Amazing Wonders Aviation has been the sweetest VBS I can remember. I had the opportunity to teach recreation for two of the four days, and it was such a joy to get out there and interact with the kids! The weather was incredibly nice- especially Wednesday- this wonderful breeze blew almost continually and none of us could remember ever enjoying such a cool, comfortable VBS. A child who has been intensely angry and hateful warmed up and showed affection and love to some of us. This felt like a great victory!
We had an average of 75 children present- a small VBS relative to years past, when we generally averaged 100 and reached about 120 total kids. However, when Dr. Light shared the Gospel and gave the invitation, the entire front pew was filled with little ones who wanted to talk more about the most important message they had ever heard. Counselors spoke with about 12-15 kids, and of that number one child was assured of her last year's decision to accept God's gift of salvation and is preparing to join the church for baptism; another child prayed to accept Christ and is ready to join the church and be baptized; still another child prayed to receive Christ and will go home and talk to his parents and pastor (he's a grandson of one of our members); a little girl who lives locally and whose family occasionally attends another church was led to Christ by one of our own seventh graders. Her grandmother expressed an interest in visiting FBC, and was especially intrigued to hear about our children's programs! Three more children wanted to discuss the plan of salvation, and while they weren't quite ready to make that decision- they are tracking in the right direction! One of those kids- one of our own FBC little boys- spoke to one of our college students. Ironically, that college student was led to Christ at VBS years ago by the little boy's mother!
This year we had more of our own FBC kids come forward than I remember in previous years, which just added to the sweetness! It is always an exciting experience to share the Gospel and be a part of someone's salvation experience. Being used by God is our purpose as Christians! There's something really special about leading a child to Christ, however, that you know you'll have the opportunity to disciple!
Another sweet moment was receiving word that the students at Teen Challenge have been praying together for our VBS nightly. What a blessing to know they haven't just been attending worship services this month, but have been lifting up our kids and teachers in prayer. Some of the youth capitalized on the opportunity to encourage the Teen Challenge students by attending (and cheering maniacally) the Teen Challenge vs. UAB Selma Family Medicine doctors softball game on Wednesday night. Everyone had a great time, and the game was really close and exciting! Teen Challenge won, and all proceeds from admission and concessions went to Teen Challenge as well. Our youth enjoyed encouraging the team and showing them that FBC loves them! Just one more moment of sweetness this week.
Tonight, we'll gather together for FAMILY NIGHT~ a time of celebrating VBS week. Dr. Light will be teaching the Day 5 Bible study material. We'll enjoy a meal together, view a slideshow of pictures from the week, and see the kids' crafts on display! We hope you'll join us for a fun evening of fellowship. Be in prayer that the activities this evening glorify God and further the kingdom work we've begun this week in VBS. Pray also for the teachers and leaders to be committed to following up with all of the children who attended VBS this week. We have begun relationships with children in the name of Jesus, and we hope to see fruit in each of their lives to his glory!

1 Timothy 1:1-2

So I'm studying the Pastoral Letters this summer- 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. We focused for a long time this past week on 1 Timothy 1:1-2. That's right- just the greeting. You wouldn't believe how much is packed into just those two little verses that you and I both probably skim through quickly to get to the good stuff.
The part I want to focus on in this blog post is not even a whole verse. Nope. Paul addresses his letter "To Timothy my true son in the faith:" That sentence fragment has a lot going on. I knew Timothy had a Jewish mom and a Greek dad. What I didn't understand until this week was the weight of that situation in Timothy's life. See, here he was in Ephesus, left there by Paul to minister to the church on his own, and his heritage resulted in people seeing him as an illegitimate child. He was biracial. The Jewish people haven't been too crazy about that situation either!
So Paul was confirming to Timothy and whoever else would be reading or hearing this letter, that while Timothy's earthly parents weren't what the Jews would consider legitimate, Paul was his father spiritually speaking. And let's face it, that give Timothy a ton of credibility- don't you think?!
Anyway- I love learning little things like this, and then reading the book over again with a new understanding. Just peeling back another layer!
Of course this brings me to 2012. I think we all sometimes feel like we aren't worthy, or we don't have the right background to teach and preach and share the Gospel, much less correct people in love who are saying something that isn't true... but this is a great reminder that no matter what our background or our family situations may be, God is our FATHER. Whatever he wants us to do for Him, He equips us to do. We should have no insecurities or fears, and we should turn to Him when we're too exhausted to go on, or fight anymore. Just like Paul bolstered Timothy in this letter, especially in addressing his fleshly "illegitimacy," when we bury our faces in the Word, God encourages us to go on and "fight the good fight" for the kingdom! :)
May you go on to do great things today for our Father!