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Home > Resources > Leadership > Worship Services > Weekday ServicesThis chapel service was provided by Sharon Veltema at Unity Christian High School in Hudsonville, Michigan.
Note: This chapel is written for 10 speakers - all are members of the Spiritual Leadership Committee. In the beginning of the school year, we introduce the committee to the students and make our students aware that we have a Spiritual Leadership Committee. We also address the idea of worship with our students throughout the year, but especially in the beginning of the year. We feel that students should know why they come to chapel, and our goal is that our students will have a better understanding of why we worship together.
The idea for this chapel came after reading an article by Arie C. Leder in the Calvin Theological Seminary Forum, Spring 2005, in which he uses the phrase "you are royal space."
"You Are Royal Space"
All ten members of the Spiritual Leadership Team come out at the start of chapel.
Speaker #1:
Good morning and welcome to chapel.
This morning we would like to begin by introducing our Spiritual Leadership Committee. Let me first explain what the Spiritual Leadership Committee is and what we do. Our committee is made up of 11 seniors and we meet together every day. It is our goal as a committee to promote spiritual growth at our school. As part of this goal, we assist in planning and developing meaningful worship in chapel and we work to involve other students in leading worship. You will also be given an opportunity to sign up to participate in chapel in your fourth hour class.
Speaker #2:
Another very important aspect of our committee is that we regularly pray for the students and staff at our school. We believe that prayer is a vital and significant part of our school. If you have any prayer requests during the school year, you can let any one of us on the committee know and we will pray for you. There is also a slot in Mrs. Veltema's door, which is right across the hall from this gym, where you can put your prayer requests.
Speaker #1:
This year your Spiritual Leadership Committee is: (introduce committee).
It is our prayer that you will be blessed by being here
and that you will grow closer to the Lord in this school year.
(All members exit except for speakers 3, 4, 5, and 6)
Speaker #3:
As you all know, we come here to chapel four times each week. Throughout this year you will be in this place, experiencing chapel many times. You will hear a welcome; you will hear the announcement of what class is responsible for taking down the chairs. And you will be here, in an assigned seat, four days a week. So here we are in this space - a gym. And for about 15 minutes on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, this place is a very special place to be.
Speaker #4:
Back in the Old Testament, the Israelites worshipped in a very special place. In Exodus we read about building the tabernacle. The desert tabernacle was God's earthly throne room and a focal point for every Israelite. Exodus 26 and 27 contain very detailed instructions for the building of the tabernacle. The tabernacle walls had a specific design, and they created unique spaces within the tabernacle including the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.
Speaker #3:
The curtains that created the walls had special colors: blue, purple, and scarlet - colors that identified the tabernacle as a royal and holy space. The curtains had embroidered cherubim on them, a further reminder to the priests that they were the royal attendants in the tabernacle. Listen to some of the instructions the Israelites were given regarding the tabernacle.
Speaker #5: (slide 1 - tabernacle picture)
Exodus 26: 1- 6 Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman. All the curtains are to be the same size, twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide. Join five of the curtains together, and do the same with the other five. Make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and do the same with the end curtain in the other set. Make fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. Then make fifty gold clasps and use them to fasten the curtains together so that the tabernacle is a unit.
Speaker #6: (slide 2 - tabernacle)
Exodus 26: 15- 19 Make upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. Each frame is to be ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide with two projections set parallel to each other. Make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. Make twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle and make forty silver bases to go under them - two bases for each frame, one under each projection.
Speaker #5: (slide 3 - altar)
Exodus 27: 1- 2 Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze.
Speaker # 6 (slide 4 - courtyard)
Exodus 27: 9- 10 Make a courtyard for the tabernacle. The south side shall be a hundred cubits long and is to have curtains of finely twisted linen, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases and with silver hooks and bands on the posts.
Speaker #3:
These instructions go on for several more chapters in Exodus. The Lord gave very specific instructions to his people for the tabernacle, the priests' garments, the altars, and the courtyard as well as many other details and instructions to follow for worship.
Speaker #4:
So here we are, ready to worship . . . . in a gym. Instead of walls of royal colored curtains, we have bleachers pushed to the walls. Instead of priests in elaborate robes, we have students lead us in worship. So why is this space special? The Bible has chapter after chapter in Exodus devoted to the proper place for worship. What makes this place holy?
Speaker #3:
Here is the big difference between the Old Testament and the New, between the way the Israelites worshipped, and the way we worship today. While the Christian worship space, in our case this gym, is not in any sense sacred, God's gathered people are! You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. If you have accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, Christ lives in you. That means that the King of kings, the King of the Universe, lives in you. In other words, you are royal space! Think about that for a moment - you are royal space!
Speaker #4: (slide 5 - verse)
1 Corinthians 6:19 says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?"
Jesus also said that "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am also." When we gather together, we are royal space - vessels filled with the Holy Spirit. And that is what makes this gym special. Maybe there walls lined with bleachers, and maybe we use this room to eat lunch and play sports, but when we come together as people filled with the Holy Spirit, that is what makes this place holy. And that is what makes you "royal space."
(Speakers 3, 4, 5, and 6 exit)
SOLO: This is Holy Ground / We Are Standing on Holy Ground
(Speakers 7, 8, and 9 come out on stage)
Speaker #7:
God's holiness extends far beyond these walls. Wherever we are, whatever we do, we carry God's holiness with us because we are royal space and God's spirit lives within us.
Speaker #8:
That means that when we are in class, when we are on break or eating lunch, when we play on a sports team or get involved in the musical or drama, we can praise God. Wherever we are, and whatever we do, we can worship God by our actions and our activities. Worship is not limited to this room. God wants us to live our lives constantly worshipping Him. We do this by how we treat others, we do this when we pray together in our classrooms, we do this when we discuss history, biology, English, or any subject with the understanding that it was all created by God for our use, and for His glory.
Speaker #9:
I challenge you to let this time that we spend together in chapel be a holy time, a time where we gather together as a community to worship. But I also challenge you to live your life as worship. Because you are royal space! Let the Spirit of the King of the Universe fill your hearts and minds - every moment of every day.
(Speaker 7, 8, 9 exit)
SOLO: Holy, Holy, Holy (first verse only)
Speaker 10:
Please pray with me:
Lord, we are humbled to realize that you are here with us, living in us, and wanting to have a personal relationship with us. As we gather in this gym during the year for chapel, we ask for your blessings in this place. Help us to remember that we are here to honor and worship and glorify you.
In your name we pray, AMEN.
I would like to invite you to stand at this time.
(All members of the Spiritual Leadership Team come out to sing)
Speaker #10:
Please join us as we sing the last verse of Holy, Holy, Holy, and as you do so, remember that you are "royal space" for the Lord of the universe, the King of kings.
Last verse of: Holy, Holy, Holy (slide 6 - words to verse 3)
Speaker #10:
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.