Prayer: May the words we listen to be those of knowledge from you, Lord. Amen Reading: Job 38:1-11 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?" (Job 38: 1) At this point in the story of Job, after all the human participants have had their say, God finally speaks. God speaks for two whole chapters. Job barely gets in three sentences pretty much with his hand over his mouth and then God goes on again for another two chapters. Pretty clear who is supposed to be doing the talking and who is to be doing the listening. In today's world of technology - tweets, news pundits, analysts, talk shows - we are innundated with far too many irresponsible words. Dark counsel of words without knowledge indeed! We need to filter out the nonsense and pontificating. We need to remember whose talking we should be listening to and how much talking we ourselves should be doing. God, our refuge and strength, is our source of knowledge and it won't be coming in a tweet. -- Alice Yeakel
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Prayer: Lord, strengthen my faith, especially when I question you. Amen Reading: Matthew 15:21-28 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: We continue today looking at Camp Mount Luther’s summer’s curriculum, “La Frontera.” Since we are into a new month, we are now working with Day 4, “Jesus meets us where we are because he loves us.” Today’s text is an alternate story for the day. Against the wishes of the disciples, Jesus meets with this Canaanite woman. I side with the disciples. She’s a foreigner. She shouts at him. Her daughter is tormented. And she keeps arguing with Jesus. She shows little respect. Send her away and let’s get on our way. So, what do you think about arguing with Jesus? So often we get the guilts when we raise questions about Jesus. I think the “parent” in us says that you don’t argue with Jesus. But, things worked out well for the Canaanite woman and her daughter. Jesus didn’t disengage because of her retort to him. He continued in relationship with her and healed her daughter. It is o.k. to argue with Jesus. Jesus meets us in dialogue, even difficult ones. I’ve find that I always lose the argument. But, the argument always results in a renewed and strengthened faith. --Jim Bricker Prayer: Jesus, we look for you and your peace. Amen.
Reading: John 20: 19-29 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” --John 20:19 Jesus meets us wherever we are because he loves us. Today, we begin on Friday looks at Day 4 of our summer curriculum this year. This day reminds us that there is no place where Christ cannot reach us. La Frontera is the place where differences meet and exist side by side. Again we are reminded that the message is about the love God gives freely. After Jesus’ death he appeared to his disciples several times. They were lost and sad. Jesus appeared and brought them comfort and confidence in his resurrection. Jesus said, “Peace be with you!” How can we show peace in our family? How can we show peace in our neighborhoods? Schools? Churches? World? Is it ever hard to show peace to some people? Is it ever hard for people to show peace to you? Does God love us at all times? Find ways that you can share that peace with others! --Chad Hershberger Prayer: Lord, give me the courage to follow Jesus. Amen.
Reading: John 12:20-33 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: We continue today looking at this summer’s curriculum, “La Frontera.” Today’s text is an alternate story for Day 3. This is not an easy text. Jesus is on route to his crucifixion. He invites us to follow him. I say, “No, thanks,” and certainly not to death. But maybe we could be less self-centered and more thoughtful and caring about others. Maybe we could look outward to the needs of the world and look less inward to my needs. Maybe we could give up some frivolous things that others can have essential things. Maybe… Follow Jesus? What do you think? --Jim Bricker Prayer: This day, help us God to gaze upon the work done on the cross. Amen.
Reading: Acts 10:34-48 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: With a new month upon us, it’s time to look at Day 3 of this summer’s curriculum. “La Frontera” will explore where we meet Jesus and on Wednesdays during camp, we’ll look at how Jesus meets us on the cross. On this day we learn that through the cross we receive grace, hope, and forgiveness. We are joined together at the cross and are called to share these gifts of the cross with others. It’s important to understand that this is a gift from God. We need only accept God’s gift. These gifts become a way to “cross” all boundaries. Therefore there is no boundary God cannot cross over. What boundaries do we need to cross in our own lives? Are there people we need to reach out to in forgiveness and grace? Are there places we must go to show the message of the cross? As our campers contemplate similar questions, I hope you, too, will look at how Jesus meets us at the cross and how we need to reach out to others with that good news! --Chad Hershberger Prayer: Lord, help me to see you in “the other.”
Reading: Scripture: Acts 10:1-23 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: We continue looking at this summer’s curriculum, “La Frontera” in our Friday devotions. Today’s concludes our consideration of Day 2, which focuses on the story of the Good Samaritan. Neighbors are those in need, those who look like us and don’t look like us. Today’s text is an alternate story for the day. June, my wife, tells me that I always have food on my mind. Maybe this is why I have always like this story. (I encourage you to read Acts 10 to the end to get the complete picture of what God is up to with Peter and Cornelius.) Peter is confronted by a whole sheet full of food and was told to eat. Never mind that in the past Peter was taught not to eat the food in the sheet. In the meantime, some of Cornelius’ folks were moving toward Joppa to find Peter. But Cornelius was one of those unclean people that Peter was to avoid. What will happen when they meet? Peter remembers the vision of all the unclean food he was commanded to eat. And he gets it! “God is sending Cornelius. I’m to invite him in!” How do we engage the stranger sent to us who is different from us? Skin tone, nationality, language, dress, citizenship, cleanliness, religion, sexual orientation ….. The folks we sometimes experience as “the other.” Whether that idea is conscious or unconscious doesn’t matter. We approach perhaps guardedly. We extend our boundaries to make sure we are safe. The meeting is awkward at best. The other day a Latina picked up a fruit in Weis Market and I had no idea what it was. So, I asked her. I had never done that before. Her broken English and my non-existent Spanish made it go slowly, but we managed. Somehow, that was an important meeting for me. I live in a community with a growing Latino population. And that’s o.k., but mostly I’ve lived alongside that community—like passing each other in Weis Market. It’s a little different now. Maybe just a bit-- “the other” has become “the neighbor.” Funny how the Holy Spirit sends folks to meet each other. --Jim Bricker Prayer: Lord, speak to me as I gather for worship with my neighbor.
