Jeremy Collins
A recent monthly camp theme was forgiveness. There are several great analogies in the Bible which describe the Church of Jesus Christ, a flock, a body, a bride. One that I recently heard a teacher discuss was Peter’s analogy in 1 Peter 2:1-5. Peter says that we are like living stones being used by God to build a spiritual house. This teacher said that Peter chose the word stones instead of bricks because bricks are all exactly the same and God is not in the business of making cookie-cutter people! Stones are each unique (Stop and think about that for a minute…God has NEVER made two of the same people out of the billions and billions He has made! What creativity! What an awesome God!). They each have different shapes, colors and strengths. Some are suitable for going around a window, some for the foundation of the wall, some for the front porch. Each stone requires some shaping and placement by the master-builder as He decides how each one will sit in relationship to the Cornerstone (see verses 6 and 7). All of this is done to build a spiritual house, a place where God’s love can be shown in real time, HERE and NOW, the Church. There are as many opportunities for God to show His love to the world as there are people. The issue that we run into is that we do not all fit perfectly together. God may put some of us stones together who rub each other the wrong way. That is where the mortar comes in! Just as each of us has been forgiven through grace exemplified when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, so we must forgive one another by grace as we die to ourselves. When this happens it is like the mortar that the builder uses to bond the stones together and fill in the gaps and strengthen the wall. It helps us to become what we were designed to be…creatures with whom and through whom God can share His love. This mortar of grace is the forgiveness that allows us to transition from stubborn selfish stones into a unified spiritual house.
We had some great talks about forgiveness at camp. Most of us have people that we need to forgive and others from whom we need to ask forgiveness. We believe it is important to teach our campers the truth about the destruction wrought in our lives by harboring unforgiveness. The peace that comes from forgiveness surpasses understanding. It is a gift that we want our campers to have.
Thank you for supporting us and helping provide opportunities to love on these youth from single or no–parent homes. We share truths with them from God’s Word that they may not hear otherwise.