Directions

VBS 2008

In Baptist circles, nobody has to explain what the letters VBS stand for because it is so much a part of our church culture and such a wonderful part of our spiritual heritage. You can mention it anytime, anywhere, and people from the youngest to the oldest will know what VBS is. For me, I went to VBS before I even knew what the letters were or before I knew who I was. I went on attending VBS until I got old enough that I had a summer job and had to go to work instead of VBS. Vacation Bible School is a wonderful experience for millions of kids who attend and thousands of wonderful leaders who work during that special period of time each year.

Over the decades VBS has changed somewhat, but the substance of it has remained the same. The sounds, activities, and the intensity of it have certainly changed, but the overall mission to teach children the Bible and introduce them to a personal relationship with the living Savior remains unaltered.

I want to encourage you that if your church is going to have Vacation Bible School to make it the best you possibly can and to reach as many kids as possible. If by chance you were not planning to have VBS, rethink it. It is not too late to have a school and make an eternal difference in a lot of people’s lives. In fact, if for whatever reason you thought you could not have a Vacation Bible School and you need some help, please give a call to either your associational office or to the Sunday School Department of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board. We will do everything possible to support you and help you accomplish what is a tremendous ministry that will bring great blessings to your life and your church. While everybody knows that VBS stands for Vacation Bible School, would you allow me to take just a moment and enlarge on VBS to see some other significant parts of what VBS can stand for?

VBS can stand for the Very Best Solution. VBS began in the late 1800s and almost from the very beginning has had the blessings of God upon it as an excellent way to present Jesus to children. For many of the children who attend it is not the only time that they hear about the Savior, but VBS is one of the most significant evangelistic outreach efforts in Southern Baptist churches year after year. Why would it be the very best solution for presenting the Light of the World to children living in darkness? For one thing, it is a concentrated effort. It is usually a week or so in length, and it is a day-by-day presentation of biblical truths.

In addition to being concentrated, it is contextual. By that, I mean it is designed for the children at their level, their interest, their points of engagement, and their understanding. I certainly am aware that there are some churches that have a Vacation Bible School that includes everyone from the youngest to the oldest. However, generally speaking, the materials that are used in Vacation Bible School are designed for the presentation of God’s truth to the young heart. Because it draws millions of kids into an experience of biblical understanding and literally thousands are brought to Christ each year, VBS can stand for the Very Best Solution.

VBS might also stand for Vital Bible Saturation. To this very day, there are things that have continued with me throughout my life’s walk with the Lord in ministry, all because of VBS and Vital Bible Saturation. I know the 66 books of the Bible. I know the Ten Commandments. I can quote many verses at the snap of my fingers, and it is not because I graduated from a Baptist college or attended two of our Baptist seminaries. It is because I went to Vacation Bible School. In retrospect, I probably passed the courses in college and was able to communicate some things in seminary because of what had taken place many years earlier in VBS — Vital Bible Saturation.

As you prepare for VBS and anticipate a school that you may be a part of in 2008, let me give you one other interpretation of those letters. They can mean Victorious Blessed Service. Oftentimes in preparation for Vacation Bible School, it is difficult to get people to agree to serve, teach, work, and lead. If you have an opportunity to be a part of Vacation Bible School in whatever capacity, you will do yourself a disservice if you do not sign up, line up, and serve. If you find a place to serve in Vacation Bible School, at the end of the week you will have experienced not just from the kids, not just from the programs and activities, but also from the hand of God, Victorious Blessed Service.

So let me encourage you to get in on the blessings. If you agree to serve and you do not experience blessings from heaven, I would like to hear from you. On the other hand, if I can nudge you, gently push you, and encourage you to serve and get in on the blessings, and God does touch your life and use you, I would like to hear from you also.

VBS is just around the corner. May God open the windows of heaven on your life and bless you immensely.

Jim Futral
Executive Director-Treasurer
jfutral@mbcb.org
5-8-08