Each summer Christ Lutheran offers the children of the congregation - as well as the children of the surrounding community - the opportunity to attend a Vacation Bible School (VBS) program. The theme and format changes each year, but the study and application of God's Word is always a constant.
Circle J Ranch
This year's 3-day Vacation Bible School at Christ Lutheran was held on August 2-4, and followed a Cowboy/Western theme. The theme was "Circle J Ranch", with the "J" obviously standing for Jesus! All of the devotions, classes and activities tried to weave that Western theme into the Christ-centered instruction. We had 17 children attend on each day, which we were very happy about!
On day one the children studied the lesson on the feeding of the 5,000, and how Jesus always takes care of our needs.
Day two focused on Jesus being our Good Shepherd, how much he loves us, what a blessing it is to follow him, and to be one of his sheep both now and forever.
On day three the lesson was the taking of Jericho by the Children of Israel. From this the children learned that, just as God helped the Children of Israel gain their new home in the Promised Land, so God has a place in heaven waiting for us. He has made heaven his free gift through Jesus, and he will help us get there.
We learned a new song on each day. The first day the children learned "I'm Bananas for the Lord". The second day's song was "I Just Wanna Be a Sheep (Ba-ba-ba-ba!). The last day's song was "Father Abraham". All of the songs have actions that go along with the words, and it was a lot of fun to do them!
Each day saw the upper level doing one craft, and the lower two levels working on a different craft. They made cotton stand-up sheep, cowboy/cowgirl hats which they decorated, picture frames out of branches which had a picture of them at camp, and some other neat things! At beak time we went outside to play games. The helpers organized some very energetic games out in the church yard. On one day the children sat in a saddle on saw horses and took turns trying to "rope in" whatever candies they could throw their "lariat" hoola-hoop around! We had so much fun at this year's VBS, one of the children asked if we were going to do this again before the end of summer!
This year's VBS couldn't have been the success it was without the help of our teachers, staff and helpers. Also, a big "Thank You!" to those who brought treats and helped out in any way. We're looking forward to next year's VBS!
- Pastor Weiland
To view photos of Christ Lutheran's 2010 Vacation Bible School, click here.
