Wednesday Night Worship

Good morning everyone! It is a rainy and cold day here at camp, which means we are more sleepy than ever before! Please pray for the rain to pass over as soon as possible, so that our last day at camp is a great one!!

Last night’s worship service was a powerful one. They switched things up and organized things differently, and I think that really resonated with our students. Instead of starting with lots of worship music then having a sermon and then being dismissed, the sermon and music were woven throughout the night. It helped us focus in on the message and really think thru the words we were singing too. 

Yesterday’s focus was on getting “Beyond your performance”. The day’s bible study and worship focused on us not being able to earn our salvation, or add anything to it. We are saved by grace alone! The Camp Pastor pointed out that most of us like religion because it gives us a system of measurements and standards to follow, a checklist. We are often trying to earn our entrance into heaven, but we must realize that our entrance into heaven will only be determined by what we did with Jesus Christ... did we accept Him as Lord and Savior or do we pretend to be a follower when it was convenient? He pointed out that often times Christians try to coerce God to answer their prayers by doing good deeds, so He will owe us something. God doesn't owe us anything. ANYTHING. And yet He has given us that which is EVERYTHING, Jesus Christ. 

During worship, we went through the first 4 chapters of Galatians. I would recommend reading it today, just to challenge yourself to remember we are saved BY grace THROUGH faith. What are your motives for doing things? Whose approval are you seeking? These are the questions John Nix presented to our students. He proclaimed that it is not what we are doing but why we are doing it. Are you living so that Jesus will be exalted and proclaimed, so that people will know him? Or are you living so you will be exalted and proclaimed, so that people will notice you? 

The main point to drive home today was to understand the Salvation we have received. That being a Christian is about having a real and lasting relationship with Jesus Christ, not doing all the churchy things to look good. Please be praying for our students to truly understand this, and please challenge them when they come home to live like this! 

Also last night we had Stage Night, and Colton was in it. He played the guitar and sang a song. Several other groups from camp were in it, and it turned out to be a very entertaining night.

Today’s focus is moving “Beyond your plans”. We are going to be looking at how we fit into God’s plan to redeem humanity. Each of us are called to be a part of the plan, however God always requires more that we can offer so that he has the opportunity to fulfill through us what he requires. 

Also today is the BOAT RACE! It will be at 6:30 pm tonight, so pray for the rain to go away by then! 

I hope to have many pics to share later, but we will have to see how the weather goes (my camera doesnt seem to like lots of rain!). 

Things to pray for:

• Energy! 
• For our students to really confront all they are being taught and make a change in their lives!
• Safety in the rain!
• For the community to continue to grow, they are doing a great job of getting closer!
• That our students would be grounded in their understanding of the gospel and would commit to trying to live each day seeking the Lord!

A recap of last night's worship

Good morning everyone! We have made it thru opening day and 1 full day of camp, and it is amazing how quickly the Lord can move in a persons heart. The magic of camp is not the music, the cool counselors, or even the super cool activities, even though those are all great. It is stripping yourself away from your everyday life. You take yourself out of your normal, which allows God to really come out of the shadows of our plans and desires. This is why we are sold out to bringing students here, because it is the best opportunity to get their focus on the Lord. 

As I mentioned earlier, yesterday’s theme was moving “beyond your position”. We focused on our separation from God as sinners and how to bridge that separation. To move from separation from God to connection with God we need to exchange our lives for Jesus Christ’s life, meaning we must start making decisions to seek His will and not our will. The Camp Pastor, John Nix, said some really challenging things last night about how we ‘play church’ too often today. 

He gave an analogy of the flu shot. When you get a flu shot you need to get just enough of the flu to build up an immunity, but not enough to actually get the flu. Today, alot of our churches are filled with people who are doing this, we want just enough Jesus to get immunity from Hell, please our parents, be a ‘good person’, feel good about ourselves, etc. After worship, we have a church discussion time each night. And last night was an amazing time for us as a youth family. Our students identified several ways we all try to get ‘just enough’ Jesus in our lives, and why they think they do it. Often we are just trying to get by. We had a time of confession, letting those that wanted to share with us what they are really struggling with now and how they need accountability. Some of these things included spending time in the Word (a problem for alot of us), trusting God to provide, understanding and responding positively to authority in our lives (especially with parents), putting on a show for others, being selfish, etc. It was a great stepping stone for us as a group to get real with each other. Please pray for more of this authentic sharing, not just here but from now on! 

Today the them is “beyond your performance”. We are going to be looking at how we are justified. Justification is being made right through faith. I think this will resonate with our students a lot because I think it is easy to fall into the trap of trying to earn justification through being religious, especially if you have been raised in the church. I will share more about this tomorrow morning. 

Tonight after worship we have “Stage Night” which is like a talent show or variety show. I am not sure if any of our students have decided to sign up, but I will keep you updated on it. The Boat race is tomorrow afternoon, for those of you who just cant wait to see how our ‘youth built’ boat fairs on the open water! 

Remember you can check out ‘the beyond effect’ at www.thebeyondeffect.org and see how students are taking the challenge to use their everyday passions for God’s glory. Our students are hearing about this each day, so hopefully it is sinking in and marinating in their hearts. 

Well, I think thats all for now. I will post pictures later tonight of the happenings today. We have students participating in Fitness, Waterfront activities, pool games, percussion, field games and climbing. So I am going to try to get my camera to as many of those places as possible!

*** I told you guys you could buy pictures at shutterfly.com but here are the actual instructions if you are interested:

1. Go to www.crossingscamps.org and click on the "At Camp" box in the middle of the page

2. Choose Jonathan Creek

3. You can look at pictures, email a camper, and alot more. Enjoy! 

• Remember, we will be compiling all of our pictures onto a cd when we get back. 

Happy Wednesday! 

Welcome to our Blog Adventures!

Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a blog dedicated to the youth ministry of Smiths Grove Baptist Church, "Relevant in the Grove". We hope this site will become a blessing to all readers, and will ultimately point them to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. 

So what will this blog be? 

• A place for Justin, myself, and possibly other church members to communicate with and challenge our youth to grow in their faith and love for the church. 
• A place for our youth to come and talk about new issues, to wrestle with hard truths, and to connect ot one another. 
• A place for our youth parents to be educated on what to talk about and how to talk about it with their youth. 
• A place for our congregation to connect with the younger generation of our church. 
  
• Ultimately, a place to see lovers of Christ live life. Messy, hard, sometimes fun, sometimes sad, sometimes frustrating, sometimes unbelievable life. 

So I hope you will join us on the journey to become more relevant in the lives of our youth and our community.

Sabrina