ALLENTOWN, Pa., (BRN) – Riverbend Community Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, had an incredible time at VBS! This was our first time hosting VBS, and we could see God’s hand so evidently throughout the entire event. For the week, we had a total of 43 students attend and 29 volunteers.
Our theme was “Spark Studios,” and much of the week was focused around creativity. As Lifeway put it, “Children will learn, like David, to use their talents to bring glory to God!” Our theme verse was Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do,” and the motto of the week was Created, Designed, Empowered. Each day we focused on a different aspect of God. • Day 1- God, the Creator David praised God the Creator (Acts 13:21-23;Psalm 104) • Day 2- God, the Designer God prepared David to be King (1 Samuel 16) • Day 3-Jesus, the King The people welcomed Jesus (Psalm 118:26;Acts 13:21-23;Matthew 21:1-11) • Day 4-Jesus, the Redeemer Jesus died and rose again (Luke 23:13-25, 44-56;24:1-12, 36-49) • Day 5-Holy Spirit, the helper God sent the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-14;2) Each day we started with a Worship Rally. There was a short skit focused around the main lesson for that day. We highlighted the mission we were focusing on – hope, health, and action -and taught students a new song related to the message for that day. Then we broke off into four different age groups and students rotated through four stations: Bible lesson, snacks, games and crafts.
The gospel was very clearly presented throughout the week. As you can see, the curriculum very clearly lays out the gospel in a way that Children can understand. It explains the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible lesson station went into more depth and our Bible lesson teacher was able to answer the children’s questions.
Our children ranged from ages 3-11, so our Bible teacher made sure the gospel was explained in an age appropriate way. The music that came with the curriculum also clearly explained the gospel message. Although we are not aware of any lives that were given to Christ, we have no doubt that seeds were planted. About 1/4 of the children and volunteers that attended VBS do not attend church. It was wonderful to see the children so engaged and truly understanding what they learned. We at Riverbend would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the Baptist Resource Network (BRN) for its help in making this dream of hosting our own VBS a reality. Your financial aid helped us purchase the crafts and materials we needed to enhance the student’s learning. Thank you!
