What I learned from all this time listening to others is that relationships are hard. And building a lasting and satisfying marriage takes effort, perhaps the greatest and most wholehearted effort you will give to anything in your entire life. You cannot expect to succeed in a marriage without throwing your entire self into it.

But the opposite is also true, there is nothing more fulfilling than the reward that comes from a lifelong commitment to love and self-sacrifice. We know it when we see that old, still-in-love couple walking together down the beach after 70 years; the greatest rewards come to those who put the time in and do it right!

Don’t settle for quick and cheap – put in the work, and get the best life has to offer!

VERSES: Genesis 2:24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Matthew 19:2-6 Some Pharisees came to test Him. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” they inquired. “What did Moses command you?” He replied. They answered, “Moses permitted a man to write his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away.

But Jesus told them, “Moses wrote this commandment for you because of your hardness of heart. However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’

‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

PRAYER: Jesus, we suffer so much pain and suffering in the context of relationships. Give us wisdom in a relationship with others.

Most importantly, give us grace and wisdom to become the kind of person who can sustain a meaningful relationship with a future spouse. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What are the most important attributes you want in a potential spouse?

2. What are the things you respect about their relationship?

3. How have you been affected by broken relationships in your life? What are some of the things you feel contributed to those relationships falling apart?

4. Why do you think relationships are so difficult to do well?

5. Do you believe that making a lifelong commitment to someone is good?

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HOLE-HEARTED We have a sin problem. There is a hole in each of our lives that leaves us broken and longing for a better way. As we prepare for Easter, the time of year when we remember that Jesus was killed so that we would not need to suffer the consequences of our sin, let us not enter into it lightly. The anecdote to our Hole-heartedness is to look to the cross and trust in Jesus wholeheartedly.

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The Tree There seems to be something wrong with our hearts (that is, our will, motivations, thoughts, and decision-making centers). This shows up in our life all the time. For example, we struggle to follow through, even when it’s something we want to do. Then when we give it our best effort, we often fall short. We love things we shouldn’t and resist things that are good. We get angry, tired, distracted, bored and then instead of taking ownership and doing better, we blame, get bitter and resentful and multiply hurt to ourselves and others. The Bible calls this sin, and we all must deal with its effects!

Instead of being wholehearted we are Hole-hearted.

The Bible gives us a helpful image to understand both the problem and the solution to our hole-heartedness; “the tree.”

Consider how the image of a tree works its way through Scripture, there are no wasted words in the Bible.

There was a tree planted in the garden of Eden. In Genesis 2:17 it says, “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” The obvious question you might want to ask is, “Why did God put it there?” It’s a good question! But be careful, asking it can quickly become a way blame God for our behavior. Here’s another question to ask, after God made the consequences so clear, why did Adam and Eve do exactly what He told them not to? Why do we?

There are many times in our lives that we know full well the consequences of the decisions we’re about to make. We’ve made the same decision before and suffered the same way every time. Yet, when faced with the decision again, we ignore the consequences and do it anyway. Then we get mad at God and others for putting the “tree” there.

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Maybe, we think, God could have created a world where we didn’t have to deal with the tree, but that would mean we didn’t have free will, is that better? Choosing good because it’s the only option is not goodness. And, not choosing badness because it doesn’t exist isn’t goodness either. The only way to have genuine goodness is to have the option for evil and choose good anyway. God’s decision to give us free will is the only way to experience the fullness of His goodness, and that means there’s got to be a tree to reject.

So, what do we do about the tree? Well, we don’t do anything! God does something about the tree. Consider Acts 5:30 which says, “The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead-Whom you killed by hanging Him on a cross (a tree).” It’s no accident that the problem of sin that started on a tree in the garden of Eden, is resolved by Jesus on another tree at Golgotha.

At the end of Genesis God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden saying in Genesis 3:22, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever.” In that profound act of Grace God left us with free will and gave us time so we could discover Jesus.

Look to the cross of Jesus and receive eternal life this Easter and become like the final tree described in Psalm 1:1-3, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”

VERSES: Genesis 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.

Acts 5:30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.

Genesis 3:22 The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

PRAYER: Jesus, we believe that the Bible is true and that everything we need to know you is available to us through your word.

Give us wisdom as we seek you to know and experience your goodness. Help us turn from sin and trust in your work on the cross. That we may know you and the power of your resurrection. In Your name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Why do you think we have a hard time doing what we know is right and/or not doing what we know is wrong?

2. Can genuine love be forced or coerced? What about Joy, trust, kindness, justice? Why do you think that is?

3. The Bible puts a tree in the Garden of Eden at the beginning when humanity fell, and there is a tree (a cross) for Jesus to die on at the point where He is bringing in a new beginning. Why do you think God did it like this?

4. What do you think about this idea: We took death (sin) from a living tree, Jesus took life (resurrection) from a dead tree.

5. Talk about the idea that Jesus died on a cross for our sins considering the connection this discussion makes between Jesus’ cross and the tree in the Garden of Eden.

