Spring 2011 Praise Chapel Lectionary

Explanation:

At TWU, our vision is to be a united community that treasures Jesus Christ above all, because we believe that "from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things," including all our work, scholarship, and relationships. We believe that one of the best ways to treasure Jesus Christ is to treasure His story - the story of love and redemption that God has been telling since the dawn of creation, that found its completion in the life, humiliation, death, resurrection and ascension to glory of Jesus. We believe that immersing ourselves in His story will form us, over time, into a community that bears His family likeness, and that therefore becomes his Body, His hands and feet to the world that desperately needs His grace and justice. Every Friday, we are doing our best to celebrate, passionately and joyfully, the sovereign work of God as He has revealed Himself in Jesus.

One of the “great ideas” of the Christian worship tradition is the use of a lectionary to guide a congregation’s ongoing journey in worship.  A lectionary is basically a carefully chosen set of Scriptures, drawn from across the spectrum of God's revelation, structured around a calendar that reflects the life and ministry of Jesus and of the Spirit (i.e. Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, etc.). We believe that a lectionary

1. Keeps us treasuring Jesus Christ and His work, not our efforts or passion, above all.
2. Provides a healthy and well-rounded dose of Scripture in our community's life together
3. Helps the people of God discern their own part in the drama of history.
4. Allows you, the worshipping community, to come prepared for worship, as you meditate on the Scriptures that have been chosen in your own personal time with the Lord.
5. Anchors worship planning on God's purposes instead of personal preferences or individual worship journeys. The community of student leaders who lead you in worship are involved in an ongoing process of praying through, responding to, and discerning God’s heart for the campus as communicated through these Scriptures. (For more on the philosophy that drives our planning, click here.)