Our campus theme for the coming year will be “Is My Life My Own?” Throughout the year our campus chapel services will unpack that theme through topics such as Time, Authority, Entertainment, Technology, Money, and Identity.

September - Time

God the author of time, the One who sits at both the beginning and end of time, the Creator that created the Sabbath certainly has things to say about how we use the minutes and moments or our lives. During this month we would like to push into specifics such as:

·       How do we discern how to use our time?

·       What does the Sabbath mean for us?

·       Do we have free time?

·       What does it mean to be fully present in time?

·       What about being on-time and honoring one another’s time?

October - Authority

When we talk about whether our lives are our own, we must inevitably ask ourselves the question, “If my life is not my own, whom does it belong to or who has rights over it? During the month of October we will explore authority in its various manifestations:

·       Do we give to Caesar what is Caesars’? How much control should we give to the government?

·       Do we believe in a God who controls everything or has God passed out some of that authority to his people? How much and to whom?

·       How should our lives be shaped by Scripture and how do we discern what is cultural and what is forever?

·       Does my pastor have any say over my life? How about my church?

·       How much should we take our cues from our culture and what role does personal preference play?

November - Arts and Entertainment

Much of our lives are shaped by what we see, hear and read on the screen, from our ipods, in the pages of the books we leaf through or the arenas that we pay to enter into.  Each day we take in over 50,000 images and the arts and entertainment industry pours out more films, episodes, paperbacks and superstars in a year than our parents were exposed to in their entire life-time. These images and our access to entertainment shape us by for the better and sometimes for the worse. During the month of November we will look at the blessings and liabilities of the arts and entertainment world.

·       In a media saturated culture how do we filter out the bad and the ugly and keep the good?

·       How do stories shape our lives?

·       Is it OK to watch what we want when we want to?

·       How do we wrestle with the stewardship issue when we purchase tickets to a show or a game?

·       How has God used the arts throughout history to bless God’s people and advance the good news?

·       What if I feel called to the arts and entertainment industry? How do I use my calling for good and what are the possible pitfalls?

January - Technology and Connectivity

As a culture we are more connected today than in any other time in history. Our students are able to be friends with people in Thailand, Zambia and Bogota. We are able to acquire information from around the globe as quickly as we are able to assess the world directly around us.  For many in the western world we spend as much time in front of a screen as we do in front of a person. As a result we have become global citizens, worldwide communities, and advocates for earth. We have also developed high rates of depression, seen a rise in loneliness and isolation and often feel overwhelmed by the weight of the world.  During the month of January we would like to push our students to think about a theology of technology.

·       What does the kingdom look like if I am a global citizen?

·       I am able to see a world in crisis from my dorm room. I see people starving, genocide destroying, and people crying out for help every time I log onto the internet. Am I responsible for being involved with everything that breaks my heart? If not how do I decide/discern where to place my efforts and how do I find peace when I surf by those in need?

·       Is it ever bad to be connected?  What does it mean when I am always available but never present?

·       What does the incarnation have to say about email, cell-phones and Facebook?

·       How has connectivity advanced the kingdom?

February  - Kingdom

Some say that the scriptures can be summed up in one word, kingdom. That God’s mission was to create a people who had a unique relationship with him, to deliver them from everything that held them captive, not only for the own sake, but also for the sake of the world and supremely for the glory of God.  As we push into the question, “Is My Life My Own?” we must look at the commands of a King to his subjects.

·       What does the kingdom look like and what is my role as a member?

·       What does the kingdom require?

·       What does church look like if we are not just operating for our own sake?

·       Does God bring the kingdom or do we advance it?

·       Are each of us responsible for every area of the kingdom or do some watch out for the environment and others for the under-served?

·       How do we move away from an individual independent gospel to corporate interdependent good news?

March - Money

On a college campus we talk around the topic of money, but because most of our students are cash-poor and because we do not take up a weekly offering, we rarely talk specifically about how they use their money. During the month of March we would like to challenge our students to think specifically about how they use or will use the money resources that they have.

·       Should we tithe?

·       Is it important to know where our money goes? Can I give money to people who may not use it wisely?

·       Can I shop at Wal-Mart, buy non-fair trade coffee, and products that are produces by unethical companies?

·       Is it OK to have debt? What does God say about credit cards and loans?

·       What is a reasonable standard of living?

April - Identity

Who am I and who should I be? How much of my identity is part of my core and how much is just a response to the world around me? As we approach the end of the year we end with the question, “Can I choose who I am or am I just a product of my environment, is there room for my individuality or does discipleship supercede my unique identity.

·       What does God have to say about my sexual identity? What does it look like to be male and female?

·       What does God say about who I am? How do I live in this identity?

·       What is my global identity? How am I viewed on the world scene and do I need to change my identity?

·       Is it possible to be known? How much can we really know ourselves? What keeps us from knowing and being known?