Standing Strong (July 15, 2013) by Jim Crosby
I love you Lord; you are my
strength. Psalm 18:1
"Stand
Strong."
After a week of helping with Vacation Bible School at my
church, Good Samaritan UMC in Tallahassee, those words are still echoing in my
mind. Like a song that sticks in your
mind, that you can't shake. It just keeps popping up a lot.
So, after a week of hearing those words night after night they are still
rattling around in my head. And that's a good thing!
Why is that good?
Well, it's good because it is the message we wanted to get across to the
kids in VBS. That God will help you
stand strong even in the toughest of times.
And I think the message reverberated with all the adult volunteers as
well. So I want to share this with you as well because big or small, young or
older there is a solid message here.
The Lovely Susette and I were assigned a room and for two
hours each evening adult leaders would bring their group of kids in for a
lesson in missions. Whenever the kids walked
between classes they would put their hands on their hips and say: "Stand
Strong."
In our class we would have a video about "Chaddar the
Chipmunk" who was always getting into trouble but would find some way to stand
strong. This would come from a Bible
verse that we would share with the youngsters.
To help them remember the "stand strong" verse they would
have a Bible Buddy, who had a message for them and also a tag that was added to
a chain that they would receive on the 5th night to take home with
them.
Before the stand strong Bible verse was revealed we shared a
Bible Story that augmented the scripture.
DAY ONE: The story of
David was told and how he stood strong as a shepherd boy protecting his
sheep. Then fighting the giant Goliath.
And by standing strong one day he became the king.
Then Bible
Buddy-Truman, who was a bulldog shared a bible verse:
I love you, Lord; you are my strength.
Psalm 18:1
The Bible Point that Truman wanted to make was:
"God's love
helps us stand strong." Don't forget to
put your hands on your hips when you say those last two words. J
DAY TWO: We shared the story of Queen Esther and how her
cousin Mordecai encouraged her to do the right thing. That was to reveal to the King that she was a
Jew so he would rescind his order to kill the Jews. That's what happened because she was able to
stand strong. (Esther 1-9)
Then Bible Buddy, Duke-a horse---shared this verse:
So encourage each other and build each other
up. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Duke's Bible Point was: Family and friends encourage us and help us
stand strong.
DAY THREE: The Bible
story for Wednesday evening came from Nehemiah 1-6. We told them about how Nehemiah, who was
called to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, prayed for God's help. So, with God helping him to stand strong they
overcame the opposition and rebuilt the wall.
Bible Buddy
Swift, who was a falcon shared a verse from Philippians 4:6.
Don't worry about anything; instead pray
about everything.
Swift's Bible Point was that
"prayer helps us stand strong."
DAY FOUR: The Bible story for Thursday came from Luke
22:39-24:12. This was probably the most
important one of the week. It was about
how Jesus trusted his Heavenly Father.
And because He trusted Him he died on the cross. But the Good News is that because He did
trust the Father, He came back to life and visited with his disciples and
friends---3 days later.
The Bible
Buddy for Day Four was the Lion, Sir Valiant. He pointed the way to
Isaiah 26:4:
Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God
is the eternal Rock.
Sir Valiant's Bible Point was
that "trusting God helps us stand strong."
DAY FIVE: On the
final day of Vacation Bible school the story was about King Josiah (2 Kings
22:1-23:23). Never before had there been
a king like Josiah. Scripture tells us
he "turned to the Lord with all his heart and sould and strength, obeying all
the laws of Moses. " And the scripture
adds there has never been a king like him since. Josiah always followed God's
way.
The final
Bible Buddy was Victoria, the fox who shared Psalm 119:105:
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a
light for my path.
Victoria's Bible Point is: "The Bible helps us stand strong."
The group
that put together this program says that it is a R. E. A. L. approach to
learning:
R=relational
E is for experiential
A means it
is applicable.
L says it
is learner based.
Fortunately
we didn't have to share that information with the kids. The program was really pretty simple and
could even be understood by adults.
There are
Bible-based solutions for everyday problems as well as those difficult,
sometimes devastating times.
We just
have to remember that Gods love, encouragement of friends, prayer, trusting the
Father and the Bible will help us to stand strong.
And don't'
forget to put your hands on your hips. J
Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for the many ways you help us
to stand strong.
Author's
note: Stand strong and it will be a
great week for you.