Grace Gospel Church Family Camp
Friday, 16th September 2011
It is a beautifully sunny day at T.O. Strand, if not a little windy. Throughout the day families are arriving and registering their arrival, finding their cottages or setting up their tents. A total of 160 people have made their way to camp – some travelling long distances to be a part of what the Lord will do. We have dinner at six, and a wonderful time of fellowship.
Afterwards, we gather in the hall where Neil Martin welcomes us and encourages us saying that there are no expectations placed upon us, but we come to the Lord as we are. The team leads us in a time of worship during which Neil shares a word from the Lord, “You look at your life and you do not see any significance for your life in the future. You look at your life with many regrets. But the Lord encourages you today that as you open your heart and seek him in these days He will meet you, He will guide you in a new way – no longer looking backward but looking toward the future. You will have a hope for the future and your life. You are not beyond restoration. God is more than able to change your life. Let the Word of God bring a new faith in you. God’s heart for you never fails, it never ends.”
He asks everybody from outside Kwa-Zulu Natal to stand so we may welcome them. Many who have travelled from far: Botswana, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Johannesburg, La Réunion, Cape Town, and even San Diego.
It is Peter McKenzie who shares this evening about the promise of God. We hear so much about God’s promises, but do we really know what God is going to do for us today? Peter emphasises the seriousness of the promise of God, because when God speaks of promise He speaks of covenant – an agreement to exchange our life for His; the core of Christianity. When Jesus died on the cross, it was all of Him, not just a part. We need to surrender all of our life in order to gain His.
Paul was a religious man, persecuting the church and then God decided to intervene; it was all of God, nothing of man. Unfortunately people can be manipulated into salvation, convinced only in their mind and intellect. Salvation comes from God; it is a promise to those who are called and who respond. We are children of the promise. We’ve been birthed by this promise and it needs to become a reality in our lives. The call of God is for you and me to know to whom we belong; I am a child of the promise, there is no doubt, no confusion and no need for persuasion.
He warns us about having the mentality that God owes us something. We need to understand that to become a child of promise, an exchange must take place, in order for this assurance to become a reality. We are born again, but still face choices everyday, things that will detract from what God has for us. As children of God, our choices have eternal consequences. They can rob us of what God has for our lives. Our attitudes, our motivations, our time, our money needs to belong to Him. We need to live according to the promise, the things that are eternal.
Abraham put his son on the altar to die, and God provided the sacrificial lamb. That is how we must live. We need that certainty in our heart; whether I am in the fiery furnace, in hardships, trials – I must know that He is with me and He will take me through.
Reading from Philippians 1:3-6, Peter says, “He just takes us, and says, ‘You’re mine; short or tall, hair or no hair’. He doesn’t list all our weaknesses and problems. It’s amazing!”
He continues, “There are people here that doubt; they don’t know the reality of what it is to be a child of the promise. Tonight I pray for confirmation, for certainty; for an overwhelming assurance in them. Let them leave with a new faith and zeal. There are people struggling with their flesh, holding onto their life, missing what You have for them. But tonight You want to restore them, to open their eyes and bring reality. Tonight some of you do not have that certainty in your heart that you are a child of God… ”
Neil then closes the meeting in prayer, “Thank you for these timely words, words of encouragement. We are grateful tonight, for the hope it brings.”
We gather outside on the veranda for coffee, hot chocolate, and biscuits. It is a wonderful moment to be together and many seem reluctant to return to their cottages.
