Shane & Shane lead students in worship during first spring Convocation

Liberty University held its first Convocation of the spring semester on Wednesday in the Vines Center with a powerful praise service from contemporary worship band Shane & Shane.

Shane & Shane is the combination of solo artists Shane Barnard and Shane Everett, leaders of The Worship Initiative, an online resource for believers to grow in their practice and understanding of worship. After meeting in college, the friends began writing songs and touring the country leading worship. Over 15 years later, they continue touring together all around the nation.

The duo opened Convocation with their popular worship song “Psalm 34 (Taste and See).” Vice President of Spiritual Development Josh Rutledge then gave a brief preview of this year’s Campus Community series, “Ascent,” which kicks off Wednesday night. Shane & Shane will also be leading worship there. The series will walk through Psalms 120-134 to explore the discipline of prayer and reading Scripture, learning how to study the Psalms as a prayer language.

Shane & Shane sang Psalm-focused songs in Convocation to set the tone for the night. Before singing “Psalm 46 (Lord of Hosts),” Barnard gave a summary of the history and context of the passage. He discussed the story of the Assyrian army that attempted to attack King Hezekiah’s people, but Hezekiah prayed for God’s rescue, and God sent an angel to intervene. The angel took out 185,000 Assyrian warriors.

“This was no ordinary angel,” Barnard said. “The Bible calls this the Angel of the Lord. And then the sun comes up, and the king takes the people out on the field and declares the 46th Psalm, ‘Come behold the wonderful works of God. He makes desolations of nations. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth, He breaks the bow, He breaks the spear, He burns the chariots with fire. (God said) Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted on the earth. The Lord of Hosts is with you; the God of Jacob is your fortress.’”

After reading Colossians 1:16, which discusses all things being created through Christ and for Christ, the duo introduced the students to their new song, “He Made a Cross His Throne,” which focuses on how Christ’s sacrifice and suffering provides us our salvation.

“We’re here to celebrate this one, this man, this God,” Barnard said. “This is the one that Psalm 8 says put the stars in place with His fingertips. This is the one who in one evening, in one moment, took out a couple hundred thousand Assyrian warriors in a breath. This is the one who is coming back with a sword in His mouth.”

Convocation ended with their song, “You’ve Already Won.”

Friday’s Convocation guest is Tori Hope Petersen, author of “Foster.” View the full spring Convocation schedule.