When I was growing up, one of the things my family did over the summer was go camping. We stayed at campgrounds, spent the week together each year at Creation Festival camping out with friends from church, or I myself would go to camp for a week in the Poconos. During each of those times, there was just something special about unplugging from the super-crazy, 24/7 connected world we live in and going camping.
Whether you are waking up in a tent or you’ve upgraded to pop-up trailers, RV, or cabin, camping still always has rules: time is irrelevant, nightly campfires are required, and down-time is a must. Too often the real-world comes knocking with pressures, projects, and problems as far as the eye can see. There are times this summer that I’ve for some reason or another been drawn back to the quiet nights from years ago of gazing into the fire under the stars in the comfort and quiet of camp. Some my closest times with God have been while alone by the light of the campfire; that while the world tosses and turns about the day that was or the day to come, by that fire my many worries seemed to melt away.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-8, Paul compared our physical bodies to a tent, (v. 1)“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Your body is like a tent: it’s temporary. After a while, the threads start to unravel, the flaps become more prominent, and it starts to leak. It’s just the nature of our temporary bodies. And yet, we want to make our tents look like they are a brand-new model, younger than it really is. So we stretch the flaps, and nip and tuck, and dye the threads. But it’s only temporary. You can stitch something together so many times before you just get tired of putting life back together again and again.
We have all been there – at the end of our ropes.
Tired, exhausted, worn-out; whether that’s emotionally, physically, or spiritually.
But that doesn’t give us an excuse to throw it all away.
“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). We are not meant to last. The fire on the brisk cold summer nights won’t burn forever. The struggles we face today may feel overwhelming, even suffocating, but in totality, they too will fade away. We are only camping out here.
There’ll come a time when the vapor will disappear, when our tent will be taken down for something more permanent. Though the struggles of life may surround you find time to unplug, rest, and recharge. We have all at one time or another experienced burnout no matter if it’s at our jobs, with the never ending to-do lists, with our kid’s activities, with our marriage feeling stale, or perhaps even with our church. But don’t give up on what matters most! Don’t let burnout control your life! “For we live by faith, not by sight” (5:7).
Events in August:
- NEW Sermon Series – “What is the purpose of my life?” Have you ever asked this question? Most people have. For some of us, this question has plagued us over the course of our lives…even our Christian lives. A few years ago, scientists at John Hopkins University surveyed nearly 8,000 college students at 48 universities and asked what they considered “very important” to them. What do you think these college students said? Make a lot of money? Get married? Get a job? Buy a home? I can tell you this: only 16% answered “making a lot of money.” But a whopping 75% said that their first goal was “finding a purpose and meaning to my life.” And that says quite a lot about our identity.
Maybe you are seeking to discover a purpose and meaning to your life. If so, the book of Ecclesiastes will guide you in this endeavor…but not in the way you might think. Ecclesiastes has been dubbed, “the strangest book in the cannon [Bible].” It is an enigma for many Christians, for the bulk of this book is the memoirs of a man that is sharing his observations about what is wrong with life. Over the course of the next few months we are going to be studying through Ecclesiastes as we search for meaning and discovery of our identity. Because in the end, all of want to live lives that are: “Meaning(FULL)” -
Church Picnic – THIS COMING SUNDAY (Aug 6) is our Annual Church Picnic! It’s going to be a wonderful time of worshiping outdoors in our grove (located right across the street from our church building) with plenty of food, fun, and fellowship to follow! So bring a lawn chair, grab a snack to share, and be sure to come at 10:15AM for worship. Also celebrate with us that afternoon during the picnic with our children here at California EC Church who during VBS have been raising money for clean water in Peru.
Upcoming Events:
- The 2nd Annual California Church Open (Sept 24th) – Making its second annual appearance, be sure to get your practice swings in and golf shoes shinned as we head over to New Holland Pitch-n-Putt Golf Course located at the New Holland Community Memorial Park in the 400 block of East Jackson Street, New Holland. Be sure to mark your calendars, practice that golf swing, and we’ll see you on the greens!
- Communion (Oct 1) – Worship through coming to the table of God. Be sure to be a part of our special time of Communion remembering the Last Supper and its impact on our daily lives. Christ’s body was broken for you – Do this in Remembrance of Him.
- Harvest Party (Date TBA) – Each year during the fall, families gather for a fun night together here at the church for games, great food, and even a hay ride! So be sure to check back soon for a date and time.
Don’t forget to stay in touch here on our website as well as at our church! Feel free to COMMENT and SHARE with your friends on social media and we look forward to seeing you at California EC Church this month!
Did you miss out on a new a post or missed a Sunday and want to hear the message? Be sure to check back for more Monthly Snapshots (always on the 1st of the month), “The Gospel According to…” reviews, recorded sermons, and lots of other great things here on our church blog and website!
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