Why I Love VBS

“But honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts.  Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” – 1 Peter 3:15

VBS is one of my favorite times of the year…I kind of like it even better than Christmas!  There’s just something about a massive amount of kids coming together to learn and sing about Jesus that makes my heart just burst with happiness and excitement.  I must admit the trazillion hugs and gigantic smiles make it that much sweeter, too. :)

Of course the fact that I get to teach kids about missions and missionaries is an added bonus to this special week.  It’s so cool to watch the kids’ interest peak day-by-day as they are connecting to the missionaries and what they are doing.  I also love that we participate in a mission project.  I never want kids to just learn about missions, I want them to DO missions too.  Our mission project this year is to help a church plant in Denver, Colorado.  Today we got to Skype the missionary we are helping and the kids were glued to the screens as he spoke and brought to life the mission project through the words he said.  

Teaching in my "Map Room"

I also love that this year the missions curriculum has stressed having the kids do a secret service mission project.  Many kids have really gotten into this and it has been so neat to hear their secret service mission stories and also to see that they are really listening and applying what we talk about in missions.  One of my favorite secret service mission stories from this week (and if you’re my friend on Facebook, you probably know about this) is about a little girl who did the secret service mission of writing “Jesus Loves You” notes to someone.  She not only wrote these notes, but she also made cupcakes (she said from “scrap”…she meant scratch) and handed them out to people in her neighborhood.  She also made some cupcakes and a note for me…LOVE.IT. :)

My cupcakes made from "scrap"

My church is using Lifeway’s Agency D3 theme this year.  It has been awesome as kids are discovering Jesus, deciding to follow Him, and learning how to better defend their faith in Him.  1 Peter 3:15 has been the theme verse for the week.  “But honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts.  Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”  It’s a crazy world that kids today are growing up in and these are lessons that they NEED to know.  There is about a 99.95% chance that they will be faced with an issue in their life that they will need to draw on something they have learned this week in order to help them solve it.  That’s not to be taken lightly.  VBS is impacting kids…for the better.  It’s also impacting kids eternally.  A representative from the TN Baptist Convention spoke at our church this past Sunday and said that 25% of children’s baptisms are a result of a decision made at VBS.  That is a major percentage.

But the kids aren’t the only ones who can take away lessons from this year’s VBS, us older ones can too!  (Am I really included in the word “older?”  I guess I am…).  Let’s break apart the theme scripture: 

• “But honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts.”  What does this mean?  I think this is two-fold.  First of all I believe it means to make sure that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of your life.  Do you have a personal relationship with Him?  I also believe that this part of the scripture stresses to keep honoring Jesus.  He is our King, but do we really worship Him every moment?  Are the things we say or our actions a reflection of Christ?  Do we live with an attitude that reflects Him?  In order to be ambassadors for Him and be on guard to give a defense for Him, we need to live a life like Christ.  1 John 2:6 says, “Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.”  Obviously we can’t live His life…it was perfect…but we can strive to live like Him.
  
• “Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”  As Christians living in today’s world, we look pretty unusual to unbelievers.  Where they see hurt, we see forgiveness.  Where they see hate, we see love.  Where they see death, we see eternal life.  The things we see are complete opposite of what they see and they’re going to want to know why.  Be ready for that!  Know what you believe and why you believe it!  The world wants evidence and there’s no greater place to find that evidence than the Word of God.  Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Study the Bible so you know how to answer the questions that the world will throw at you…notice that I didn’t use the word “might” in the place of “will.” 

There’s so much to be grateful for with Vacation Bible School.  It’s a timeless tradition that has been a part of many churches for years and years.  I can’t even count on two hands the number of VBS’ I have been involved in or a part of since I was born.  While I loved VBS as a child, I have an even greater love for VBS as an adult because of what it does for kids and how, no matter what the theme, can apply it to my life and my situations.  Stop for a moment and think about your church’s VBS theme.  Think about how you can apply it to your life and use the applications that the kids are/will be learning and be encouraged by them along with the kids. 

Vacation Bible School isn’t about the snacks…it’s not about recreation, missions, crafts, singing or even certain individual people.  VBS is about Jesus and growing ourselves, and most importantly kids, in the knowledge of the truths of the Bible and HIS sweet, sweet love.