Finding Your Way on the Trail

Last May, I spent 6 days with my son Doug and my Brother-in-law Rick on the Appalachian Trail.  Many trails intersect, and there are turns and twists in the trail.  However, there was one constant, the white blazes marking the trees on the Appalachian Trail.  The blazes are painted on the sides of trees in both directions, helping the hiker stay on the trail.  When you consider the weather, the blazes are life-saving – snow, rain, fog, and even darkness may surround a hiker.

My experience as a Church Pastor is that it is easy to lose your way on the trail of faith during the summer.  Summer vacations, irregular hours of sleep for youth and children, summer visitors, and even harvest times can lead to a lack of focus on faith matters.  Jesus said this, 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  (Matthew 7.13-14).

Jesus reminds us that it’s easy to lose our way, to stumble, to miss the trail that keeps us on the path we would like to follow.

I want to suggest to you some ways you can stay on the narrow path during the summer:

1. Attend worship weekly unless you are sick.  Even on vacation, it is easy to find a house of worship.  If you do go to worship, I appreciate learning from other churches.  Bring me back a worship bulletin so I can learn from your worship experiences in other places.  I enjoy hearing your thoughts about how our worship of God might be enhanced through liturgy, music, and prayers.

2. Find a daily devotional routine. Upper Rooms are available at the church as are One-Year Bibles. You can also find Upper Room and Devo for teens online.  Pick them out of your daily e-mails before you travel to Facebook. Stop and Pray.

3. Bring your youth to youth.  Bring your children to VBS.  Summer is a time when many of our youth say YES to Jesus through mission work, Summer Youth Rallies, Spiritus, and Salkahatchie.

4. Find a way to serve.  There are many opportunities to serve in our community – volunteering for Hospice, picking up a day of work at ECCCM, visiting a nursing home.  There are many opportunities to serve at Friendship.

5. Invite our Duke Youth Intern, Brad Hinton out for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Your faith will be refreshed by hearing how God is working in someone else’s life.

I pray that you will follow the white blazes, the trail of faith perfected by our Savior Jesus Christ.  As the Letter of Hebrews says in Chapter 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Don’t wander off the trail.

Youth Event Information

Attention Youth and Parents of Youth: We will be going to our last Collision of the School Year on June 2nd and really need all of our kids in attendance! As you know    Collision is a Multi-Denomination Youth Rally, where youth from various churches come together to celebrate Jesus with the Word and special music! To close out the school year, Living Word Church in Maiden, is hosting this final rally with a picnic and we need our youth in   attendance! The rally will begin at 6:30pm, so the bus will leave the church at 6pm! Don’t be late and we hope all of you can make it! No money is needed, this is their gift to all!  On June 12th, we will celebrate as a group at Church Night at the Hickory Motor Speedway! Gates open at 5pm and admission is only $5 per person with kids under 6 FREE. Please see me if you have any questions. We will reserve the bus and departure time will be announced soon. Please see me or give me a call if you have any questions at 851-3207. Thanks PG