Observations: a weekly meeting - order of progress - 2 February 2008
[3.1] I am helping out with setup today. We have moved into a new room (ED 2-115), and struggled a bit with getting cords around chairs and making sure that everything worked. I am working with a thin Caucasian about my height, with black hair going down to the base of the neck, a black shirt, and jeans. He is in charge of the tech side of things normally, and he wastes no time in identifying people that can lend a hand with the setup work. He runs the band through the tests. The band consists of a guitar, an old upright piano, a djembe, and two voices, one for each gender.
Everything is framed by prayer. We pray before we open the doors. We pray before the worship. We pray before each speaker. We spend time in prayer at the end. Prayer is a very important aspect of the meeting. It is a way to reorient oneself with God’s will. [They reiterate that purpose several times over the course of several weekly meetings.]
[3.1] There are five songs in worship today. All of them are in major keys. They have a simple chord structure: most are I-IV-V or some variation thereof. The worship centres on praising God/Jesus and his power, or proclaiming our love for God/Jesus.
The main focus for today is about the central reason for Campus for Christ’s existence: to turn lost students into Christ-centred labourers. A video is shown of the Rocky Mountain project, a national missions project. It is a parody of the Mastercard ads: C-Train - $1.95. Starbucks coffee - $4.86. Concert - $29. Steak Dinner - $21. Sharing the Gospel: Priceless. Midway through the video, the computer that is showing the video decides to go to sleep. People are laughing. They follow up with applause. Someone yells out, “Should’ve bought a Mac!”
Next is the testimony. A female second-year science student speaks from the heart about the feeling that we CAN’T DO ENOUGH WITH OUR TIME AND WE ALWAYS FEEL GUILTY BECAUSE OF IT. [her emphasis] And it snowballs, until we are crushed under the burden of guilt. I should do this. I should do that. I should do my homework. I should spend more time studying. I should I should I should … God doesn’t want us to live like that. Our life should be directed by love. Actions are meaningless without love.
Another speaker. We are going through the book of Romans this year, and today is concerning Romans 10. The three principles of the chapter: Seeking, Surrendering, and Sending. She demonstrates a heartfelt desire and compassion to see people saved. The law is accomplished; all we need is to believe. [For some reason, any time sex is mentioned, even in a peripheral context (moral law), the audience is struggling to not burst into peals of laughter. They do not succeed all that well] She refers to the event we had on Thursday a little over a week ago, Soul Cravings. Some people nod knowingly. Another exhortation to preach the Gospel. The Gospel is universal. She has a tone of urgency in her voice. Her emotions are running high. If you know what’s good for you, do it. Now. The exhortation is repeated. Again. Again, this time in a different context. A personal example follows of how she followed God, shared the gospel, and changed someone’s life for the better. But it’s not about her. It’s about God working through her. Another theme emerges: relationships are central. These are the two most important things: love and the gospel.
