VBS 2014: The End

We raised about $200 to donate to Catholic Relief Services for children who need access to clean water.

If you would like to make an additional donation to this project, you can donate at the CRS website here. Under "special request", you can type "Vacation Bible School Clean Water".

We showed this video to our kids so they could hear from a child in need.

  


You can view our final performance on the last day below. They did a fabulous job singing for all of our families!


On Sunday our kiddos sang for the 9:15 Mass and there were tears throughout the worship space! Thanks for being part of this amazing program and sharing Jesus' one-of-a-kind love with our parish!



You can also see our final recap slideshow here:

VBS 2014 Day 5

We learned:

Even when you're afraid....Jesus loves you!

The Bible Story for today is from

Acts 9:1-19

Ananias bravely helps Saul.

During Bible times, many people did not like Christians, and tried to silence them by putting them in jail. One of these people was a powerful man named Saul. He had hurt many Christians, and had gotten permission to punish any Christians he met, when suddenly,he had a powerful vision from God. The Lord asked Saul why he was persecuting Him, and Saul could not answer the question. The Lord told Saul to continue into the city, and to stop hunting down Christians, but first he was blinded.

God wanted to prove his power to Saul by restoring the man’s vision, but He needed someone on earth to work for Him. God chose a man named Ananias to give Saul his sight back, but Ananias was terrified of Saul! Everyone knew that Saul did not like Christians, so Ananias did not want to go near him. But God told Ananias that he would be protected, and that Saul was no longer a bad man. Even though Ananias was very scared to meet Saul, he went to him anyway, because he trusted in God. Sure enough, Saul was nice to Ananias, and Ananias was able to make Saul see again.

Saul was afraid that he would never see again, and Ananias was afraid that Saul would hurt him, but the Lord helped both of them, because even when you’re afraid… Jesus loves you!

Click on the name of the video to see in YouTube

 

VBS 2014 Day 4

We learned today:
Even though you do wrong, Jesus loves you!

Our Bible Story:

The Bible Story for today is from

Luke 22:47-24:12

Jesus dies and rises to new life.

After Jesus had eaten dinner with and washed the feet of his disciples, he went off to a garden to pray by himself. He knew that awful things were going to happen to him that night, but he was willing to suffer to help others. As he was praying, soldiers took him away to the city for a trial. Even though Jesus had done noting wrong, the people thought Jesus should die, and the king agreed to have Jesus crucified.

Jesus was forced to walk through the city with a heavy wooden cross while people yelled insults at him. Once Jesus reached Golgotha, which means “place of the skull,” his hands and knees were nailed to the cross. Jesus was in pain, and he could have ended his punishment at any time, but he agreed to the suffering, because he loves us. Jesus died for us, even though he knows that we all make mistakes sometimes.

Jesus was not the only person who died on a cross that day. There were two other criminals who died. One of the prisoners was making fun of Jesus, but the other praised the Lord. The faithful criminal asked Jesus to remember him in Heaven and to forgive his sins. This criminal died next to Jesus, and then went to live with him forever in Heaven, because even though you do wrong… Jesus loves you!

When Jesus died, his body was taken to a tomb, which was covered with a huge stone. However, three days after his death, Jesus’ friends went to check on his body, and found that the stone was gone, and so was the body of Jesus. He was resurrected, just like he said he would be!

Click on the name of the video to watch in YouTube

VBS 2014 Day 3

Today we learned that:
Even when you don't understand....Jesus loves you!

Bible Story:

One night, Jesus called his his friends, the disciples, together for a special dinner.  During the meal, Jesus quietly got up, got a basin of water and a towel, and started to wash his friends’ feet.  In those times, it was normal to wash your feet before dinner because the roads were dirty and dusty so everyone’s feet used to get very dirty.  However, normally a servant would do the washing.  The disciples did not understand why Jesus was doing the work of the lowliest of servants.

However, Jesus explained to his friends that he wanted them to serve others as he was serving them by washing their feet.  Jesus was being a servant!  He gave us the best example of how to serve others.  He was even wiling to do the dirty job of a servant.  By providing this example for his disciples, Jesus taught them the importance of helping others.  Even though the disciples didn’t understand at first, they soon realized the reason why Jesus was acting in this way.  In the same way, we must always remember that even when you don’t understand, Jesus loves you!

Click on the name of the video to open in YouTube

 

VBS 2014 Day 2

Today we learned:
Even when you are different....Jesus loves you!

The Bible Story for today is from

John 4:1-30

Jesus reaches out to a Samaritan woman.

In the time of Jesus some of the Jews (people like Jesus) did not get along with the Samaritan people because they were different.  One day, Jesus was traveling with his disciples and the stopped in the Samaritan village of Sychar.  It was about noon and Jesus sat down by a well while His disciples went into the village to find something for them to eat.

While Jesus’ disciples were away, a woman came to the well to get water for her home. This was very odd, though, because most women went to the well early in the morning. This woman chose the noon hour because she knew none of the others would be there. Jesus was tired from His trip and asked her for a drink of water. The woman was surprised! She knew that people like Jesus, Jews, did not like people like her.  The woman was also surprised because Jesus was a man, and men did not normally talk to women in public. 

Jesus didn’t care about differences because He loves everyone.  He didn’t see a woman who was different from Him:  He saw a woman who ached for love and acceptance.  After her conversation with Jesus, the woman ran to tell others about what she learned.  We are like the woman at the well, called to share the Good News.

Click on video name to open in YouTube.

VBS 2014 Day 1 (updated)

We had a bit of a camera mishap today, so I just have a few quick pictures to show you about our wonderful Day 1 at VBS Weird Animals!

Thank you all our kids and volunteers that made it such an awesome day!!!

Your child is bringing home a Bible Band and a coloring sheet that you can use to chat about what we learned today! If you are interested in buying the music CD, you can purchase for $10 before or after each day. Music is a great way to praise God!

Enjoy!!! And don't forget to practice our VBS prayer at dinner at home!

See you for Hawaiian Day on Tuesday!!!

Our Bible Point today:
Even when you feel left out....Jesus loves you!

Our Bible Story today: 

As Jesus was walking along the road, a group of 10 men who had a really bad disease called out to Jesus and asked Him to heal them.  The disease they had is called leprosy and it eats away at your skin so much that parts of your body rot away and falls off.  It hurts a lot.  Not only does it hurt a lot and looks and smells really bad, but if you had it, you weren’t allowed to be with any other people.  You had to leave your home and your town and live with other people who had this disease (other lepers).

This group of lepers was so lonely and hurt so much that they cried out to Jesus to have pity on them.  That means that they begged Jesus to see how miserable they were and asked Him to take away their pain and their shame of being put away from their family and friends.  Jesus knew how horrible it was to have this disease and He loved them and wanted them to get better.  He told the group of 10 lepers to go show themselves to the priests (a special leader of the church).

As they were going to the temple, they had a miracle!  They were healed!  The leprosy was gone!!  Jesus healed all their boo-boos and their bodies were like new.  Now they can go back to their families!!  Can you imagine how happy they were?!

(Click on the name of the video to open larger in YouTube.)