Grits and the Gospel - May 25, 2025

Hello friends and welcome to this week's episode of Gritz and the Gospel. My name is Reverend Katie Griffiths and I am fighting a cold. I am mostly on the mend and I'm on some really good Z-pack and steroids thanks to my doctor but I may have a scratchy throat during this so if I need to take a drink of water please excuse me but know that I am feeling much better than I have been and I'm on the mend and I think if you have ever been in a situation where you've just been going going going for so long and you finally stop your body sometimes just says enough's enough and it just goes ahead and gets a cold so I think that's where I was earlier in the week but I'm thankful that I am mostly sounding normal and feeling better and appreciate all the thoughts and prayers on that. This week is Memorial Day weekend it is graduation week for a lot of people it is a full full thing and so this week at my church St. Paul Chapel we are having a workday here at the campground before all the camps get started and we are having we are having services for the first time under the tabernacle since I've been here which I am very excited about it is a beautiful space and I am just thankful that we have that as at our disposal to ease and it's going to be a glorious morning and then we're going to have a church picnic so it's a little bit different so you'll hear a little bit less of a sermon because we're going to have some people come forward and talk about their experiences here at the Delec campground coming to camps and coming to fish in our creek and all the things so I've left space for them to do that in person on Sunday and I'm very excited to hear those stories and and learn more about what the camp this campground means to everybody else because I know what it means to me since I have moved to serve the church here in January so with all of that in mind let us begin worship for this sixth Sunday of Easter the Lord be with you and also with you today's song is song 67 it is one of praise and thanksgiving and we come together in that spirit today here now the words of the Psalmist may God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us that your way may be known upon earth your saving power among all nations let the peoples praise you oh god let the peoples praise you let the nations be glad and sing for joy for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon the earth that the people praise you oh god let all the peoples praise you the earth has yielded its increase god our god has blessed us may god continue to bless us let all the ends of the earth reverium the word of god for us the people of god thanks be to god together today let us say those words that are the tenants of our faith friends what do we believe i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ is only set our word who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried the third day he rose from the dead he ascended into heaven and siteth at the right hand of god the father almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead i believe in the Holy Spirit the holy Catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen let us pray together through lord as we come together today under the tabernacle or in whatever sacred space that we are worshipping in let us look to find a home in you to find peace and tranquility and safety in the arms of your angels and surrounded by your Holy Spirit here now the words that your son our savior taught us to pray our father who art in heaven hello would be thy name by kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen today's gospel lesson comes from the 14th chapter of john verses 23 through 29 here now the word of the lord Jesus answered him those who love me will keep my word and my father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them whoever does not love me does not keep my words and the word that you hear is not mine but is from the father who sent me i have said these things to you while I'm still with you but the advocate the Holy Spirit from the father will send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you peace I leave with you my peace I give you do not give to you as the world gives do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid you heard me say to you I am going away and I am coming to you if you loved me you will choice that I'm going to the father because the father is greater than I and now I have told you this before it occurs so that when it does occur you may believe the word of God for us the people of God thanks be to God would you pray with me do lord please fill this place this home with your spirit our advocate our safety help us to feel you and your presence in our sacred spaces let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable and my sight oh lord my strength and my redeemer amen before I graduated from high school I had lived in six different houses around making my parents love to buy house fix it up and sell it the original chip and Joanna gains and while I appreciate the lesson in building equity and the projects I got to learn from I got tired of moving which I know makes it ironic that now I am an itinerant United Methodist minister what it meant for me was that places other than my house felt like home it was nice that moving up in square footage eventually meant that I no longer had to share a bathroom with my brother but it also meant that I felt most settled most at home in other places places that never changed places that were the touchstone of tradition and comfort when I needed them my grandparents house where I spent so many nights and had so many meals was a constant sacred space a sat in the same seat for meals I slept in the same bed in the same room at their house in town and at the lake nothing changed the dock at the lake was also a