Haley Dennard, one of summer interns wrote this evening’s sealed order. Check out what the students will be mediating on and continue to join us in prayer!

(I posted today’s pictures and a video in the blogs below…)

Flip open your bibles and take a second to read our verse for the week: Romans 12:1.

Sacrifice!! What does that even mean? Back in bible days, in order for someone to be forgiven of their sins, blood had to be shed. So every time God’s people didn’t obey him, they would have to go get an animal, like a lamb, and kill it. Something had to pay the price for their sins. Thankfully, we don’t have to kill any animals now! God sent Jesus to pay the ultimate sacrifice for us on the cross! Halellujah! However, this doesn’t mean that we can become a Christian and then just live however we want. No way! God loves you so much he wants to have a relationship with you. This means everyday we have to give up our sins and the things we want to do that don’t honor God. That’s what being a living sac-rifice is all about: sacrificing or giving up the ways of this world! Don’t get me wrong…God is not a meanie with all these rules we have to obey! He’s bubbling over with love and He says in Mark 12: 28-30 to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let’s take a look and see how we can.

Heart and Soul: God wants for you to give Him your whole heart. Don’t worry, you don’t have to take it out and really hand it to him, but God does want every bit of you! When I think about being a living sacrifice, I think about the things I do every single day. God says He wants your heart. Does that mean we only have to go to church on Sunday and Wednesday to give all of our heart to God. No way! Being a living sacrifice means you have to put aside what we want to do and think about what makes God happy! So girls, maybe instead of spending an hour in front of the mirror to get ready (hey I do it too), you could only spend 30 minutes. Then you would have plenty of time to read God’s Word and pray to get your heart ready for the day. And guys, maybe in stead of playing 2 hours of video games (RockBand is my favorite!), you could cut back and choose to spend some time with your amazing God instead.

Take a minute and write down some things you could sacrifice for God on a daily basis?

Mind: Again, you don’t have to take out your brain to be a living sacrifice for God! One of the most important ways we live for God is through our mind or our thoughts. Think about it J There are tons of movies, TV, and music that are full of stuff that doesn’t give God glory, right? So if we choose to fill our minds with this stuff then our thoughts won’t honor God. Garbage in, garbage out! This can really be a sacrifice, because it feels like media is everywhere and everyone is watching or listening to it. But God has better things for us. Look up Philippians 4:6 and think about these things! How can you honor God with your thoughts?

Physical Body: How can you be a living sacrifice with your physical body? The Bible tells us that we were made in God’s image, so it’s important for us to put only good things into our body, right? Now I don’t mean you should eat a pound of chocolate everyday just because it tastes good! But eating healthy is a way that you can sacrifice for God. In-stead of eating that Big Mac every night for dinner, give it up and go for something that won’t give you a heart attack! Also choosing not to do drugs or drink alcohol is another way to show you love God through your physical body. Even if it looks like the popular thing to do, it’s not!! You can be a living sacrifice to God by choosing not to do those things.

What about on the outside of your body? I don’t mean you have to wear the

newest clothes, lots of makeup, or have a really cool haircut. God doesn’t care how cool we dress… thank goodnessJ….He is mostly concerned with our heart. But there is a way that you can show God you love him with the outside of yourself.

Girls, how can you honor God by what you wear?Guys, how can you honor God by how you dress? (hint: wear deodarant!!!)

I’m praying that you will love God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength! Now let’s worship.

Last night, to get the sealed order jump started, I asked the students to imagine what this sign might mean… Alex Doriot caught me this morning and told me that the sign was a warning: “Caution, Middle School Student Using Axe Body Spray”! And I must say it is a needed sign in our lives at camp… the boys spray like the commercials are protraying reality, thankfully none of the boys have been overwhelmed by hordes of ladies (though in that moment “ladies” would not be the term…).