The family just left.  I just ate way more food than I needed to.  The kids are asleep.  The Detroit game is a blowout.  So I had about an hour before my Cowboys come on and I get to watch a game I really care about. So that gave me a few minutes to think of a group of people I am VERY thankful for.  It’s the volunteers who work in our AWANA program at Little Mountain.

In these workers, I have seen a fire, passion, desire, drive, and zeal to reach out to children that no one else is ministering to.  By mega church standards, we have a relatively small program.  But in Little Mountain standards, we are reaching a lot of kids.  Since we started, we are averaging around 35 kids per week, most of whom come from modest to poor areas.  None of whom regularly attend church anywhere.  We can safely assume the majority do not know Jesus.

But our workers run two church vans every single Sunday night, and fill them both with eager children, who experience literally one of the highlights of our week.  They devote two hours each Sunday night to play games, speak a message, do small group counseling and Bible study.  And very impressively, the kids are actually memorizing more Scripture than the average church member.

I could not ask for any more from these dedicated leaders.  They have stepped up and out in faith in a major way, many of them working with children and youth for the first time.  They were uncertain about their ability, but excited about the opportunity.  I’m amazed at what God is doing through these guys in the lives of these children.  I fully believe that the kingdom of God will be expanding through the work they are doing.

Not having regularly posted on the blog lately, I do not know how many of you will read this, but for whoever does, you should know that you are the backbone of what God is doing in needy children’s lives week in and week out, and that makes me so proud I can’t express it.  So on Thanksgiving day, I just want to reflect on the folks investing in what I pray will be the next generation of leaders at Little Mountain, or wherever they wind up.  In 10 or 20 years, they will forget many things, but I firmly believe they will remember you!  Thanks.

Tonight we finished our VBS.  All in all it was an absolutely wonderful week.  We averaged 61 children and 45 workers.  3-4 Children accepted Jesus.  We had a great opportunity to invite unchurched or marginal (whatever that really means) people to our church.  The workers worked so hard, and the children had one of the best VBS they have ever had (I feel confident saying that).

We collected money each night this week to go towards providing scholarships to community children to attend our new AWANA program and we collected 607 dollars (FANTASTIC).  I could not be happier with the way God moved, our people responded, and the children and adults alike were ministered to.  Pray that there will be continued fruit from this week in the weeks, months, and years to come.  I’ve said this a dozen times already, now all the work really begins.

If the angels in heaven rejoice more over one sinner who repents than 99 who need no repentance then what a beautiful night in the halls of heaven last night!  It is always difficult working with children to determine if they truly understand what they are asking, when they “pray to receive Christ.”  We had around 12 or 13 who did last night, and upon further counseling, I feel certain the number is more like 3.  But those 3 make everything worth it!

The son of one of my best friends at the church declared Jesus to be his King last night!  I will hopefully have the honor of baptizing him Sunday night.  There are potentially 3 others I may be able to baptize with him, and I look forward to that as much as Christmas.  There is nothing like leading people to Jesus and watching them follow Him into the waters of baptism.

I presented the children’s version of the “2 Ways to Live:  The Choice we all Face.”  I will grant I got carried away and went a little long for a child’s attention span (I do that sometimes.  If you go to Little Mountain NO SMART REMARKS!).  But the 2 ways is a wonderful, full fledged account from Creation to Consummation of the Gospel Storyline.  It tells us about Jesus Kingship, and our fight to take over rule from God.  It tells us the punishment of being left out of the new kingdom one day, what we call hell.  It tells us the Good News of Jesus life, death, and resurrection.  And it tells us the glorious news of eternal life.

Right before I spoke I read 1 Corinthians 2.  Paul is speaking of himself, Apollos, and whoever else may preach the Gospel.  He says “What then is Paul?  What then is Apollos?”  I might add, “What then is Josh?”  We are nothing but field workers.  We may plant.  We may harvest.  But we don’t give life to the seed that’s sown.  That is God’s job alone.  Last night I planted the seed for some.  I harvested a few others.  And I praise God for the increase.  I believe I was faithful to the message.  That is my first job.  Even one.  Even one is worth it all.

