Reverend Raymond Osborne, Pastor

Please Note That Most Messages Follow
The Revised Common Lectionary

As most of you know this is my very first experience with “Camp Meeting.” I am excited that “Camp Meeting” has finally arrived. As I have come in and out of this campground I have seen people busy getting their tents ready for “Camp Meeting.” New construction going on, the arbor being cleaned up, shavings being brought in and spread around, and almost every other person I see asking, “Are you ready for Camp Meeting?”

Knowing that this day was approaching I did my best to ask as many people as many questions as I could to better prepare myself as the “host pastor.” I was told that this arbor will be filled to capacity with hundreds of folk standing outside. I was told that there would be close to 2,000 people passing through here this week. I was told that there would be neat things for children, great preaching, and wonderful singing. But let me share with you what realty caught my attention.

I had wanted to take my children away for a day and so I asked another minister if he would cover for me that day promising that I would return the favor. He told me that he was going to be leaving towards the end of “Camp Meeting” and realizing how demanding “Camp Meeting” can be wasn’t sure I would want to cover for him during that portion of his vacation. I wrote back, “I have never been through Camp Meeting before so I have no idea how demanding it is.”

Here was Steve’s response, “Probably the biggest stress is the sheer volume of food to deal with. I'm not there for everything, and I have had to have post-Camp meeting diets each year.” Now THAT caught me attention!

Someone shared this story with me this past week, " A mother was fixing pancakes for her sons Ryan, 5, and Jeff 3. They asked who would get the first pancakes. Seeing that this would be a good teachable moment she said if Jesus were here he would offer the pancakes to others and wait for his. After hearing this Ryan said to his younger brother...lets play that game...you can be Jesus!”

I also picked up "The Herald," Union’s newsletter and I read that our church is invited to one of our member’s tent on Thursday night for ice cream!

So keeping all of the above in mind and that I am brand spanking new at Camp Meeting, if I could have a banner printed at the entrance of this place I think it would be an invitation containing four words followed with double exclamation points. “COME AND GET IT!!”

It is certainly for me an honor to be bringing the opening message of “Camp Meeting.” I am glad that I am here and I am glad that you are here and I am glad for everything that we will experience together this week.

In John chapter 6 we read,

“So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"

Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.

Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?"

Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."

As I stand here and look across this arbor there are many of you that I have never seen before - in fact I don't know most of you. You look like fine and wonderful people who have no worries to speak of. But we all know that's not true don't we? If we believe statistics this morning some of us here are about to end our marriage. Some of us here are experiencing financial bankruptcy. Some of us have children who have been caught up in drugs and violence. Some of us are unemployed and can't find a job. Some of us are either combating a serious illness or have a member of our household or at the very least someone who is very close to us who is. Some of us here this morning have lost a loved one in recent days. Some of us are facing depression and are praying that God will take our life. Some of us have family members in nursing homes and the rest of us are heading that way. Some of us are lonely, discouraged, and scared about being old and the prospect of getting old.

The list continues into perpituity.

I don't know why you've come here this week but I hope that you and I have come to this place seeking the kind of food that Jesus is speaking of. Not a food that enters the body through the mouth but a food that enters the very depths of our souls through our hearts. Not a food that man or woman can prepare but a food that has been prepared by God in Christ Jesus and served to us by His Holy Spirit.

There use to be a televangelist that made the phrase, “Believe in Miracles, Make Miracles Happen” popular. I hope that we have come here this morning at the beginning of this great event believing and expecting.

First of all believing in the power of God to affect change in human lives. Over the course of the past twenty years that I have been in ministry I have seen life after life changed by the touch of our Lord Jesus Christ. As the woman who in a weakened and feeble state fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master’s garment so we should come this morning and this week believing and expecting to come face-to-face with the resurrected Jesus; to be able to reach out and tough Him and to be able to allow Him to reach out and touch us.

Just as others have promised me that there will be good food and fellowship at “Camp Meeting” this week, I promise you that if you expect and believe to encounter Jesus this week, you will. I will also promise you that even if you come NOT expecting to encounter Jesus this week, you might as well change your mind right now for He will change it for you before this week is out. Jesus is here and wither we are intentional about it or not, at some point, and in some way, we will experience His presence.

Now let me share with you the last verse of the lection from John 6 this morning, “Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

We live in a time when everyone is busy trying to find that very special something that will bring satisfaction and completeness to their lives.

I remember overhearing my wife carry on a telephone conversation with her cousin who happens to serve the United Methodist Church in the Missouri area as their Bishop. Stephanie, my wife, mentioned “Camp Meeting.” When she got off the phone I asked my wife what Ann had to say about “Camp Meeting.” Stephanie said that she said “it’s like stepping back 100 years in time. It’s a wonderful experience!”

Sometimes I think we need to turn back the hands of time. We’ve become far too busy in this present age. We run around looking for a post-modern solution to an age-old problem. We’re hungry and thirsty and often we know not what for.

I've said this before and I will continue to say it as long as I have the opportunity to stand before God's children - Jesus is the answer for every life and every situation in life.

Can you hear Jesus this morning? He’s standing up high enough to be seen over the busyness of life and the crowds. His hands are on either side of His mouth as He yells, “COME AND GET IT!!”

The only substance that will ever cause our hunger and thirst to be sated comes from Jesus.

Jesus invites all to come to His banquet. It is at the Lord's table that we get the right hungers - that we learn to hunger and thirst after righteousness.

He gives us this promise:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

My friends do we fully understand that you and I can have our lives touched, changed, and transformed forever if we are willing to give our lives to Jesus? That You and I can have our lives filled with purpose and joy and peace if we open ourselves to Jesus? You and I can have our hungers and our thirsts satisfied if we, as He has said, “Come” to Him.

Not by food prepared by man or woman, but with Spiritual food prepared by God through Christ Jesus served to us by His Holy Spirit. Can’t you hear Him? “COME AND GET IT!!”

Let us Pray,

Oh Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth. Thank you for those who have gathered under this arbor and outside this arbor today. Bless them O Lord. Fill us with food prepared not by man or woman but by God. We open ourselves to you to receive from you. We reach out to touch you and to be touched by you. In your name I pray Amen.

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