Being a Believer

Our Elementary Pastor, Jared, describes what we're learning this week at VBS best in his letter to the volunteers in our leader's guide.

“We are going to explore “Your Story” as we see what it means to be a believer, learn how to follow God, live a life devoted to God, reach out to others with the Good News of Jesus, and celebrate our lives lived for Him. We want everyone to see that God's story didn't end when the book of Revelation was written over 1900 years ago. God's story continues today, it is ongoing and includes each of us who know Him.”

On Monday our key work is being. In our elementary program, we'll learn about what it means to be a believer and what our identity is as one. Each child should walk away understanding that:
• God chose each of them before the world began, which shows that He loves us all very much.
• You become a believer when you believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that He saved you from your sins. You have faith, or believe, and put your hope in Him.
• God does not have favorites—He loves us all, but also judges us all equally, so we need to live in a way that shows we are different and believe in Him.

In the large group teaching, we'll look at 1 Peter 1:17-21 and what it says about what it means to be a believer. We will talk about how you become saved as well as about how special each child is to God. The kids will hear that being a believer means you are a child of God--chosen by Him and precious to Him. We will also look at how this passage tells us to live in a way that shows that we are different because we believe in Jesus.

Our ministry is blessed to have Rocky Wing be a part of our skits. Rocky is a phenomenal actor and two of his greatest strengths are becoming a character and doing improvisation. Each year we create a general outline for what needs to happen/be said at some point in the skit, and then Rocky leads the show while the rest of our actors follow his lead. You might remember his acting skills from the video in which he played Lord Maestro Alfanzo Caballero III. In Monday's skit, we'll meet the characters (all familiar to anyone who has seen Toy Story): Buzz, Woody, Jane, and Mr. Potato Head. A new toy will arrive, a GI Joe who doesn't realize he's a toy and thinks his purpose is to whip his new troops into shape. The concept of a misunderstood identity will be introduced.

I can't wait for the start of VBS. After a bit of a melt down with my husband over everything I need to get done, I've made my to-do lists, started checking items off, and now am feeling like we'll get there without too many troubles! We already have all of our adult and high school volunteer holes filled (Wow!), so any others who sign up will be extra support, and only need about 10 more middle school volunteers to sign up (normally we have too many to know what to do with). I'm so excited for the Monday of VBS when the first song starts and all the excitement fills the room!