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The Garden Last week we discussed our hearts (our will, motivations, thoughts, and decision-making center). We do the things we don’t want to do and don’t do the things we should do. The Bible calls this sin, and we all must deal with its affects in our lives. Instead of being Wholehearted, we are Hole-hearted. Then we looked at the problem and the solution using the image of “the tree.” This week we want to look at our Hole-heartedness through a different lens, that of “the garden.”

though they lacked nothing, they felt something was missing. The hole in their heart caused them to exert their will and take what was not theirs even in a place where they had no need. This one act introduced sin to all of humanity.

There are certain places we find ourselves (or put ourselves) that make doing the right thing much more difficult. There are also certain places where the possibility of something bad happening is much more likely, like South Beach after dark, for example. But we need to be careful not to give too much credit for how the place (context/circumstances) effects our life.

This is the garden where Jesus went to pray right before being crucified. This garden had none of the perks as that of Eden. It was dark. Jesus was alone and abandoned by His friends who couldn’t stay awake. And yet, in this bad place of intense struggle where Jesus had the greatest need that any human in all history has ever suffered, He chose to bend His will to that of the Father’s and give His life so sin could be undone.

For example, we all know people who’ve come through bad places but made something very good of those experiences. We have also known people who have been given every advantage and have, nevertheless, ended up in a rough spot. How our heart chooses to direct us, regardless of where we are, is the central issue in navigating our lives.

Consider the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:1-5 says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’””

There could not have been a better place to be, it was literally paradise. Everything was provided in abundance, even meaningful work. There was not brokenness, sin, shame, addiction, natural disasters, just God’s perfect creation. And in that context, Adam and Eve were hole-hearted. Even

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Now consider the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:36 says, “Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.””

The Bible does not waste words. It is not a mistake that the whole story begins in a garden and then starts again in another garden. The lesson is clear, left to ourselves, we can turn even the most perfect setting into a place of brokenness. We are hole-hearted without Jesus. To become wholehearted, we cannot do it on our own. We cannot manipulate and shift our surroundings to fix our hearts, we need the saving work of Jesus on the Cross, the work that is revealed by His selfless, sacrificial action in the garden.

When we give our lives to Jesus, like He gave His life for us, we get to experience the promise of Scripture in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” We don’t need the garden to be happy, if we have Jesus, then even in the darkest valley we shall not fear.

VERSES: Genesis 3:1-5 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 23:1-4 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

PRAYER: Jesus, thank you that in the most intense place you made the best decision. Thank you that you were able to follow through all the way to the end and accomplish God’s will.

We struggle to even do the simple day to day things in a way the fully honor God. Help us to trust you wholeheartedly. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Do you think there are certain places where the chances of something bad happening are much higher?

2. Talk about a time you’ve chosen to leave a place/ situation because it was not a good place to be.

3. On the other hand, our voice and actions can turn a good place into a bad one. Talk about a time you have caused or experienced this.

4. Talk about the difficulty of standing firm in a place where you’ve felt a lot of pressure to do something you didn’t want to do?

5. According to this article, there is a contrast between the garden of Eden and the garden of Gethsemane, what do you think God is teaching us in this contrast?

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The Thorns Next week we will be celebrating the story of Easter, the central story of all human history. In the article next week, we will focus on how Jesus is the fulfillment of a story God has been telling from the beginning of time. As a setup to this climactic story, we have been outlining different symbols and images used in Scripture. We’ve already discussed the tree and the garden. Today we’ll look at the thorns.

Without the saving work of Jesus, sin rules our lives. And there are consequences to sin, that cannot be avoided or erased. The Bible describes these consequences using the imagery of the thorns. In Genesis 3:17-19 we read, “God said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

How many times have you poured your heart into something only to see some of your effort wasted? You practiced all summer but didn’t make the team. You spent six months saving, but by the time you had enough, it was out of style.

You invested time and effort into the relationship only to be betrayed. Thorns!

We are so accustomed to the effect of sin that we even anticipate failure in our planning process. Airlines over-sell their seats because people don’t show (and maybe because of greed too). If you’re smart you have a contingency plan anytime you’re counting on someone following through.

When you’re saving for retirement, you must account for inflation. You have to carry insurance on everything. Thorns!!

This is not the way God intended it. He put us in paradise without need or lack. It was sin that introduced brokenness and wasted effort. It’s not work that we hate, it’s wasted effort. Work isn’t even the curse, it’s the thorns.

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But over the last two weeks we’ve seen that the Bible does not waste words. It should not surprise us when we see a crown of thorns being twisted together to be placed on the head of Jesus at His crucifixion. It has to be thorns!

In Matthew 27:27-29 we read, “Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him.

“Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.”

Jesus died for the sins we commit. But the thorns represent more than that, He also died to reverse the curse of Sin generally. He is stripped naked and shamed though he’d done nothing wrong in contrast to Adam and Eve who felt shamed in their nakedness because of their sin. And rather than causing thorns to appear through sin, Jesus, our sinless LORD, dies with thorns on his head.

