camp-ground-united-methodist-church

Thoughts on Holy Week

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 18:13:52 GMT

Have you ever wondered what occurred on each day of Holy Week? This month, as we

remember Jesus’ final week, his suffering, death, and resurrection, I want to share with you

what major events occurred during the week.

On PALM SUNDAY, Jesus entered Jerusalem. He rode on a donkey. Many people were there.

They took branches and waved them. Some took off their coats and laid them on the road. The

people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of

the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” [Matthew 21:9b].

On HOLY MONDAY, Jesus went to the temple. When He got there, He threw out the

moneychangers, the people who exchanged money and sold animals for use in the temple. He

said, “Scripture says, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are turning it into a

gathering place for thieves” [Matthew 21:13].

On HOLY TUESDAY, Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. They passed the withered fig

tree on their way, and Jesus taught them about faith. At the Temple, the religious leaders

aggressively challenged Jesus for what He did yesterday, throwing out the moneychangers.

They question his authority, attempting to ambush him, and create an opportunity for his

arrest. But Jesus evaded their traps and pronounced harsh judgment on them.

On HOLY WEDNESDAY, Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper. As he sat at the

table with his disciples, a woman named Mary anointed Jesus' head and feet with a costly

perfumed oil. Judas objects but Jesus rebukes him and says,” Mary has anointed him for his

burial! [Matthew 26:6].

On HOLY THURSDAY, Jesus shared a last meal with His disciples. Christians call this meal,” The

Lord’s Supper.” This is what the Bible said happened at the meal. “While they were eating,

Jesus took bread and blessed it. He broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said, ‘Take this,

and eat it. This is My body.’ “Then He took a cup and said a prayer of thanksgiving. He gave it to

them and said, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood, poured out for many people so that

sins are forgiven’.” [Matthew 26:26-28].

Then Jesus went with His disciples and followers to the Garden of Gethsemane. He asked His

disciples to stay awake and pray for Him. He prayed to God the Father, asking the Father if

there was another way to save us besides dying on the cross. Yet Jesus ended his prayer with,

“... let Your will be done rather than mine” [Matthew 26:39]. He prayed this prayer three times.

Each time when He went back to see His disciples, they had fallen asleep! He came back the

third time and told them to wake up. “The one who is betraying Me is near,” he said [Matthew

26:45]. Just then Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples, came with a large crowd. He came and kissed

Jesus on the cheek. This was a sign to tell the guards who they were to arrest. They came and

arrested Jesus. All of Jesus’ disciples ran away. The crowd took Jesus to a trial held by the

Jewish religious leaders. They said He should die because He claimed to be “the Messiah, the

Son of God” [Matthew 26:63].

On HOLY FRIDAY, they took Jesus to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. They told Pilate that

Jesus should die. Pilate finally agreed to it. After the soldiers made fun of Jesus, they led Him to

Golgotha. That’s where they crucified Him. They hung Him on the cross with nails through His

hands and feet. A criminal hung on each side of Him. Jesus suffered terribly for over three hours

on the cross. Many people made fun of Him.

Finally, Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” You might think that meant He was about to die. But it

meant more than that. It meant that right then Jesus had paid off the debt of all our sin. Jesus

allowed Himself to be captured, tried, and crucified so He could suffer the punishment that

should be ours. After paying for our sins, He died. They took Jesus down from the cross. Two of

Jesus’ friends took Him to a tomb one of them had. They buried Him there.

On HOLY SATURDAY, Jesus’ body rested in the tomb. “The women who had come with Jesus

from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went

home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the

commandment.” [Luke 23:55-56].

Early on EASTER SUNDAY morning some women went to the tomb. Since He had died late

Friday afternoon, they hadn’t finished all the burial preparations. They had to wait until after

the Sabbath to complete them according to their customs. When the women got to the tomb,

they found the guards Pilate had placed there were gone. Even the big stone covering the

tomb’s entrance was moved. Then the women saw an angel who told them the good news:

“Don’t be afraid! I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He’s not here. He has been

brought back to life as He said. “Come, see the place where He was lying. Then go quickly and

tell His disciples that He has been brought back to life” [Matthew 28:5-7]. Jesus’ disciples didn’t

believe the women at first. Yet that same day Jesus appeared to them. Then they, too, came to

believe the best news ever: Jesus is alive!

Let us pray,

Gracious God, Holy Week reminds us how intentional You are about loving us. You came to save

the lost and sent Your only Son to be sacrificed so we could be in Your presence. Jesus, thank

You for making a way for us. May we come to know fully and never forget the lengths You went

to save us. Bring the story of each day to life for us as we walk through this final week with You.