place of home it is where I ski and tube from it is where I got too much sun it is where I laughed and carried on with my family it is where we watched fireworks it is where I watched sun rises and sunsets reflect off the glassy surface of the water that dock and those muddy waters are home the scripture says those who love me will keep my word and my father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them loving God being loved by God gives us a place to feel at home there's a comfort and consistency when the world around us is crumbling sacred spaces or places where we feel most at home are where the veil between heaven and earth is most thin there's almost a pull to those places a magnetic force that calls us to the places where God commands most closely with us most of you know the history of this place I'm so thankful that I have a copy of jacqueline cooks book a tabernacle of living water it tells the story of the campground so beautifully from the very beginning in 1874 we can see the pull of the waters and the land that we are so blessed to worship on each week maybe it was the brutal south Georgia heat that made this place so appealing to George T. Embrie senior maybe that is what made him stop here but I think the sacredness of the creek and this land is what made him stay cook says in her book drinking the unusually cool sweet water Embrie experienced a thrill of excitement mixed with all conscious of the guidance of God Embrie felt impelled to explore further he climbed the slope on the north side of the creek and came to a high flat area which he knew would remain dry the breeze cooled him as he stood beneath the beautiful old trees he knelt for a searching meditation it is humbling to think that this very spot these trees this hill was the place at the first circuit riding Methodist minister in this area found comfort and a sense of home where the love of God was so evident and the clear bubbling waters of the creek and the coolness of the breeze on the hill this hill that he could not help but find rest and peace this is the same place hundreds of people have been baptized and swam and fished and prayed and cried and laughed this is the place where George Embrie Embrie felt relief from the Georgia heat but I am sure for thousands of years people native to this land found that same relief and sacred home as well this home ground that we have is intrinsically sacred honey and I have found our spot we left a sit down by the crook of the creek and listen to the waterfall over the rocks we'd love to watch the fish swim and the ducks fly she loves to run and sniff and explore and then jump in my lap and rest I love to pray and be still and quiet and a place that is new to me but feels more like home than most places I have lived I can feel the presence of God so plainly and powerfully at that creek I feel connected not just to God but to all of those who have come before us it is a place where I am sure my balcony saints look down from heaven to check in it is where God can come whisper through the veil about how much he loves me there's one other spot on this earth where I feel the same way ironically it is in another church campground in Gordon Georgia a place with a lake instead of a creek a place with a swing much like the ones here it is that swing that I used to go to from morning watch and are the quiet times of the day to make a breeze in the hot Georgia summer and look across the water it is that place where I feel most at home where God has spoken plainly to me and to my friends where are your sacred spaces where do you feel the most connected to God where do you feel the most at home I may not be a circuit riding Methodist preacher I may have come in driving a Toyota and not riding a horse but just like George T. Embry senior I am so thankful to serve this place to feel the pull and the call of home that this place holds the peace that it brings and versus 26 and 27 Jesus tells the his disciples this but the advocate the Holy Spirit and the Father will send in my name will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you peace I leave with you my peace I give you I do not give you as the world gives do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid this place and other sacred campgrounds like it are the gift of peace that we are given Jesus left us with the Holy Spirit and the grounds and the creeks and the lakes that we inhabit to bring us peace and give us a place to take a moment and step away from the world in this place our hearts cannot be troubled where our hearts do not have to be afraid this sacred space is our home together I can imagine that many of you found the duly campground to be home as well a safe and protected place of worship and communion that holds a sacred special place in your heart and maybe your grandmother's kitchen table and maybe a spot on the lake where you watch sunsets and fireworks and maybe a camp swing and maybe right here under these sacred hand-hewn beams or it may be down by this very creek are on a swing behind the pleasant valley church god is looking to bring you peace god gives us these spaces to bring us closer to him because this space this home is new to me and to honey I thought I would ask some of our members to come share about how the campground has been a sacred place of worship and fun for them over the years I hope that whether it's this space or another magnetic spot you will feel the closeness of god and remember those places and the waters and the land and the sacred tables that you have communed around that have shaped your life as you go throughout your week that is my hope for you my prayer for you that you will remember and find and seek out those places that are sacred and bring you peace because in life and death and life beyond death god is with us we are not alone thanks be to god come in