We now have freedom in Christ to find meaning and value in all the work of our hands. Check out this promise in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” And to appreciate the full context of this promise, read the whole chapter later. Jesus is the new Adam, and the thorns have been covered by His blood.

Trust in Christ and redeem the work of your hands along with healing the hole in your heart. Next week we get to celebrate how it all comes together.

VERSES: Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 138:7-8 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me. 8 The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.

PRAYER: God, it is not your will that we would waste our strength toiling against the effects of sin. You created a world that worked in perfect harmony, and it was broken by the effects of our disobedience and brokenness. Through your Spirit lead us into meaning and purpose that we might use our strength for things that build rather than tear down. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Talk about what it’s like to put a lot of time into something and not get credit.

2. How do you feel when you’re sitting in a class and can’t figure out how the things you’re learning (or supposed to be learning) matter for your life.

3. How do you tend to respond when you feel that your time is being wasted? Are you ever guilty of wasting your own time?

4. Talk about the idea that wasted time, wasted effort, and vanity are consequences of sin.

5. What is the significance of Jesus dying with a crown of thorns on His head?

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Fulfilled In Genesis 3:22 it says, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.” At first glance, this is a strange result.

No matter what God did to lead us, rescue us, guide us, protect us, we all like sheep, went astray, each to his own way and turned our backs on God. All, that is, until Jesus, the lamb of God, went willingly to death, even death on a cross to fulfill the plan of God from the beginning, to reopen paradise and invite us into eternity with Him.

Adam and Eve are at their lowest and God banishes them from paradise in a final act of…what?! What is God doing here?

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 as he began his earthly ministry, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

For the longest time I didn’t understand this outcome. I didn’t think much about it either, it just kind of felt like the end of a story, “…and they lived miserably ever after…” or something like that. It was later in my walk with the Lord that I realized what a profound act of mercy this banishment actually was.

The consequence of eating the fruit was knowing good AND evil, whereas before the fruit we only knew good. If God allowed us to then reach out and take eternal life, we would exist for eternity knowing evil – that is not what He wanted for us.

Death is introduced so that our suffering from evil (sin) could be limited to our lives on earth. And after that act a drama unfolds through all of human history depicting all of the ways that God has attempted to reach us and bring us back into a right relationship with him.

• Noah builds an ark to rescue his family from the flood.

•A braham is promised a home in Canaan for his family who will outnumber the stars in heaven.

• Joseph is sent to Egypt to protect his people from a famine.

• Moses is empowered to rescue his people from slavery in Egypt and is then given the law to bind them as a people under God. • Esther is hand-picked in a special moment in history to ensure that the people of God endure.

•D avid is sent as a king to unite and rule over the people and defend them against their enemies.

• J udges and prophets are sent to guide the people according to the will of God. And despite all of that we failed!

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When sin showed up in the garden, death came along with it. When Jesus, the righteous one, came to death, eternal life came along with Him. Jesus did not die on the cross because of Pontius Pilot’s decision, or because the Jewish leaders were jealous. He did not die on the cross because He didn’t have the power to come down like the soldier suggested. He died on the cross because it was God’s plan all along!

“It is finished!”

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” – John 19:30 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

– Acts 4:12 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

– Romans 8:1-2 “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2

VERSES: Genesis 3:22-23 The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What does it mean if an order placed on Amazon is fulfilled?

2. Does it mean something similar or different if I say, your dreams have been fulfilled?

3. What is the big deal about Easter?

4. Who is Jesus? And why did He die?

5. What does it mean to trust Jesus as savior?

Hebrews 12:2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 22:1-2 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.

PRAYER: Jesus, from the foundations of time you knew that the cross would happen and you went to it of your own free will that we might have a right relationship with you. Thank you! This act of love is perfect. Let us live our lives in light of your perfect love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Overflow I got caught up the other day on YouTube watching a man build a mini hydroelectric powerplant in a ditch. I know, embarrassing, I’m such a nerd, but so are 25 million other people who watched the same video!

It’s about overflow! The water that backs up behind a dam is loaded with potential, but there’s not much you can do with the potential that is trapped behind the wall of the dam. Potential has to be released in order to be realized.

But if you’re not careful in how it is released it can be very dangerous. Engineers have figured out how to harness a strategic, measured amount of that potential in ways that can produce sustainable power. One way they do it is by creating a low spot in the wall and harnessing the overflow.

God has designed us (humanity) with tremendous potential. The human spirit is profoundly powerful! We marvel at stories of people who thrive in prison camps, sacrifice themselves to save someone else, accomplish unbelievable physical feats, harness nature to build and create fascinatingly complex tools that bend reality and hold suffering at bay. Our potential, individually and collectively, is seemingly unlimited. The issue is, the same potential is available to those who would use it for good and evil, and that means it can cause tremendous destruction, pain, and suffering.

While I’m writing this, the videos of war in Israel are flooding to people’s phones revealing the real-time devastation of human potential busting through the walls in rage, resentment, and hatred. How do we hold back the flood of human depravity and use our potential for good?

