Trusting Jesus in a Wild World
This past week was Vacation Bible School at church. This meant that the kids gave us a firsthand example of what they learned. The theme of the week was True North. It’s amazing and encouraging to see these young people living out their Christian faith.
A compass points north by using an ever-changing magnetic north. It’s always close to the True North Pole, but not the one and only True North on the planet. It’s the point where the earth rotates on its axis.
This VBS program takes kids on an Alaskan adventure where northern lights glow over majestic mountains, racing rivers, and glistening glaciers. As they trek through the tundra, they explore how easy it is to lose sight of what’s true in our wild world today. Pointing them toward Jesus, showing them that He is a faithful friend we can always trust.

Jesus is our True North.
One of the things the kids showed us was how what’s impossible for us alone is possible with the help of others. They were asked to reach from one side of the sanctuary to the other. Of course, it was impossible for them to reach thirty feet by themselves. But when they got together in a line and held hands, they could then touch both walls.
What’s impossible alone is possible with the help of others.

This past Sunday was also Pentecost. This commemorates the descending of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’s followers. They were gathered together when they heard a noise from Heaven that sounded like a mighty wind. And the Holy Spirit took control of them.
The Holy Spirit can be a little harder to understand than God and Jesus. Think of it this way. People we know have physical bodies, but they are more than that. They act in certain ways. They do and say things that are a part of who they are. When thinking about people who have died, we remember them in spirit more than their physical being. Their spirit is who they are. The Holy Spirit is who God is.
In Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus tells His followers to go to the people of all nations and making disciples. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to do the things that He has told them. And He will always be with you.

The Holy Spirit is how He is with us.
Back to the kids working together to reach across the sanctuary, we all need help as we traverse this wild world every day. The Holy Spirit will help us on the journey to the True North in this wild world.