Yes.  VBS is hard work.  There must be times when every leader and volunteer ask themselves the same question:  Is all of this work worth it?  The answer must be yes.  Most all of our workers come straight from a full-time job in which they have just completed 8-12 hour shifts, go home to change, round up all the kids, and then come for another 3 hours of VBS. Why is it worth it?  The faces of those children.  As the week progresses they know you.  They trust you.  They spend time with you.  They give you high fives.  They smile, laugh, and joke with you.  They begin to see you as more than just a “worker” but as someone who genuinely cares.  There are kids each year with parents so absent any form of encouragement or affection, and some are clearly starved for it.  This shows up typically in seeking to gain attention.  Again, however, as the week moves on the disruptive behavior calms a bit.  Jesus begins to saturate their minds.  They listen a little better.  The impact goes a little deeper.

We will likely never see some of these kds again.  The time when most any American parent brought their children up in church is gone for the majority.  For those parents, VBS is a few hour escape from child-care, and a chance to do what you want.  But the kids never forget it.  Life long memories form of VBS, and I too am a product of those.  My sincere desire is that the impact in these children’s lives will be felt long after this week is over.  My prayer also is the same for the parents.  As much as we are able to do, we can do only so much before we must say, “Without reinforcement at home this just might not stick.”  I do not want to see the seed that has been planted in the kids’ lives to be choked out by the people who have the most influence; the parents.

In many ways, and for many children, and also for our church, VBS is only the beginning.  What happens after VBS is the real and lasting indicator of how much they will actually come to practice what they’ve been taught.  Some of the children know all the right answers already.  Some know only a partial and incomplete set of answers.  Some know nothing of answers and do not even know the questions.  At the end of the day and week,it will be infinitely worth the small amount of time we invest, that may pay dividends into eternity.   We had 62 children and 40 something volunteers tonight.  If you ask me they know it must be worth it too.  No one spends that much time on something that isn’t.

For years Vacation Bible School has been a staple of American Churches, and from what I can tell it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.  I don’t think that’s really a bad thing at all.  Kids are still kids, and I have a good deal of permanent memories pressed into my head of VBS as a child.  Little Mountain began our VBS last night, and we started the week with 49 children.  In terms of raw numbers that may not sound very high, but in terms of percentages it is HUGE.  In addition we kicked off on a Sunday night which is typically the night with the lowest turnout.

The kids had an absolute blast.  They have a music time led by three of our youngest and most energetic girls in the church.  They had a craft time where they did, well,  I don’t know…crafts.  The most important time was the lesson they were taught.  They learned a very basic lesson, which is that God is real.  If it were all in my hands, VBS would NEVER have happened.  We have a team of around 30-40 volunteers that make it happen, and I will say they worked VERY hard to be ready for this.  The night went smoothly, and I am confident in the rest of the week.

I am also confident there are children there who have no personal knowledge of Jesus, and VBS has historically been a significant tool to help them know Him.  The danger is being content with “conversions.”  Our goal is to make disciples of Jesus.  Therefore what happens in the days, weeks, and months after VBS is probably even more important than what happens during.  Pray that this week God will make new disciples of His Son.  The good times and lasting memories are a given.

What goes better with a Church Fall Festival than the pastor in a dunking booth. I know there’s always joy in watching the pastor humiliated by children, but really; What’s it got to do with reaching the Lost? Just kidding people. It will be my joy to be the gimmick that kids can laugh at, and lose respect for me over.
Tomorrow from 3-5 is our fall festival and hundreds of fliers have been passed out by some very dedicated folks. If I did this kind of thing I’d call them by name. This is truly one of the more joyous things I get a chance to see as a pastor. To see people in the congregation responding by taking initiative in planning and implement something to reach our hands into the community. I’ve already received several calls asking “How much the rides and games cost?” It’s such a joy to be able to say it cost nothing for you. Our people paid the cost that your children might now we love them. This kind of thing energizes me with excitement. I hope it does you also! Want to know more? Check us out on the web at www.lmbchurch.net. Click on the link to the Fall Festival.