Are we seriously committed to raising our kids as disciples of Jesus Christ?  Do we want the children and youth of our congregation and community to have a vibrant, life-giving faith that will nurture, sustain, and energize their life until they are 100 years old?

I made it up to Camp Wapo for the day to visit all of our kids and touch base with Corey.  Selfishly, I wish my schedule would have allowed spending a whole week at camp, but that wasn’t going to work this week.  Here’s why I am going to make it work to spend the week at camp next summer…

• A group of our young girls was laughing and singing camp worship songs together as they were walking along outside, as if it was the most normal thing to do.
• 4th, 5th, and 6th grade boys were not only competing who could read the most Bible verses at their Bible study, but who could answer the most questions, or better yet, come up with really deep and profound questions about God, the Bible, and the life of faith to stump their counselors.
• A 6th grade boy from our church volunteered to close the Bible study with prayer – and it was a GOOD ONE!  Not one of these quickie, silly prayers, but a well thought out, wide-ranging, heart-felt prayer to God of thanks, help, and guidance for the lives and faith of all of his new found friends.
• While being taught how to make friendship bracelets, an elementary girl talked about her concerns and prayers for her grandfather and uncle.  ”I’m praying for them every morning and every night, and I don’t want to stop praying when I leave camp.”  I told her I’d be praying with her.
• Then she said, “If church could be more like camp, I’ll bet more kids would make their parents bring them!“

Sports teams, musicians, actors, dancers, and cheer leaders all know and understand the importance of an intense week of summer training.  It not only inundates the kids with skills and excitement for their given sport or activity, it creates bonding and team building too.  Hockey camp, soccer camp, volleyball camp, band camp, language camp, Scout camp, and any other you can think of, all understand the importance and power of spending one whole week focused on one major thing.  It pays dividends all the rest of the year.

Wouldn’t we, as a community of faith, as Christian parents and adults, want that same kind of experience of faith for our kids?  That’s what church camp, or a mission trip, is all about for kids (and adults too): an intensive time focusing on building their relationship, knowledge, and understanding of God and their faith, as well as building friendships with other Christian kids.  This includes improving “skills” such as studying the Bible, praying, worshipping, and serving others.  Oh, and did I mention church camp is incredibly fun too?

So, here’s my crazy idea: let us together commit to sending every kid from 3rd grade to 12th grade to some sort of church camp or mission trip experience every summer.  We might have to add a backpacking or boundary waters option for senior high youth, a week of confirmation camp, or even a day camp option for kids who don’t want to be away from home overnight.  The possibilities are endless.  The question is one of commitment and support from parents and adults in the church.

Well, what do you think?

As I sat in the congregation listening to the final Spirit Bound performance, I was suddenly struck by the beauty of team work that has gone into making this ministry possible. Anne was right when she said that Spirit Bound wasn’t just about her, but about the whole group.  It takes people who plan the trip and organize the buses, recruit churches to host the group, organize the money (including the tons of fundraising), organize the home stays, the hotel stays, the lighting crew, the sound system, the photographer, the tech team who hauls, sets up, and takes down all of the equipment, and of course, the band.  Those are just some of the jobs that happen out of the spotlight that made Spirit Bound happen.

Then I saw people in the hallway, the people who were cleaning up from the potluck, taking down the tables and chairs they set up, cleaning the dishes, vacuuming the floors, and taking down the decorations they put up.  Fay, Don, and Barb led a big team of helpers who spent a lot of time and energy to make the Spirit Bound homecoming successful.  I can’t thank them all enough.

Whatever happens next after Spirit Bound comes to a close will take passion, commitment, a whole team of people working together, and a lot of time and energy! This sounds like the definition of servant-leadership: faithful disciples of Jesus Christ using and putting their gifts together with others in service to the Lord.  It takes work!

Thanks to all of the people who have worked so hard to make Spirit Bound such a powerful and successful ministry over these 24 years!  Thanks to all of the people who have worked behind the scenes as servant-leaders in the church to make every ministry, program, and mission of the church possible!

Spirit Bound is on their final tour after 24 years of music ministry!

They loaded the buses last Friday night, June 18, to head out to the east coast (Boston) and then back again for their final Homecoming Potluck and Performance on Sunday June 27!  Before they got on the buses, each member of Spirit Bound was given a candle and a card to give to someone that they meet on their trip who lets the light of Christ shine in their life. 

The theme of the drama this year is “Find the Good Way.”  It’s a story about change, how God leads and guides us in life, and paying attention to the new challenges, ministries, and work God is inviting us to take on.  But it is also about letting the light of Christ shine in our lives through everything we do and say.

It may not surprise you to find out that the members of Spirit Bound have already given out a number of candles to some of the many people they have met. 

One person was a 90 year old artist, whose son brought her to one of the performances.  She was so touched by their music and message, and just the love of Jesus that radiated from the members of Spirit Bound, she invited everyone to come visit her artists studio and shop the next day.  Her son told some of the members of Spirit Bound how much their performance impacted his mom.

Another person happened to be following the Spirit Bound bus as they made a wrong turn off of a round about while trying to find Plymouth Rock.  They pulled up alongside the bus, knocked on the door, got in and helped them get back on the right roads to get to where they were going.  It was just because they recoginzed the bus and decided to see if they needed any help.

The tour is going great!  People are keeping their cell phones off while on the bus and are (gasp!) actually talking to one another and having a good time!!!  (Sorry to those who have lost their voices!).  They are heading toward Boston and more opportunities to let their light shine while taking the “Freedom Trail” visiting the Boston Public Library, or going to see “Toy Story 3″ (really guys?).

