Summer Lovin'

Many students launch off to Summer Camp with the intention of having the "summer of their life" and many will find more than they ever bargained for at camp.

So many students will be prepared for everything at summer camp except...how to hold on to their "NEW SUMMER LOVIN' relationship with God.

• They will plan to meet new friends, new girls/guys, new leaders, new counselors but they will not be ready to meet up to the criteria of a God relationship.
• As they leave camp students will be immediately faced with the challenge or temptaion of totally forgetting, disregarding, and burying all that they heard and learned at Summer Camp.
• Don't be a Summer Lovin' Camper!

• Go home and actually Apply the camp experience to my life.

The excitement, the buzz, and the presence of God that was so real. The changes that I actually felt God making in my life, camp. The students, the counselors, the directors, the pastors, leaders and camp staff all were surrounding us. Camp is more than a feeling or an emotion it is a life altering experience to help us begin to walk in God’s will.

3 Reasons people lose their camp experience:

1.     They forget about God. (reading, praying, devoting, worshipping)

2.     Peer pressure, and thoughts of others overwhelm their thought of themselves and their relationship with God. (Are you living your life for someone else?)

3.     I always have next year. I always have tomorrow. I can always make my way back to God anytime.

Colossians 2:6-8 "6And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. 7Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done. 8Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ." 

3 ways to never lose your camp experience:

1.  Stay close to the Son

·        How do I stay close to the Son?

Prayer-Fasting-Listening-Reading the Bible-Making right choices-Worshipping-Putting in the things that will grow my experience in God and not kill it.

·        Like it or not this is the way.

Jesus said in John 14:6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." 

·        Letting your life be run by the world will destroy you!

James 1:15 “These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death.” 

·        You have to make decisions that will keep you close to Christ. You have to make decisions to serve Christ. It’s a decision making process.

2.  Stay rooted in the Son

Parable of the sower.

Matthew 13:3 "He told many stories such as this one: "A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4As he scattered it across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. 5Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plants sprang up quickly, 6but they soon wilted beneath the hot sun and died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil. 7Other seeds fell among thorns that shot up and choked out the tender blades. 8But some seeds fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted. 9Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!"

18"Now here is the explanation of the story I told about the farmer sowing grain: 19The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the Good News about the Kingdom and don't understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the seed away from their hearts. 20The rocky soil represents those who hear the message and receive it with joy. 21But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. At first they get along fine, but they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe the word. 22The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the Good News, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares of this life and the lure of wealth, so no crop is produced. 23The good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God's message and produce a huge harvest--thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted."

You have to stay rooted in the right place for your life to grow, flourish, and prosper.

illustrate here: Dead plants vs. Live Healthy Plants

4 essentials to nourishment: light, CO 2 Carbon Dioxide, CO₂, is a tasteless, colorless, odorless, nonflammable, liquefied gas. Carbon dioxide is an integral part of the basic life cycle in nature. It is exhaled by humans and animals, then used by plants to help them grow. Plants, in turn, release oxygen, which people depend on for survival. , Nutrients Sixteen chemical elements are known to be important to a plant's growth and survival. The sixteen chemical elements are divided into two main groups: non-mineral and mineral.   and   trace elements Trace element 1. An element that occurs at very small quantities in the body but is nonetheless important for many biological processes.

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1.     Sunlight (Son light)

2.     Air (Influence, inspiration through worship, serving)

3.     Water (Holy Spirit)

4.     Food (Bible, Faith cometh by hearing the Word, Preaching)

·        Just as plants draw nourishment from the soil through their roots, so we draw our life giving strength from Christ.

·        The more we draw our strength from Him, the less we will be fooled by those who falsely claim to have life’s answers.

3.  Stay away from deception

Sin is like shopping with a million dollar bill...

Galatians 6:7 "Don't be misled. Remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow! 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. 10Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters.

When I heard about Alice Pike's arrest, two questions came to mind. Alice is the woman who tried to pay for her Wal-Mart purchases with a $1 million bill. My two questions: "There isn't really a $1 million bill, is there?" and, "What was she thinking?"

The answer to the first question is no, silly. The U.S. Treasury doesn't make a bank note with that many zeros. I don't know how high they do go, but thanks to Alice, nobody is going to con me on the million dollar one now. As far as what Alice was thinking, I don't believe she was.

Alice went to the register with $1,675 worth of stuff. What is amazing is that she expected change. Math is not my strong suit, but by my calculation, that's a lot of change. Was Alice really expecting that the cashier not only would, but actually could, hand over $998,325.00? Did she envision the cashier on the loudspeaker saying, "We need 10's and 20's on aisle 5?" Did she even bring a vehicle big enough to handle her purchases and the mountain of change?

Alice helps remind us of the irrationality of sin.

  Most sin doesn't make sense.

  We lie and expect good results.

  We overindulge in food or alcohol or entertainment and expect to feel better.

  We take what isn't ours and expect satisfaction.

  We refuse to resist temptation and expect peace.

  We act selfishly and expect stronger relationships.

  We ignore repentance and expect forgiveness.

  We hand over a fake and expect change.

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Proverbs 10:17 “People who accept correction are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore it will lead others astray.”

·       Christians who lead others astray tick me off!

·        We work to win people to Christ and then those students who think that they don’t have to abide by the guidelines of God dismantle them, hurt them by their actions, and lead them away from God as fast as they can.

·        YOU WILL BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR CHOICES AS WELL AS YOURS! They are making decisions based upon the example of person they are following. I know they shouldn’t but they do and that makes you responsible.

·        I cannot stand deceptive people. Deceptive people are misleading, deceiving, use illusions for their life instead of truth, they are unreliable, not to be trusted, to be guarded with suspicion, and totally dishonest. They live a LIE!

This year, instead of losing everything that you gained from camp why not continue on in the depth of your relationship with God.

DON'T DARE BE CAUGHT WITH JUST A SUMMER LOVIN' RELATIONSHIP TO GOD!

Why not grow year round and actually be an asset to your church, home, school and youth ministry?

What do you say?