Grace, mercy and peace are yours through the living water of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lord Jesus, thank you for saving our lives with the precious water of life that flows from you, the Rock of our Salvation. Now, we ask that you would let us be wells of saving water from which other people may draw and from and learn about and believe in you. Give us joy in serving you as a well of salvation for others. We ask this in your name. Amen.

Training Camp is a 6-day youth Bible camp for 3^rd through 8^th graders. I’ve been involved with the camp for 5 of its 6 years. This year our theme for Training Camp was "Water, Water, Everywhere." Because of the floodwaters in Northern Illinois and Southeastern Wisconsin, it was a very appropriate theme. In our daily Bible studies we learned the stories of the underground rivers in the Garden of Eden and the River of Life in heaven from the Book of Revelation; we studied the parting of the Red Sea and the parting of the Jordan River; we studied the flood waters of Noah; Jesus as the water of life (in our gospel lesson); Jesus as the Rock from which the water flows (in our second lesson today); and of course we studied the water flowing from the rock which is our sermon text for today.

Every morning we asked local WELS pastors and a principal to have a devotion for the children on the subject of the cleansing waters of baptism. Every evening we closed the day with another devotion on the subject of water. We applied all of these Bible lessons to our daily life at camp with all the water around us for boating and blobbing in Fish Lake, swimming every evening in the indoor pool, drinking lots of water in the heat of the day, etc.

I want you to learn some of the same lessons that we learned at camp. We will use the story of the water from the rock as the basis for our sermon today. We will learn that water presents a double opportunity. It presents the opportunity for complaining to God. It also presents the opportunity for trusting in God.

Think of a great present that you received for Christmas or for your birthday. Maybe it was a Sony Playstation or cool clothes or DVD’s or a vacation. Now think of a present that you didn’t like very much. The little boys in my cabin all agreed that their worst present was underwear or what they called "whitey tighties."

Did any of you receive for your birthday a cup of cold water? No? I didn’t think so. Why not? Cold water is very accessible and very inexpensive. It may seem like a pretty lame gift.

If you were in the military serving in places like Iraq or Afghanistan, though, you would probably have a different opinion about a gift of a cup of cold water. I’ve had soldiers in my previous congregation who served in Iraq. They said that the temperature could reach 120 to 130 degrees. Although they added that once the temperature was over 100 degrees it didn’t really matter. (I don’t believe them.)

That is the same area of the world where Moses and the Israelites traveled in the desert after escaping from Egypt. The Israelites had been traveling for at least a month and a half. The hills were getting higher, the valleys narrower and full of huge rocks, and springs of water were nowhere to be found. They also realized that they were taking the long way to Canaan. So they began to complain. They grumbled. They whined that they were better off in Egypt. They were ready to stone Moses.

There was also a lot of complaining and grumbling at Training Camp. It was over 80 degrees most days. Each of the campers had been given a water bottle to take with them. But that first day, Monday, when our group was at the climbing tower, their were kids who were complaining, "I’m hot!" "I’m thirsty!" I would ask them, "Did you bring your water bottle?" "No." "Did Pastor Bauer tell you to bring it?" "Yeah, but I didn’t think he was serious."

Then there were others who had drank too much water and complained that they had to go to the bathroom. And they always seemed to pick the time when you were the farthest away from the bathrooms to have to go – either at the climbing tower or, even, while out on the lake boating. Then you would hear the counselors grumbling because we had to walk all the way back to the bathrooms.

The kids found other things about which to grumble – their wet clothes smelled like lake water; they were scared to climb the tower; the teams were unfair for "Capture the Flag"; it was too hot; the rain made us cancel a few activities; someone shined a flashlight in their eyes; they didn’t want to clean their cabins every morning; they didn’t want to go to sleep at night; they were tired because they didn’t get enough sleep; they were homesick.

Some of counselors also complained a little bit. It is hard to keep up with 3^rd through 8^th graders when you are 10, 20, or even 30 years older than they are. Although, it was helpful that every morning we counselors could enjoy the "Breakfast of Champions" – Tylenol and Advil.

All of us complain at times. Just think about how people complain about the wonderful gift of water. They complain that we have had too much water and farmers’ fields and people’s basements have flooded. Later those same people might complain that we have too little water. We complain that rainy days keep us from playing or working outside or cancels a baseball game. Standing water is a breeding ground for more mosquitoes. The water is too cold to go in the pool or go to a water park. The water in the shower is too hot or the drinking water is lukewarm. The water is too hard for our appliances or there is too much chlorine or rust in our drinking water and we need to have it purified.

It is really too bad that we complain so much about such a wonderful and simple gift such as water. Yet, we all do it. Plus we find a myriad of other things in life about which to complain.