Move our hearts closer to You and direct our lives to bring honor to You. In Jesus’ name, we

pray.

Amen. In His Service, Rev. Bobby Tyson

Faith that sticks in 2026

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 19:26:25 GMT

Faith that Sticks in '26

Dear Church Family,

As we step into a new year together, we do so with grateful hearts and great hope for what God has in store. We give thanks for each of you and for the ways God has been faithful to our church in seasons of joy, challenge, and growth.

Our theme for 2026 is “Faith That Sticks in 26,” rooted in the words of Hebrews 10:23:
“Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

In the year ahead, our prayer is that your faith will take deeper root—that it will stick when life is joyful, when it is uncertain, and when perseverance is required. As a small but growing church, we believe God is calling us to hold fast together, encouraging one another, trusting His promises, and remaining faithful in love and service.

May 2026 be a year filled with God’s blessings for you and your family. We pray for good health, renewed strength, and a spirit of peace. May you find fulfillment in your walk with Christ, joy in community, and purpose in the ways God uses you to share His love.

Thank you for being part of this church family. We look forward to growing in faith together in the year ahead—faith that sticks, faith that endures, and faith grounded in the faithfulness of God.

Grace and peace to you in the New Year,

Camp Ground United Methodist Church
Fayetteville, North Carolina
“Faith That Sticks in 26”

Christmas Blessing

Thu, 25 Dec 2025 14:00:02 GMT

Christmas Blessings

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
— John 1:5

Dear Church Family,

As we gather our hearts around the manger once again this Christmas, I’m reminded of the way Christ’s light still breaks into our world—steady, sure, and full of grace. And I want to tell you how grateful I am for the ways Camp Ground United Methodist Church has shared that light throughout this past year.

Thank you for stepping up with generosity and compassion as we supported recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene. You showed what it means to love your neighbor, not just in words but in real, practical help. Thank you for your steady support of our community partners—Girl Scouts, the CROP Walk, and Diaper Ministry and so many others. To name all the things you supported this year would take pages and pages, so please know that even if they aren't listed here, your efforts in all the ministries of Camp Ground UMC have been noticed and appreciated. Through each partnership, you helped strengthen our community and offered kindness that carries Christ’s love into places we may never fully see.

Thank you for the ministries that help us grow: our Bible studies that dig deeper into God’s Word, and a wonderful Vacation Bible School that filled our halls with laughter, learning, and the joy of children discovering Jesus. And what a blessing it was to honor our military neighbors on Ft. Bragg Sunday and remind them that they have a home here among us. Thank you for the Women's groups that offer worship, fellowship and love all year long.

I also want to offer a heartfelt word of gratitude to the folks who keep this church going day in and day out. Our staff, our worship and music teams, our caring team, and every single person who serves quietly behind the scenes—you are a blessing. Whether you’re running to the store, setting up tables, fixing things that break, or simply stepping in when a need arises, you help make this church a warm and welcoming place.

As we look toward a new year, I want you to hear this clearly: we have every reason to hope. We may be a small congregation, but we are strong in spirit, rooted in faith, and ready for what God has ahead. I believe we will welcome new members, strengthen our ministries, and continue growing into a vibrant community center—a place where our neighbors can find love, belonging, and the good news of Jesus Christ. God is not done with Camp Ground United Methodist Church. In fact, I believe He’s just getting started. When I chose our tagline for the coming year, "Hope that sticks in '26" it was the line that resonated so deeply with where Camp Ground is at, and what is in store for us.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, may Christ’s peace rest in your homes, His joy lift your hearts, and His love guide you into the year ahead.

Let us pray:

Gracious and loving God,
Thank You for the gift of Your Son, born among us to bring light, hope, and salvation. Thank You for this church family, for every act of service, every prayer offered, and every step taken in faith this year. As we move into a new season, lead us with Your Spirit. Strengthen our fellowship, grow our ministries, and open our doors and hearts to all whom You send our way. May we shine Your light in this community so that others may come to know Your grace.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we pray. Amen.

With Christmas blessings and much love,
Rev. Bobby Tyson

Reflections from Chaplain Michael Bielefeld

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 17:48:37 GMT

Faith, Fort Bragg, and the Power of Community

By Chaplain Michael Bielefeld

It’s always fun when a pastor begins with, “I don’t know what the next guy’s going to say, but I just wanted to share a few words with you…” That’s where I’m coming from today—just wanting to offer a few thoughts, especially in light of Fort Bragg Sunday.

