As I write this, we are just a couple hours away from kicking off the last night of Vacation Bible School. It has been a GREAT week of min-istry, and, as usual, a lot of fun. And, as usual, a lot of WORK. Right off the bat, I want to give a big shout-out to Sandy Mack, who did her usual thorough and outstanding job preparing and guiding this VBS. I don’t know anyone who has their ducks in more perfect rows that she does, and for many days leading up to the start, she was here, putting in the hours like a staff member and then some.
But nobody does something like this alone. So a big thank you to ALL the volunteers who served as team leaders, who served snacks, directed crafts, taught memory verses, choreographed the songs, ran sound and video, performed skits, and emceed, who checked kids in and greeted parents. I know it is a sacrifice to come here four nights in a row after wolfing down a quick supper (if you even had time for that) and getting home after dark after a night full of often noisy, excited children. I know it can be hard to model and encourage enthusiasm for these kids after a day’s work, and I want you to know we appreciate the sacrifice.
also want to thank everyone who stuck around Sunday afternoon to help decorate the church building for VBS. I’m a big fan of the Sunday afternoon nap, or at least the Sunday afternoon crossword puzzle, and I’m very grateful for the fact that enough people pitched in so that we didn’t have to stay all day to finish the job. And the place looked fantastic!
And I want to thank you, the members of Living Word Family Church, who faithfully bring your tithes and offerings in obedience to God, so that we could produce this VBS in the first place. I will tell you something, although most of you will have heard it by now from the pulpit: last night, 13 kids prayed to commit their lives to Christ. Yes, some of them may have done it before, at home or in Sunday School. Yes, a couple of them might have been too young to perfectly understand what they were praying. But I’m telling you, church family, that some of those kids got SAVED this week. By the grace of God, working through YOU. YOUR service this week. Your preparations before VBS. Your simple obedience to give.
I believe families in this church and out of it were blessed by the hospital-ity we as a church extended, by the impact we made on the lives of their children, and by the atmosphere we generated. But the most important thing that happened is that children who did not know Christ as savior a week ago know Him as savior now. That, my friends, is worth it. Worth every hour spent decorating, preparing, cutting, gluing, cooking, pouring, walking, shushing, singing, dancing and laughing. Worth every mile driv-en, every meal and TV show missed, every chore left undone at home.
It’s an honor to serve such a great congregation. THANK YOU!
