This chapel service that was offered on Thursday was given by Professor Jon Peterson and Professor Mark Suderman. They both talked about two different subjects but in the end it was the same message and that is we are to put others before ourselves and that we need to show that we are Christ to the world.
Peterson was the first to speak. He warned us that danger of thinking that we are always right or listening to people who think that they are always right. He claims that there are many times throughout life that there is a “lighthouse” telling us it is time to go in a new direction but we tend to make excuses of why we cannot or should not move from where we are in life. He says that “we’re all still trying to figure it out, no matter what age you are.” We all mess up, we all think we are going in a different direction but that is what God’s grace is about, we all have that, so we all end up where we belong eventually. He tells us that we should be there for each other and we should not judge another for where they are in life because in the end we are all trying to figure it out and we are all in desperate need of God’s grace.
Suderman’s message was about how God is always standing by us through everything and being Christ to the world. Suderman talks about different things that we go through in life and how they can wear us down and that sometimes our faith is weak but even through these trials Christ is there for us. Suderman says that we are not perfect people and sometimes our imperfections get the best of us and not even the people that love us the most know what to do with us. His point here is that even if we are completely alone in a worldly sense we still have the love and presence of Jesus to get us through. Suderman then asked the question: “how is that presence of Christ standing with us, resonate with us now?” He left us with that question and with saying that we are Christ to the world and to make sure that we keep that in mind.
Though these two had very different messages they had similar meanings. We are the church on earth; we are to be Christ to the world. We need to love others as such.
