Craig (aka Ombudsman) gave exhortations from the Bible each night. Here is the summary of what he said over the week:

Sunday: Craig talked about the feeding of the 5000. He pointed out that
Jesus asked Philip where they were going to get enough bread to feed
the 5000+ people that were assembled to hear Jesus. Philip’s
(paraphrased) reply was, “Impossible!”
    Andrew then spoke up and told Jesus that they had 5
loaves and 2 fish, but he did not see how that was going to help.
    So, Craig pointed out that there are two was to
react to Jesus when he calls you to do something. You can write it off
as impossible, or you can offer what you have, even knowing that it is
insufficient. Craig pointed out how silly (in the eyes of the world)
that it is to bring 23 unskilled teenagers to help build homes for the
poor. One reaction would be to say it is impossible, but the fact that
we were there was out willing to give Jesus what we had, even if it was
insufficient for the task. Jesus takes it from there and multiplies it
mightily. We just need to be willing to give what we have.

Monday:
Craig shared about Jesus walking on the water, and calling Peter to
him. Peter goes, but “sees the wind” and begins to sink, and Jesus must
save him. From this, Craig gave Peter mixed reviews. On the positive
side, Peter got out of the boat, while the rest of the disciples stayed
where they were. Peter was willing to risk to heed Jesus’ voice. On the
down side, Peter “saw the wind” – he “saw” what he could not see, and
he took his eyes off of Jesus. Craig pointed out how well we function
in community, and how great it would have been for Peter if one or two
others had gotten out of the boat with him. Craig warned that you
should not take your eyes off of Jesus, but this is especially true if
no one is going with you or going to help you. Craig pointed out that
the students had “gotten out of the boat” – that they were risking to
hear Jesus’ voice. He reminded us not to take our eyes off of Jesus.

Tuesday:
Craig covered where James and John get their mom to ask Jesus to allow
James and John to sit on Jesus’ right and left, when Jesus came into
his kingdom. James and John reply that they are able to sit on Jesus’
right and left. They do not understand what Jesus’ kingdom is going to
look like. Anyway, this maneuvering by James and John gets the other ten
disciples angry. Jesus has to step in to calm things down by turning
greatness on its head. Jesus tells the disciples that if they want to
be great in his kingdom, they need to server each other. Jesus has to
repeat this lesson to the disciples several times (he has to do that
with me sometimes as well). Craig pointed out that Jesus does not want
acts of service (although it is a fine place to start); Jesus wants
servants – people who are ready to serve whenever Jesus calls them, not
just when they feel like it.

Wednesday:

This was the night in Pittsburgh, where I was fighting my fear of
heights and my fear of blocking the sidewalk and inconveniencing others
(more on this in a later post – Wednesday was an interesting experience
for me). So, I hope I have this one mostly right. Criag spoke on the
three temptations of Jesus, and what would have been wrong with them.
The first temptation was turning stones into bread, and bread is not
sinful. What was wrong with this is that Jesus came to use his power to
serve others, not himself. So, using his power to turn stones into
bread would have been outside his purpose and mission. The second
temptation was foe Jesus to throw himself off of the temple and be
caught by angels. Again, being saved from harm by God is not sinful,
but in this case, the event would have been a glorifying of Jesus and a
making of spectacle that would not have served anyone else. Lastly,
Jesus is offered all the kingdoms of the world if he will bow and
worship Satan. Jesus refuses this very blatant sin. Craig focused on
the last temptation, and pointed out that Jesus resisted the temptation
to rule all the kingdoms of the world. If Jesus can resist all of that,
we would do well to resist our far lesser temptations. Craig pointed
out that many people sell out for far less than all the kingdoms of the
world. Craig also pointed out that if Jesus did not use his power and
talents to serve himself, then we should not use our talents to serve
just ourselves, but we should use them to serve others. Finally, Craig
urged the seniors to start making good decisions now about where they
were going to be in year. Where they going to be closer to Jesus, or
farther away?

Thursday:
Criag spoke on the metaphor of Jesus being the vine and we being the
branches. He pointed out that Jesus only allows two options for the
vines – you are either dead and will be burned as useless, or you will
be pruned by the gardener. Craig pointed out that we are, in effect,
bushes with legs, and we have the option to run from the gardener, even
though the gardener wants to remove the dead branches from us and help
us to thrive. He pointed out that it was like having a doctor tell you
that you needed a tumor removed, but you wanted to keep the tumor
because you loved the tumor and were afraid of what would happen if it
were gone. God prunes us to make us better and more alive, even if the
actual pruning can hurt. Craig again challenged the seniors to make
good decisions now about where they were going to be spiritually next
year – he challenged them not to run from God, but to endure any
pruning that God was doing. God loves us and does it for our own good.

Friday:
I had some trouble focusing on Friday – I had a mild headache, was
tired, and was in an 85 degree room. But here is what I remember:
Craig reviewed the lessons he had taught all week (what a great
teacher!), and then he finished the metaphor of the vine and branches,
where Jesus tells us to abide in his love and to love each other. We
show love by doing what Jesus tells us to do, and by serving each other.

Worship times usually began and ended with singing. I learned many songs this week that I had not known before.

I’ll post later on the entertainment we had each evening, and what things I learned on the trip.