Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School will begin its Fall 2022 chapel series, “The Life of David,” with Opening Convocation on Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. in Andrew Gerow Hodges Chapel.
“From the earliest days of the Christian church, David son of Jesse—a shepherd boy turned warrior turned Israel’s greatest king—has been hailed as one of the most important forerunners and types of Christ in Old Testament history,” said Beeson Dean Douglas A. Sweeney.
This semester, Beeson faculty and guest preachers will call chapel participants to careful consideration of this central, biblical character and his role in the unfolding of God’s redeeming work on behalf of his people.
“On the day of Pentecost, Simon Peter spoke of David as a prophet who foretold the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was born in the line of David to rule the world forever,” Sweeney said. “In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus’ mundane lineage is traced back to David, and his birth in David’s hometown is highlighted as well. In the Gospel according to Luke, the angel Gabriel tells Mary that God would give her Son the throne of his royal father David. In the epistle to the Romans, Paul’s summary of the gospel features Jesus’ descent from David. This feature is repeated in Paul’s advice to Timothy. In the apocalypse of John, the risen Christ is depicted as the mighty Lion of Judah, the Root of King David who opens the scroll of God.”
“He receives more attention in Old Testament history than anybody else. He’s a linchpin of God’s cosmic history of redemption,” Sweeney explained. “But why is this the case? Who was this man? And what would the Lord have us learn from him today?”
By working through selections from I and II Samuel and tracking David’s life from his boyhood to his death, these questions will be explored by guest preachers during the school’s worship services this fall.
Sweeney’s prayer is that “we will draw near to God, learn what he desires from those he uses as his servants and look to Jesus Christ, who fulfills God’s covenantal promises to David, helps us to serve the Lord as leaders of his people and rules the world forever at the Father’s right hand.”
The series will also include the annual Go Global Missions Emphasis Week, Reformation Heritage Lectures and Alumni Conference. The schedule is as follows:
August 30
Douglas A. Sweeney, dean, Beeson Divinity School, I Samuel 16:1-13
September 6
Carolyn Moore, pastor, Mosaic Church, Evans, GA, I Samuel 17
September 13
Robert Smith Jr., Charles T. Carter Baptist Chair of Divinity, I Samuel 20
September 20
Mark Gignilliat, professor of divinity, Beeson Divinity School, I Samuel 24
September 27
Will Kynes, associate professor, Biblical and Religious Studies at Samford’s Howard College of Arts and Sciences, II Samuel 1
October 4
Bryant Wright, president, Send Relief, Go Global Missions Emphasis Week
October 11
Ted Traylor, senior pastor, Olive Baptist Church, Pensacola, FL, II Samuel 5
October 18
Ralph West, senior pastor, The Church Without Walls, Houston, TX, II Samuel 6
October 25
Paul House, professor of divinity, Beeson Divinity School, II Samuel 7
November 1
Ian McFarland, Robert W. Woodruff professor of theology, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Ephesians 1:11-23, Reformation Heritage Lectures
November 8
Gavin Ortlund, senior pastor, First Baptist Church, Ojai, CA, II Samuel 11-12, Alumni Conference
November 15
Matt O’Reilly, lead pastor, Hope Hull United Methodist Church, AL, II Samuel 13-19
November 29
The recipient of the James Earl Massey Student Preaching Award, II Samuel 23:1-7
Community Worship is held at 11 a.m. each Tuesday in the school’s Andrew Gerow Hodges Chapel.