Richard and laura picked joseph, rachel, and I a little before noon and then we started our journey towards Lake Tahoe. It's the 30th annual church retreat for grace valley, and the first time joseph and I have ever gone. Ten or fifteen minutes away from the campgrounds, we stopped for lunch at a subway.

When we got back to the car, it wouldn't start. Richard spent a really long time trying to figure out what was wrong with his bronco, but even with help from passing church members the car problem couldn't be solved. Rachel, joseph and I got a ride to the campsite in a different car that came to pick us up.

When we got there, we unloaded everything and then went to the first evening meeting. The meeting was pretty short since it was the first night, and we set up the tents and campsite afterwards.

The main point of today's evening message was that faith by itself is dead. Works without faith are also dead works. Saving faith is a living faith that works. Abraham, by faith, offered Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord, and thus was justified. If he had simply believed God without acting, he would not have been justified. Rahab was another example of one who had saving faith that was a powerful, living, and active faith.