August 20th, 2021
Happy Friday, friends! God likes to do new things, so this week we are starting something new! From now on, the devotions you read on Friday will be submitted by members of the church. Starting this off for us this week is Lisa Whitaker and she coming to us in video form from a Methodist camp site in Dimock, Pennsylvania. Here on the app/website, we will provide you with a transcript of her devotion, but we do encourage you, if you are able, to go to our YouTube or Facebook page to see the video. Enjoy!
-Reverend Dave
You may use this link to watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/KS6I06oCOyE
__________
“Hi everyone, I’m Lisa Whitaker. I have been a member of the United Methodist church at Absecon since I was a little girl. And I am one of the missionaries that the church supports. Many of you know me, but for those of you who don’t, I just wanted to introduce myself to you.
I am standing here at a United Methodist camping ground up in Pennsylvania in a small town called Dimock. As you can see, the chapel is behind me. This camp meeting was established in 1877. They are soon going to celebrate their 150th anniversary in 2027. I just wanted to share a little about it and remind us that we are a part of a much larger story that has taken place throughout many centuries, and this camp meeting is an example of how the Methodist Church has been a part of God’s story for hundreds of years. Back in its hay day, which was the turn of the 1800’s into the 1900’s, this camp meeting…are you ready for this… had 10,000 people coming…10,000 people coming for revival! They had tents all over, they had a hundred different cottages. It was truly a place where people came to meet God, where people came to understand who God is more. It is just amazing to think that these people came from all over and they learned about who Jesus is here.
[some workers drive by]
So, as you can see, this place is still vibrant with people coming and people taking care of the grounds, that was a couple of the people who take care of the grounds. But I wanted to remind us that we are part of the larger story of the United Methodist Church. And in fact, it’s interesting, some very well-known people of the time came here and spoke. The man who penned the hymn “Trust and Obey” came and led the singing of that song here and was part of the Dimock camp meeting. So, as you consider this time in your life and some of you may feel isolated or may feel a bit lonely, I just wanted to remind us that we are part of a much, much bigger community of the Body of Christ and we are part of the story that has gone on for centuries. And we have an opportunity to shape what the future centuries are going to look like. When I think about the people who established this place; little did they know that 150 years later, there would still be people coming here. They still have Sunday night services here at this chapel that serve the community.
I want to encourage you to take a minute and ask the Lord how can you invest in and ask the Lord what you can do to build the body of Christ in the future; to be a part of the next generation coming to know Jesus growing in their faith and how can you be a part of passing our faith forward.”
-Reverend Dave
You may use this link to watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/KS6I06oCOyE
__________
“Hi everyone, I’m Lisa Whitaker. I have been a member of the United Methodist church at Absecon since I was a little girl. And I am one of the missionaries that the church supports. Many of you know me, but for those of you who don’t, I just wanted to introduce myself to you.
I am standing here at a United Methodist camping ground up in Pennsylvania in a small town called Dimock. As you can see, the chapel is behind me. This camp meeting was established in 1877. They are soon going to celebrate their 150th anniversary in 2027. I just wanted to share a little about it and remind us that we are a part of a much larger story that has taken place throughout many centuries, and this camp meeting is an example of how the Methodist Church has been a part of God’s story for hundreds of years. Back in its hay day, which was the turn of the 1800’s into the 1900’s, this camp meeting…are you ready for this… had 10,000 people coming…10,000 people coming for revival! They had tents all over, they had a hundred different cottages. It was truly a place where people came to meet God, where people came to understand who God is more. It is just amazing to think that these people came from all over and they learned about who Jesus is here.
[some workers drive by]
So, as you can see, this place is still vibrant with people coming and people taking care of the grounds, that was a couple of the people who take care of the grounds. But I wanted to remind us that we are part of the larger story of the United Methodist Church. And in fact, it’s interesting, some very well-known people of the time came here and spoke. The man who penned the hymn “Trust and Obey” came and led the singing of that song here and was part of the Dimock camp meeting. So, as you consider this time in your life and some of you may feel isolated or may feel a bit lonely, I just wanted to remind us that we are part of a much, much bigger community of the Body of Christ and we are part of the story that has gone on for centuries. And we have an opportunity to shape what the future centuries are going to look like. When I think about the people who established this place; little did they know that 150 years later, there would still be people coming here. They still have Sunday night services here at this chapel that serve the community.
I want to encourage you to take a minute and ask the Lord how can you invest in and ask the Lord what you can do to build the body of Christ in the future; to be a part of the next generation coming to know Jesus growing in their faith and how can you be a part of passing our faith forward.”
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