The camp theme for camp this year is "Where is Your Treasure?" For where your treasure is there your heart will be also Lk. 12:34. Well going with that theme this is what I shared with the kids.
People: God’s treasure
What can you take with you when you die?
What is eternal? What lasts forever?
Tonight we are talking about shipmates or people treasures?
But why do we need to treasure people?
Why are people important?
Let me introduce you to some people I treasure.
-My husband. And my children
There is Seth, Selah, and Sydney & for some who have been here before you may remember when we called Seth little britches
Well, Seth is our only son & Tim and I love him very much as we do our daughters.
When I think of the love I have for my son, I am reminded of a story I heard a while back that has stuck with me. It is a story about a man who loved God and loved his only son. He loved spending time fishing with his son out on their boat on the ocean and teaching him things especially about God. His son was just a boy about your age maybe, he was a good kid who had asked Jesus to come into his heart when he was little and who liked to go to church with his family. Well, one weekend this boy invited one of his school friends to go fishing with him and his dad out to sea. This young boy did not go to church, and well they wanted to spend time with him have fun and talk to him about Jesus.
But something terrible happened that day. A terrible storm came out of no where and before they could get to safety the boat was hit by a huge wave that pushed everyone out of the boat. With only seconds to spare to save the kids the father had to make the decision of which child to reach out to and rescue. Because of the storm and the situation at hand he could only save one life. Knowing that his son knew Jesus and would go to heaven when he died the father chose to tell his son “Son, I love you and I’ll see you in heaven” as he reached out to take hold of his son’s friend.
That day the boy that was rescued from death learned about God’s unconditional love. He knew that this man had given up his only son’s life to save his.
Wow! You know I look at Seth, and I really don’t know if I could give him up to save another. But, you know who did? God did. God sent his only son; the Bible says to take our place. Can somebody read this verse in a loud voice?
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Now, I want you to place very close attention to what I am about to share with you. We are going to cover something very important, something huge, a wonderful thing that will take all your attention, understanding, and imagination. Are you ready?
Did you know that when you do things to people that its like you are doing it to God? If you hit, curse, are angry at people it’s like you are doing it to Jesus. In the same way, when you love, share with others, help people it is also like doing it to Jesus. The Bible Says:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:34, 35.
But how can we truly love people?
How many of you love God? How many of you love your enemies?
Did you know that Jesus teaches us that we need to love everyone like we love ourselves? He said we even need to love our enemies.
Can somebody read the following verse?
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” I John 4:7, 8
So this verse is telling us that the only way to truly love people is that we need to be born of God and we need to know God.
When we have God’s love in our heart and we know God we begin to see people the way that He sees them, and begin to love people the way that He loves them.
Do you know how God sees you?
How does God see people?
The Bible says, “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” Deuteronomy 7:6
Do you get that? The Bible says that you are God’s treasured possession. He loves you. He values you. You are precious to him. You are valuable to him. Man, he loves you so much He would give up his only son for you, and he did.
Now, who here has a good imagination and is good at describing things.
Ok. I want you to imagine and describe to me what the most beautiful angel would look like? Ok that is good.
Now let me show you this picture. (Show pic of Kadi at wedding) Did you know that Kit Kat got married right over there not long ago?
You can see how beautiful she looked in her wedding adornments. We all thought she looked beautiful, but you know who thought she was the most gorgeous thing to behold. Yup, Her husband Clint, because he knows her the best of any of us and loves her the most of any of us. He sees her beauty inside and out. Well, imagine with me how Kit Kat will look when she gets to heaven because one day she made the decision to ask Christ to come into her life. Man, imagine all those things that describe the most beautiful of angels. Her wedding dress more amazing, because it is made of real pearls and diamonds and beautiful stones. She glimmers and shines like stars and lightning with a mix of rainbow shimmer. Her hair flows and radiates. In her sparkly eyes you see love, and joy, and happiness, and purity. From her lips is the sweetest music ever heard that sings songs of praise to God. Man, I can’t even describe how glorious she looks.
You know we can try to imagine as hard as we can and not even come close to how awesome she will look when she gets to heaven. But you know what? That is how God sees her when he looks at her, b/c he sees the beauty and purity of his son Jesus in her.
Now the opposite is true if you die in your sins and go to hell, b/c the Bible does talk about a place call hell. The worst monster in the worst nightmare will not compare to how a person looks in that place of suffering and pain.
God does not want anyone to perish and go to that place. He loves all of us just the same and wants us all to spend eternity with Him.
This week your counselors and all the workers here who know Christ as their savior want to share God’s love with you. If you want to be able to love people as best you can. If you want to go to heaven but are not sure if you are going with him. Will you whisper this prayer from the bottom of you heart. After I say Amen, you can stop repeating and I will say a little prayer for you.