Reading: Luke 4:16-21 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: We continue today looking at this summer’s curriculum, “La Frontera.” We are looking at Day 2, which focuses on the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus meets us in the neighbor. Today’s text is an alternate story for the day. Some Sundays it is necessary to stay home from church. But I really miss it when that happens. Some Sundays I go to church looking for a particular person that I want to share something with or ask a question. I appreciate the opportunity to just listen to the Word rather than being responsible to proclaim it. God meets me in that Word and in hymns, liturgy, prayers, and sacrament. And, God meets me in the social time that follows worship when we have a snack (My wife, June, says, “Eat up, that’s lunch.”) and engage with my neighbors. Jesus, too, worshipped in the community. He came to the synagogue, read and proclaimed the good news in the midst of the neighbor. Though it is possible to hear the word in the privacy of your TV room from a televangelist, it just isn’t the same as worshiping with your neighbors. In fact, I think that is the way Jesus meets us, in the midst of our neighbors. The Word is proclaimed and the sacrament is served in the midst of the neighbor. --Jim Bricker Prayer: Lord, speak to me that I may speak caringly of my neighbor. Reading: Matt. 15:10-20 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: We continue today looking at this summer’s curriculum, “La Frontera.” In February we are looking at Day 2, which focuses on the story of the Good Samaritan. Neighbors are those in need. Today’s text is an alternate story for the day. There is a lot of emphasis in our lives about what we put into our mouths. Sodas are mostly sugar and not good for you. Pasta is a lot of carbohydrate which turns to sugar. Keep eating it, you’ll gain weight! Etc., etc., etc. Jesus encourages us to consider what comes out of our mouths. This is what defiles. What does that have to do with loving my neighbor—the one in need? A lot, I think. Too often we say nasty things. When we do the neighbor listening for a kind word is discouraged. Sometimes we thoughtlessly offend folks. When we do the neighbor listening for affirmation is belittled. Sometimes we speak about only ourselves. When we do the neighbor hoping to be included is put off. Sometimes we just speak, and speak and speak. When we do the neighbor who wants to share something personal is silenced. And all that which comes out of our mouths defiles the relationship we have with our neighbor. Jesus meets us in our neighbor in need. Let us speak well of one another. --Jim Bricker Prayer: Help me to see you in the midst of trouble, O Lord.
Reading: Mark 6:45-51 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: Today, we continue our weekly look at this summer’s curriculum, “La Frontera.” Our campers will be looking at where Jesus meets us and how Jesus meets us where we are! This reading is an alternate text for the first day. Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, and others sang a song called “Stormy Weather.” It’s a broken-heart song “since my man and I ain't together.” Verse two goes like this: Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere Stormy weather, just can't get my poor self together I'm weary all the time, the time So weary all the time. I’m remembering the times when life was no fun. There were times when it seemed like I was “straining at the oars against an adverse wind.” There were times when things were just plain miserable. There were times when it seemed that all was lost. There were times when I felt alone, abandoned, hopeless and beyond weary. Always, and I do mean always, when the bad time ended, when things got all better--thinking back on that stretch of time I realized that God was there through it all, I just didn’t see the Lord in the midst of the trouble. Where does Jesus meet us? Jesus meets us when the winds of life are as adverse as we can imagine. The stormy weather of life, Jesus walks toward us and with us. --Jim Bricker Prayer: Help me to invite others, O Lord. Reading: John 4:27-30, 39-42 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: Today, we continue our weekly look at this summer’s curriculum, “La Frontera.” Our campers will be looking at where Jesus meets us and how Jesus meets us where we are! This reading, an alternate text for the day, follows on last Friday’s in which Jesus spoke with the woman of Samaria at the well. She is astonished and can’t seem to stop talking about her conversation with Jesus. “Come and see! He knows everything about me. Come and see!” Some of the Samaritans believe in Jesus because of the woman’s words. Others believe because Jesus stays in their city for two days teaching. John uses the phrase “Come and see” a number of times in his gospel. People in their excitement about Jesus call to others, “Come and see.” Jesus invites folks to be with him using the same words. “Come and see.” Jesus meets us in everyday tasks just as he met the Samaritan woman at the well. How can we invite others to be open to meeting Jesus? So often we “don’t know what to say.” It is exciting when we realize we are in the presence of Jesus. How can we invite others there? Maybe this is the best invitation there is--the simple words “Come and see.” --Jim Bricker Prayer: Jesus, help us to see you where you meet us in our everyday lives. Amen.
Reading: John 4: 1-42 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: Today, we begin our weekly look at this summer’s curriculum, “La Frontera.” Our campers will be looking at where Jesus meets us and how Jesus meets us where we are! In this story Jesus reaches out to the unwanted. The woman by the well was a Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans did not speak or interact. It is important to note that Jesus first meets us, speaking a word of love. Jesus meets us where we are and promises to stay with us, wherever that may be. Where do you meet Jesus in our daily life? In church buildings? In your home, your school, shopping centers, ball fields? Among friends and enemies? (The answer is yes to all of these places, of course.) As you reflect on where you meet Jesus, maybe you could think of something you could do in your neighborhood. How can you share yourself with others and celebrate Jesus’s love? --Chad Hershberger |
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