This summer, I had the opportunity to preach at the Junior Boot Camp of The Wilds North Carolina. Preaching nine messages in five days to about 280 children aged 9–12 is a challenge! I am thankful to God for His provision of physical strength and the working of His Spirit in the lives of these campers as they learned Bible truths.
My messages followed a simple format. Each morning of camp, we studied something true about God, and each evening, we looked at a truth about ourselves based on what we had learned about God that morning. For example, in the morning, we studied that God is truthful, and in the evening, we saw how this truth means we can trust Him. Each evening’s truth was examined through the lens of a Bible character to see how their actions revealed their understanding of God. Each sermon also had a special segment. Since the campers were studying the life of Moses in their “God & I Time” each morning, my morning sermons contained a segment where we compared the life of Moses to the life of Christ to show how the Old Testament points us to Jesus. In the evenings, several campers were selected, with the help of the “Buhr Blaster” (a giant air cannon), to read verses containing promises of God on themes such as God’s love or His Word.
I’ve always been a fan of object lessons—that’s the teacher in me! I can remember with unusual clarity the lessons I was taught in school chapels, Bible classes, or sermons that made use of illustrative object lessons. I wanted to help the campers remember these Bible truths, so each sermon was accompanied by an object lesson to drive the main ideas home. A favorite of mine was getting to set some campers’ hands on fire (safely, of course) when preaching about the fiery furnace.
The preaching of God’s Word prompts us to make changes in our lives. These young campers made decisions with the help of kind and caring counselors that may impact them for eternity. Some decided to follow Christ, while others made decisions to live for Him by obeying His Word. It was a marvel to see how all the moving pieces of a camp experience come together to help kids grow in their walk with God. Every counselor and staff member I met was fully committed to helping campers become more like Jesus Christ. The cherry on top of the whole experience was getting to bring my own son as a camper. It was an incredible privilege to be there, and we can’t wait to go back!
