Built on the Rock: Camp Stories & a Firm Foundation

Well, hey, good morning, Refuge Church, it's so good to be back with you guys.

I got to listen to the message from last week.

Can we give it up for Matt?

He did a phenomenal job bringing the word.

I heard nothing but great reports from last week.

Very blessed by the wonderful people here that call Refuge home, that use their gifts to serve one another.

We've just got an amazing community of people from the tech guys in the back who make everybody sound better than we actually are.

They rock, and they don't want anybody to look back there, but they crush it from the ops guys that set everything up,

from the people in the kids class when you hear kids screaming, like that one.

Somebody's there, I think she's in here with her parents.

But hey, there are people that are there serving and using their gifts to serve one another.

And that just makes me so blessed and humbled to be the pastor here at Refuge Church.

I could not give it up enough to all of y'all.

But last Sunday, we were driving back from camp, and I missed the service.

It's always a bummer to miss worshiping with you guys.

But on the flip side of that, seeing kids at camp just have so much fun, for starters.

Seeing them grow in their knowledge of the Lord, witnessing them worship Jesus,

like hearing 800 kids just belt it out and worshiping God, that is a glimpse of heaven.

It just is. It does something to your soul that you just can't replicate.

And I will put this out there, if you've never been to camp, and you're an adult,

I would strongly encourage you to come and experience it.

It is hot. It is smelly. It is late nights. It is early mornings.

But it is worth it. These kids are worth it, and Jesus is worth it.

So right now, before we hop into the Word and get our message,

I'm going to have all the kids who went to camp come on up onto the stage.

You're not going to have to talk if you don't want to.

Also, camp counselors, you guys come on up, too.

Everybody come all the way up. There are stairs on both sides.

All the way up. Just get behind me.

We'll climb up the front. That works, too. That's my son.

Everybody's making their way.

All right. Perfect. Perfect. Thank you.

Almost everybody. We're going to squeeze in.

This is most of the group who came to camp.

There's a few who aren't here this morning.

We made it there and back with all of the kids.

Can we give an applause to all the counselors?

That's for the counselors. All right.

We made it there and back with all the kids.

None of the counselors quit during the week, so can we give it up for the kids?

All right. Yeah. All right.

It was super fun. I got a question for all the campers.

All right. If you want to answer it, you just tell me.

I'm going to give it to you.

I know Olivia was really wanting to answer something.

She's not going to say anything.

Okay. All right.

Anybody, campers, what was your favorite thing at camp?

Favorite thing at camp?

This is my son, so he's going to go first.

Zipline.

The zipline. The zipline was fun.

Somebody else, favorite thing at camp?

Evan?

The trapeze bar.

The trapeze bar?

The trapeze bar was cool.

Anybody else, favorite thing at camp?

Deke, got something?

Canoeing.

Canoeing. All right. Fantastic.

Nope. Nope.

She's like, I'm out. I'm out.

All right.

That was a lot of favorite things.

What did you learn about God at camp?

What did you learn at camp?

You want to share that?

They're a talkative bunch.

They're a talkative bunch.

Believe it or not, the van ride there and back was very loud.

All right.

What did you learn about God?

Brynn?

All right.

Deke?

Deke's got it.

Having a strong foundation.

All right.

A firm foundation.

We're actually going to talk about that a little bit later.

Brynn, you told me you were going to say something earlier.

I'm going to hand you the mic.

I'm not handing it to anybody else.

You got it.

Okay.

I learned that basically no matter what we do in this world,

like if we're really good or anything and like really kind,

that's just what Jesus wants us to do and it can't build a

relationship with him.

Yeah.

Like there's nothing you can do to make God love you anymore.

Absolutely.

So true.

So true.

Yeah.

That was fantastic.

All right.

Anybody else?

All right.

Hey, we have small groups at camp,

and they got a digital version of this.

I took a picture with it.

But we have some MVPs, all right, from their small group.

So every small group had some people who,

you know, they were serious.

They were on task, right.

They were open.

They shared.

They had fun.

They leaned into it.

So let's give it up for these.

All right.

The first one I got is Ms. Quinn.

Girl power.

All right.

All right.

And then we got Evan Lafleur.

He is the MVP of the OG Green Goats.

And then the MVP of the Super 6, Ms. Ridley.

