Vacation Bible School is Awesome!

Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,

This is Vacation Bible School week. It’s awesome! Celebration Hall has been packed each morning with children and volunteers. It is quite a sight to watch the kids sing, dance, and shout “Wow, God!” as they gain an understanding of God's love. 

Molly Gardner and her army of volunteers have transformed Stonebridge UMC into a mystical rainforest where the children have experienced the love of God and the gift of Jesus. Thank you Molly and the over 100 volunteers that have made this the best VBS ever! 

I have had the joy of playing the part of Dr. Flit Flutterby, “world renowned” butterfly expert. Each morning, during the opening worship, I get to act silly while I search for the rarest butterfly in the world. A butterfly with teeth. After the opening, I wander around the building catching children and even a few volunteers in my butterfly net. Fun! Fun! Fun!

The mission project for this week has been collecting school supplies for the economically challenged children at our partner school, Malvern Elementary. We made it into a fun competition between Molly and me, with the winner getting to slime the loser at the end of VBS. It works like this… The kids brought the school supplies and put them in boxes with either my picture or Molly's. The box with the most school supplies was the winner. As the week progressed, it became increasingly clear I would be the one getting slimed. 

I will do anything for children. During past Vacation Bible School events, I have kissed a live camel, kissed a live llama, got dunked, and was transformed into a hot dog, a cherry pie, a mud ball, and more. The kids love it! It gives them a fun reason to participate in the mission project for the week. 

The kids have collected over 500 school supplies. At a minimum, I want to invite you to at least match what the kids have collected. Even better, do you think we could double what the kids collected? Drop all school supplies in the boxes in the foyers or outside the worship entrances. 

Here is a full list of the needed school supplies.

Sunday worship

This Sunday, we finish our sermon series, Diving Deep Into Faith. Will you join me in going over the waterfall of faith by being a servant for Jesus? When Jesus was asked, “What is the greatest commandment?”, Jesus replies with these words, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind. And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The wording, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself", occurs 11 times in the New Testament. "Love one another” occurs over 150 times total in the Old and New Testament! Obviously, offering ourselves to make a difference for others is the deepest dive we can make in our faith. 

This Sunday, come and experience the music and fun of VBS. 

Invite a friend as we make Stonebridge United Methodist Church the most joyful place on earth!

See you Sunday!

Pastor John Allen