Hey GoP! Hope you guys had an enjoyable service! Today, Rachel preached on Mercy and Compassion. It is also based on this year’s camp theme, community! In order to be a vessel of mercy and compassion, the most important thing that we should know is that it cannot be taught, it can only be caught!

In order to have mercy and compassion, we must acknowledge ourselves that we are loved by God and we are never of low value. What the world throws or says to us are lies, everyone is made wonderfully and beautifully by God! We can further reinforce this by Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” This scripture can split into 2 parts.

The first, “For we are God's workmanship” sums up ho we are and what we are here for. Did you know that workmanship equates to masterpiece?! Say for an artist, a masterpiece to him or her is the most precious, priceless artwork that they are most proud of and sacrificed the most for. The world famous painting, Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci, was considered his masterpiece; he even sacrificed 14 years of his life into creating it! So just like Da Vinci’s masterpiece, we are each masterpieces of God! Say, a $50 note. If you crush it, stomp on it and bury it, its value still stays the same! So, in this way, no matter what people say to us or hurt us, we are still of the same priceless value! Your value cannot be changed, and god carries each of us close to His heart!

The latter scripture, “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” tells us that we are here to do His good works, and which He has even planned for us even before we were conceived in our mother’s womb! So, each of you must know that there is some good work out there that God has in plan for you to do, which it cannot be replaced! Only you are entitled to do that good work. In order to good works, we must know and experience that we are loved greatly by God!

In Ephesians 3:17-19 “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” , sums it up.

His love for us is wide, long, high and deep, and surpasses knowledge! Now it may be confusing that we know that God’s love for us surpasses knowledge, however, the earlier “know” refers to experiencing it! With this, we can now do the good works which God has prepared for us in advance.

So, you might be wondering what good works you may do, it may serving in a ministry, or acts of mercy. We should all follow what God has placed in our hearts, be it a passion or a cry for mercy when you see a certain a situation. For example, you feel touched every time you hear a case of the elderly being abused; this may be what God has placed in your heart, and may develop into your good work of helping the elderly!

Good works can be in all sorts of ways, and the Bible has plenty of reasons why you should do good works. In Proverbs 19:17, it says that “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.” In Proverbs 28:27, “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.” For not giving to the poor, one will be cursed. The Bible indicates the seriousness of giving to the poor, for they are all God’s people. In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” God will comfort us so that we are able to comfort those in trouble!

So, GoP, follow what God has placed in your heart to do the good works He has planned for us! <3!