All right.

Kids, would you like to get off the stage?

All right.

Kiddos, you can get out of here.

Kiddos, you can get out of here.

All right.

Let's give them a hand while they head back to their seat.

Now, these adults up here, and I'm going to step to the side,

these are the people that made camp happen.

Without this crew, I would have a lot less hair on my head,

or at least a lot more gray on my head.

These people crushed it.

They served these kids.

They took care of them.

They led small groups.

They got water.

They played out in the steaming sun when there was no water around on the

last day.

Can we give it up to these counselors?

All right.

So who would like to go first and share a little bit about your camp

experience?

All right.

Micah is right here.

She took it.

Do I get to hold it?

After that question, no.

Yeah, take it.

So I love watching them worship and growing in their faith.

My favorite thing is, is they are out there and they are in nature,

and they are unhooked and unplugged from everything.

Not once did I say, here, where's my iPad?

Can I have Wi-Fi?

Like, that is amazing because they are so dependent on these things,

and we forget about nature and the glory of God and just spending that

time.

Sorry.

And it's just amazing to see them grow.

And last year was my first year to go, and I had never been to church camp.

And I was able to pour into somebody because my daughter wasn't there.

And this year was a little different because I helped pour into her.

And it's just a great experience.

Okay, I'm done.

I'll take it back.

I'll take it back.

All right.

Come on.

Come on.

We'll be there.

Just a quick note.

We didn't have everybody here, but pull that away.

I got two mics.

Hey, our church group, the size of our group,

doubled from the last year to this year.

And that is – and it's not about the numbers,

but I think there is something exciting about going and seeing God move.

And the first – last year was the first time we ever went to camp.

This year is the second time.

And just seeing the progress and the improvement.

And just Micah doesn't want this, but Micah organized, got tubs, bought snacks.

I'm just like Coach – what's the coach from Remember the Titans?

Like, you know, waters for getting blood off my jerseys.

I'm like, there's a water jug over there.

You can drink it.

These moms took care of these kids at a much greater level than I would have.

You got three meals a day.

They'd be like, we got snacks.

Micah and Kelsey, they took care of a lot of the just logistical,

making sure there's food and all that stuff.

So thank you guys for what you did.

All right.

Who wants to go next?

Oh, I think I saw.

You want to go?

Oh, that's loud.

Hi.

Okay.

So I think, like Logan said, I just kind of want to talk about the worship atmosphere.

Seeing not only all the kids, but just our own kids worshiping was like –

I was crying every single session.

I could not – like, it really kind of puts it into perspective of worshiping like a child.

And how us as adults, we kind of get caught up in, like, the worship aspect of things.

And just being able to see the kids just be who they are and just worship God for who he is,

which is something so incredible.

And just being able to watch them thrive through that.

I know, like, we've got a couple pictures, a couple videos of them just worshiping, raising their hands.

And I just – it's just so incredible to be able to be in that atmosphere with all those kids

and just, like, watch them be free, which is exactly what we should be doing all the time.

So, yeah, it was awesome.

Jill, you ready?

Okay, I have to read off my phone, sorry.

I really enjoyed being a small group leader and getting to connect deeper with the Word and with my kids.

We got to feel really the camp camaraderie through learning about each other and Jesus.

Go OG Green Goats, that's right.

Shout out to our MVP, Evan.

But also it was really nice to be able to connect with the other refuge counselors and get to know them better.

We represented Oklahoma really well, being the only Oklahoma church at camp.

And we were thundering up the whole time.

I know.

Had to bring that up.

I'm sorry.

But overall, my favorite part of camp was just seeing the kids learning, sharing, having fun, and worshiping Jesus together.

It was really – it was awesome.

I think Sherry wanted to hand it out.

All right.

Anybody else?

Anybody else?

I know TJ's real talkative.

All right, no.

I think Kelsey's going to anchor us as the last one.

Okay.

Camp is always my absolute favorite time of the whole year.

There's so many things at Refuge Church that I think I say, this is my favorite thing.

But I absolutely love camp.

I love getting to go with my own kids as mom.

They're in the boys' cabin, so that's why she enjoys that.

Yes.

And just getting to see them have the time of their life and get closer to God, get closer to their buddies, pray with their buddies.

So as a mom, it's super fun to see.

Excuse me.