If you prayed that prayer we would love for you to tell us so we can share with you how happy we are and so we can help you know what the next step is in your Christian walk.
What can you take with you when you die?
What is eternal? What lasts forever?
Tonight we are talking about shipmates or people treasures?
But why do we need to treasure people?
Why are people important?
Let me introduce you to some people I treasure.
-My husband. And my children
There is Seth, Selah, and Sydney & for some who have been here before you may remember when we called Seth little britches
Well, Seth is our only son & Tim and I love him very much as we do our daughters.
When I think of the love I have for my son, I am reminded of a story I heard a while back that has stuck with me. It is a story about a man who loved God and loved his only son. He loved spending time fishing with his son out on their boat on the ocean and teaching him things especially about God. His son was just a boy about your age maybe, he was a good kid who had asked Jesus to come into his heart when he was little and who liked to go to church with his family. Well, one weekend this boy invited one of his school friends to go fishing with him and his dad out to sea. This young boy did not go to church, and well they wanted to spend time with him have fun and talk to him about Jesus.
But something terrible happened that day. A terrible storm came out of no where and before they could get to safety the boat was hit by a huge wave that pushed everyone out of the boat. With only seconds to spare to save the kids the father had to make the decision of which child to reach out to and rescue. Because of the storm and the situation at hand he could only save one life. Knowing that his son knew Jesus and would go to heaven when he died the father chose to tell his son “Son, I love you and I’ll see you in heaven” as he reached out to take hold of his son’s friend.
That day the boy that was rescued from death learned about God’s unconditional love. He knew that this man had given up his only son’s life to save his.
Wow! You know I look at Seth, and I really don’t know if I could give him up to save another. But, you know who did? God did. God sent his only son; the Bible says to take our place. Can somebody read this verse in a loud voice?
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Now, I want you to place very close attention to what I am about to share with you. We are going to cover something very important, something huge, a wonderful thing that will take all your attention, understanding, and imagination. Are you ready?
Did you know that when you do things to people that its like you are doing it to God? If you hit, curse, are angry at people it’s like you are doing it to Jesus. In the same way, when you love, share with others, help people it is also like doing it to Jesus. The Bible Says:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:34, 35.
But how can we truly love people?
How many of you love God? How many of you love your enemies?
Did you know that Jesus teaches us that we need to love everyone like we love ourselves? He said we even need to love our enemies.
Can somebody read the following verse?
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” I John 4:7, 8
So this verse is telling us that the only way to truly love people is that we need to be born of God and we need to know God.
When we have God’s love in our heart and we know God we begin to see people the way that He sees them, and begin to love people the way that He loves them.
Do you know how God sees you?
How does God see people?
The Bible says, “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” Deuteronomy 7:6
Do you get that? The Bible says that you are God’s treasured possession. He loves you. He values you. You are precious to him. You are valuable to him. Man, he loves you so much He would give up his only son for you, and he did.
Now, who here has a good imagination and is good at describing things.
Ok. I want you to imagine and describe to me what the most beautiful angel would look like? Ok that is good.
Now let me show you this picture. (Show pic of Kadi at wedding) Did you know that Kit Kat got married right over there not long ago?
You can see how beautiful she looked in her wedding adornments. We all thought she looked beautiful, but you know who thought she was the most gorgeous thing to behold. Yup, Her husband Clint, because he knows her the best of any of us and loves her the most of any of us. He sees her beauty inside and out. Well, imagine with me how Kit Kat will look when she gets to heaven because one day she made the decision to ask Christ to come into her life. Man, imagine all those things that describe the most beautiful of angels. Her wedding dress more amazing, because it is made of real pearls and diamonds and beautiful stones. She glimmers and shines like stars and lightning with a mix of rainbow shimmer. Her hair flows and radiates. In her sparkly eyes you see love, and joy, and happiness, and purity. From her lips is the sweetest music ever heard that sings songs of praise to God. Man, I can’t even describe how glorious she looks.
You know we can try to imagine as hard as we can and not even come close to how awesome she will look when she gets to heaven. But you know what? That is how God sees her when he looks at her, b/c he sees the beauty and purity of his son Jesus in her.
Now the opposite is true if you die in your sins and go to hell, b/c the Bible does talk about a place call hell. The worst monster in the worst nightmare will not compare to how a person looks in that place of suffering and pain.
God does not want anyone to perish and go to that place. He loves all of us just the same and wants us all to spend eternity with Him.
This week your counselors and all the workers here who know Christ as their savior want to share God’s love with you. If you want to be able to love people as best you can. If you want to go to heaven but are not sure if you are going with him. Will you whisper this prayer from the bottom of you heart. After I say Amen, you can stop repeating and I will say a little prayer for you.
If you prayed that prayer we would love for you to tell us so we can share with you how happy we are and so we can help you know what the next step is in your Christian walk.
