BMA CHURCH CAMP 2023 Break Out

Introduction

Our theme for Church Camp 2023 will be “all in.” During our class times, we will be talking about what it means to be “all in” for Jesus and how that is reflected in everything we do. Our prayer is that all campers will have a true understanding of being “all in” for Jesus and that everything in our lives should be different as a result. We will explore together what it means to be fully devoted followers of Christ. Through these sessions and discussion, we hope to answer the following questions:

• What does it look like in school, at home, or even in our routine of our daily lives?

• How do we demonstrate love for God as we love others?

• If we are loving God with all of our heart, mind and body, what does that look like in our daily life? How does it change how we interact with others?

Session 1 — Matthew 22:37-39

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Teacher Notes

The idea of day one focuses on the fact that being “all in” for God starts with who you are inside. This initially begins with our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a great opportunity to share the gospel message at the beginning of class to help with the understanding that Jesus changes everything, inside and out. This is the act of being and becoming who it is that God has designed each of us to be. We can’t do the works that God has called us to do unless we first focus on being who it is that He’s called us to be. We will look at how love is at the core of our relationship with God and with others. The idea here is that we have to start with loving God with all that we are so that we are then able to fully do the things He has for us to do for His honor and glory.

Note: The verse provided is a great starting point. You can use the surrounding verses to provide more context as needed and also use additional verses as needed to help teach the concept of our being “all in” for this first session. Our being consists of our heart, soul and mind. Each of these areas can be explored as well.

Introduction to Lesson

Introduction:

What is the greatest and most important commandment? Jesus was asked this question by the Pharisees who wished for nothing more than to find something to accuse Jesus of. Our Savior responded with wisdom and authority. The most important commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.

It is important to note here that when Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 he is not as much making a distinction between different parts as much as he is emphasizing the face that we are love God with the “whole” of who we are — heart, soul and mind (strength).

By obeying this commandment and loving your neighbor, you have accomplished the spirit upon which all of the other commandments rest.

Today many people are seeking some kind of spirituality. They wish to know and love God, but it is hard for some to figure out exactly how to love God. One cannot see or touch God, how can one love Him? The answer to that very practical question comes from our text. One loves God with his heart, his soul, and his mind.

I. Love God with all your heart (internal aspect of love)

A. Guard your heart = keep and protect it.

“Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23)

We are careful what we allow to have a hold on our lives. Jesus tells us that what comes out of our mouths is what pollutes a man, for what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. What we allow to govern our lives (Friends, music, tv, celebrities, relationships) these things control us.

If we want to love the Lord with our whole heart, then we must be careful what we allow to consume our heart. If it is the Lord, then great, but if it is anything else then we are not s

B. Seek God with your whole heart.

(Deuteronomy 4:29 “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

-Kind of similar to what we just talked about, but what we put our energy into will consume us. How many of you have a favorite athlete? Can you tell me when their birthdays are? Or their favorite color? What about some habits or hobbies that they have? => How about a celebrity crush? How much do you know about them? You put energy into learning who these people are. Maybe it is a hobby or sport that you like, so you pour hours into studying and training.

What about God? How much do you know? You guys are mostly teenagers. You’re not dumb, you’re ignorant. The difference is you have not learned yet, some of you. We know as much about God as we would like to know. If you want to know more, then ability is out there. You have His entire book, and there are thousands of other books where people have taken the time to break it down, and explain God’s meanings. If we do not know something it is simply because we either do not want to, or we have not given the time to learn it yet.

Seek God with all that you are. If you look for Him, you will find Him.

C. Serve God with your whole heart.

Deuteronomy 10:12 ““And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,”

Psalm 119:10 “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!”

D. Praise God with your whole heart.

“Psalm 9:1 “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”

Psalm 111:1 “Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.”

E. Repent with your whole heart.

“And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7)

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Romans 10:9-10)

To repent is to understand that the sin you committed was wrong according to God’s word, being deeply sorry for disobey God, and moving on trying not to make the same mistakes again. (Again, we are not perfect, but we strive to become better. We desire to be like Jesus, and the more we become like Jesus, the better we become at avoiding sin.)

II. Love God with all your soul (eternal aspect of love)

A. More than any fleshly drive that resides in our carnal bodies.

1 John 2:16-17 “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Mark 8:36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

Let me put emphasis on this. If you gain friends in life, cool. If you get out and get a job that gives you loads of money, alright. If you are able to buy anything that your heart desires, kudos. But at the end of it all, we end up in the same state. Whether rich or poor, we all die. Then what? Eternity. Life is temporary. Even if you live 100 years, it is only temporary compared to eternity. You can spend it in heaven, or you can spend it in hell. Be sensitive to the feelings you are having right now.

When we are saved, we desire to do what is right. That does not mean that we are perfect, but we strive to do what is acceptable by God’s standards. We desire to know His word, and work it out in our own lives.

— Above all, we desire to please God—

B. More than life itself.

Luke 14:26 ““If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Now let me clear this up really quick. God is not giving you a free pass to disrespect your parents. His 5th commandment of the great 10 commandments is that we should honor our fathers and our mothers. What this means is that if our family comes between us and the Lord, we choose the Lord. If mom and dad could care less about church, we remain faithful to His people. If your family cuts you out of Christmas because they cannot stand Christians, and you are one of them, so be it. It is not God’s highest desire that you have strife in your family, but if tensions rise because you are faithful to Him, then so be it. Same way goes for you in relationships, friendships, work place relations. Following God is far above all else. He also promised that anything we loose He will return 100 fold.

Mark 10:29-31 “Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.””

If you leave things behind to follow the Lord, you will be rewarded. You lose friends, you will be given greater friends. If you are cut off from your parents for some reason or in some way, you will find a host of parents ready to assume their role. God takes care of His children.

III. Love God with all your mind (outward aspect of love).

A. Get to know and understand God’s love.

(Ephesians 3:14-19 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

B. Keep your mind clean.

“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

If you are saved, your eternal resting place will be with our God. You are a citizen of heaven from the moment you place your trust in Christ.  Because of this, you have a kingdom mindset. Romans 12:1-2 says “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

When you are saved, God places the Holy Spirit within you to guide you along through life. To help direct your steps in following Him. Does this mean you are perfect? Certainly not. Does this mean that you will not fail at times? By no means. As long as you are in this body, you will make mistakes, but those who are saved have been cleared of this mistakes already.

But, those who are saved, guided by the HS, are transformed in their minds. How they make their decisions changes. How one speaks to others changes. Your conversations change. Your relationships change. Your friend groups change. Your weekend activities change. Your habits change. How you think, changes. How you treat others changes. Everything in life changes.            You are reborn. You are a new man or woman in Christ.

Conclusion

With all your soul: Devoted beyond this world. When you choose God, this world melts away, and that is scriptural.

Jesus said “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” John 17:14-16

When we chase after the Lord with everything we have, the desires of this world begin to fade away. A man once told me that following the Lord would not be easy, but making the decision to follow the Lord will be the best one that I ever make. There is not a single decision I have made in life that would be above that of giving my life to Christ, and deciding to follow Him. The same will go for you. It will be the best decision you ever make.

One the flip side, if you have not decided to follow Him then you are already making horrible decisions. If you would like to change your mind, if you want to make the best decisions of your life, then you are welcome to talk to me or any other teachers, you are encouraged to go to those who brought you to this camp, they love you more than you know. But reach out while it is fresh on your mind. The devil is trying to distract you and steal the word out of your life, ask those questions, make those decisions, and don’t let the devil have a hold on your life.