Luke 6:45 gives us a clue, “The good man brings things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

There are streams of influence flowing into our souls behind the wall. And what backs up behind the dam of our soul eventually breaks through. Have you evaluated the streams filling up your life lately?

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When Jesus walked with the disciples he put them in all kinds of crazy situations as they watched him turn water to wine, multiply fish and loaves, heal blind people, lame people, sick people, then walk across the water, speak to the wind, rebuke powerful men, cast out demons, pray, weep, laugh, die, walk through walls, transform into an angel of light, ascend into heaven, and all this in three years of public ministry. For three years, he filled these disciples with torrents of evidence and examples of God’s power at work with us. By the time He left them to continue the ministry without them they were bursting with potential.

Then in Acts 2, the dam broke and the overflow of the Spirit of God through those men and millions since has not stopped flowing like a stream into the lives of countless others through the generations. And that was His plan all along.

He said in John 14:12, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things that these, because I am going to the father.”

How do we hold back the flood of human depravity and use our potential for good? We tend to the streams that fill our lives. We allow Jesus to fill us with the Spirit of God and let the overflow of His love do the rest.

Jesus promises that he will give us living water (John 4), that when we give our lives to Him, we will never thirst again.

What we may need to be reminded of is that the abundance of his living water will never stop flowing.

Let it flow! We are blessed to be a blessing. Let’s get busy doing the greater things He said we would.

VERSES: Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks.

John 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 23:5-6 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

PRAYER: Jesus, we believe that you are living water. That if we allow you to fill us we will not be thirsty. Yet, we often turn to other sources to fill us and find ourselves dehydrated and thirsty for meaning. Fill us with your Spirit Jesus, that we might overflow with your love and goodness. Let us be a conduit for your life-giving power to all those around us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Have you fallen down the bottomless YouTube video hole recently? Did anything good come out of it?

2. If YouTube videos (or Tik Tok, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.) represent streams of influence in your life, how is your life being impacted by those streams?

3. What do you feel piling up behind the dam in your life that is pushing to break out? Is it goodness? Love? Anger?

Resentment?

4. If you had to point to an influence in your life that is filling you with that potential, what is it?

5. Paying attention to the things that come out of your mouth (good and bad) what is stored up in your heart? Where is that coming from?

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WINNING We are obsessed with winning. We want to win at work, win at home, win when we’re playing. We pick professional sports teams and root for them, celebrating when they win, and getting angry when they don’t. But winning, as it turns out, is more complicated than just having more points than the opponent when the time runs out. We don’t just want to win; we want to win the right way.

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Dubs I think most of us want to win! At everything. All the time.

Isn’t that why we cut each other off in traffic, and scan the grocery store aisles for the shortest line? Isn’t that why we pay attention to the latest fashion trends and keep up with all the details of our friends’ lives? Isn’t that why we apply for the best college we think we can get into maximizing the impressiveness of the name, while not overshooting and facing rejection?

Being part of a team that is enduring a losing season is brutal! If we don’t start winning quick, the coaching staff starts packing up their offices.

We want dubs! And if we don’t have dubs, we want answers!

At Westminster Christian School we’re winning at a lot levels! I walked into the gym and took a quick video of all the National, State, regional, and district championships hanging on the walls. If you haven’t looked recently, it’s a lot. We have national and state championships in baseball for 13 years and counting; State championships in Softball – 6 years; Boys track – 2 years; Volleyball – 2 years; Beach Volleyball – 1 year. And we have district and regional championships in Football, Boys’ & Girls’ Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Boys’ & Girls’ track and field, Boys’ & Girls’ Soccer, Wrestling, Volleyball, Cross Country, Tennis, and Boys’ Lacrosse. This doesn’t account for the tremendous performance of individual students and teams that won critical games along the way. In athletics, we’re winning!

On the website under “Recent College Acceptances” there’s a list of over 140 different schools to which our students have been accepted. Prestigious academic institutions like Harvard, Stanford, M.I.T., Brown, Berkley, Dartmouth, and many others. Our students have also been accepted at universities that are nationally known for their athletics, design, music, arts, research, engineering, law, medicine and a

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host of other things. Last year our school placed 100% of its graduates in schools to further their education. Beyond that we offer 27 different AP courses across all core subjects and the arts. In academics, we’re winning!

There’s a bumper sticker that many of us have on our car that simply says, “The Dub” with a sword running through it. Obviously, this stands for “Westminster” and directly, but more subtly boasts of how we feel about our school, #WINNING! There is another area we’re winning, but it’s a little harder to measure, and so a little less obviously a part of what we love so much about our school. We hear about it on admissions open house days when people from around town show up and comment, “wow! Everyone is so nice!”

I saw it last year when one of our athletic teams went out of their way to make some kids feel special in a restaurant.

