Holiness Emphasis Week at Asbury
January 31, 2019
Students were challenged to become awakened and active participants in their spiritual lives during Asbury University’s Holiness Emphasis Week, which began on Monday and wraps up with a Chapel service on Friday morning.
Holiness Emphasis Week has been a cornerstone of Spiritual Life at Asbury since the University’s founding. This tradition comes every spring semester and is stationed on the words of Hebrews 12:14 which states: “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
Each year, the University honors its Wesleyan-Holiness roots in celebrating Holiness Emphasis Week. The week includes a series of Chapel messages Monday, Wednesday and Friday as well as evening worship services Monday-Thursday.
“It arises out of this timeless concept across scripture,” Campus Chaplain Rev. Greg Haseloff said of Holiness Week. “That God can work in us to free us from the guilt, power and nature of sin. That the holy spirit can empower us to love God and our neighbor…it’s for these purposes that I encourage you to pursue your relationship with Jesus this week.”
This year’s theme of “waking up” inspired students to become spiritually alive and awake to what the Lord has for their lives.
Salvation Army Captain Andrew Miller III ’02, an alumnus and brother of Professor Nathan Miller ’05, served as the guest speaker throughout the week. Musical guest and touring artist Josh Lavender led worship, bringing with him a slew of popular contemporary worship tunes.
During Monday’s Chapel, Miller encouraged students to take a responsive approach to scripture, reading from Ephesians 5, beginning with verse 8.
“I don’t want you to arrive at the next stage of your life and not have turned the lights on and wish you had turned them on earlier,” Miller said. “What we’re saying through this week as we talk about God’s holiness, the opportunity we have to live in the life of the spirit, is that there’s no accidental holiness. You don’t trip into holiness. We allow ourselves to respond to God’s grace. Don’t get to the next stage of your life and wish you had woken up earlier. God wants you to wake up today. He’s calling you to wake up in this moment and let God’s light shine in you and through you.”
Please join us in praying for our students as they take in and process the messages of Holiness Emphasis Week.