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In-Person, VBS was AWESOME!

Wow, what a wild, amazing week!!! Last week, MCC hosted 65 children at Vacation Bible School. It was different this year; we hosted it outside, had no ability to use Video, hosted a smaller number of attendees, we didn’t spend lots of energy decorating, planned and put it together in a month, and had lots of new workers. Many changes.

And yet, it was so very much the same. 

The overall theme was Christ-centered: TRUE confidence is learning to see yourself the way GOD sees you. This was supported by the daily themes; I can have confidence because I am known by God, I can have confidence because I am forgiven, and I can have confidence to make a difference. Jesus was tied into each activity – crafts, games, small group, and snack. 

Workers.  This year’s VBS was blessed with 53 volunteers, 17 of whom were new this summer, and four were from the local community!  The volunteers  ranged from 9 to 80 years of age. Everyone found their role and utilized their talents/strengths, including one young lady who dressed up and acted like a sheep!

God Provided what we needed, as we needed. God used this body in mighty ways.  We had the perfect number of group leaders and helpers.  When someone was unable to attend, another volunteer would pop up. On Monday, two days before VBS, we did not have a leader for Games, and I started to worry.  And then, out of the blue, a young man contacted me, asking what we needed.  Within 30 minutes, the whole team had signed up. God's hand was upon these three days in many ways! 

Everyone had fun! Fun is key when teaching kids, and fun was everywhere to be found.  The stories, the skits, the activities, and the games – all were geared to be fun while learning about Jesus. Even the daily lessons, taught by Pastor Frank, were fun.  (Your pastor is fantastic with kids and VBS)

The 2021 VBS was different AND the same.  So, the question: What did we learn?  What do we take away from this experience? A reminder and a lesson. The reminder: This is God’s program.  It will work because he makes it work.  He brings the workers and the kids. He sustains the energy. The Holy Spirit is active in our hearts and our groups, encouraging love, mercy and grace for one another.

The lesson: We don’t know what the effect will be on people, just that it will glorify God and be within His will. Is it that a seed will be sown into a young person, or their family? Is it that a family will venture into public groups for the first time in 17 months? Is it the first time that a child will be away from a parent without being upset?  Will volunteers find purpose and inspiration while working at VBS? Is the effect that the community will see the light and love of Christ in the body of MCC?

The truth is that all of these effects happened last week.  All of them and more.  God has been glorified, and He has blessed MCC and this community mightily.  Thank you for whatever part you played in the VBS at MCC. Each part, no matter the size, counts. And honors the Lord!

Hello – My name is Mike, and I am a recovering alcoholic.  For 42 years I wandered through this world angry, dishonest, ashamed, and afraid.  I placed my faith in material things, but nothing ever seemed to satisfy.  I mistreated those who loved me, and I lived with a self-serving attitude.  I hated myself and did not feel like I deserved to be loved.  When my alcoholism forced the end of my 22-year relationship, I was lost.  I was defeated, broken, and desperate.

In the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous I learned that I had to place my faith in a power greater than myself if I were to survive my addiction to alcohol.  It was there that I met a man named Adam.  With Adam’s help as my sponsor, I set out on my journey to find a higher power and be free of alcohol and the anguish that came with it. I learned that my entire way of thinking needed to be changed.  I could not depend on my own willpower to get me through this life. That self-will only left a trail of pain and destruction everywhere I went.  I learned that I could not do this alone.

After working some of the AA steps with Adam, I began to receive what AAs refer to as “gifts”.  The gift of clarity came relatively quickly.  I started to see that how I had treated people was wrong.  I started to see that the entire world had not been against me, but I had been against the entire world. I started to see that I had lived my life with a skewed sense of reality, with fear driving all my actions and reactions.  I learned to see how my behavior affected others instead of thinking about myself all the time.

While this program was extremely rewarding, there was still something missing.  I started attending Mountain Christian Church not knowing what I was searching for but hoping to find what I needed to feel whole.  I met a bunch of great people, and I met Pastor Frank.  After talking to Pastor Frank one evening about salvation and Christ, I knew I had found what was always missing.  I needed Jesus.  I had been living with what I’ve heard referred to in AA as a “god-sized hole” in my heart.  I heard someone in an AA meeting once say, “God brought me to AA and through AA I found God”.  I love that. 