It's also like – I think I told somebody earlier.

Sorry, I coughed on you.

She just coughed right on him.

It's not COVID.

It's not COVID.

We also slept next to each other.

Yeah.

We're bonded.

But I think I was telling somebody earlier, and I think I've told the other counselors this as well.

Camp is like also attending the zoo.

Everywhere you look, somebody else is doing something crazy, and you have no clue what's going to happen.

You're just praying it's not anybody with your group.

But every time you walk into that cafeteria, you get dinner and a show.

So it's very, very entertaining.

Go ahead and share what happened that one time because that was really funny.

I think it was night one that we were in the cafeteria, which is like utter chaos.

At the first day of school, nobody knows what they're doing, and everybody's just trying to find a table.

Imagine 800 kids getting their own plate and bringing it to the dinner table, right?

Yes, utter chaos.

It's chaos.

And this little boy, I look over and I see this little boy, and he has taken off his slides, and he's moonwalking towards me.

And I'm like, what is happening?

And he leans towards me, and he goes, that was so cool.

And then I turn this way, and some little girl, I think she had had a bloody nose or she had allergies,

but she stuffed like a tissue up her nose and was walking around with it just hanging out.

But she got thirsty along the way, and she drank her sip of Coke, and she had no clue, but it was just dripping Coke, the rest of it.

And she was just sipping and walking, sipping and walking.

It's like going to the zoo.

You never know what you're going to see around the corner.

You're just praying it's not your kids.

Those were not from refuge.

She's gone, right?

You can hold it.

I got it, Mike.

I'm good.

Hey, can we give them one more hand?

They're going to hand out.

Yes.

All right.

I am so thankful for those people.

I thought about making them stand out there, but I wanted you guys to see the faces of the people who are pouring into the next generation.

You know, I said, yeah, give it up for them.

You know, I said we doubled from last year to this year, and I'm just believing God's going to continue to see this group grow, not only numerically.

Because that's fun, to bring more kids.

It's always a good time.

We want to see them grow spiritually, too.

And there's so much at camp that they get poured into, that they're working on that foundation.

That's kind of what we're going to talk about today as we get into the Word.

But right now, before we hop into the Word, let's get our hearts just ready for what God has for us this morning.

Would you guys put your arms out with your palms up?

Close your eyes.

Take a deep breath.

And remember, God is just as near as the air you're breathing.

Let's pray.

Lord, today would you help us, would you guide us closer to you?

Help us to put away the frustrations of the past week, to put away the distractions of the coming week.

We want to fully focus on you.

We come empty with nothing to offer but surrender.

Fill us up as only you can.

Holy Spirit, move in here today with power.

We believe that in advance.

We ask all these things in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, amen, amen.

God has a funny way of making things all work together.

You know, throughout this series, we've been talking about the imperfect family.

One of the just recurring themes we've been getting at is that if you have a direction that you want your family to go,

the best thing you can do to make sure that you are heading in that direction is to first make sure that you are heading in that direction.

Right?

And on the first night of camp, the camp pastor said, we all, and this is true, we all do what we see.

We do what we see.

We don't do what we hear, but we do what we see.

And man, that is just so true.

And it's not just true of kids, it's true of all of us.

We do what we've seen modeled way more than we do what we've heard.

So I want to share a few passages that we looked at this past week at camp.

And then I just want to offer some practical steps to live those out.

Because it isn't just enough to hear the word, we have to live it out.

We have to live it out.

We have to do the word, be doers of the word, not just hearers.

So all week at camp, we looked at different parables that Jesus had taught.

A parable, I've heard this, the kids heard this at camp, and I've heard this my whole life.

A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

Earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

And the first one we looked at is in Matthew 7.

And we're just going to read this as verses 24 through 27.

And this is Jesus talking, Matthew 7, 24.

It says, anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise.

Like a person who builds a house on solid rock.

Though the rains come in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against the house,

it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock.

But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish.

Like a person who builds a house on sand.

When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against the house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.

It's a very popular passage.

It's saying you can build your house on the sand.

It's easy to move the sand.

It's easy to build on.

Or you can build your house on the stone.

It's hard.

It's difficult to cut out, to move, to make it work.

And the sand seems like the better way to go when you think about just the ease of building on sand.

