From -- Kaleb the "Bible Dude"
First off, this week was great and so much fun! We had camo day on Wednesday, where we had a ton of involvement with dress up and face paint! Then to follow that on Thursday we started filming for some 2025 promotional videos for Rock Solid, and this pretty much turned into the most ultimate field day ever, where we just played across the gym and backyard throwing water balloons galore and getting awesome drone shots of the kids in action. Your campers of course are always the stars. Can’t wait to see them on future RSA promotions.
As for Bible Buddies this week, we decided to tackle a topic that has been, and in all honesty, very needed for camp. And that is the issue of “Respect”.
The verse we learned and discussed this week was 1 Peter 2:17, “Show Respect to Everyone”. It’s simple, yet still difficult for all of us. And I promise this wasn’t from a place of us seeking authority, but more so for some lack of listening to the coaches and rules as a whole. We realized that the kids were most definitely acknowledging what we were supposed to be doing and not doing, but it wouldn’t always translate into their actions. We talked about how respect isn’t just supposed to be our words but it is also how we fulfill them through our actions. For instance, rally is such a short period of time, but many crucial things are said by the DOD (Director of the Day) to explain rules for the games of the day. Yet, we have a hard time being patient and still for just a bit. We do not want this to feel like school but these are lessons that help all of us with friends, teachers, and especially parents. Paul even writes to the Ephesians "Honor your father and mother, that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth" (Epehsians 6:2).
However, it wasn’t just meant for the campers to hear us say “Respect your coaches” because we made sure to explain to everyone that it is just as important for coaches to show this example by respecting one another and also the campers.
Yet more importantly, how do we respect God? Well the kids nailed it by saying we go to church, we read our Bible, we pray, we praise, and we honor him with our actions. We also love those around us, because we are made in God’s image and He says our lives have so much weight to its value, so we should care for others with respect and love because of it.
This week I was encouraged by another one of our coaches, Ellie, to talk about “the Fall”. And this is the story of Adam and Eve, after disobeying God and eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden and cursed in various ways. And bringing sin into this world and into our lives. One of those sins is disrespect for others. But that would have been a lame and negative way to end that rally and we all know there is so much more! So instead we built a giant hole in between two tall mats, and shared the gospel with this illustration, called the “Bridge Analogy”.
This illustration is based on one verse that is broken down, Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” A wage is something earned by our work like getting paid for mowing the yard. And we as imperfect humans sin, and the payment of our sin is spiritual death and separation from God. BUT! That's the bad news, and the Gospel is the good news. A gift, something not earned but given out of love, a gift of God, who is our Father and loves us with all His heart. And that gift is eternal life, and it is given by believing in Christ Jesus as Lord and savior.
So if we are on one side of this valley, and God is on the other and since it’s too far to jump and we’re not Superman so we can’t fly across, what do we need? A bridge. But the only way to get to God is to believe in Jesus because he is that bridge, Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. John 14:6
And that is the good news right?! That God sent His son Jesus here to live a perfect life in obedience to God and loving all those he came into contact with and modeled that for us. Then He died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later, defeating the grave, and if we believe in HIm as savior we can live with the Father in Heaven for eternity.
So even though we talked about respecting others, that isn’t the only thing we have struggled with and it won’t be the last, but we can be relieved and at peace knowing we have a God who loves us and has forgiven us.
