Power Up

Today we’ve really focused on Vacation Bible School that we had this last week and I want to keep that train moving because I want you all to know the real impact it has on us and on the kids who attend it. The theme for VBS was called Power Up with a kind of sub title of raise your game. It did a great job of grabbing kids attention by using 1980’s and pixel video games to get their attention and help them then learn about how you can power up in video games but you can do that with a relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

It all focused on the theme verse for the week which was from the NIrV translation. The week brought us through different stories of the Bible that did an incredible job of moving the kids through the Bible to see how God had this incredible plan for us all along.

On Monday we learned about Abram and how God asked him to trust him by sending him out to another country to follow him and how he would be the father of more people than the stars in the sky.

Through this we learned that God wants us to know him and have a relationship with God. That is the first step to powering up. First we need to know God and understand that God wants that relationship with us.

On Tuesday we learned about Josiah and how he became king at the age of 8. We had kids so shocked that someone at 8 years old would be a king. He eventually found God’s law hidden away and made sure that everyone else followed God’s law. So many people had forgotten about it and God that they were doing all kinds of bad things. But reading the Torah (the first five books of the Bible helped them know God again and know God better. Which helps us learn that if God wants us to know him then we should read God’s word.

Wednesday brought us to John the Baptist and how he pointed the way to Jesus and got people ready for Jesus by baptizing them. And when Jesus entered the picture he was baptized by John. Then Jesus went on to saved us from our sin problem that we’d been stuck in for so long by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. All for us.

Which brought us to Thursday where we learned that Jesus said he would send a helper to the disciples and on Pentecost that helper came in the form of the Holy Spirit. Because God knew that Jesus couldn’t be with us forever God sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and inside us forever. This was again, all to continue the plan that God had set out this whole time.

We ended the week with Paul telling us the different fruits of the Spirit. There are nine of them and they are as follows

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-Control

These are the different ways that we see that the Holy Spirit works through each and every ones of us. When we embrace a life with God then we typically exhibit these qualities because that is what living a life for God is like. Which brings us to our last bottom line for the week. That with the help of the Holy Spirit and by living out those fruits we are given then we can help others know about God too.

Which really is what the whole point of VBS is each and every year and this VBS helped us give that gift to the kids who attended and encouraged them to live it out for more than a week but to know that through the way they act and talk it helps to show others that God loves them and wants a relationship with them also.

We had an average of 120 kids each day with us and I believe we had brand new kids sign up all the way through Friday. I even heard a parent tell the register table that the older sibling was now signing up for VBS because the younger sibling kept talking about it. We had about 50 volunteers at VBS and we had countless other volunteers donate items and time before the event even started.

This week was all about planting the seeds of the Spirit so that maybe one day those seeds will grow into trees that produce fruits of the Spirit. We may never see that happen, but the point is that we are sharing the love of God with all these kids. And let me tell you that they are hungry. I heard stories of kids that were asking questions about being baptized when we talked about John the Baptist and Jesus. We heard kids talk about how much they love this song or that song. I had countless kids come and give me a hug some I knew and some I didn’t know. I saw countless smiles from kids and adults alike. I heard stories of how much fun the adults and teenagers who helped had while they were here.

This truly is the work of the church. I know that not everyone is able to come and be a part of it, but I hope we all see the need there is for bringing kids together to help them see the love of God as found in Christ Jesus and how that love, that relationship is available to them. And that as our stories and leaders shared with them this week, is that nothing will be able to take away that relationship God has with them.

God truly has given us the power to live a godly life and I pray that we all, both young and old may embrace the idea that we all need to Power Up and Raise our Game so that we can be strengthened by God and God’s word, and that we may embrace the mission of sharing that word not just once a year at VBS but each and every day knowing how much God has done for us and how much we want others to know how much God does for them. May God bless you and give you power to live out the Gospel in your lives. Amen.