Join us as we welcome them home on Sunday afternoon, June 27, around 4:00pm, and then help us serve them a HUGE POTLUCK to show them our support.  Their final performance starts at 7:00pm, and I hope everyone can join us to pack the sanctuary to standing room only!  And as always, we could use your help setting up and cleaning up, so give me a call (952) 454-6927 or email me at pastor.kent@christusvictor.org.

I’ve been praying a lot lately.   Prayer is part of the rhythmn of my every day life and ministry.   It’s just that there have been so many things going on that I’ve been drawn to pray more often.

The massive oil spill in the Gulf.

Car bomb in New York city.

Endless war and conflict in the Middle East, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Police Officer murdered in Maplewood.

Church members, family members, and friends struggling with pain, diseases, addictions, unemployment, under-umployment, and the hard realities of being mortal creatures.  And so I pray. 

And we, whether we are directly related and connected, or not, are led wonder, “God, where are you?  Why do bad things happen to good people?”  These are not questions of unbelief and doubt, but deep questions of faith and life.  And not only questions, but they can be our prayer of lament and our prayer for help and guidance.

Yet I am finding that often when I can’t find my own words to pray, or my words seem so small and incapable of containing the feelings of my soul, I just pray the prayer Jesus gave us to pray.  Not once or twice, but over and over again in my head, while I’m in the car, at church, or at home.  These words both come forth from deep within me and penetrate the darkest parts of my soul, and give me the peace that passes all understanding. 

Within this prayer, Jesus gave us words to pray regarding the evil and sinfulness of the world.  Many of us have been praying these words since we were young.  But to add a little depth to your prayer, and a reminder (for those who have been through Confirmation), I share with you these added explanations from an old pastor named Martin, for you to ponder while you pray these seemingly simple word from our Lord and Savior.

Lead us not into temptation!  “What does this mean?  God tempts no one to sin, but we ask in this prayer that God would watch over us and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful self may not deceive us and draw us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins.  And we pray that though we are so tempted we may still win the final victory.”

Deliver us from evil!  “We ask in this inclusive prayer that our heavenly Father would save us from every evil to body and soul, and at our last hour would mercifully take us from the troubles of this world to himself in heaven.”

When you can’t seem to find the words to pray, perhaps it is best to go back to the basics, to pray like Jesus taught us to pray.

The following are some observations, insights, and discoveries from “Praying Like Jesus – part 1.”

• Jesus needed and made time to pray alone
• Jesus needed to connect with his Father – refresh, re-energize
• Focus on presence/time with God, not on the words
• Jesus prayed out in nature – mountains, on a boat on the lake
• Jesus prayed early in the morning, during the night, after performing a healing or miracle, or before a big decision and his own passion
• Jesus prayed for his own needs and fears, but also prayed for God’s will to be done
• Jesus prayed for others
• Jesus prayed both from the heart/gut, and from the head/spirit

In part 2 we focused on what Jesus taught his disciples and the crowd about prayer.  Take a look at the following Bible passages, and for each passage pay attention to Jesus’ teaching on How to pray, Why to pray, and lastly What to pray? 

• Matthew 6: 5-8
• Matthew 6: 9-15
• Matthew 21: 12-14
• Mark 11: 20-25
• Luke 11: 1-13
• Luke 18: 1-14

Did anything surprise you, unsettle you, or awaken in you a new understanding and desire for a fuller prayer life?  From what Jesus taught his disciples about How, Why, and What to pray, what needs to change in your own prayer practices and/or attitude toward praying to/with God?

I’ve been reading a lot of books about prayer and praying.  They’ve given me helpful insights and practices to incorporate into my own prayer life with God.  But I noticed that while a lot of these books quoted various scriptures to illuminate a particular point or highlight a particular aspect of prayer, I noticed that there wasn’t a lot of focus on how Jesus actually prayed: on his own, with others, for himself, and for others.  I invite you to read the following Bible passages (and, yes, you should read them in context), and write down any insights these texts give you in learning to pray like Jesus.

On his own: Mark 1: 35, Mark 6: 46, Luke 5: 16, Matthew 14: 23

With others: Luke 6: 12-13, Luke 9: 28

For himself: Matthew 26: 39-44, John 17: 1-5

For others: Matthew 19: 13, Luke 22: 31-33, John 17: 6-26

What did you notice?  Anything surprising?

What is one new, or different prayer practice of Jesus you can follow in the coming week?  Then reflect on how it went and what you experienced?  Then keep going. 

More thoughts and questions on prayer coming next week after I prepare for part 2 for Sunday.

“The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid.  Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.  On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”  Luke 23: 55-56)

This Holy Saturday is a day of waiting and a day of preparation.  We have to wait, which is something we don’t do very well, especially in our world of instant gratification, instant food, instant run-off elections, and 3G networks.

But it is in the waiting that things happen.  The yeast has to do it’s work for the bread to rise.  The plants have to work to break through the earth before they can grow and bloom.  Babies, whether chicks, bunnies, or humans, require waiting by their parents and family before they are born. 

We have to wait as well for the resurrection.  We have to wait for new life.  We have to wait for God’s timing of things.  Waiting puts us in our place, for there is nothing we can do to hurry the process along, for resurrection isn’t something we do, it is what God has done, is doing, and will do for all who believe.  And so we wait, expectantly, eagerly for the dawn of the third day, the first day, the end of the beginning – Easter!