I have a confession to make:  in 11th grade I never did my math homework..  Math was the last class of the day and just before 9th period I had a study-hall with my math teacher.  So everyday I would walk into study-hall and say, “Mrs. Lynker, I didn’t understand my homework” (sometimes it was true and other times I was just lazy).  Patiently, Mrs. Lynker would sit down with me and re-explain the entire lesson.  Guess what, not only did I get an A on every homework (because she talked me through each problem), but I actually understood what I was being taught.  Mrs. Lynker spoke on my level and things made sense.

Take a look at Acts chapter 2 specifically verses 1-12.

¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹²Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some of you might be familiar with this story.  Let me give a quick recap:  Jesus died, rose again, and went into heaven.  His disciples were hanging out waiting for the next move when all of the sudden a violent wind whooshed through the house, fire started hanging over their heads and the Holy Spirit filled the disciples with cool things like being able to speak in different languages.  The disciples ran outside and started teaching to everyone who would listen to them.  The city was filled with hundreds of Jews that each heard about Jesus in their own language!  At first they were confused, then Peter addressed the crowd and explained the story of Jesus .  The Jews understood the message because the disciples took the time to speak to them in a way that they understood.

How many of you sit in church bored out of your mind wishing you could understand what the pastor is trying to say?  How many of you wish the message on a Sunday morning would be relevant to your life?  That is why we do what we do when it comes to teaching at camp.  We as a staff want to take the time to explain Jesus in “your own language”, in a way that makes sense to you.  We use relevant examples and words that you understand.  We also take the time in small groups to explain what we mean.

Think about what would happen if we did not teach at camp.  For one thing, you would have to play more dumb get to know you games and you might go through life never growing deeper in your relationship with God.  Can you imagine what would have happened if the crowd in Jerusalem heard the whoosh, saw the fire, but did not hear the message?  I think it is safe to say 300 people would not have accepted Christ that day.

I have struggled to write this post over the past few weeks.  Not because I don’t have much to say on the subject of worship at camp, but because I don’t feel as though my words capture the importance of worship at camp.

Worship is simply humbling ourselves before God, telling Him how awesome He is.  It is our small way to say, “God I’ve noticed the things You have done in my life and all I can say is WOW!”  Why is worship a critical part of our week of camp?  Because it is the perfect setting!  We are surrounded by God’s beautiful creation.  We are given the opportunity to worship without distractions or time limits.  We are encouraged to be ourselves and to freely express ourselves as loudly as we want to.  God wants to hear from us and camp worship encourages us to do so.

As we prepare for camp we take a great deal of care when selecting our worship team.  Not to show off the skilled musicians we know but to provide you with a team that understands what it means to be in the presence of God.  A team that can lead by example the act of praising our Creator, Savior, and Friend.

This past summer Craig said something that made me stop and think.

Worshiping God is about God!  Anything you get out of it is because He is crazy about you.

I know I am not the only one who thinks that camp worship is awesome.  Isn’t it amazing to think that God loves us so much and He created Camp Timberledge and brought us together because He is crazy about us!

Over the past few years we have tried to build team competition and keep camp flowing by setting up a weekly game with individual challenges.  Some of our games have been a week long treasure hunt and a FBI “who done it”.  The week long games are won by participating in challenges in order to receive game winning clues.  We have found that this keeps the week interesting, fun, and dare I say, challenging.

Our inspiration comes from TV Reality shows, new twists on old games, and from our warped minds.  In my opinion some of our best ideas have been: The Stretcher Challenge, Shelter building, Rice Bucket/Watermelon Relay, Video Scavenger Hunt, Puzzle in the Lake, Full Field Memory, and the Water Balloon Launch.

Some of you may thrive on team challenges.  Others of you may groan at the mere mention of the word.  Whichever group you fall into, keep in mind that the ultimate goal of our challenges is to exhaust you into a good night’s sleep.

I have a confession to make:  in 11th grade I never did my math homework..  Math was the last class of the day and just before 9th period I had a study-hall with my math teacher.  So everyday I would walk into study-hall and say, “Mrs. Lynker, I didn’t understand my homework” (sometimes it was true and other times I was just lazy).  Patiently, Mrs. Lynker would sit down with me and re-explain the entire lesson.  Guess what, not only did I get an A on every homework (because she talked me through each problem), but I actually understood what I was being taught.  Mrs. Lynker spoke on my level and things made sense.

Take a look at Acts chapter 2 specifically verses 1-12.

¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹²Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some of you might be familiar with this story.  Let me give a quick recap:  Jesus died, rose again, and went into heaven.  His disciples were hanging out waiting for the next move when all of the sudden a violent wind whooshed through the house, fire started hanging over their heads and the Holy Spirit filled the disciples with cool things like being able to speak in different languages.  The disciples ran outside and started teaching to everyone who would listen to them.  The city was filled with hundreds of Jews that each heard about Jesus in their own language!  At first they were confused, then Peter addressed the crowd and explained the story of Jesus .  The Jews understood the message because the disciples took the time to speak to them in a way that they understood.

How many of you sit in church bored out of your mind wishing you could understand what the pastor is trying to say?  How many of you wish the message on a Sunday morning would be relevant to your life?  That is why we do what we do when it comes to teaching at camp.  We as a staff want to take the time to explain Jesus in “your own language”, in a way that makes sense to you.  We use relevant examples and words that you understand.  We also take the time in small groups to explain what we mean.

Think about what would happen if we did not teach at camp.  For one thing, you would have to play more dumb get to know you games and you might go through life never growing deeper in your relationship with God.  Can you imagine what would have happened if the crowd in Jerusalem heard the whoosh, saw the fire, but did not hear the message?  I think it is safe to say 300 people would not have accepted Christ that day.

Worship is simply humbling ourselves before God, telling Him how awesome He is.  It is our small way to say, “God I’ve noticed the things You have done in my life and all I can say is WOW!”  Why is worship a critical part of our week of camp?  Because it is the perfect setting!  We are surrounded by God’s beautiful creation.  We are given the opportunity to worship without distractions or time limits.  We are encouraged to be ourselves and to freely express ourselves as loudly as we want to.  God wants to hear from us and camp worship encourages us to do so.

As we prepare for camp we take a great deal of care when selecting our worship team.  Not to show off the skilled musicians we know but to provide you with a team that understands what it means to be in the presence of God.  A team that can lead by example the act of praising our Creator, Savior, and Friend.

This past summer Craig said something that made me stop and think.

Worshipping God is about God!  Anything you get out of it is because He is crazy about you.

I know I am not the only one who thinks that camp worship is awesome.  Isn’t it amazing to think that God loves us so much and He created Camp Timberledge and brought us together because He is crazy about us!