Our theme this year at English Camp is Redeem. Our goal is talk intentionally with students concerning God’s plan of redemption for the world through Jesus Christ alone. Jesus wants to take what has been corrupted because of sin and bring restoration. The reality is that when we made the choice to put ourselves in the place of God and serve and worship things rather than Him, he did not leave us to our own destruction. He came to rescue us. This is the message behind Redeem.

We will be communicating this through five stories throughout Scripture.

Day 1 (Saturday) – Redeem

We will be introducing our theme. Our goal is to build trust with the students and give them a picture of where we will be heading throughout the week. Our discussion groups will be meeting just to get to know one another.

Day 2 (Sunday) – Unlikely Hero: Rahab

Our first story from Scripture is the story of Rahab. Our desire is for students to understand that nobody is too “bad” to be redeemed. Many of the students attending camp will have things from their past that they are ashamed of and as a result have a difficult time believing that God could possibly love them. We want them to see from this story that Rahab—the prostitute, the woman that no one really loved, who had lived a life completely against what God wanted—was loved and protected by God. Rahab’s story is certainly one of redemption as ultimately she is used to bring the Messiah into the world.

Day 3 (Monday) – Family Reunion: Judah

Our second story will be focusing on redemption in the life of Judah. Our goal is to establish the importance of forgiveness in the process of redemption. Judah’s story is also one of redemption. His brother forgives him and family relationships are redeemed. The nation of Israel is also redeemed from starvation during a terrible famine. And not only that, but as the biblical story continues, we see that God also used Judah to bring Jesus into the world.

Day 4 (Tuesday) – Persistent Pursuit: Ruth

We see from our third story that redemption must be actively pursued. We want students to understand that Ruth’s persistence in pursuing Boaz results in redemption. We also want the students to see that Boaz chooses to redeem her because of his grace and love. As the theme continues to develop, we also want the students to see that God uses Ruth is also included in the line of Christ.

Day 5 (Wednesday) – Second Chances: David

Through David what we find is that it’s never too late to be redeemed. There’s no question that David’s sin is very serious, and yet God brings redemption to the point that Scripture actually refers to him as a “man after God’s own heart.” God chose to use him in the family line of Christ. Even though David had committed adultery and murder, we still read in Scripture that Jesus is referred to as “the Son of David,” and this is how David is remembered. This redemption is only possible because of the sheer grace of God.

Day 6 (Thursday) – Redeemer: Jesus (GOSPEL NIGHT!!)

We all have a story. It starts with a beginning and it ends with death. It is filled with characters—some Good, some bad. We make choices in our life and we go through various ups and downs. We look for redemption in many different areas – our education, career, athletics, or looks. None of these bring satisfaction or ultimate redemption. God offers us the real thing. A hero enters into our story—Jesus—and we are faced with how to respond to him. Will we let him rescue us, or will we continue to rely on ourselves or our own means which only brings more brokenness? Jesus’ rescue leads to a redeemed life! If we don’t let Jesus redeem us then our life continues in its brokenness and death. On Thursday night we will be presenting the gospel to students. Please pray that students will put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Day 7 (Friday) – World Redeemed

What we find at the end of the Bible is God’s promise to restore and redeem the earth! Scripture tells us that the earth will be redeemed and without pain, suffering, or broken relationships. This is the hope of the Christian faith! For those who have placed their faith in Jesus, they will actually get to experience the perfect world that we had in the beginning when God first created us. This is a real defeat for evil and suffering!

Thanks so much for partnering with us in prayer as we communicate God’s plan of redemption this week! We appreciate your prayers so much and believe that God is going to move in huge ways!

Because of Him,

Jeremy