SWO Underground Prayer Chapel

SWO Underground | Prayer Chapel

SWO25 Hours (Summer Camp)

What is SWO Underground?

The SWO Underground prayer chapel is designed to show students the importance of knowing God and to inspire them to take that knowledge and passion to the ends of the earth. We desire to provide visual, hands-on ways for students to understand the truths of Scripture so that the Gospel will be real to them.

SWO Underground is more than a place to pray. It is a call to action. The people groups, countries, faces, and stations featured in SWO Underground are always changing to reflect the world we live in and our hearts as a ministry. Through easy-to-understand stations, students are introduced to international missions and led to journal their own personal struggles and growth.

Please use the lighted Memorial Garden path, behind the 3-Man Swing, to access SWO Underground.

The Romans Road (2025)

“The Romans Road” is a collection of verses from the Book of Romans that have been used as a method of sharing the Gospel.

This method is believed to have been developed and used at the start of the 20th century. These five passages of Scripture define why we needed a Savior, why God saved us, and the steps we need to take to be saved. The reason we chose these verses to be in the Prayer Chapel this summer is because the mission of the Prayer Chapel is to provide a place where people can reflect on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What better way to do that than reflecting on these five passages in scripture that explain the reason for the Gospel? This outline is designed to act as a guide to our Prayer Chapel this summer.

We will be looking at six different stops along the “road” as we journey through the Prayer Chapel.

1st Stop (The Start)

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Wow! This is an intense statement. ALL HAVE SINNED! The claim that Paul has made in this verse is that everyone — me, you, and himself have sinned against God and are not deserving of the Kingdom of Heaven because we have fallen short of the glory of God. What does this mean? What is sin?

Sin – Any act that is in opposition to God’s divine law. Any act that separates us from God.

Paul makes this argument through the first three chapters of Romans so that we understand our need for a savior. The problem is worse than we want to admit. We are born into this world with Adam’s sin (Genesis 3)  is imputed on (accredited to or given to) us. In our default state, we are corrupted, bound to rebellion against God.

Psalm 51:3 – “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Ephesians 2:1-3 – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

The first stop is really where we should start. We must have a good understanding of who we are to be able to understand why we need a savior, and how good the grace of God is. 

2nd Stop

Romans 6:23a – “For the wages of sin is death”

Okay, we are sinners, but why does that matter? What is the big deal with sin?

Paul is saying that the wages, or what sin deserves, is death. Death is the destruction or the permanent end of something. This death that Paul is describing is an eternal destruction or punishment.

For us, as people who have sinned and were born into sin, we deserve death. That is justice. We were bound up in rebellion against the God who created us. Of course, this is the penalty for sin. It is treason. 

Isaiah 59:2 – “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

This is bleak, because  there seems to be no hope for us, but keep reading because the story of the Gospel is so much sweeter than you could ever imagine.

3rd Stop

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This is one of the sweetest verses of scripture. While we were still sinners Christ died for us. While we were still headed for hell and against God; he died for us. Why? Because He loves us.

1 John 4:8-11 – “…God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

I know we just got done talking about how bad that we are, and how undeserving we are of the Kingdom of Heaven. While all that is true; if you have been saved there is nothing that you can do to separate yourself from the love of Jesus Christ. You don’t have to doubt the fact that Jesus loves you. Not because of anything that you have done, but only because of who God is.

4th Stop

Romans 6:23b – “, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This death was not in vain! The reason for this sacrifice is so that you will be removed from sin and given righteousness. 

In life there is nothing that is truly free besides this. There is a birth tax and a death tax. We pay for water, food, and a place to live. We have to work for these things, but there is no amount of work you can do to deserve eternal life. The only reason that you would ever receive this gift, is because Jesus gives you this life for free, unconditionally.

Eternal Life is the end goal of the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the sweetest gift that we could ever be given, but the Holy spirit also, in this life, changes our desires and makes us new.

5th Stop

Romans 10:9-10 – “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

This gift is for you and for me. In this Scripture, Paul is giving us the steps to receiving this free gift. To confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. When this happens, you will be changed forever. Everything that you are and everything that you are pursuing will be different. You are no longer living for yourself or for anything else in creation. You are now living for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:5-8 – ‘Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.’

This belief and confession will cause a realization of the fact that Jesus gave up everything, including stepping off of his throne to save you. What better way to live for him than to do the same.

1 Peter 4:8-11 – “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

This saving grace causes a repentance or fleeing from your sin, and a sprint towards Christ for the rest of your life.

All-Forward

Romans 10:13-15 – “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

While this gift of salvation may be free; it is a call to action. We cannot be stagnant as believers. We MUST be on mission for the Gospel. 

Matthew 28:18-20 – “…All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

How beautiful is this Gospel?!

We were not worthy. While we were still in opposition to God he died for us. If we believe: this makes us worthy. Now we have been qualified to share this good news with others. This is the reason the Prayer Chapel exists. This is the reason Snowbird exists. This is the reason you exist. This is the only thing that is worth living for. In the saving grace of Jesus Christ is the only place where you will find love, purpose, joy, fulfillment, and ultimately true life.