Vacation Bible School is not just an event at Liberty – it’s an experience!

When people new to our church experience VBS at Liberty for the first time most are just “blown away”. It’s not unusual to have the adults as fired up as the kids are about it. There are some churches that spend all of VBS “hushing” the kids and trying to keep them quite – uh hummmm…. we don’t do that. We turn up the volume and have a blast with them. Our attendance normally increases every night as kids go back home and tell other kids – “You’ve gotta experience this!!”

How important is this “experience”? Consider these statistics from 2007:

• 2,876,877 children, teens, and adults participated in a Southern Baptist Vacation Bible School.
• Of those participants,  267,771 identified themselves as unchurched – many more are most likely unchurched in practice.
• Of those who identified themselves as unchurched, 37,888 enrolled in Sunday School following VBS. Think about this – 37,888 sounds like a lot of people, but when you consider that each person represents a home with additional siblings, parents, and other relatives living in the home, that number can quickly becomes 1,000,000.
• One of the most amazing statistics is one of every sixteen 1st – 6th graders was enrolled in an SBC VBS in 2007.
• VBS 2007 accounted for 88,097 professions of faith during the week of or immediately following VBS, resulting in 26% of all 2007 SBC baptisms.

Wow!!!

You are doing a good work church. Yesterday I had everyone stand up who was saved as a teen or earlier – easily 80% of the church was standing. That’s how important VBS is.

So, roll up your sleeves ~ put on your cowboy boots ~ drink a 5 Hour Energy ~ and lets tell some kids about Jesus!!

Yesterday was another good day at Liberty. God seems to be continually blessing our church. Even though it was Spring Break weekend {and we had a lot of people traveling} we had a building full and the Spirit of the Lord was real!

Some highlights to relive:

• Guess what? Jesus is God!! Don’t get His identity confused with anything else. He is not a good man, good teacher, or all around great guy. He is God!
• We had another saved yesterday – in my office – and join for baptism. I can’t really remember the last Sunday we didn’t. Keep inviting your unchurched friends so they can know Christ as well!!
• Choir and worship yesterday was great. I love singing about the name of Jesus.
• Last night our skit team did an awesome job – if you missed it you just missed it! And, I have some of the “Stop Leak anointing oil” on sale for $4995.00 if you are interested. You can make 100 easy payments of ………………… you get the idea. It was all very funny but really hit home!
• And finally. We had ‘em runnin the aisles yesterday morning! Yep. But….it was a toddler that broke lose from his mama at the 11:00 service!! He made it all the way to the front right when I was a preachin up a storm!! Great grab Ryan. And, one of those moments you don’t forget. I wouldn’t want it to happen every Sunday – but since it was the first time in 8 years  – very funny!

Be praying for this weekend’s services.

Love you Liberty!!

What an amazing Sunday we had. It was one of those events that many Christians will go a lifetime and not see or experience…the Spirit of God “blew” through our place in great power.

Immediately, two Bible passages came to mind….

Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

John 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

I can’t tell you for sure if we are having revival in our midst – but I can tell you that it sure feels like revival and that 2 of the obvious signs of revival are happening….

1) Souls are being saved. The last night of February we baptized 18 people [the largest 1 time baptismal service in our history]. During revival, we had 4 more saved. This past Sunday, we had 15 saved [including my daughter] and 1 join for baptism. If all of those are baptized in March, we will have baptized nearly 40 people in 2 months! To put that in perspective, the most Liberty has every baptized in a YEAR is 52!! Keep inviting the lost and sharing your faith!

2) Giving is at record amounts. The last 2 weeks total offering [Tithes, Missions, KTFB, Revival] may be the largest 2 week offering in our history. If it isn’t, it is real close. I just finished reading in the OT [I'll let you look it up in your quiet time] where giving was a sign of revival. They had to stop the offering because the people were giving  faster than it could be used! Now, we aren’t going to stop the offering - I am a Baptist preacher and we are in a building program – but it is just another sign that revival is happening in our midst. Keep giving and lets see how fast we can get relocated so we can see more saved! Keep giving so we can see how many ways we can touch our community with the love of Christ.

