Occasionally, we will reprint prior devotions that now reflect on the coming lectionary texts. This is a reprint from a devotion originally published on July 7, 2014.
Prayer: Help us, God, to share your Word with others wherever we are located. Amen. Reading: Matthew 13: 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: You've probably heard this parable before. And, you've probably heard a preacher give an explanation as to what Jesus was talking about when he told this story. I'm not going to do that today. Today, I want you to focus on the first two verses. Jesus was sitting by the sea. So many people came and gathered around him, that we went out into the sea and preached to them from a boat. He had to improvise! We do that a lot at camp. Sometimes things don't go quite as planned and we have to adjust what we were going to do to fit the current reality. When I read these two verses, I was reminded that as we tell the story of Jesus to others, we, too, might need to improvise. We may not have a Bible handy to read the scriptures, so maybe we'll need to tell them by heart. It may not be the most convenient time to talk about our faith, but we have to take the time to share Jesus with others. Just like Jesus, we have to get in a boat and go out into the sea so others can see and hear the good news! --Chad Hershberger
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