Hope Found At Camp Firelight - A Sermon for Sunday August 17 2025

FIRST READING: Genesis 28:10-22

The reading may be announced:

A reading from Genesis.

  10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed that there was a stairway set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring, 14 and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
  18 So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.”

Word of God, word of life.

Thanks be to God.

PSALM: Psalm 56:1-4, 8-13

The psalm for the day is sung.

 1 Have mercy on me, O God, for people are | hounding me;
  all day long they assault | and oppress me.
 2 My enemies hound me all | the day long;
  truly there are many who fight against me | from high ground.
 3 Whenever I | am afraid,
  I will put my | trust in you.
 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust and will not | be afraid,
  for what can flesh | do to me?
 8 You have noted my lamentation; put my tears in- | to your bottle;
  are they not recorded | in your book?
 9 Whenever I call upon you, my enemies will be | put to flight;
  this I know, for God is | on my side.
 10 In God, whose | word I praise;
  in the Lord, whose | word I praise—
 11 in God I trust and will not | be afraid,
  for what can mortals | do to me?
 12 I am bound by the vow I made to | you, O God;
  I will present to | you thank-offerings;
 13 for you have rescued my soul from death and my | feet from stumbling,
  that I may walk before God in the light | of the living.

SECOND READING: Luke 2:41-52

The reading may be announced:

A reading from Luke.

  41 Now every year (Jesus’) parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this. 44 Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” 49 He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
  52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor.

Word of God, word of life.

Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL: Mark 4:35-41

The holy gospel according to Mark.

Glory to you, O Lord.

  35 On that day, when evening had come, (Jesus) said to (the disciples), “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But (Jesus) was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And waking up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON

Whenever I’m afraid, I will put my trust in you.

This is Vacation Bible Camp Firelight in a nutshell.

Fear is rather unpleasant.

We get afraid when we perceive threats or danger.

Here are the greatest fears that people confess to:

spiders, arachnophobia

or snakes

or heights,

or enclosed spaces, claustrophobia

and public speaking.

It’s funny, people are more afraid of public speaking than death.

most people would far rather be the one in the coffin

than the one giving the funeral eulogy.

Fear can sure be irrational at times.

I have a thought -

perhaps we are afraid to admit that we are afraid.

It’s easy to say I’m scared of snakes,

it’s much harder to say I’m afraid of how people will view me.

This is a common fear,

some are afraid to be themselves,

or to show others a part of themselves

for fear of ridicule, rejection, or even violence.

Church ought to be the first place we go to

where we can be ourselves, unapologetically.

God made you,

God loves you just as you are.

It’s one of our guiding principles here at Advent:

Living in God’s grace, all are welcome, invited, and valued here.

God made you,

God loves you,

You are beautiful and beloved.

So we seek to welcome and embrace each and any

who seek for God in our midst.

When one member of the body

feels they must hide part of who they are to be here,

the whole body suffers.

This part is hard for me,

I am afraid,

and I hope we can hear this with open hearts.

I am afraid to tell you that multiple members of this congregation

have told me that

feel that they need to hide parts of themselves here.

And it’s not because of what we are saying in worship,

or in our congregational meetings,

but it’s what’s being said in the parking lot

and in the lobby.

When one member of the body

feels they must hide part of who they are to be here,

Or when one member of the body

hides from the body:

the whole body suffers.

We are suffering right now.

Vacation Bible Camp Firelight gives me hope for Christ’s Church.

The welcome was wide -

Language was not a barrier,

neither race nor ethnicity for that matter.

We had young people

for whom English is a second or third language,

and they were part of the team

welcomed with their translator apps.

Denomination was not a barrier.

Most of the participants have Lutheran roots,

but not exclusively.

Class and income were not barriers,

Can’t pay?

No problem.

Stay for lunch.

The young people heard the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch; 

a reminder that one’s sexual or gender identity

are not barriers to baptism;

to being welcomed and included in Christ’s Church.

No one is an outcast with Jesus.

There was some good continuity from last year’s VBS to this years,

again the young people were invited to consider the other,

how to talk to one another with kindness and gentleness.

This gives me hope.

The words that we choose matter,

one wrong word closes the door,

but one kind word can open it.

Speaking of hope,

our collaboration with Hope Lutheran gives me hope.

I find hope when competition mellows into collaboration.

But amidst hope that I name,

I confess again that I am still afraid.

Perhaps you are too.

I fear for the future of the Church.

I fear that we want new members

so they can pay our bills,

rather than inviting people to come and meet Jesus,

to do Church for their own benefit.

I am afraid that the body is focussed inward

when called to look out,

to act in love,

to do justice,

love kindness

and walk humbly with God.

I am afraid my list of fears for the church,

and for myself 

might be too long to list aloud right now.

Whenever I am afraid,

I will put my trust in you, O God.

Where else can we turn?

Can we trust best business practices to save the church?

I don’t think it is a fluke that church decline 

seems to coincide with the business approaches

to ministry in past and present decades.

Can we trust an individual not named Jesus to save the church?

No - Jesus alone saves the church.

I can’t improve my self-worth by buying a new truck.

I can save my money for a rainy day,

but that security might just run out, I’m afraid.

I can work myself to the bone to maintain employment

but that fulfillment - if fulfilling at all - will fade.

We can try all the things in this life to remedy our fears,

and they might work for a season,

but that search for fulfillment will be futile.

Whenever I am afraid,

I will put my trust in you, O God.

Trusting God, trusting Jesus

means following Jesus.

It means doing justice,

loving kindness,

and walking humbly with our God.

Good things happen when we simply do what Jesus tells us to do.

Perhaps when we forget to follow Jesus,

to do what Jesus tells us to do;

we can learn from Mary and Joseph,

and seek for Jesus in the Temple,

in the place of worship,

in and with God’s Word with God’s people.

That’s where Jesus is found.

It might take us three or more days of searching,

but we can always find Jesus

about God the Father’s business.

Perhaps when we forget to trust, like the disciples at sea,

we will find Jesus already in our boat.

Sometimes when we think we are perishing,

God-with-us knows we are not.

Sometimes when it seems like God is asleep in our storm,

we can remember that our God neither slumbers nor sleeps.

we are safe with Jesus in our boat.

In God’s time,

Jesus stills the storm.

Perhaps like Jacob, we ought to use our words of trust

amidst the fears:

God always keeps God’s promises,

so remember you baptism,

remember the Communion table,

If God goes with me,

I will be just fine.

And this isn’t bargaining with God,

it is holding God accountable for God’s promises,

If God goes with me,

and God does go with me,

then I’ll be just fine.

We can trust God because God is trustworthy.

God always keeps God’s promises.

By the way, we are promised Church without end.

not congregation without end,

Church without end.

Cling to God’s promises.

You are promised eternal life,

You are promised forgiveness and new life

You are promised God’s very presence, always.

As the kids sang each day,

God, you go, go, go with us.

When we forget to follow,

God goes with us.

When our trust in God is not at the top of our list,

God goes with us.

And when we remember,

when we speak the words of faith,

when we seek to trust God,

God goes with us.

Dear Sisters, brothers and siblings in Christ,

When you are afraid,

May you put your trust in the God who goes with us.

Our hymn of the day is a video from VBC,

I invite you to keep the clock rolled back,

and join in the singing like an eight year old,

or simply as you are led,

God, you Go, go, go with us!

Thanks be to God.