Youth Group Work Camp

Senior High work camp this past summer was in Athens/Sayre, PA, near Elmira, New York.  The community had been devastated by flooding from Tropical Storm Lee and was still in the process of recovering.  The kids were very inspiring in their attitude.

The sub-theme was "belts".  Ask Roy about this.

The Junior High group went to The Pittsburgh Project, working on helping with home repair and maintenance for eligible homeowners throughout our area.

Discipleship

When the Rabbi Says "Come"

When it came time to choose his disciples and launch his ministry, Jesus did not go to Jerusalem - the first place we might have gone - but to the sparsely populated hill surrounding the Sea of Galilee.  Why?  What was it about Galilee that captured his attention above all other places in Israel?

Scythopolis vs Bethsaida: cities in contrast

Scythopolis: big town, with amphitheater, schools, temples.  But Jesus did not come here to find disciples.

Bethsaida:  a fishing village.  Part of a triangle of towns: Korazin-Capernaum-Bethsaida.  People here lived an "ordinary" way of life.  Five of the 12 disciples came from here.

The building blocks of discipleship:
- living in community
- Torah (Bible) and debate about its interpretation
- school (beit midrash) for learning of scripture
- passion, and a desire to be like the rabbi