VBS 2025 has come to an end and we're so happy to have had so many kids join us this year. If you missed it, be sure to join us next year!

Did you miss a night of VBS? We'll help you catch up by posting quick recaps here!

VBS finished strong tonight! The preaching helped tied everything together that this kids heard throughout the week and the kids had a fantastic time. This was one of the most energy-filled nights all week!

Tonight's game is a return of last year's emoji game. Bro. Jean-Pierre and Mrs. Monessa square off again as the boys and girls do their best to make the face of the emoji on the screen while the adults try to guess which emoji is being acted out. The competition was very one-sided with the girls leading 13-3 around the half-way point. The boys attempted a comeback but the girls won with 27 points!

To the tower! The heroes set out on their way to travel across the countryside to save the princess. Along the way, our band of fearless...heroes?... stumble upon a distraction: A family celebrating a birthday! Unfortunately for the family the King and company decided to ransack the party and take the horses for their journey. :( Once they arrive at the tower, the princess is calling out desperately for someone to save her. The princess in a moment of light-headedness falls and crashes down the stairs leading to her tower. The King, declaring and early victory, is relieved there was no dragon to fight. The princess calmly lets the know with a scream and shouting that there's still a dragon to slay. Pterry, yes...Pterry, the dragon emerges ready to fight. With tricks up his sleeve, the dragon declares he is a magic dragon. With a failed card trick, a fight finally ensues between King Johnson and the dragon. With the dragon slayed and the princess rescued, VBS 2025 Skit comes to a dramatic end!

Tonight's missionaries are Jun and Tess Monderin, missionaries in the Philippines. The girls started with a very commanding lead. Every time the boys thought they were going to finally catch up to the girls, the girls kept staying one step ahead. After quite some time, the boys finally took the lead! When the boys finally think they have a secured victory...King Johnson shows up with a giant contribution for the girls!

Totals
Sunday night - $835.29
Monday night - $1,457.04
Tuesday night - $1,616.63

The adventure wrapped up with a bang as Jayden marched in wielding his mighty “shield” (okay, it was cardboard, but points for effort!). Dr. Amelia was unfortunately unable to be with us tonight, but her iPad wielding replacement tried his best to fill her shoes...well...obviously not her real shoes. Dr. Ben Franklin revealed it was the perfect setup to introduce the Shield of Faith, the final piece of God’s armor. With laughs over flaming arrows, armadillos, and poor Sam the chicken (RIP), the kids learned that faith in God protects us when life gets tough; whether it’s serious trials or just chores like dishes and lawn work. Jayden and Penelope even managed to agree for once which is proof that God really can do miracles! The big takeaway? God gives us powerful armor and helps us use it, especially when we pray.

Tonight, the message was delivered by Bro. Ben Roberts. Tonight we are in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8. Bro. Ben told a story when he was a kid where he had to trust that his dad would catch him. He had complete faith that his dad would catch him! Obedience is important in the life of a Christian. If God promises us something, we can believe He will deliver on that promise. Many things are going to change in our lives, but God will never change. 

God is worth believing in!

What an awesome time we had on night 3!

Tonight featured a mini-game relay consisting of 4 events: the tissue pull, the cup stack in which a single blue cup must be brought to the top of a stack of cups one cup at a time, a 5-gallon bucket pyramid stack with 10 buckets (the handle being the most difficult obstacle to overcome), and then the first 1st team to bounce a ball into the bucket across a table. The competition was intense tonight! The girls and boys brought the energy and both won 2 rounds of the relay! 

After a...wonderful...song by the bard to kick things off, we find the King, the vizier, and his royal advisor realizing there is not enough brave soldiers to brave the dragon. The Vizier, in his infinite wisdom backs the King into a corner demanding he be accepted into the fold. King Johnson, realizing  he's in way over his head, does his best to equip the unlikely heroes with armor. Armor is good...but what about weapons. It appears there are no weapons in the kingdom, save for the King's sword. This might be a problem. The king uses his brain and equips each of the adventurer with a weapon befitting their person. The Bard is given a guitar, the Vizier is blessed with a fantastic blue BIC pen, and the baker is given a wonderfully baked loaf of bread. What better way to slay the dragon than with the tools of the trade!

Tonight's missionaries are Simeon and Brettnay Brazzell, missionaries to Australia. There wasn't much to say about tonight, the girls dominated almost the entire time.
Sunday night - $835.29
Monday night - $1,457.04

Tonight Dr. Amelia tried her best to make ancient shoes sound interesting. Which, to Penelope, was good news to her ears. Jayden and Penelope seem to get on each other's nerves and that's definitely not good for anyone's ears. Jayden did have a compliment for his sister in that he admired how she wasn't nervous for a recent test. She took the time to study. As Christians, we can have that same confidence by studying the Bible. In addition to the Sword of the Spirit (the Bible), the kids also learned about the Gospel Shoes which allow us to stand firm in the face of evil!

