Camp

The youth group left this morning for camp. They call it "music camp" though there's no actual music involved. They do learn a lot of songs though and it helps them to be better singers.

Tammy, the wife of one of our elders, went with them as a counselor/chaperone. Her daughter, who is home from college, also went with them to be one of the cooks for camp. Tammy asked me if I would take her class this morning since she would be out of town. I told her I would. Then, I found out she teaches the teenage girls/young adult girls class. That made me a little nervous since I'm used to teaching the smaller children!

What I ended up doing was to begin the class by taking time for everyone to introduce themselves (there were 4 girls in the class as about 12 kids went to camp) Their ages were from 17 to 20 years. Then we shared about how long we had been Christians...that sort of thing. I put together a simple topic for us to discuss about growing in our Christian walk. This is what we talked about:


God desires growth from every living thing He has created.

(2 Peter 3:18).“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…”
God wants us to know Him, understand Him, walk with Him and talk with Him every day about everything, just as you would with your best friend. We need to get to know Him better and better.

Matthew 5:6, We also have to hunger and thirst for such a relationship with God. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Discussion: Why is hungering and thirsting such a good illustration? Physically we experience a daily hunger that comes back and needs to be satisfied. As water and food is to the body, so righteousness (to be right with God; to be without sin or guilt because of Christ’s sacrifice) is to the spiritual life. As humans we hunger and thirst not only for food but for satisfaction in life. We search in all kinds of different areas to be filled, to be satisfied, but we always end up falling short. Our satisfaction is not being met in the things of this world. We try to satisfy ourselves with money and power, education, boyfriends and girlfriends and earthly possessions that allow us fun and entertainment for a time, but yet all these things lead to a deeper sense of need, a deeper longing for satisfaction, because they do not fill that need.

How do we have that close, intimate relationship with God?

Reading, Studying ,Meditating on God’s Word. I Peter 2:2 tells us to, “Long for the pure milk of God’s word, so that by means of it, you may grow.” When we first become Christians, we are spiritual newborn babies. Once we see our need for God’s Word, we begin to find nourishment in Christ and our spiritual appetite will increase and we start to mature. Philippians 4: 8-9. To meditate means to think or reflect on.

Memorizing Scripture. David memorized Scripture and wrote of it in the Psalms – “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). We will be amazed at our rapid growth in Christ as we fill our minds and hearts with God’s Word. God’s Word is our guide that tells us how we should live our lives. Memorize and Apply.

Prayer We must spend time talking to God in prayer. Just like any relationship, we cannot get to know one another or build a healthy relationship without quality communication. The same applies to our relationship with God. In Psalm 62:8, David urges us to “pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” Conversing with God, communing (sharing thoughts and feelings) with him at the deepest levels of our soul, listening to his voice are essential elements of spiritual growth.

Growing in obedience, not just in knowledge. In I Samuel 15:22, we learn that “to obey is better than sacrifice,” and James 1:22 urges us to be doers of God’s Word and not merely hearers. Jesus adds, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching” (John 14:23). It’s not enough to hear or read the Word of God. We must also put it into practice. We can measure the effectiveness of our Bible study time by the effect it has on our behavior and attitudes.

We all still have much room for growth. Our challenge is to every day find some way to draw closer to Christ, and we will be prepared to stand for truth in any and all circumstances. It is our goal to help others grow spiritually and move forward in their spiritual walk, but before we can help others we must first be secure in our own relationship with God.

It was a simple lesson, but I wanted each of us to think of the time when we first became a Christian and to see the progress we have made in our Christian walk. We all know HOW to have a closer relationship with our Lord, but are we DOING what we know to do???

Just somethin' to think about.