The father was so moved by how kind our students were to his kids that he went out of his way to tell us about it in an email. I don’t remember which team it was or whether we won the game, but we certainly won the game being played in that restaurant with those kids! We get to see it when our community faces tragedy. In those terrible moments we rally together and love each other and grieve well. And, finally, we get to see it at Warrior Week and Gr8 Escape and increasingly every Tuesday as we open our hearts to God worshipping together in Chapels. We’re winning!

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

I’m proud of our dubs!

VERSES: 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 60:11-12 Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless. 12 With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

PRAYER: God, thank you for the victory you’ve given us in our life.

Victory over sin and death. Victory over our enemy. Victory in truth and revelation. We are grateful to you for your guidance and compassion. We love you Lord, in Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What is the “dub” you’re most proud of in your life recently?

2. How do you handle winning and losing in your life? What are the areas you put the greatest effort in and hope to win?

3. What is something about Westminster you brag about around people who are not here?

4. 1 Corinthians 15:57 says God gives us “the victory.” What does “the victory” refer to?

Victory over what?

5. In all of the “games” we play in life, athletic games, relational games, financial games, we tend to know the “scorecard” we’re measuring ourselves against. What is the “scorecard” in your faith game?

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Batting 1,000 When we say, “he’s batting 1,000” we never mean it literally. It’s an expression! No one bats 1,000. In fact, the all-time greatest batting average in MLB history was held by Ty Cobb at .366. There have been over 20,500 players in the MLB since 1876 and not one of them has even gotten to 500. In other words, the expression, “he’s batting 1,000” literally means, he’s achieving the impossible.

Here’s the important lesson to take from this week’s message – if you like winning, you’ll need to make friends with failure! When the GOAT misses nearly seven out of 10 atbats, we shouldn’t be surprised when we swing and miss.

On the other hand, here’s a casual observation, YOU WILL NEVER HIT A BALL YOU DON’T SWING AT! The batting average for every person who chooses not to expose themselves to the possibility of a strikeout is ALWAYS, exactly 0!

We can’t afford to fear failure!

In Psalm 86:11 we have been talking all year about being wholehearted, giving it your all. But what about when you do give it your all and fall flat on your face? What if you finally quit drinking or smoking and make it a few weeks only to relapse and strike out again?

Winning isn’t only about the dub, it’s also about how you handle the losses.

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Proverbs 24:16 says, “The righteous may fall seven times but still get up, but the wicked will stumble into trouble.” Will you still get up? Will you allow God to meet you in your lowest moments and rely on his faithfulness even when you know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he could NEVER rely on yours?

Paul makes an interesting analogy in 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 when he says, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Here’s a thought to chew on, the light of God’s glory dwells inside us. When we receive Jesus for our salvation, the Spirit of God enters our soul and begins guiding us, shaping us, changing us, and shining through us. But if we were a well-formed clay pot how would God’s glory shine forth?

Consider this, the cracks are how the glory of God get’s out.

It is in our weakness He is made strong. It is our foolishness that reveals God’s wisdom. It is in our getting back up and continuing to walk with God that we demonstrate a faith that shines like a light. Everyone will stumble and fall, everyone will strike out, but the one who endures to the end will be saved! (Matthew 24:13).

Keep swinging!

VERSES: Proverbs 24:16 The righteous may fall seven times but still get up, but the wicked will stumble into trouble.

2 Corinthians 4:7-9 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Matthew 24:13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

PRAYER: God, we really don’t like failing. It leaves us feeling vulnerable and exposed. But we know that we cannot go through life without striking out, likely a majority of time. Will you help us trust you in our victories and failures. To learn to give you credit for the gifts you’ve given us and allow you to use our failure to grow. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What is a particular failure you think about often? What is something you feel you’ve learned from that failure?

2. Describe a time you gave up on something because you made a mistake or failed? What do you think could have happened if you stuck with it? Do you regret the decision to stop?

3. Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Can you relate to the first part of this idea? Has your body or will ever given out on you?

4. What about the second part of Psalm 73? Do you know what it is to rely on the strength of God to steady your heart in times when you’ve come to the end of yourself?

5. What does it mean to you to trust God in your victories? In your failures? How are those two realities the same? Different?

CHAPEL

2023-24

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Take a Knee Mario Cristobal found himself in a firestorm of media attention, last fall, after neglecting to tell his team to take a knee in a game against Georgia Tech. UM ended up losing the game and consequently their undefeated streak. No one was happy about this decision! We want to win!

We were winning the game. There were only 26 seconds left on the clock! The headline on USA TODAY Sports read, “Cristobal Coaching Blunder, Bad Call, Doom Miami against Georgia Tech…”

At the risk of being a little unpopular, I’m going to come to Cristobal’s defense a little. First of all, you don’t get to that level of success by making consistently bad calls; the whole system makes sure we never know the names of people who do that. Secondly, you can’t win in that role, not really. If you have a killer season, you’re a hero and everyone loves you, if you make a bad call, you’re being blasted on the cover of USA TODAY Sports – That’s a lot of pressure!

So, what do we really want from our leaders? Cristobal is only displaying the decision-making that goes with the kind of leader who likes to win. We want to win, right? But apparently not enough to run another play with 26 seconds left on the clock.