My name is Michael Alfeld. I’m one of the chaplains currently stationed at Fort Bragg—but only for the next 10 days. After that, I’ll be PCS’ing (permanent change of station) to Italy. So right now, my family and I are living in a nearly empty house. Our belongings have already shipped out, and we’re “camping out” indoors. Living the dream, right?

This season of transition is familiar to many in the Fort Bragg community. People are constantly coming and going—from all over the map to all over the map. Whether you're part of the 82nd Airborne, the sustainment elements, special operations, or a joint command, Fort Bragg represents a wide range of units and missions. And with that comes a shared experience of the unknown.

The Weight of the Unknown

That’s really what I want to talk about: the weight and anxiety of uncertainty. Soldiers and paratroopers turn on the news, scroll through social media, and wonder—Am I next? Am I getting a phone call? Am I being alerted or deployed?

And behind every service member is a family. That’s something I think the church needs to deeply understand. While the service member is off doing what Uncle Sam asks, the spouse—often without a local support system—is left managing everything: parenting, budgeting, cooking, cleaning, schooling, and more. My wife and I have four kids, so I speak from experience. When I deploy, she steps into every role: mom, dad, provider, caretaker, teacher. It’s relentless. And society doesn’t slow down to accommodate that.

Where the Church Comes In

That’s where the church plays such a vital role. The church should be a support system—a place where people can breathe. A place where you can relax, where someone can watch your kids for an hour, where you can share a meal, laugh, and lean on others.

For soldiers, this kind of community is life-giving. As a chaplain, I’ve met countless service members who avoid anything related to faith because of past experiences with the church—some painful, some traumatic. They’ve been burned by religious expectations or felt judged in their spiritual walk.

But the church has the opportunity to be different: to offer friendship without judgment, support without conditions, love without limits. You never know what someone is carrying. As I told Pastor Bobby over lunch not long ago, there’s this constant, exhausting grind—task after task, responsibility after responsibility, and very little margin for error or emotion.

A Real-Life Moment

Let me share a quick story. While our household goods were being packed for the move, our water main broke. Total chaos. Thankfully, my wife had already signed the kids up for Vacation Bible School at a church in Southern Pines. So she loaded them up, volunteered at VBS, and served joyfully—while I stayed back, coordinating with the movers and Aqua to get the water line fixed. Even in chaos, there’s grace.

But moments like that highlight the pressure families live under—and the importance of having a community that says, “We’re here for you.”

The Cry of the Heart: “God, Help Me”

Many of us—military families, church families, and everyone in between—are living in a constant state of unknown. We don’t know what tomorrow holds. We’re just doing the best we can. And yet, we have this hope:

“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28

When everything else fades, and when human support feels absent or unavailable, we can still cry out: “God, help me.”

This is the starting point of prayer. It’s a cry of surrender and trust. It’s an acknowledgment that we don’t have to do life alone. God puts people in our path for a reason. Maybe today, the Holy Spirit prompts you to take a walk—and on that walk, you meet a family in need. That’s the kind of ministry we’re called to: quiet, compassionate, present.

Church, Let’s Show Up

To my fellow service members: it’s okay to say you need help.

To the church: let’s be willing to say, “Can I help you?”—even if it’s just offering a hug, sharing a meal, or saying a simple prayer.

In this grind of life—deployment, transition, uncertainty—we all need each other. We all need God. And we all need a community where it’s safe to say, “I’m tired.”

So thank you for letting me share these few words. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for being the church.

God bless.

—
Chaplain Michael Bielefeld

Ft. Bragg Sunday Examining Christian Nationalism while being relevant, fair and Christ like

btysonjr61@gmail.com (Bobby Tyson) — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 17:32:16 GMT

Ft. Bragg Sunday ~Faith, Freedom and the Call of the Church

Faith, Freedom, and the Call of the Church

At Campground United Methodist Church, each of our worship services includes a time we call the Celebration of Generosity. It’s a space for us to reflect on the blessings we’ve received, and the ways we’re called to give—of our resources, our time, and our hearts.

As I prayed and envisioned what today’s service might look and feel like, a phrase kept coming to mind. It’s a hot-button term these days—and I usually steer clear of hot-button preaching, because, frankly, it often throws things out of balance. But this phrase stuck with me. It’s something we need to talk about: Christian nationalism .

Now, just take a moment and think about those two words together: Christian and nationalism. One comes from the church, the other from the world we live and work in—our nation. And we know what our parents used to tell us: “Don’t mix religion and politics.” Still, I believe there are places where faith and civic life intersect in meaningful, even necessary, ways. The key word? Balance .

