The Pitman Camp Meeting is a 153-year tradition that’s held in the Pitman Grove every summer. Beyond being a time marked tradition, the Camp Meeting was actually critical in the founding of our town, and church! Currently, services are held on Sunday evenings during July and August, and different local churches take turns in “hosting” the evening. The “Hosts” provide the music and speaker. PUMC’s turn came on August 18, 2024, and Pastor Mike gave the sermon (it was his “debut” at the Pitman Camp Meeting).
Praise God with Clashing Cymbals… and Guitars!
Our Praise Team, led by music director / pianist Sue Crispin, provided the music throughout the service. This year, we ware happy to welcome Pastor Mike and his son Micha as “new members”; Pastor Mike played guitar and Micha added percussion using his cajonga (“box drum”). The “old members” of the praise team added vocals, drums, and bass.
Following the Pitman Camp Meeting tradition, we opened with a song written by Pitman resident C. Austin Miles: “In the Garden”. We then sang some familiar hymns and choruses: “Blessed Assurance,” “Standing on the Promises”, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”, and then closed the service with “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” Pastor Mike also sang his own composition, “Say the Name.”
Spinning Out of Control? Hang on to Jesus!!!
Pastor Mike’s sermon was about- who else…. Jesus!
The message was based on John 15:4-8. In this passage, Jesus told His disciples…
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Pastor Mike opened his message with a memory of how he used to ride a merry-go-round at a park near his childhood home. The ride featured a brass ring that you could grab. But it was placed far away enough from the circumference of the ride that you needed to stretch out and precariously hang on to the edge of the horse as the ride whirled past the ring. To grab the ring, you had to hang on. If you didn’t hang on, you could fall off. 
He admitted that his desire to grab the ring and its glory didn’t measure up to his desire to hold on to that horse and escape injury. He cared more about holding on and surviving the ride than he did about grasping the brass ring. As the ride spun by and as the horse bounced up and down, he needed need to hold on to that horse with all his might.
Life has similar spins and bumps. To survive, we need to hang on to something.
Some people hold on by clinging to their possessions, health, or wealth. Others ride through life’s storms by holding on to social media or entertainment. But all of those things are temporary. To forge on ahead in this ride we call “life,” we need something that always lasts. Something that’s strong and sure.
That something is Jesus!
Hang On!
Through prayer, Bible Study, worship and from surrounding ourselves with friends who are on the same path of “hanging on” to Jesus, we can allow God to develop a faith within us. It’s all like that vine that supplies nutrition to the branches. The faith that God instills in us is like a fruit that gives us a constant stream of security and joy. With Jesus, we can hang on. Without Him, we can do nothing.
Hang on to Jesus in any way you can!
+ + + + +
For more inspiration from the Pitman Camp Meeting, click the below button:
Pitman Camp Meeting