This is not a new issue. In Exodus chapter 5 Moses goes before Pharaoh and tells him to let the Israelites go. That makes Pharaoh mad, and his response is to treat them with contempt by taking away their supplies and demanding the same production. When the crowds hear about the call Moses made, they’re not happy and they say in verse 21, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” i.e., It’s like they were saying to Moses, “there were only 26 seconds left on the clock!!! Why would you even give them a shot at it?”

More important than what the crowds were shouting was Moses’ response. The very next verse says, “Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord…”. Moses took a knee.

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How do we deal with all of the pressures of life? What do we do with failure? What do we do with victories? In the game against Georgia Tech Cristobal decided not to take a knee and keep driving. That’s a real Pharaoh move but I don’t know if he has a pharaoh spirit. It’s possible when the cameras went out and the crowds dispersed that he found a quiet spot somewhere and took a knee and said something like, “Why, Lord…”.

Here’s the issue, we are all living under a tyranny. Moses was rescuing the nation of Israel from slavery under a tyrannical pharaoh. We’re tyrannized by time, by our health, by the desire to keep up with others, by money, or the lack of it. What do we do when we’re in this position? I want to suggest if you want to win, take a knee.

After Moses gets the Israelites out of Egypt, they’re in the desert hungry and thirsty. They’ve escaped the worst of the tyranny of slavery, but now they’re hungry and thirsty.

And they do what we all do, they look to their coach and complain (Exodus 16:2). But Moses is the kind of leader who knows how to humble himself and seek after God. And when he’s under criticism from the same crowd over the calls he’s making he takes a knee, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven…” (Exodus 16:4). Moses was “winning” in Egypt by confronting the Pharaoh, but was criticized by the people, now he’s “losing” in the desert, so people criticize him because they’re hungry and thirsty. The thing that determined Moses success was not the opinion of the crowd but was that no matter the situation he chose to take a knee and turn to God; He chose to “win” at what really mattered.”

We already know this is what’s best. Consider that just a few days before the headlines that blasted Cristobal, they were praising McDaniels. Same sport, same city, same call to take a knee, but totally different outcomes, because McDaniels, took a knee. He chose to win the right way. Even though we could have kicked the field goal and beaten the all-time NFL scoring record, McDaniels decided to take a knee.

How about you? Whether you’re winning or losing, whether you’re being celebrated or criticized, whether you’re trapped in tyranny or headed to the promised land, will you take a knee?

James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

VERSES: James 1:12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 27:13-14 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

PRAYER: Jesus, we will face a wide range of difficult situations in our lives and will often have to make a call without knowing the outcome. It feels like we’re always balancing between acting and taking a knee. Help us to rely on your faithfulness. Help us to turn to you in prayer. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What’s your opinion on what Mario Cristobal should have done? Do you think the consequences of that decision were fair?

2. What about McDaniels? Should we have kicked the field goal and taken the record, or was he right to honor the other coach and team?

3. How about you? Talk about a situation you’ve faced where you chose to drive ahead and ended up facing consequences for your lack of humility/trust.

4. Talk about a situation where you we willing to sacrifice a “win” in the short term in order to maintain your integrity/character.

5. Talk about the ways in which you are able to trust God and turn to Him in moments of need.

CHAPEL

2023-24

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GOALHEARTED

Train for It I’ve been a runner my whole life, and I think part of the motivation comes from a man I never met.

When I was a kid, I would look out the window by my bed as I struggled to get up for school. From that position I could see the road that passed by my house. I remember one morning seeing a man walking by. The next morning there he was again. And the next. And the next. It went on for days. You might wonder why I noticed him, well, he was a big guy! Definitely over six feet tall and overweight, not the kind of person you would typically see walking by, especially that early in the morning. But there he was, walking.

I didn’t think much about him at first, but day after day, week after week, month after month, he passed by my house. He was committed! I was only a kid, but I found myself rooting for him. After a few months he was walking faster, and I silently cheered him on from my room. There was something inspiring watching this guy follow through with his commitment. This guy never stopped. Eventually, after a few years, he started jogging a little, slowly at first and only sporadically, and then, as his steps got lighter his pace got more consistent.

This is how it goes. The things we do every day eventually become habits. We have the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual ability to adapt and grow to fit the decisions we make for ourselves and our ever-changing lives. It takes a while when you change schools, for example, to build new routines, establish new relationships, understand the cultural dynamics and eventually fit in. The same is true later in life.

You move cities, get a new job, get married, have kids, and each time have to rediscover how these changes require a lot of growth and adaptation. But you make it work because you often don’t have a choice. “But does it have to be that we are always reacting to our life situations and struggling to “get back into shape”?”

Much of life seems to just happen to us and we find ourselves running uphill into a headwind. We’re out of shape and unprepared and often angry about it! “Why does it have

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to be so hard?” we think. I’m sure it was like this for this guy walking by my house. He didn’t get into whatever situation he was in all at once; he made little decisions every day that resulted in a life he was not happy with. Because the things we do every day eventually become habits.

