Day three was incredible. At this point, we were just getting into our groove. It was another fun day at camp as you can see from the video above.

So, on day three of our Chase the Light camp series, the kids learned about Nicodemus, the Misfit Pharisee. He was a misfit because under the cover of darkness, he went to meet with Jesus privately. He knew a lot about Jesus as the Pharisees had been observing him and his work, but he didn’t really know Jesus. He was intrigued and was interested in knowing who this man really was.

The thing about the Pharisees is that they were pretty secure in their faith. They followed the law in such a way that they were secure in their eternity. Many Pharisees actually considered them the gatekeepers of heaven. If anything, they knew they would be in heaven. When Nicodemus came to meet with with Jesus, he came to get to know Jesus, but immediately, Jesus began challenging everything Nicodemus knew about going to heaven. Jesus shared information with Nicodemus that he didn’t have.

So, on night three of camp, I had a talk with the kids in a similar context as Jesus’ talk with Nicodemus. I realized that many kids in the room had never had the gospel explained to them in a clear and concise way. Many kids in the room though maybe did have faith in Jesus. However, many of those kids could tell you all the right answers, but their faith wasn’t based on all the information they needed to have. Let me explain. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was 4. I loved Jesus with all my heart. If you asked me why, I’d probably tell you all the right answers like “because Jesus died for my sins.” There’s nothing wrong with that, but part of the reason I believed all of this is because it is what my parents had been telling me was true since the time I could talk. It’s what my kids pastor and sunday school teachers told me every week. In part, my faith relied heavily on my parents faith. That’s good, but at some point, my faith has to become my faith.

So, on night three, I clearly explained who God is, why he created us (for a relationship) and how sin got in the way of our relationship and how God created a sacrificial system where the blood of lambs could bandaid the problem and then how God provided a better lamb, his only son, to remedy to problem once and for all. After sharing the entire gospel presentation in that way, I asked kids what the appropriate response should be to that information.

That night many kids came to faith for the very first time. Many kids who had already chosen to follow Christ were impacted significantly and they began to see their relationship with God entirely different. Woo hoo for night three!