Let’s start here: scholars disagree. Not surprising, right? Scholars get paid to debate, write books, and generate conversation—some of which is incredibly insightful, and some that makes you wonder how it got published at all. Just like doctors practice medicine, YouTubers seek clicks, lawyers argue cases, and yes, pastors preach sermons—sometimes even long ones. (I might be guilty of that today!)

In America, we are blessed with freedom of religion —a freedom that was paid for by the blood of soldiers. And just as our spiritual salvation was bought with the blood of Jesus at Calvary, our national freedom also came at great cost. That deserves a heartfelt amen.

But we often gloss over hard issues, don’t we? As a parent, it’s difficult to bring correction when things feel out of control. We experience similar tensions in the church. Here’s a confession: we’ve let Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Halloween distort the original meanings of sacred holidays. We drift. We lose focus. But freedom, real freedom, includes the freedom to choose—and that’s why our nation was founded.

Yes, not all of our founding fathers were Christian. Some were theists, believing in a higher power. But what they did affirm was the right to religious freedom—a radical departure from the state-controlled religion of England. For that, I am deeply thankful to our soldiers, past and present. And I’m just as thankful for Jesus, whose sacrifice bought our salvation. I’ve wrestled with this for weeks. What does it mean to serve both God and country?

At Campground UMC, we are committed to three things. Some of you may remember I once shared this as our “elevator speech”—a quick way to share our vision, rooted deeply in the Gospel of Matthew:

1. To Be Relevant

Matthew 22 reminds us: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind—and love your neighbor as yourself.” We studied this deeply in our "Art of Neighboring" series. It shapes everything we do. In a world that’s changing fast, we want to be a church that still speaks clearly and lovingly into people’s real lives.

2. To Be Fair

Matthew 7:12 gives us the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Or as some now call it, the Platinum Rule : Love others as they want to be loved. It’s a higher standard—one that asks us to go beyond our comfort zones and truly consider others. At Campground, we’re striving to live that out.

3. To Be Christlike

Matthew 28 gives us the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” This is our mission—not just for pastors, but for every follower of Christ. We are called to go, to teach, to baptize, and to embody Jesus in the world.

So yes, maybe I’ve already preached a sermon before the sermon today. But this message has been on my heart, and I thank you for letting me share it. As we honor Fort Bragg Sunday, and reflect on what it means to serve both our God and our country, may we continue to grow as a church grounded in relevance, fairness, and Christlikeness.

Thank you for your prayers—and for walking this journey with us.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Bobby

Annual Conference Connections Volume 3

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 15:05:06 GMT

We've just completed our annual conference for 2025. The sessions were informative, the worship was powerful, and God's presence was felt by all. I encourage you to look at the links here to learn more about all that was accomplished.

connections

ac issue #25-3

Catch up on the last day of AC 2025 with the links below.

Also, read a recap of the entire week of annual conference and share it with your congregation.

Read the Wrap-Up→

annual conference news

Statistician’s Report Presented Saturday

ANNNUAL CONFERENCE

Rev. Dennis Peay provided insight into local church worship attendance trends, participation in ministries, and giving.

camp-ground-united-methodist-church

Thoughts on Holy Week

what major events occurred during the week.

Faith that sticks in 2026

Faith that Sticks in '26

Christmas Blessing

Christmas Blessings

Reflections from Chaplain Michael Bielefeld

Faith, Fort Bragg, and the Power of Community

Faith, Fort Bragg, and the Power of Community

The Weight of the Unknown

Where the Church Comes In

A Real-Life Moment

The Cry of the Heart: “God, Help Me”

Church, Let’s Show Up

Ft. Bragg Sunday Examining Christian Nationalism while being relevant, fair and Christ like

Ft. Bragg Sunday ~Faith, Freedom and the Call of the Church

1. To Be Relevant

2. To Be Fair

3. To Be Christlike

Annual Conference Connections Volume 3

We've just completed our annual conference for 2025. The sessions were informative, the worship was powerful, and God's presence was felt by all. I encourage you to look at the links here to learn more about all that was accomplished.

Annual Conference Connections Volume 2

We've just completed our annual conference for 2025. The sessions were informative, the worship was powerful, and God's presence was felt by all. I encourage you to look at the links here to learn more about all that was accomplished.

Annual Conference Connections Volume 1

We've just completed our annual conference for 2025. The sessions were informative, the worship was powerful, and God's presence was felt by all. I encourage you to look at the links here to learn more about all that was accomplished.

Thoughts on Holy Week

what major events occurred during the week.

Easter Blessing

An Easter Blessing

Thrive in 2025

Thrive in 2025