My sister texted me last July and mentioned she was running the Miami Marathon on January 28th, I couldn’t resist the challenge. In August last year I began training. For my first run, I barely made it three miles at a pace I was happy with.

It had been a while since I’d had a regular workout routine, and I was out of shape. For a few weeks I just had to grind it out using a motto “5K every day!” for motivation. It wasn’t awesome.

After committing to the difficult and painful routine of training for it, though, I was eventually able to do every day what I had barely been able to grind out once. We tend to grow into the things we embrace wholeheartedly.

This principle is true Spiritually as well. We want to hear God’s voice when we’re in a crisis, we want to experience His love and grace when we fail, we want His wisdom for difficult decisions, but if you’ve gotten out of spiritual shape, you may have to train for it. You’ve got to spend time talking with God about daily, mundane things to learn to discern His voice, then you’ll discover that in our weakness He is made strong. Sometimes you have to read the bible every day for six days, six months or every day for six years, before you finally start to understand what he’s trying to say. His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts, we need to train for it if we want His wisdom.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 – “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

The summer after I graduated high school, I was in my room packing up my things for college and I noticed that man,

running by my house. I’m not sure why, but I got emotional.

I had watched that man make a wholehearted commitment and stick to it. I never knew his name, he never spoke a single word to me, but he demonstrated something I needed to know.

You can change, you just have to train for it. You can take full responsibility for the circumstances of your life, take an honest assessment of the issues that weigh you down, and take the steps required. It may take years, but you’ll eventually be able to do every day the thing you could hardly grind out once. Run to win!

VERSES: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 30:5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

PRAYER: Jesus, we understand that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. We cannot save ourselves through effort. We are not saved by work; but you do save us for good work.

Give us the discipline and strength to learn your way, God. And give us your grace when we fail and fall. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What are your thoughts on running? What’s the furthest you’ve ever run?

2. Describe something you have committed to daily that has become a habit in your life. (good or bad) 3. Think of an issue you would love to change in your life, what is something you could do, that you actually would do today to change it?

4. Who is someone in your life that demonstrates an ability to commit to something and follow through? How do you feel about that person?

5. What do you think about the idea that we need to train spiritually? Give an example of an area you “feel out of shape” in your spirit.

CHAPEL

2023-24

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Finishing Strong To the seniors, I think most of the teachers at Westminster feel about you the way Paul must have felt about the Ephesian church. He loved them!

There is a touching scene in Acts 20 when Paul is saying goodbye to the people of Ephesus and in verse 37 it says, “They all wept as they embraced him…”. Paul had let them know he was not going to see them again because he needed to obey God and go on to what, at that point, he understood would be imprisonment and death, for the sake of the gospel.

Saying goodbye is hard. Some people deal with it by separating and pulling away. I guess the logic is, “if I make it uncomfortable and messy enough it won’t hurt so bad.” But I don’t think that really lessens the blow, and it may actually rob some of the joy of those last moments. No, saying goodbye is a normal and necessary part of life. And here you are on the cusp, watching as this season of your life slips away, never to be seen again. It’s very sad.

But just because it’s sad doesn’t mean it’s bad (sorry for the cheesy rhyme). You cannot go anywhere or do anything meaningful in life without allowing what’s known to be sacrificed for what’s unknown. That’s how we grow. That’s how we learn. That’s how we discover our limits and uncover our purpose. We have to let go of the very thing that carried us through, in this case, your elementary, middle, and high school years, and the security of being under your parents’ protection.

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In an effort to leave you with some final words and help you finish strong or encourage you in how you have been finishing strong, here’s what Paul later wrote to the people of Ephesus, “16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

I hope you know that even through you have to let go of this time, you don’t have to leave it behind. So much that will set you up for success in the life you choose to build will find its roots in your time at WCS. And now it’s time to let go. We release you to your future, into the unknown adventures that await. We pray over you what Paul prayed over them. We love you! Now get out of here and go do great things for Jesus!

To the rest of the students, even if this isn’t your senior year, each year is filled with valuable moments. Take inventory of all that God is/has been doing in your life and cherish it.

Time moves by quicker than we realize, and each day is an end in itself. Don’t miss it!

VERSES: Ephesians 3:16-21 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 36:5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

PRAYER: God, you are so good to us. You have blessed us in so many ways. Our lives are billboards for your goodness and love.

Thank you!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Share about a time it was very difficult to say goodbye to someone.

2. What are your favorite memories from this school year (or for the seniors, school in general)? What are the things you hope to be remembered by?

3. Describe the foundation of faith you feel you’re standing on?

What are its strengths. Where are the weak spots?

4. As you look into the future, what are some of the dreams you’re aiming for?

How have you experienced love from God that “surpasses knowledge?”

CHAPEL

2023-24

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BANNER YEAR It’s a good habit to look back over our years and assess the wins and losses.

