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Camp Rutledge + 7.27.03 - 8.1.03 + Focus Scripture: John 8:12-59
What do you believe about God?
Seems like everybody has an opinion—from Christians to atheists, from books to movies, in thoughts and in conversations. Some people talk to God. Some claim to hear from God. Every religion has its own view of God. Some love God, some hate God. Some think God is nice, others see Him as mean and unfair. Lots of people blame God for all kinds of things that happen. Few people think He’s cool, fun or even relevant.
There are a lot of opinions and a lot of beliefs out there about God. But, what is He really like? What is He up to? What does He do all day? What is He interested in? Why does He matter?
Two thousand years ago, a man named Jesus showed up in a world that had a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about God and went face-to-face with a group of people who thought they knew and understood everything there was to know about their God. But little did they know that Jesus actually was their God--in the flesh! And as Jesus shared with them the real truth about God--about Himself--those people, their religion, their beliefs, and their very lives were rocked to the core!
A lot of things have changed in two thousand years. A lot has been said, written, discussed, argued, debated and taught, even misunderstood and misrepresented about God. But the reality is that the things Jesus shared so long ago about God’s character, intentions, purpose and principles are still true today.
This summer, get ready to open up God’s Word, to be blown away, to be challenged and changed, to be rocked to the core as we go beyond belief to rediscover or perhaps discover for the first time who God really is and what He’s really all about.
“I tell you the truth”, said Jesus, “before Abraham was born, I Am!” - John 8:58
What do you believe? Join us this summer for “Rutledge – Believe It or Not”.
Challenge and Overview for Camp Leadership
One of the most profound quotes I’ve ever heard is from A.W. Tozier. He said that the most important thing about a person is what comes to mind when they think about God. In essence, that’s going to be the springboard for the teaching at Camp Rutledge this year.
In March, 2001, God said something very profound to me. He said, “Ken, you’ve spent a lot of time listening and reading and learning and serving and teaching and speaking and helping others. Now, I want you to know me.” My first thought was, “But God, I do know you.” Boy was I wrong! In the last two years, through His Word, through teaching, through situations and circumstances in my life, and through spending time with Him, I feel as though I’m beginning to understand that the most important thing in life—ahead of moral living, ahead of serving Him, ahead of helping others, ahead of everything else—is really knowing God intimately and personally. It is no doubt God’s goal is for us to understand that knowing Him is the catalyst for everything we do—in work, relationships, decisions, finances, attitudes, ministry and service.
As leaders, most of us have stumbled onto a Bible story or a truth or a sermon or even a situation in life that has really challenged what we believe about who God is. Over time, we stop looking at those as accidents, and start seeing that God is orchestrating our lives to become known to us in very real ways. And let’s face it: those times when we have come to really know God rather than just know about Him have been defining moments in our lives.
Our goal for camp this year through devotions, cluster groups, testimonies, celebrations, campfires and cabin devotions is, with God’s direction and power, to create some defining moments. Our goal will be to carry students beyond what they believe and beyond how they act and beyond what they do to a place where they can come face-to-face with the One True Living God who introduced Himself to the world as I AM WHO I AM, who demonstrated Himself through the person of Jesus Christ, and who, through His Son, has made is possible for us to call Him “Father”.
To accomplish this goal, each encounter with God and God’s word during the week should challenge students to wrestle with this question…
In light of whom God is and what He has done and what He is up to, how do I respond?
So, we want to make it a priority to start everything with God. Our morning devotions will be primarily about whom God is—something about His character or qualities. Our cluster groups will need to focus on getting to know God first, and then talking through how our lives and situations and relationships and priorities are affected in light of who He is, what He has done and what He is doing. Our celebration times will focus on who God is and what He is up to.
Essentially, we are purposefully moving God to the center of focus in what the students are thinking about, what questions we are asking, what we are talking about and what they are sharing about throughout the week. We are introducing students to a lifestyle of intimately knowing God.
In Christ, Ken
Session #1 - SUN PM
Title: “Beyond Belief - Introduction”
Scripture: John 8
Summary: Throughout history, people have misunderstood God. Despite God’s efforts for thousands and thousands of years to make Himself known to the human race, the human race for the most part has missed who He really is. This week we are going to return to God’s Word with the goal of breaking down walls and changing hearts by really getting to know who God really is.
Goal: This message will serve as the introduction to the week. I will most likely cover the main topics for the week, and challenge students to allow God to begin to open their eyes to who He really is and what He’s really all about.
Session #2 - MON AM
Title: “God Is 100%”
Scripture: Exodus 3
Summary: So, where do we start? How do we get to know who God really is and what He’s really all about? Why not start where God first introduced Himself to someone? It was Moses, a burning bush and a scary voice. God blew Moses away that day, but more importantly, God revealed to us something that we have a hard time really believing—He introduced Himself as “I AM WHO I AM”. What does that mean? How does that impact how I view God? How does that have the potential to influence my life?
