Tag: chapel

SubscribeStar Saturday: Baccalaureate Service 2026

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive.  To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.  For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

Tomorrow night I will give the sermon for my school’s baccalaureate service.  This church service is for the graduating seniors, the Class of 2026.  After hearing a sermon based on Romans 12:9-21 this past Sunday, I thought the passage could prove fruitful as a “blueprint,” of sorts, for graduating seniors (and all others in attendance).  Here is the text of the sermon I’ll deliver tomorrow:

Good evening families, faculty, staff, and graduates of the Class of 2026. You are sitting here this evening at a threshold, a moment in your lives when you will soon pass from the world you know into a different one. As you cross this threshold of graduation, a great deal is going to change: your surroundings, your friends, your goals. It is an exciting and even scary process, as you are experiencing both a world in flux and flux in yourself.

The temptation will be great, therefore, to cast aside those things that are most essential, the “first things” that are always steadfast, in favor of the siren song of fleeting experiences and pleasures. The world will tell you, “do this thing and it will make you happy and bring you fulfillment”—and then it will sell some other “thing” next month, and the month after that. That road leads to emptiness and wasted potential.

So what should we do? How do we take this moment, lingering at the threshold, to prepare our hearts and minds for the changes ahead? The answer is love, love reflected through Christ’s Love for us.

Romans 12:9-21 (NKJV) offers some insights:

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things [or, “Do not be proud,” GNB], but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Word of the Lord—Thanks Be to God. Let us pray.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

TBT^4: Chapel Lesson: Listening

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

One of the appeals of teaching is that there is a rhythm and regularity to the school year.  The same events occur at roughly the same times each week, each month, each year.  I became a teacher for many reasons, but the predictability of the schedule has always been a major appeal.  I like a structure of routine that allows for great variety of experiences and activities within that larger structure.

So it is that we have come, once again, to the first day of Chapel for the new academic year.  We have Chapel every Thursday morning during our Morning Break/Meeting time.

Very occasionally, yours portly is called upon to deliver a brief Chapel lesson.  Here is one from a few years ago.  My only regret is that I did not do more to tie the message specifically and overtly back to Christ.

With that, here is 22 August 2024’s “TBT^2: Chapel Lesson: Listening”:

Read More »

TBT^2: Chapel Lesson: Listening

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Today marks the first Chapel of the new school year.  My school holds chapel every Thursday, and we have a really excellent chaplain.  He is an Episcopalian/Anglican reverend originally from England, and he is a true man of God.  He is also a towering figure, and he makes an impression.  I am teaching one of his sons in my Middle School Music Ensemble this year, too, which is fun!  The young man plays cello.

When the good Father can’t be there to give the chapel devotional, though, I am typically asked to substitute.  For awhile, I was informally taking on occasional chaplain duties with and from our last chaplain, a very sweet young man who was shy about speaking in front of large crowds, which made it a bit difficult for him to muster up the courage to deliver the weekly devotional.

Thus it was that this short little lesson was born, as I was the “warmup act,” as it were, to show this young former chaplain that it’s not too difficult if you just listen to the Holy Spirit and speak from God’s Word.

With that, here is 31 August 2023’s “TBT: Chapel Lesson: Listening“:

Read More »

Lazy Sunday CXXXI: Chapel Lessons, Part II

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

It’s another Lazy Sunday, and another look back at some of my short chapel devotionals:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXX: Chapel Lessons, Part I

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Sometimes I fill in for our chaplain at school, which I always treat as a humbling opportunity to share some bit of biblical wisdom with our students.  I can only pray these seeds fall onto fertile soil and bear fruit:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Chapel Lesson: Being Thankful in the Storm

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Right before Thanksgiving Break I prepared a chapel devotional for school.  It went undelivered, as our regular chaplain returned after weeks in the hospital.

It turns out that he had a large tumor along a major artery, and nearly bled out and died on at least two occasions.  He has been diagnosed with stage four cancer, and has already begun the usual regimen of chemotherapy and radiation.  Please lift up Father Jason Hamshaw in your prayers.

While I did not deliver this message, it seemed apropos to Father Hamshaw’s diagnosis, and something we all need to remember from time to time.  Here is my message on “Being Thankful in the Storm”:

Read More »

Chapel Lesson: Exploring God’s Creation

The Portly Politico2 Comments

My school’s chaplain—a truly amazing man of God—is struggling in the hospital as I write these words.  Please lift Father Jason Hamshaw up in your prayers, dear readers.  I do not know the nature of his affliction, but the last I heard, he was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which never bodes well.  He is a relatively young man, and a loving husband and father.  One of his sons is a student here at my school.  Pray, and pray hard.

Because he is in the hospital, I was asked to deliver the chapel lesson/devotional/homily the morning of Thursday, 26 October 2023.  Here is the devotional I wrote, with a huge debt of gratitude to The Daily Encouraging Word, which I substantially adapted and modified for this lesson:

Read More »

TBT: Chapel Lesson: Listening

The Portly Politico2 Comments

School’s back, and that means Chapel on Thursdays!  Today is one of the first chapels of the school year.  I always enjoy hearing the short little devotionals from our chaplain, and they’re quite beneficial for those students who choose to take them to heart.

There was a small chance that I might be asked to serve as chaplain this year—quite a responsibility!—but the school obtained someone more qualified for the job (in other words, someone with an actual degree in theology and practical experience in ministry).  I imagine I will still be called upon, at times, to provide a short homily or lesson when the new guy is absent.

Regardless, it seemed like an excellent time to look back at this little message I delivered to our students last year.  Listening is hard, and it’s even harder when we’re constantly engulfed in noise.  That makes it particularly hard to listen to God’s Still, Small Voice, much less the much louder voices of people around us.

With that, here is 30 August 2022’s “Chapel Lesson: Listening“:

Read More »