Those at camp on Saturday enjoyed some cool, beautiful weather and plenty of activities.
The annual God’s Holiness Grove Camp Meeting business meeting was held in the afternoon, as 86 voting members of the camp met to discuss the status of camp meeting, elect new board members and discuss financials. Congratulations to Marilyn Appel and the Rev. Ryan Brosious for being selected for three-year stints each as board members for the camp. There was a period of thanks for service of two outgoing board members, the Rev. Paul Sheets and Ellouise Garver.
Kids, youth and adults all enjoyed their own morning service times, the teens battled it out with Bubble Ball in the afternoon, and both the swimming pool and lake were popular destinations during down time.
The evening service was once again powerful, led by the Rev. Stephen Wilson and Rev. Brosious. Rev. Wilson’s message came from the story of Joseph and his brothers shared in Genesis 50:15-21 (along with reference to Genesis 50:22-23).
The message was on forgiveness, with Rev. Wilson sharing five ways we can move from hurt to healing through forgiving those who have wronged us. Among those were:
1. Let go of all grudges. From the Bible reading, Rev. Wilson shared that Joseph’s brothers expected him to treat them how they treated him. That many times, we are hurt the most by the people closest to us and that unfortunately, there are people who collect hurts like some used to collect S&H Green Stamps. But Joseph did not hold onto grudges, and his spirit of grace had long-reaching effects.
2. Accept any and all apologies. From the Bible reading, the “apology” given by Joseph’s brothers was severely lacking. We all envision the perfect apology we’d love to get from those who hurt us, but, like Joseph, we will likely never receive the apology we feel we deserve.
3. Don’t ever put yourself in the place of God. Joseph specifically says “Am I in the place of God?” to his brothers during their time of begging and asking to be his slaves. We aren’t expected to be the ones who dish out punishment for wrongs done. To forgive doesn’t mean we have to forget, but we can pray that through the forgiveness we give and God’s grace, that the pain we feel will be lessened.
4. Do more than forgive. Joseph didn’t just forgive his brothers, he went on to say he would provide for them and their children. It is Christlike to not only forgive, but to pray for the person who wronged us, for them to receive blessings, welfare and mercy through the troubling time.
5. Look past the present. From Genesis 50:22-23, we see some of the long-reaching effects of Joseph’s forgiveness – he lived a long time, he got to see his great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. His blessing blessed many others. Rev. Wilson said we all know that we need to look past our tough pasts, but we also need to be able to look past the present to how our grace can affect our future.
Again, these points are just a quick glimpse of the service. Rev. Wilson shared some very engaging examples of each point and does a much better job – fortunately, the camp has been recording his sermons and you can order CDs of his sessions by calling Lisa Jo Smith at 570-538-2790.