Goal: This message will challenge students to wrestle with the timelessness and eternal nature of God, and to consider how that impacts their belief system and what it can mean to them on a daily basis.
Session #3 - MON PM
Title: “God is 100% Grace and Mercy”
Scripture: Luke 7:36-48, Romans 8:1
Summary: Everyone in the world has a view of God—some believe, some don’t. Every religion has a “god”, but they are not all representative of the God that the Bible of Christianity represents. So, what’s the difference? Does it really matter? Aren’t all religions essentially the same? What makes Christianity different?
Goal: This message will challenge students to wrestle with the depths of God’s grace and mercy, and how God is using Jesus’ example, our own situations and circumstances in life, and our sinfulness and weakness, to constantly take us to new levels of understanding of His love for His children.
Session #4 - TUE AM
Title: “God is 100% Wisdom”
Scripture: Proverbs 3:13-20, 4:1ff
Summary: Most people find it hard to believe that God is a master communicator. No one has ever seen Him, and most people can’t hear Him, but God possesses something that He desperately wants us to have—wisdom and knowledge! And He made the ultimate sacrifice of His Son to set up a system whereby He can communicate His wisdom to his children. What is God’s wisdom? Why is it so important? Why does it seem so difficult to understand? How do we find it? What’s to gain if we do find it? What’s to lose if we don’t?
Goal: This message will challenge students to wrestle with the significance of God’s supreme wisdom and knowledge, and to consider the importance of making what God is communicating a daily priority.
Session #5 - TUE PM
Title: “God Keeps 100% of His Promises”
Scripture: Jeremiah 25:8-14, 2 Chronicles 36:15-21
Summary: God gets a bad rap in our society. He is given credit for some things, but He gets blamed for lots of stuff, too. Some people look at the world and draw the conclusion that God is not very reliable. Some people look at their own situations and circumstances and think that God cannot and should not be trusted. Can He be trusted? Is He reliable? Can we really count on Him? What kinds of promises has God made in the past? What promises does He make today? Does He keep His promises? Has He ever broken a promise?
Goal: This message will challenge students to wrestle with God’s trustworthiness by looking at what promises God does and doesn’t make, and to re-evaluate their lives based on His promises.
Session #6 - WED AM
Title: “God Sees 100% of Me”
Scripture: 1 Samuel 16
Summary: As we walk through life, most of what we observe about other people is what we see on the outside—their appearance, what they do, how they act. In fact, what most people know about us is what we’ve allowed them to see and know. Our human nature makes us good at hiding areas of our lives and protecting what’s really going on inside us. Can we hide from God? Does God want us to hide things from Him? Is it safe to share everything with God? Is it beneficial?
Goal: This message will challenge students to wrestle with the reality that God knows everything about them and what they do, to understand how God would have us interact with Him based on that reality, and to consider how that might impact their attitudes, decisions and behaviors.
Session #7 - WED PM
Title: “God is 100% Involved”
Scripture: Nehemiah 2
Summary: There are so many distractions in the world and in our lives that it’s sometimes difficult to see God at work. When is God at work? Only at camp? Only at church? Only when we’re doing Spiritual things? Throughout history, God has done some of His most amazing work at some of the strangest and most unexpected times and in the most unusual ways. Why did God choose to do things at seeming random times? Does He still do that today? Why did God do things in unconventional ways? Is God still very unconventional?
Goal: This message will challenge students to wrestle with the reality that God is at work in their lives all day every day for their whole lives, and how they can re-evaluate the things they experience and endure in light of what God is trying to accomplish.
Session #8 - THU AM
Title: “God Does What He Wants 100% of the Time”
Scripture: Isaiah 46
Summary: One of the most difficult lessons to learn in life is that we are not the center of the universe. As Christians, one of the most difficult lessons to learn is that while God’s love and care and provision for us is unmatched, we are not the center of His universe. In fact, He accomplishes what He wants to accomplish regardless of our commitment or involvement. Isn’t this pretty selfish? Is God self-centered? Is He arrogant and full of Himself?
Goal: This message will challenge students to wrestle with where they fit in to what God is accomplishing for His own glory and satisfaction, and to consider the significant role they can play in bringing glory to God.
Session #9 - THU PM
Title: “God is 100% God”
Scripture: Job 38-39
Summary: What have we learned about God? What have we wrestled with this week? How have we gotten to know Him more personally and more intimately this week? How has that impacted us? What is that beginning to change about us? Let’s take one final look at some things that God said about Himself and see how God would have you respond to Him.
Goal: This message will challenge students to wrestle with where they stand with truly knowing God as a Heavenly Father, as a Savior, as Lord, and as friend, and how God would have them respond.
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