We will never have a perfect year, and we must learn how to cope with the losses we face. But when we pursue God wholeheartedly, we also get to benefit from His blessing. Be encouraged by the truth of God’s goodness and celebrate this year with Psalm 65:11, “You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.” He has been good to you.

He has been good to us. He is worthy of our Wholehearted devotion!

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Left it on the Field There is a phrase you hear a lot in sports, “They left it on the field.”

I like that phrase! It means you gave it your all, maybe you didn’t win, but you can still feel good because you left it on the field. It’s a good sign if you get to the place in life where hard work and effort is a reward unto itself.

You can’t win every game. You can’t be good at every subject. You wouldn’t do well in any career. You’re not going to get along with every person you have to interact with, but this isn’t an excuse to lay back and let things crumble to pieces. There’s more that can and should be done to review the film, to study, to develop your skills, and to extend grace and forgiveness. This is true in life.

This is also true in our faith.

We are not saved by works, but we are saved for them.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the kingdom of God! And our hands will be the ones to do it. The goal of the Christian life is not to be comfortable on earth and get rescued into paradise. The life of a Christian should be marked with the sweat and scars of hard work.

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And there’s no better time to start training for a life well lived than right now. That’s why your coaches and teachers, your parents, your church leaders, everyone is encouraging you to leave it on the field. Everyone knows that the very best results in life come on the heels of hard work and in no category is our work more justified and rewarded than in our faith.

Jesus looked at his disciples from where He sat by the woman at the well in John 4, as they came back from lunch and said, “Look, the fields are ripe for harvest.” Get started now fighting the good fight of the faith so that one day you’ll be able to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

VERSES: 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 89:2 will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

PRAYER: God, you have so graciously blessed us with a life, with gifts, skills, and people, give us the courage to do the work you’ve prepared in advance for us to do. Thank you for the privilege of joining you in your kingdom and getting to be part of the eternal story. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Has anyone ever used the phrase “left it on the field” with you?

What did they mean by it?

2. Talk about a time when you’ve really worked hard for something. What gave you the willingness to put in so much time?

3. What do you think about the concept that Christians need to work hard at their faith?

4. Talk about a time you have “poured yourself out” for others, or to honor God with your time and energy. How did you feel after?

5. Do you think it is challenging to keep your faith in the midst of all the distractions and burdens you carry?

CHAPEL

2023-24

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Finish Lines There is nothing quite like crossing the finish line at the end of a grueling race. Especially, if you’re able to look up and see your PR on the clock. Races are a funny thing, though, because they’re such a small part of the overall experience.

This summer the Olympics will be hosted in Paris, France on July 26th – August 11th. And while you’re watching the sprinters fly down the track at record speeds, crushing the barriers of human potential, keep in mind that for every second the gold medal sprinters take to get from the start line to the finish line, they have spent countless thousands of hours training. And as soon as the Olympics are over, they’re back on the track getting ready for the next race. Finish lines aren’t really where you finish, they are only where you measure your progress and count the cost.

This year we have been talking about being wholehearted.

Psalm 86:11 says, “Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.” Now we’re at the end of the year and the temptation is to think that this is the end, and, in a way, it is.

Next year we will have a new verse and a new theme. We’ll have different shirts, different messages, different challenges and encouragements.

But Psalm 86:11, and the theme of being wholehearted, shouldn’t ever end. Just because we’ve come to the end of the year doesn’t mean that this is the finish line for Wholehearted. Don’t stop! Continue to open up your divided heart to God. Believe that, in faith, He will heal the areas you need Him most.

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Matthew 24:13 says, “But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” “Stand firm. Let nothing move you.

Always give yourselves [wholeheartedly] to the work of the Lord.” And trust that His promise will be true in and through your life.

“You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.” Psalm 65:11 I hope as you cross the finish line of this school year, you’re able to see how much progress you’ve made as you’ve sought the LORD. I hope you’re also able to take inventory and count the cost of the life you’re busy living. And mostly, I hope you get back on the track and keep running hard after God. Enjoy your summer. Cheer loudly for the U.S.A. this July, and we’ll see you soon!

VERSES: Matthew 24:13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

PSALM CONNECTION: Psalm 65:11 You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.

PRAYER: God, you are faithful. You are worthy of all the time and care we’ve spent learning your way, relying on your faithfulness, fearing, worshipping, and reverencing your name, and trusting you to heal our broken hearts. Thank you for guiding us through this wholehearted journey this year. As we cross the finish line of this 23-24 school year, let us continue to run after you, because we know we will find you. Thank you, God. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What are your plans for the summer? What is something you’re looking forward to for next school year?

2. What is your favorite summer Olympics event?

3. What is a chapel, article, discussion, experience you had this year with Wholehearted that you feel will stick with you?

Why that one?

4. What is an area in your life where you are still resistant to the work of God and are hesitant to give yourself wholeheartedly to Him? Why? 5. What in your life would you point to and say, “Yeah, I’ve grown in this area in my life.”

Who in the room would you encourage as you think about how they’ve grown this year?

CHAPEL

2023-24

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