Water also presents us with another opportunity – for trusting in God. The Israelites should have known better than to complain. They should have put their trust in God. He had already rescued them from Egypt with 10 powerful plagues, parted the Red Sea for their escape route, and drowned their Egyptian enemies when the walls of water came crashing down on them. The Israelites had been fed by manna and quail from heaven. They could also see God’s visible presence with them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. There was no reason to doubt God. There shouldn’t have been any grumbling. God had rescued them safely from Egypt and he was going to make sure that they would arrive safely in Canaan.

It was also kind of perturbing to hear our campers grumbling and complaining. Some of them were homesick. Yet, they should have known that we hadn’t lost a camper yet. They have all returned home safely.

Sometimes we get homesick, too – homesick for heaven. I have talked with some of our shut-ins who are 90 plus years old. They are ready to go home. And they can be frustrated that God hasn’t taken them yet. It was good for those campers to tough it out. They were stronger and better for the experience. In the same way it is better for us to tough it out through sickness, cancer, blindness, loss of a spouse, loss of income, loss of independence, etc. God is making us better for the experience. Although, we can give God glory that he called May Robb home to heaven. There are no more hospital beds, sicknesses or nursing homes for her. The children enjoyed camp, but they were still excited and relieved to see their parents. All of us are relieved that May is finally in the loving arms of her heavenly Father. Jesus said, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."

What could be more plentiful on this earth than water? Yet Jesus declares that a cup of cold water is an important and compassionate gift in his eyes: "If anyone gives a cup of cold water to one of these little one because he is my disciple, he will certainly not lose his reward." I saw a lot of compassion and little gifts given at camp. Maybe it was boating or swimming with someone who needed a partner. Maybe it was encouraging someone to climb higher on the climbing tower. Maybe it was reassuring a homesick cabin mate. Maybe it was just sharing a towel or toothpaste or pool toys or a Bible or even a cup of water.

This year my oldest daughter, Abbey, went to camp for the first time. She was the smallest one there because she is only going into second grade. Abbey became kind of like the camp mascot. All the older girls thought that she was so cute, so they carried her things, paddled in the boat for her, and even gave her piggy-back rides to different places. Abbey was so tired that one afternoon when her cabin of little girls was working on their skit of water from the rock. She was curled up on the floor with other girls as part of the rock. During the three minutes she was on the floor, she fell asleep. The girls were nice and helped her wake up a bit. They were all very nice and full of Christian love to each other. It was very touching.

When I came back from Training Camp and performing the wedding in Kentucky last week, I saw all the hard work that has been done here at church. People putting in air conditioning in my office, which is great! People working on VBS crafts, making a VBS banner for the fence, putting up VBS signs in their yards. People buying a new vacuum cleaner for the church, helping clean the schoolrooms, and especially everyone helping May Robb’s family with the funeral arrangements. It is touching to me and I am sure it is also touching to Jesus to see all of you showing compassion and love for your Christian brothers and sisters.

One last lesson from camp involves a rescue attempt. Some of you may know Stacey Cook, who is going to be a senior at Shoreland. She was one of the counselors and she and I were in a double kayak on the lake one afternoon. We spotted a little boy named Brandon who was way out from shore in a single kayak with his oar in the water meaning that he was in trouble. We went out to pull him in. Stacey held onto his paddle and I rowed. However, instead of rescuing him, we ended up dumping his kayak over into the water. I found out later that Brandon doesn’t know how to swim. As soon as I noticed that he had fallen in, I jumped in and lifted him onto our kayak and Stacey rowed him to shore. For the rest of the week, Brandon would come up to me and say, "Pastor Zarling, thank you again for saving my life." It was cute. Hopefully he forgets the reason why he was in the water in the first place.

Our failed rescue attempt reminded me of how grateful we should be that Jesus didn’t fail when he rescued us from the lake of sin and despair. He saved our lives. We were lost and drifting without him. We were hopeless and helpless. But Jesus came out to us, safely lifted us with his nail-scarred hands, and rowed us to shore. Let us never forget to give him thanks for all the wonderful blessings he has showered upon us – especially the gift of a successful rescue.

Let us continue to give God thanks for the water in our lives – the useful water that flows into our homes, the saving water of baptism that washes away our sins, and the nourishing and life-giving water of Jesus’ words. God has used water in many forms in the Bible to perform amazing miracles or teach us simple lessons – the flood waters of Noah’s ark which destroyed billions of people, yet kept the eight of God’s faithful people safe; the waters of the Red Sea which saved the Israelites and drowned their enemies; the water which flowed from the rock to save God’s thirsty people; the saliva and dirt Jesus used to restore sight to a blind man; the bowl of water Jesus used to wash his disciples’ feet; and the blood and water that flowed from Jesus’ side after his death on the cross. Through all of these Bible stories and lessons, may we always remember to trust in God and give him the thanks he deserves. Amen.

"They drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4)