Summer Fun/Summer Growth

Ever since I was a kid, I have always looked forward to summer. Summer was a time for vacations, no more school and weekend trips to the lake. How could you not love summer?

As an adult, I still look forward to summer, even though it means higher temperatures and higher electric bills. Vacations these days are not merely about fun, but have to be paid for. And rather than being a time for relaxing, summer seems to be even busier than the rest of the year. But I still love summer.

Summer is also the time for summer camp, which for me always meant church camp. I have been attending summer camp, in one form or another, with very few interruptions since the early 1970s. I have been a counselor, speaker, director and sponsor. I have served on and even chaired presbytery committees. Summer camp has always been a big part of my life.

Liturgically, summer is the time of growth. If you notice the parament cloths in the sanctuary, they are green all summer long. On the church calendar, this reminds us that most of life is spent not in special events like Christmas and Easter, but in the daily drudgery of life.

So how can we put these two ideas together? How do we join the excitement of summer camp with the liturgical idea of growth? It’s all about spiritual growth. This summer we have a great opportunity to expand our faith in and dependence on God. Since many regularly scheduled activities take a break for summer, why not use that extra time to grow in your spirit, to nurture your soul?

We would like to offer several new and improved opportunities for you to do that here at the church. First, the new. As many of you may have heard, we have started a new Bible study in the Gospel of John on Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Our hope was to provide a time when even those who have been busy or out of town for the weekend can meet together. We figured that most people would be back by Sunday evening. We meet in the Fellowship Hall, and T. J. Teague has prepared a special something for kids. We sing for a little bit, a few praise songs with guitar accompaniment, and we look at the Gospel of John verse by verse in a loose, discussion-style lesson taught by the pastor. It has been a long time since most of us have had such a focused and deep experience with the Scripture, and even some of our most regular “old timers” have commented that they have learned something. I hope your schedule is flexible enough for you to come join us.

As for the improved, Amy McAlister has some new ideas and is infusing some new energy into the children’s Sunday School department. This summer they will be studying some of the Superheroes of the Bible, like Moses, Sampson, and David. They will be using puppets, crafts, and computer-aided lessons to experience in a new way who these awesome characters were, and how we can avail ourselves of some of their super powers! If your kids haven't been to Sunday School in a while, I think they will really like it. Some kids have already said they don’t want to miss a single Sunday! So join us this week at10:00 a.m. downstairs. Just follow the sound of fun!

We are also very excited about Vacation Bible School this summer. Mark your calendar for July 22-26 starting at 5:00 p.m. This year’s theme is Kingdom Rock, where kids learn to stand strong for God. We always need a lot of volunteers be able to manage the numbers of kids we have, so please contact Amy or Willa in the church office if you want to help. We need teachers, crafters, game players, feeders, and crowd controllers. Just remember, we can’t do it without you!

I hope your summer is shaping up to be both relaxing and exciting, and that it will be a time of growth for you, not just physical, but spiritual. I am still excited about all our kids that go to summer camp, from Camp Lochridge to MO Ranch. But don’t forget that there’s still a lot of growing we can do right here at home.

Nike Spirituality

I need to make some changes in my life. Maybe you feel that way, too.

As summer begins to warm up, I have noticed that some of my clothes don’t fit the way they used to. Apparently, they shrunk while they were in the drawer all winter. I guess I need to get serious about getting in better shape. 

But change comes hard. There is a reason we develop a “comfort zone,” that’s because it’s, well, comfortable. We like where we are and how we do things. But every once in a while something happens that reminds us we need to think more carefully about what our priorities are, and how we need to live our lives according to those priorities.

It may be a personal, or national tragedy. It may be watching a loved one go through some emotional or physical pain. Or it may be as simple as not being able to button your shorts. Sometimes we need to make changes. But how do we do that?

There are lots of folks who want to be closer to God, who wish they had a better understanding of the Bible and could pray in such a way that they really felt the love and mercy of God in their lives. They just don’t know how.

Several years ago Nike had an ad campaign that used the simple slogan, “Just do it.” It was plastered all over t-shirts, posters, and media ads. The idea was that there were no more excuses. Time to put up or shut up. Just do it.

I always liked those ads, and the implications. There comes a time in our lives when we just need to quit whining and take responsibility for our lives and our situations. I think that goes for our spiritual lives as well as our fiscal and physical lives. It doesn’t do any good to blame McDonalds or Blue Bell for my extra pounds. I’m the one who packed them on, and if they are going to come off, I have to take responsibility and make some changes.

Back when that Nike ad came out, I always thought it would make a great sermon. I think we need to take the same kind of responsibility for our growth in things of the Spirit as we do for things of the flesh. If I want to get closer to God, I have to take some responsibility for that, and make some changes in my habits. That’s always the hard part. But if my theory about “Nike Spirituality” holds, we can make some strides there as well.

I want to encourage folks to make some of those changes, and not forget about their relationship with God this summer. I will be preaching on the concept of Godliness and what that means and how we can make those changes. Paul told Timothy, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for the present life and the life to come,” (1 Tim 4:8). Over the coming weeks, we will be looking at how to love better, have more joy and peace in our lives, as well as how to be more patient and kind. All of which is part of what it means to be Godly. The Sunday school class in the library will also be studying those same themes.

On Sunday evenings, we are having a Summer Bible study on the Gospel of John. The fourth Gospel has a unique perspective on the life of our Savior, and I think it will provide a spiritual boost for those who make the time to come.

I know summer schedules can get hectic, but if we won’t make time for God, it seems presumptive to want God to make time for us. So set aside a little extra time in your summer schedule and join us for worship on Sundays. I think you’ll be glad you did. Just do it!