Adventure Camp 2019 has come to an end, and the week has been one grand adventure! This week we have learned about King David and how by following his example we can “Clap Our Hands and Stomp Our Feet” no matter what circumstances we face. Today’s word up was “God is Kind!” Throughout the week, Bible Teacher Ethan encouraged us that as we read our Bibles, we should always look to see God as the Hero and how he works to save his people. Each day, as we learned about King David, we ultimately learned about King Jesus, and how he came to save us from our sin. Below is a summary of the stories we read and what Ethan taught us:
Monday: God chooses surprising people! Theme Verse -1 Samuel 16:7. Christ Connection – Isaiah 53:2-5. David was a surprising choice to be king because he was a young, small shepherd. From a human perspective, Jesus was also a surprising choice to save the world because he looked like an average guy on earth, not someone you would expect to be the King of the universe. He also saved his people in a surprising way by dying for sinners and rising from the dead. God chooses surprising people to show the world how great he is. Because God chooses surprising people, we can laugh with joy.
Tuesday: God wins the battle! Theme Verse-1 Samuel 17:47. Christ Connection – 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 14:6. The well-known story of David and Goliath teaches us that God sends a representative to save his people from their enemies. As we read this story, we should identify most with the Israelites who were cowardly and afraid; hopeless without a representative against our greatest enemy, which is our sin. Because the punishment for sin is death, the only way for us to be saved from our sin was to have a representative who is 100% man and 100% God die for us, so God came to earth and took on flesh and blood, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross. Faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is the only possible way for our sins to be forgiven and for us to live forever with him. Because God has won the battle against our greatest enemy, we can clap in victory.
Wednesday: God is our faithful friend! Theme Verse- 1 Samuel 20:42. Christ Connection – Romans 8:32; John 15:9. David was in trouble because King Saul was jealous of him and his victories, and the king wanted to get rid of him. Jonathan, Saul’s son, promised to be a faithful friend to David and to help him escape no matter what. David could not have escaped on his own, but with his faithful friend, he fled from his enemy and lived. We have a faithful friend in Jesus, who, like Jonathan, saved us when we, like David, had no hope of escaping our sin on our own. Because Jesus has saved us from our greatest enemy when he died for our sin, we can trust him to help us as we face smaller problems in life. God truly is our faithful friend, so we can sing to him with gladness in our hearts.
Thursday: God is with us! Theme Verse – 2 Samuel 6:13-15. Christ Connection – 1 Corinthians 1:18. God is holy, which means he is perfect and completely different from us. In him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). He gave the Ark of the Covenant to Israel to remind them of his holiness and his love for them, and that he will always be with them. Because it represented his holiness, it required special instructions for carrying it, which the people disobeyed when David decided to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem, which he knew would gladden the people, because God’s presence always makes his people happy. Sin always leads to trouble, and as the people disobeyed, the Ark began to stumble, and Uzzah violated the command not to touch the Ark by reaching out his hand to stop it. Because God is holy, he must punish sin, so he struck down Uzzah. We deserve the same punishment, but because God is gracious, he made a way for us to be with him by punishing Jesus for our sin. Jesus took the punishment we deserve and gave us his perfection if we repent and trust him. Because the cross represents God’s presence with us, we should be excited about the cross and often remind ourselves and one another about it. God wants to be with his people so much that he punished his Son for our sins, so we can shout in happiness!
Friday: God shows his kindness! Theme Verse – 2 Samuel 9:7. David made good on his promise to Jonathan by showing kindness to his crippled son, Mephibosheth. He brought Mephibosheth into his house and gave him a seat at his table, though Mephibosheth had no good to offer him. Like Mephibosheth, we have no good to offer God because of our sin. When he chooses to save us through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, it is simply because he has kindness toward us and not because there is anything good in us. The invitation into God’s forever family, as one of his sons and daughters, is for anyone who will turn from their sin and put their faith in Jesus. We give thanks to God because of his kindness to us.
As you can see, the campers have learned a lot this week. There are many nuggets of truth to take and keep as they return home and head back to school. Our prayer as Adventure Camp leadership and staff is that the seeds planted this week from God’s word will bear fruit at the just the right time. We pray that each child will fully receive God’s word, accept salvation through Jesus, and desire to live a holy life every day. May God take His word and use it for his glory, in each heart and life. And one day when we meet again may we all together:
“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness, come before him with joyful songs.” – Psalm 100:1-2
