Welcome!

Some of you are old friends and supporters of this ministry

Some of you are new – this is your first time on these grounds.

We’re so glad you’re here!

I’d like to share with you for just a few minutes what this ministry is about:

We are a non-profit Christian youth camp and retreat center. Our mission is to provide space and time for people to encounter the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ. If you asked a camper or counselor or retreat participant about King’s Camp and its ministry, you would probably get a variety of answers. But as I was thinking of how to describe the ministry of King’s Camp to you today, 3 words came to mind:

Names

Cross

Seeds

These may sound odd so let me explain.

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Names: in a few moments you’re going to hear specific names of real people who are important to the history of King’s Camp or maybe who is a loved one or treasured friend of a donor. You’re also going to hear the names of people who contributed to this project in various ways…It’s important to name these names. They are real people who in some form or fashion have shown up. And Scripture is filled with the names of real people from real families, in real places…Specific people, in specific places, in specific periods of time. The record of Names reminds me that God comes to us and works through us in the person whose name is Jesus. The Incarnation of God. God who put on human flesh and dwelt among us as a person in a specific place and time and who called specific people to follow him.

 

King’s Camp has been birthed and stewarded by God’s Spirit through people who are human, who have real names, who showed up, who have modeled what faith looks like. God calls us to particular place, in particular time, with particular people. Names remind me that God’s calls us to more than just ideas about himself but to live out his will on Earth as it is in heaven in our real bodies ministering to real people.

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So Before each camp we gather as a staff and we pray over every name of every camper… and if you ask any of our camp staff and probably if you ask anyone that’s worked a retreat, I’m sure they would tell you about the realities of living out the kingdom of God in this material world in our bodies. The realities of being a counselor 24/7…the realities of stewarding a camp… Yet still, God takes on flesh. The love of God is lived out in us …real people, with real names, in real bodies each with a story, to minister.

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Names – Incarnation – God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.

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Secondly: The Cross

King’s camp is an ecumenical camp and retreat center. Our board, our camp staff, our campers, and the various groups that come to have retreats on these grounds come from a variety of denominations.

Our board, our staff, our counselors, our campers are Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Nondenominational, Charismatic and everything in between. I believe this makes us truly unique – I also believe it pleases the heart of God. This summer we had over 30 different churches represented at our camp…and this is just the ones that we know

Our focus – our goal is to lift the name of Jesus. In the Incarnation…in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Spirit reveals the heart of Father God.

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So on the foundation of this amphitheater starting from the back coming straight down the middle towards the cross is written the scripture of Isaiah 61. This is the scroll that Jesus read in his hometown synagogue after the inauguration of his ministry. After he asks his cousin John to baptize him, after he is led to the wilderness by the Spirit, Jesus reads this scroll and declares it fulfilled.

Luke 4:18-19

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

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The Cross and Resurrection are the means of redemption and freedom that Jesus has completed for us. At King’s Camp as we come together from various denominations that have strong opinions about baptism, communion, the role of scripture and the work of the Spirit, — we focus on Jesus!

St Augustine wrote “In essentials, unity - in non-essentials, liberty - in all things, charity” So our focus is…Jesus…the Cross.

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Jesus who says to Phillip, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father; Jesus – whom the author of Hebrews describes as the exact representation of the Father, the exact expression of his substance…

Jesus IS the Gospel.

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And finally, the third word Seeds:

If you read the entirety of Isaiah 61, you ‘ll see the prophet describe God’s people. The Children of God…as Oaks of Righteousness.

“They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins

and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

that have been devastated for generations.”

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This is God’s work in us…we are his planting… called to minister to a broken world.

I love this image of God as a gardener ...a gardener plants, waters, nurtures, and prunes all for the health of the plant and for the purposes of the gardener …It is God’s work…his doing.

In Christ, we are Oaks of Righteousness and our ministry described in Isaiah 61 is to restore …to renew devastated places.

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This is our prayer for this space. May it to be a place for people to be restored, renewed, made new…. where people meet Jesus. And the people who have gone before us…The names we will call out…the Oaks of Righteousness have shown us the way. We are seeds planted by God.

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…A few years back I meditated on the Isaiah 61 and began carrying an acorn in my pocket to remind myself of God’s work in me, God’s work in you and in everyone I encountered.

A tiny acorn has within it everything to become a mighty oak…if it is put into the ground and watered and nurtured. I’m mindful of God’s hopes and desires for us in Christ. Our lives hidden in Christ’s, Christ in us, the hope of glory…

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Seeds…God has planted me. God has planted you. Real people in real places in real time to bring His kingdom here on earth as it is in Heaven…Oaks of Righteousness

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On these grounds are oaks that were planted by our founders that now have an abundance of acorns ...And, on these grounds for this project, we have planted young oaks that have yet to produce acorns.…

This is such a vivid spiritual analogy…we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us whose fruit we see in our time …and we are sowing seeds for future generations…fruit that we may or may not see … God does the growing. His planting for the splendor of His glory.

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Again, a description of this ministry in 3 words.​

Names: the Incarnation – God in the flesh… God working in particular people, in particular places, in particular time.

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Cross: Our focus on the ministry of Jesus Christ.

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Seeds: We are planted by a great and caring Gardener…to minister…all for the splendor of His glory…Oaks of Righteousness.

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Glory to God whose power working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus. Amen

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And speaking of acorns and seeds I’d love our staff from this summer to stand… Now if you’ve ever been a camper or if you’re the parent of a camper or if you’ve ever been on staff or been to a retreat here would you mind standing …Seeds