The last sign of revival is confession of sin and forsaking of sin. Maybe today you want to start praying and asking God if there is something between you and Him that is keeping you from being in a close, vibrant, growing relationship with Him? If /when He shows you something – get rid of it and let’s watch as revival continues in our midst!!

Cause if this Ain’t revival….I don’t know what is!

5 thoughts on the weekend….

1. Liberty you did a great job the whole weekend. Thank you for your attendance and for your commitment to Super Sunday and Revival. Even though we didn’t reach our goal, you filled the building and the parking lot up to capacity.

2. We had guests everywhere  – especially Sunday. We will reap the rewards of that for a while. If you invited someone, make sure you reconnect with them this week to see if they have any questions about the church.

3. “Wild Bill” did a fantastic job of preaching exactly what we needed to hear! Thanks to Bro. Bill for bringing it hard and straight!

4. We had 4 saved Sunday!! To God be the Glory!!

5. We baptized 18 last night – awesome! Lets keep it up and see more saved and baptized in 2010 than we ever have before in our history! And speaking of last night, what an amazing service to END revival with. The building was full with the balcony nearly full – that was amazing!

3 thoughts looking forward…

1. I am starting a 2 week [4 sermon] series called “Christianity – a little dab WON’T do ya” this Sunday. Too often the average Christian wants just enough of God to ease their conscious and we need to understand that is not how God wants His relationship with you to work. So, I’m preaching it hard starting this week. Don’t miss and be praying.

2. Too often we have a post-Super Sunday let down the weekend after – don’t let it happen. Teachers and SS leaders make sure you do your job of contacting and encouraging this week so that we stay on a high in church and Sunday School.

3. Bro. Bill commented on the incredible joy our church has – he talked to me about it in depth. So, don’t let that subside. This Sunday, show up withe the joy of Jesus filling your hearts and showing on your face and attitude!

Blessings…

According to new stats released by Barna, having your youth in Sunday School makes a huge difference later on in life. If you consistently go to Sunday School when you are young it has a direct bearing on church attendance when you grow up.

According to Barna, “More than 8 in 10 adults in the U.S. claim they had weekly religious education before age 12. Of those, 69 percent now attend religious programs weekly.”

What does that mean?

Parents that means you cannot overestimate the importance of having your child in church when they are young. Being part of a good children’s program and youth program has  a great impact on their spiritual lives later on.

So, to all of the parents reading – here are some admonitions:

1. Model a consistent Christian life for your child / teen. It is even better if they see Jesus in you!

2. Make Sunday School and Wednesday night youth worship/AWANA’s part of your regular routine without fail. I know your child has homework on Wednesdays but if they need to stay up a few minutes late it won’t harm them for life. Being detached from the youth group might. Make sure they are in Sunday School every Sunday. Don’t be a “hit or miss” family when it comes to Sunday School – your children will pay the price later on!

3. Make Christ the center of your home. Talk about Jesus / church all the time in a positive way. Don’t ever let them hear you complain about something going on at church.

We all want our children to grow up to be good citizens and good Christians. It doesn’t happen by accident!

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Officially it started in 1989 with then President George Bush. Normally the National Turkey Federation presents the President with 2 turkeys – which he then promptly pardons. They then go to live on a ranch somewhere where they are pampered and live a good long life for a turkey – about 5 years. The most recent Bush even sent a couple to Disneyland. It is a kind gracious act of forgiveness.

This Thanksgiving – I’m thankful that another turkey was pardoned – ME!! I wasn’t pardoned by the President, that is only temporary. I was pardoned by Jesus when I was 12 years old – and that was for all eternity!!

So, on this Thanksgiving - I want to publicly declare that I am thankful Jesus pardoned this Turkey!