But the problem isn't the building of the house.

The problem is that when the rains and the winds come, the foundation fails.

That it washes away.

But those same storms that come by the house that is built on the rock, it's solid.

It doesn't fail.

That's the parable that Jesus tells us, the earthly story with the heavenly meaning.

The question for us, the question for me, the question for you, it's really pretty simple.

What are you building your life on?

What are you building your life on?

Whether you've been intentional about that or not, your life is built on something.

Is it sand or is it stone?

What are you building your life on?

Are you building your life on the sand or on the stone?

As I was working through this, I was kind of thinking about what would be a list of things that you could build your life on that would be considered the sand.

Career, kids, athletics, physique, power, money, all those things.

And I really, as I was thinking about that, it just becomes really clear what the sand is.

A really easy rubric if you're building your life on the stone or the sand.

If it's not Jesus, it's sand.

If you're building your life on anything other than Jesus, it's, according to this passage, foolish.

Jesus is the bedrock that we should build our lives on.

Remember the winds and the rain, it comes to both houses.

Jesus doesn't make the storms go away, but he gives you the footing you need, the protection you need, the provision to make it through the storm.

Everyone is building their life on something.

Church, Jesus is the only bedrock we have.

There is nothing else we could build our lives on that's going to come through for us like Jesus.

Nothing.

What are you building your life on?

Are you building your life on Jesus?

Here's the thing.

If Jesus is to be the firm foundation, a foundation has to be first.

A foundation goes, it's primary.

When you're building a house, it's the first thing you do.

I think what a lot of us would rather do is live life our way, the way that we want to do everything, and then we just add Jesus to what we've already built.

It doesn't work like that.

You don't add Jesus.

You make Jesus the rock, and you build off of him.

You don't add Jesus to the plans you already have.

You take Jesus' plans.

Do you get what I'm saying?

There's a difference there.

Here's what makes camp so important.

Imagine you bought a house, and the foundation was being washed out.

Rainwater's coming.

It's taking out your foundation.

Your house would start to sink at a part there in a corner maybe.

It would mess up the framing.

It'd get all there.

Mess up the sheetrock.

You'd start to get cracks.

It'd be a mess if your foundation was starting to wash out of your house.

Absolute mess.

And after spending a lot of time and money, you get the foundation repaired.

You get it fixed, and you're sitting straight.

You're sitting square.

But then you just have to spend even more time and more money to repair all the issues

that having that faulty foundation costs.

But if the foundation was solid, it wouldn't have moved.

It wouldn't have messed up the other parts of the house just because it started with

a firm foundation.

Camp is so important because we are telling and showing our kids about Jesus.

And there is something incredibly powerful about stepping away from the noise of the

world and connecting with God.

We are pouring the foundation of Jesus into their lives.

A normal day at camp would look like two worship services, a small group, a quiet time, and

church group time, and a lot of fun and food in between all that.

But they are focused on Jesus and His Word.

They are building the foundations of their lives on Him.

And I love camp, and it is fantastic.

It was four days out of 365.

What are we doing to build our lives on Jesus?

What are we doing to make sure our families are building their lives on Jesus?

One of the ways we talk in our kids' ministry is that kids are like wet concrete.

They will adjust to whatever forms are around them.

And if those forms are set long enough, the concrete dries, and then you have hard concrete.

It is settled.

It is cured.

If you have ever done any work with concrete, it is a lot easier to move and adjust when

it is wet rather than after it is dried and cured.

When it is wet, you can use a trowel and smooth it out.

You can take a shovel and move stuff from here and put it over there.

It is fairly easy to work with versus when it is dry.

When it is dry, you need a jackhammer, eye protection, and a mask.

It is a lot more work.

Camp does a great job for four days of putting up forms that you can use in the lives of

our children to grow as a believer so that they can build their life on Christ, the bedrock

of our faith.

Camp is a great way for us to encourage these young people to make Christ the foundation

of their lives.

We don't want them to build it on anything else.

They are wet concrete right now.

They are soaking it all in.

How are we going to shape them to live?

There is an old hymn.

I am going to share my Independent Baptist background growing up.

Here we go.

There is an old hymn.

I am going to read it because if I sang it, you guys would start walking out.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

On Christ the solid rock I stand.

All other ground is, some of y'all were there.

Some of y'all weren't.

