One-Year Bible Program Student Preaches in Chapel

A meaningful tradition is taking shape at Compass Bible Institute.

For the second year in a row, a One-Year Bible Program student preached during chapel, continuing what is becoming a significant part of CBI life. This year, Dylan Oakley preached a sermon from James 1:22–25 titled “The Call to Action,” exhorting fellow students not merely to hear God’s Word, but to respond to it with immediate obedience.

Dylan’s message centered on James’s contrast between the hearer and the doer. He urged students to take biblical instruction seriously and to let the Word of God shape their daily lives. Throughout the sermon, he emphasized that Scripture is not given merely for information, but for transformation. Hearing the Word without obeying it leads to self deception, forgetfulness, and spiritual stagnation. True growth comes when believers receive God’s Word with humility and act on what it says.

Framing his message around the need for immediate response, Dylan challenged his peers to view inaction as a hindrance and action as obedience. His sermon pressed the chapel audience with a clear and memorable charge: “You need to respond to God’s Word with immediate action.”

Last year marked the first time a One-Year Bible Program student preached in CBI chapel. Now, with a second student stepping behind the pulpit, a tradition is developing at CBI. It is an encouraging picture of what CBI aims to cultivate: students who are not only learning the Bible, but who are also being trained to teach it, proclaim it, and live it out.

We are grateful for Dylan’s faithful preparation and for the opportunity to see students use their gifts to serve the body of Christ. Moments like this are a reminder that biblical training should lead to conviction, courage, and obedience to God’s Word.

You can watch his full sermon here: