Come and Worship With Us!
First, we would like to thank everyone for the opportunity to spend time with the children of this community sharing the Gospel and the Bible. It was an exciting week and we hope that the kids had a great time. God blessed us with teachers, volunteers, and donations to have an outstanding VBS this year.
The theme was SonRock Kids Camp. The church was decorated in the camp theme and daily we talked about certain animals to help the kids relate to the story of the day.
Sunday night, July 19th, 2009 we shared the story from the Bible where Jesus chooses Peter to be a disciple. The children learned that Jesus accepted Simon even though he was not a perfect person and accepted him by changing his name to Peter, which means Rock. The skunk was used to demonstrate that even though it is smelly and hard to get close to, Jesus accepts them anyway. The memory verse was: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1
Monday night, July 20th, 2009 we talked about the bear and how it will fiercely protect it's cubs. The story we read was of Jesus walking on water and Peter jumping out of the boat to go to him. Peter walked a few steps on the water before taking his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink. Jesus reached out with his right hand and saved Peter, telling him that he only started to sink when he doubted Jesus' protection of him. The kids learned that Jesus protects us even more than a bear protects her cubs, as long as we believe in him. The memory verse was: I am the Lord , your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you , do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41: 13
Tuesday night, July 21, 2009 we read in Matthew 16:13-17, Jesus asks the disciples who people thought he was and who the disciples thought he was. After listening and thinking Peter answered "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". Then Jesus blessed Peter for knowing in his heart and mind that Jesus was the Son of God. The example of the moose's call was used to help the kids understand that they only need to call out for Jesus and believe that he is the Son of God, and Jesus will save you. When a moose calls out, he is getting the attention of other moose. Just as when we call out to Jesus, He hears us and we know He is listening. The memory verse was: "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 the kids heard the story of Peter denying Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, just as Jesus said he would. When Jesus was taken for crucifixion, Peter said three times that he did not know who Jesus was and that he was not a disciple of Jesus. After Jesus' death and resurrection He forgave Peter for what he had done and asked him to feed his lambs and sheep. We also have that forgiveness from Jesus, He will always forgive us as long as we confess to Him what we have done wrong. The raccoon was used to illustrate this. The raccoon gets into trash and tears up things, but God loves them and forgives them. The memory verse for the day was: "You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you." Psalm 86:5
Thursday night, July 23rd, 2009 was our final night of VBS and we celebrated it with Parent's night. The kids sang, talked about what they had learned during the week, and danced to some music for their parent's to see. The Bible story from Acts 3 tells us of the first time that Peter healed a lame man. He told him "In the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk". Then he told the people it was only though Jesus, and believing in Him that the man was healed. Peter then went on to tell the crowd about Jesus and thus began Peter's spreading the word about Jesus and God. The memory verse for the night was: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
After the program, the kids and parent's enjoyed a hot dog roast. The church had an overnight camp out/camp in for the kids. First, a soldier who had been stationed in Afghanistan shared slides and told us about how the kids' offering from VBS last year helped both soldiers and Afghan children. Then the local conservationist told about Missouri animals and passed around many pelts for all to see and feel. Both speakers allowed time for questions and it truly was a learning experience for all. Other fun activities included a campfire, Smores, stories, crafts, movies, snacks, and games. Friday morning, July 24, 2009, we were served a huge breakfast before parent's arrived to pick up their campers from the overnight stay. We all had a great time, and hope to see all the children again next year for Union Baptist Church's Vacation Bible School.
Remember that Union has Sunday School classes for all age groups and all are welcome to come learn more about our wonderful Lord each Sunday morning from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m., following our 9:45 morning worship service.