Bro. Micaiah delivered the message tonight. Did you know there's more to life than video games? It's true! For Christians, the truth takes the form of the Bible, or the Sword of the Spirit. We cannot be prepared for the wickedness in the world without God's truth. The Word of God is amazing, it has people and situations that are better than anything you can read about in other books or watch on TV. As Christians, we should be sharing the Gospel with others. When you are facing a situation that makes you question if God really said, just remember, "it is written!" The kids were challenged to learn the Bible to tell others about Jesus and pray for others. These are important steps apart of every Christian's life. Do you have questions about the message? You can always contact us to learn more. 

The energy was tremendous tonight! The kids had great energy and were very excited the entire night!

Hot on the heels of the boy's defeat last night, one of the boys' wins was given to the girls! A total upset!

The boys dominated against the girls in a rematch of balloon popping; securing 2 wins! Buuuuuttt, the girls scored two wins in the 3-kid bouncing ball relay! Finally, a bouncing ball jousting match to knock over the opposing team's stacked pyramid of cups and make it to the other side first. The boys secured 2 wins!

While reading the story tonight, the butler decided to...change...the story a bit and give himself...I mean the bard...a way more nobler story than was written. Rewind and read it again! King Johnson needed someone expendable and easily forgotten...the bard perhaps? But! The baker happened to walk in and he seemed...a...worthy...opponent for the dragon that has capture the princess? Maybe? Oh, brother. After a quick knighting ceremony, the baker is knighted Sir Lambert and is ready to take on the worthy task of saving the princess!

Tonight's missionary is John Hays of Pure Water ministries; delivering clean water, and the Gospel, to remote locations. The penny drive was close at first, but the boys took an early lead. The lead wasn't around long because the girls caught up quick! After several back-and-forths, the GIRLS were declared the winners of Night 2! The competition was fierce. 

Dr. Amelia attempted to educate us all on the next armor piece, but was interrupted by Jayden valiantly fighting the air. Tonight we're also joined by Jayden's sister, Penelope. We learned about the Breastplate of Righteousness and the Belt of Truth. The Breastplate helps protect our upper body, but most importantly our heart. The Belt of Truth helps keep the other armor in place. Kind of a crazy idea that different pieces work together to keep us protected and battle ready! Come back tomorrow night to learn about the next pieces of the Armor of God!

Tonight, Pastor Perkins took a look in Ephesians 6, specifically verse 14. The belt was very important to a soldier's armor. It could show rank, and it helped secure the rest of the armor. When we think about truth, we think about things that are right. As humans, we sometimes get truth confused, but God never confuses the truth! How do we know the truth? By knowing Jesus! And like the puppet show explained, the Breastplate of Righteousness protects the most important part, the heart. You can be a good person and you can do good things, but the base truth is that none of this is good enough to get us to Heaven. Only the gift of salvation is enough to get us to heaven. Do you know for sure that if today was your last day alive that Heaven would be your home? Do you have questions about salvation? You can always contact us to learn more.

VBS kicked off with such a great start! Here's what happened on Night 1.

The boys were pitted against the girls in what could only be described as true Olympian-style games! Game number one was simple: pass 10 balloons from the front row to the last row as quickly as possible! The girls stomped the boys by winning both rounds.

Game number two pitted a boy vs a girl in who could pop a pole filled with balloons the fastest. It was close each round, but the boys crushed the girls and took away two wins!

Game number three required a bit of leg and team work! Starting at the front of the auditorium, one member of the team would run to the other side of the auditorium and pop a balloon in a specific way and then run back to get another. Despite the boys' best efforts, the girls took away two wins! This secured the lead for the girls.

How will the boys come back from this devastating loss?

Our tale begins with Mississippi Johnson getting some office hours in (very important work). As the day draws to a close, he finds himself ready for bed. Unable to sleep he calls for his butler, and asks for a story. His butler knows just the thing! A tale of Kings, castles, and dragons!

King Johnson finds out that the princess is being held hostage in a tower. He thinks it best to send a fruit basket, but is reminded that maybe, possibly he should actually do something about the situation instead. King Johnson, along with his Vizier, his bard, and the court advisor set out on a (probably) epic adventure.

Every year we take up a penny offering that is sent to 4 missionaries that Grace Baptist Church supports. Tonight's penny drive was in support of missionaries Derek and Julie Thomas to Ukraine. The totals will be posted at the end of VBS!

Tonight the boys ended started out in the lead and maintained their lead the entire time! Hopefully the girls are able to bring the heat tomorrow night!

Tonight we met Dr. Amelia Wisehart and Jayden. Dr. Amelia, although very boring, started presenting  on armor used in 15th Century BC (but it was very boring, according to Jayden). Instead, Dr. Amelia turned the focus on the Armor of God. Jayden didn't understand. Dr. Amelia took the time to explain there are evil forces out there, but God gives us armor to stand against evil! One of the first pieces is the Helmet of Salvation. This is the first piece of armor we need!

There's more pieces of armor to find out about, join on on night 2 to find out more!

Tonight, Bro. Terry Collins talked about the Helmet of Salvation. More importantly, why is salvation important? What does salvation protect us from? It protects our eyes, our ears, and our mind so that the junk of this world is filtered and we're protected. But what is salvation? Salvation is the breaking of the chains of sin. Do you have questions about salvation? Contact us and we can talk more!

God is waiting on you to make the decision of salvation for yourself! We will all die some day, you get to choose where you spend eternity!