Rehearsing of Youth Camp 2016
Acts 14:25-28 is what my pastor talked with us about on Sunday night after camp. I feel that is how Sunday night went for our church. We rehearsed what God had done for us throughout the week, praised the LORD for His goodness, and we dwelt together in fellowship once it was over. I cannot describe this years youth camp in only a few words, but I will do my best for the sake of my readers!
This year, as my pastor said Sunday, was a very "mature" camp. We had little to no drama, I feel like the majority of the teens came looking and seeking the LORD, and expecting God to do something. God has done something! I can't say He made a big production, but He has definitely been working on the hearts of His people! When God moves, I notice the teens at camp usually expect it to be a huge magical moment that can and should be seen by everyone around us. But God doesn't always work like that! Sometimes He draws near to us and softly whispers in the ear of His saints, and gently tugs at our heartstrings to steer us in the direction He would have us to go. The simple sweetness of those moments should never be forgotten, or taken for granted! When the LORD came down to be with us at camp this year, I have a feeling people not only enjoyed His presents, but asked if He would stay! People took Him home with them this year! I pray we will stay with Him!
To describe a sweet moment of fellowship with the LORD, is truly a difficult thing! I believe that a lot of people got help this past week!
I can't always speak for everyone else, but I would like to tell you a bit of what the LORD did for me personally. I have been praying for God to show me His will for my life. Whether that be college, a mission field, or possibly a family, I wanted to know what God had in store for me in in next 5 years. That may not seem like a whole lot of time to some, but when you are almost twenty years old, a lot can happen within that amount of time! I'm a very cautious person by nature, so not knowing what the future holds is a terrifying thing for me! I'm sure we would all like for God to simply roll out the blueprints and reveal it all to us at once, but I can't help but think we would totally botch it all even worse than we already do, if that were the case!
I had been praying, but at the same time I'd had been laying out my own plans and showing them off to God, waving different things in His face as I asked "How about this one?" "This is good right?" "Well if not that, then it must be this one! Right?". Then my Father gently came to me this week and simply said, "Wait." That was what I had been doing though, right? That's why I'm still home with my parents and not in a college! I'm waiting! I've been waiting! As the week went on the LORD began to show me what I had been doing. To be honest the LORD had been showing me things before camp! Such as a sermon called "In the Waiting Room". It was about how to utilize that time of waiting for the LORD, and use that time to grow! Seriously? How obvious is that?
Wednesday morning's lesson was on how one wrong thing, (maybe not even a bad thing), can ruin the whole thing. Right after that, and I mean right after, was a lesson on the importance of prayer, and how you should ask the LORD before you do anything, even if it doesn't seem like a big deal to you. The LORD showed me that though I was "waiting" I wasn't using that time wisely. Which smacked me in the face during the next couple rounds of sermons! Read your Bible, Minister, Fight, Worship, Check your heart condition, Witness, Pray, Surrender, Seek the Lord, Acknowledge Him. I have no excuse for causing this time in my life to become useless void . I have a full list of things to be working on! I also got help at the very beginning of the week. "When Your Heart's Not in it" was a great sermon that got our week off to a great start! Tuesday morning the message was on Faithfulness. The faithfulness of God, and how He is worthy of our faithfulness because of His faithfulness to us even when we aren't faithful! There were also messages on fighting the flesh, Delighting in the LORD, and Masks. I don't think there was a church group that left unchanged by what happened in their hearts this week! I honestly don't know what else to say besides praise the LORD!
Six teens were saved at camp, two as a result of the main preacher witnessing to two men on his way home, and one on Sunday night, which was dedicated to rehearsing what happened at camp as the verse I mentioned earlier. So nine souls claimed Christ as their Savior as a result of Youth Camp!
One of my favorite memories of camp this year, well, one of my all time favorite camp memories, is when some of the young girls from my church got together in one of our rooms on Friday night before the service, and prayed and poured our hearts out to God. That precious moment will forever be in my memory!
The blessings didn't stop when we left camp! We can a great couple of messages on Sunday morning. Which also hit me hard! "Are Your Growing?" obviously hit on growth as a Christian, but also on how we shouldn't be hindrances to the growth of others around us! With growth, comes growing pains! Growth acknowledges weakness! These are simple things that stuck out to me in Sunday School!
In the morning service, my pastor challenged us to seek understanding, and to base that understanding on the Word of God! He also challenged us to grow up, and submit to authority and accomplish something! Simple truths are sometimes the most needed. I didn't have some huge evil sin to give up, yes I did give some things up, but the main thing God has been working on me is the area of faithfulness. I struggle with staying faithful in the small things, and the LORD has revealed that to me and how I can do better. Once I can prove that I can be faithful in the little things, then the LORD can show me the next step for my life.
Before the evening service, a handful of the teen girls got together and prayed. You have no idea what a blessing and encouragement that was to hear young girls from Cornerstone lift their voices up to God! To see our teen group growing together in the LORD is an amazing thing! We still have a lot of growing to do, but we had to start somewhere!
I hope the LORD will continue to challenge us daily in our walk with Him! Let me give you a charge today! Take heart, and fight my friends! For your convictions, for what's right, for the glory of our good and gracious God! Don't lose faith and never stop fighting!
I wish i could give more info on this year's youth camp, but to be honest, there simply are no more words!
Thank you again for reading!
Simply,
Sarah
