The church building is filled this week with life! I love it! Kids are everywhere. Adults planning games, stories, and songs are talking together, drawn together by the work. I know of at least three people working our Vacation Bible School who took a week of their vacation time for it. God bless 'em! Oft told Bible stories come alive as our Youth Pastor tells them with full participation of the crews. Yesterday, "Pharaoh" refused to let God's people go and the kids were so drawn into the story, they argued with him! The whole experience is designed to reinforce one basic message to those little ones: "God loves you and you can love Him." I am certain that it is working.
There was a time when I would have looked at the cost-benefit ratio and wondered if Vacation Bible School was 'worth it.' It costs the church at least $2000 for the materials! The donated stuff probably doubles the dollar cost. The man hours involved in building sets, preparing lessons, creating crafts - pulling it all together - are too many to add up. But, who can evaluate the worth of one child's realization that he is part of something bigger than himself, that Someone loves him?
Who can say how much it is worth to have God's people discover that they are connected to one another, not by DNA, but by the grace of their Heavenly Father? The church's work is often 'inefficient' from a worldly point of view, but love is never about efficiency, is it? I stepped away from the hubbub yesterday and felt an overwhelming sense of joy of the Lord. He is pleased.
The ancient poetry of the Psalm came to mind. David saw the people of God getting along and doing His work. He wrote:
"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore." (Psalm 133, NIV)
The fragrant oils used in the sacred ceremonies of ordination were poured on the head of the priest and the smell filled the area! Everyone was enveloped in the experience.Mount Hermon, the highest peak in Northern Israel, was the place from which the waters of the Jordan flowed, bringing life to the desert areas of Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
David's point is that when God's people work together, sharing grace, loving - it's a 'WOW' experience, the best of the best. Get in on the party! Join the family. Find a place to participate in what God is doing. Forget yourself as you focus on the work. You'll find joy!
"God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful: wise counsel clear understanding. ... You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts-limbs, organs, cells-but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. ... I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together." (1 Corinthians 12:5-8, 12, 14, The Message)
See a slideshow of VBS by clicking here.
http://www.WashingtonAG.com/VBS2009.wmv
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