Christmas In July: Promise Investigators VBS
by Karla Hurley

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

John 3:16 is the main Scripture used during the Promise Investigators VBS program. If you think about why Jesus was born and why He came, the answer lies in this verse. We focused on the birth of Jesus, why He came, his death and his resurrection.

It is called Promise Investigators because in the Old Testament many prophesies tell us about Jesus. Children don't necessarily understand what a prophecy is, but they do know what a promise is. And God never breaks His promises! 

The lesson theme titles are:

Monday - The Angel's Message & You Shall Call Him Jesus
Tuesday - A Savior is Born - Happy Birthday Jesus
Wednesday - The Birth Announcement - A Shepherds Tale
Thursday - Wise Men Still Seek Him - A Visit From The Wise Men
Friday - Why He Came -- The Connection

We presented two Bible lessons to deal with the same theme each night. Each class would start off with a Bible lesson and then end with a Bible lesson. In between that time they rotated to snacks, crafts, missions and music.

 

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Everything the children did coordinated with the lesson theme for that day. At the beginning of each night I gave them a clue and they were to find the answer. For example, Tuesday night was the Happy Birthday Jesus night, the night we learned about His birth. The clue went like this: "In your room, unless your blind, many colors you will find. Release from the colors the co2 and there inside you will find the clue." The rooms were filled with balloons that needed to be popped. Only one balloon had the clue inside. Micah 5:2 was the Scripture verse they found which also tied in with the lesson theme.

During our mission class people from our church who had been on mission trips came in and spoke to the children about their experience. We also kicked off our Operation Christmas Child (OCC) mission project at this time. We were able to pass out OCC prayer journals and it was just wonderful. The children had a fantastic time. They loved having a Christmas in July program and learned about the birth of Jesus and why he came all at the same time.

For crafts we made Trinity Snowman, Birdfeeders, an M&M Christmas Cookie Jar with the M&M Christmas poem attached, T-shirts with John 3:16 and Christmas ornaments. Decorations were a cinch. I asked each Sunday school class to pick one Christian theme and use it to make Christmas ornaments. We then decorated the trees with those ornaments. We had angels, crowns of thorns, doves, mangers, etc. It was awesome.

Even our snacks were tied in with the lessons. We made munching mouths to show that we are to tell others about Jesus just like the shepherds did. The munching mouths were made with apple slices, peanut butter and marshmallows for the teeth.

Music was also great because we just chose the Christian Christmas songs that most children already know. We then taught them sign language to Silent Night and a couple of other songs. This made the Christmas program on Family night even more special. It would take a long time to type everything but I would be happy to mail sample lessons plans or whatever you needed.

God really blessed this vbs and the children thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great to teach them about Christ's birth without all the hustle and bustle of December activities. I also found reproducible activity sheets that we were able to use as the children's worksheets/coloring sheets.

If you have any questions or need further information please e-mail me at khurley4christ@fuse.net and I will help you however I can. Please be patient, I will fill requests as time permits.
Love in Christ,
Karla Hurley
Copyright 2005

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