Then it says it again.

All other ground is sinking sand.

If you have built your life on anything other than Jesus, it is sinking sand.

I think a lot of us, if we evaluate our lives, we think, man, I think a lot of us truthfully,

we add Jesus to what we already want instead of building off of what He has done for us.

I am not saying that to hurt you, to get at you.

If your life is built on something else and Jesus doesn't look at you and say, well, you

are toast.

Sorry about you.

That is not Jesus.

In Matthew 9.36, this is Jesus.

It says when He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless

like sheep without a shepherd.

He is compassionate.

He loves you and He wants your life to be built on Him.

Not to prop Himself up.

He doesn't need that because He wants what is best for you.

He doesn't want you to be washed away when the storms of life come and they are going

to.

Build your life on Jesus.

That was one of the first passages we looked at.

Sand or stone.

What are you going to build your life on?

Another passage from Camp, and I have got to be honest, this one just encourages me

like crazy.

It is Matthew 13.31 and 32.

Here is another illustration Jesus used.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field.

It is the smallest of all the seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants.

It grows into a tree and birds come and make nests in its branches.

Mustard seeds are tiny.

Some of the smallest seeds.

But they turn into big plants and become homes for birds.

Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is like that.

It starts out small.

As it takes root and begins to grow, it will continue to grow and be bigger and bigger

and bigger.

If you are a parent, you will always remember that feeling when you first held your newborn

baby.

They feel like just the tiniest, smallest thing.

They are precious and fragile.

They fit just in my hands.

One hand.

It doesn't happen all at once, but day by day your baby grows.

It quickly becomes into a toddler.

From there it starts going to school, being a student.

I am not there yet.

I have a preteen, but they are growing.

I think about all these kids that are usually in these classes around here.

Every week there is a bunch of kids.

They might seem little right now, but they are growing so fast.

I guess what I am getting at is they are growing so much academically.

They are growing so much physically.

They are growing so much athletically.

That is just kind of what happens.

What are we doing to make sure they are growing spiritually?

That the kingdom of God is growing in them.

It is our responsibility to share the faith with them.

To share Jesus with them.

Here is the deal.

One day they will not be so little anymore.

They are not.

That concrete is going to dry.

That concrete is going to dry.

They are going to be a little bit more stuck in their ways.

Just kind of what happens as they get older.

That is what I want.

I have one last verse for us.

I am going to wrap up.

Psalm 144.12.

May our sons flourish in their youth like well nurtured plants.

May our daughters be like graceful pillars.

Carved to beautify a palace.

This is a verse I have been praying over my children for a while now.

Someday this is going to be a tattoo somewhere.

I think on my calf.

This is a verse I love.

Our sons flourish.

Our daughters are like graceful pillars.

The way for their flourishing, the way for their gracefulness,

isn't through academia or athletics.

It is through Jesus.

And the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.

It starts small.

But over time it grows and it grows.

What was once small now turns into a big thing.

Church, take your next step with your family.

Build a family, a legacy that is centered around Jesus.

That he and his word is the firm foundation.

Because that's a legacy that lasts forever.

And that doesn't have to start with anything grand or overdone.

It starts with everyday faithfulness in the little things.

Just point your kids to Jesus each and every day.

And here's what I found.

If we're looking for opportunities to point them to Jesus,

we find those opportunities.

It grows us to help others grow.

It just does.

And God takes all those little faithful moments and he turns them into something beautiful.

Let's pray together.

God, thank you for being so good to us.

For being the firm foundation that we can build our lives on.

I pray for all the kids that are here today.

God, would they build their lives on you?

God, I pray for all the adults in here today.

Would they build their lives on you too?

Would you show us specifically where we need to change or we need to adjust?

Would you show us specifically where we need to take our next step and become more like you?

Help us to be faithful in the little things.

God, trusting that you will make them grow into something beautiful.

God, we are so grateful for all you've done for us.

Thank you for sending Jesus to save us.

God, thank you for the cross.

Thank you for salvation.

Help us to build our lives on you.

Not to add you to our plans, but God, we would just take your plans and say,

God, we want to do things your way.

Give us the wisdom.

Give us the discernment to do that in our lives.

We ask all these things in Jesus' name.

And all God's people said, amen.

Hey church, let's stand and worship together.