Hello! We want to share a short update from the week so far at Vacation Bible School. We’re having a great time making friends, learning Bible stories, singing songs, making crafts, playing games, and sharing delicious snacks! We’re so grateful for our volunteer team and for our Sarah Barone, our first-ever Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries!
On Tuesday, we learned from the Parable of the Sower that “spending time with God is how we grow.” Last night’s VBS theme was “Using our gifts is how we serve” and we learned from the Parable of the Talents that the gifts God gives us aren’t meant to be hidden away or buried, but used to bless others and honor God.
Jesus had a lot to say about what it means to grow in relationship with God and about how God means for us to use our time, talent, and treasure to bless and welcome others. The following passage from the Gospel of Mark ties the ideas of service and God’s love for children together in a way that reminds us that welcoming children and families into the life of our church is a calling right from the heart of God:
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:35-37).