GCV Blog

What do you get when you match classic graham crackers, a perfectly toasted marshmallow, and a slightly melted Hershey’s bar? S’mores make any campfire worth having. You might as well have a car without an engine than camp without smores. This summer, camping and Kidsfest are coming together in a fun theme with a purpose. We’re going to encourage our kids between the ages of 3 and 10 to camp out around the greatness of God. We’ll sit around the campfire to preach about a God who is everywhere at once, all knowing, jealous, glorious, truth, and more.

“Doulos” is the Greek word for slave. It’s also the name of our summer internship program. Far from being a dismissive term, “doulos” represents the heart of Christian leadership. Jesus’ disciples had the same worldly, upside-down perspective of leadership that we are prone to ourselves. They argued which of them would be the greatest, got upset when James and John tried to weasel their way into sitting on Jesus’ left and right hands, and fought over who would be the greatest among them. Jesus corrected their selfish perspective by explaining, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:42-44). The greatest example of servant leadership is Jesus himself, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

For good or ill, the past has changed our present. Whether we know it or not, the past has brought us to where we are today. And through it all, God has been in Heaven, doing whatever He pleases. June 22 1559 In England, Queen Elizabeth's Prayer Book was issued. During her 45-year reign, Elizabeth I rejected the Catholic faith, adopting instead the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church.