Throughout this journey I have learned the importance of repenting for my sin and asking for salvation, and I have been rewarded every day since.  Be it the wonderful people He has put in my life, or the wonderful opportunities He has blessed me with.  The Lord has given me the gift of sobriety and clarity.  He has restored my sanity.  He has given me love when I needed it most, and even when I did not.  He has relieved me of the burden of self, and He has removed the mental obsession that led me to take that first drink.  Most importantly, He has taught me what it means to genuinely love others.  My life is not exactly the way I want it to be, but through the blood of Christ, I have been set free.  Despite my troubles, I can honestly say that I am happier now than I have ever been.  As the Lord said in Isaiah 30:15, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.”

Today I declare to this church and the whole world that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  I testify before you so if you have any doubt about your faith, or you have struggles of your own, you may know that with His grace and His love, you too can be free.  I’d like to close with Romans 13:8, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law.”   

Click here to watch the video of the baptism!

I grew up in Iowa.  I met Cathy in 1969, we started dating, fell in love, and began planning marriage.  I left to go to school in Colorado in September 1970, and Cathy broke the relationship in December.  I prayed fervently God would change her heart, but He said NO.  In June 1971 I met Julie, and we fell in love and went steady.  That fall I left permanently for Colorado, and in December Julie broke up with me.  Again I prayed, and again God said NO.  Then I met Judith.  We ministered together, eventually dated, slowly fell in love, and were married in 1975.  I later learned both Cathy and Julie had married, been divorced, and remarried.  Last May Judith and I celebrated our 46^th wedding anniversary.  Judith has been a perfect wife, mother, business partner, and ministry support.  We have served together in Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU), First Baptist Church Golden Colorado, Mountain Christian Church, Gideons International and other ministries.  Although I didn’t know this at the time I was praying for Cathy and Julie, God knew all of this when he told me NO.  He gave me the perfect wife for me, and kept me from making a big mistake for my life.  Often, God’s NO is not rejection but redirection into a much better path.

Romans 8:26-27 says we don’t really know how to pray, so the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, and sometimes God says no to us but is saying yes to the Holy Spirit.  God knows what we need and what we really want, even though we don’t always pray specifically to that end.

There is a saying, “be careful what you ask for – you might get it”.  The Bible gives examples of when God relented and said YES when He wanted to say NO.  The consequences were always severe.  In Numbers 11:18-20 the people were tired of God’s provision of manna and prayed for meat.  God said YES and the people suffered a terrible plague as a result.  In I Samuel 8 the people rejected God as their King and prayed for a human king.  God warned them of the consequences of that in I Samuel 8:11-19, but they persisted.  So God said YES in I Samuel 8:22, and the eventual result was destruction of their country, captivity, and enslavement.  So God’s NO can be a great blessing in disguise.

We often forget God even said NO to His own Son’s prayer in Matthew 26:39.  But Jesus left the door open for the Father’s more perfect plan.  And because the answer to Jesus prayer was NO, we can all be saved.  Jesus gave us the example of allowing for God’s NO and redirection to a better path, and we would be wise to do the same.

I went shopping last weekend for the perfect centerpiece to display on my kitchen island. Previously I had carelessly thrown apples and bananas and other semi ripe fruit into a bowl and called it art or practicality. As I was browsing, I determined I would find fake fruit to put in the bowl instead to give off a more Martha Stewart vibe and less of an exhausted mom vibe. Something changed in me as I looked at the bags filled with decorative fruit.

I quickly began to realize the fake fruit would not work because it was too perfect and each piece was exactly the same. It was obvious the fruit was faking it. It may have looked perfect on the outside but fake fruit lacks everything that makes fruit, well, fruit. There is no gorgeous smell of fresh nectarines, crispy crunch of a perfect apple, unique stages and flavors of the ripening banana, and most importantly there is no sustenance. Isn’t it often like this in our lives when we try to fake the fruit of the Spirit? It may look beautiful on the outside but in time it will become obvious that it is purely decorative.

When we allow God to transform our hearts the result is beautiful, unique Fruit.

“The Spirit-fueled development of Christ-like character is liberating, because it brings us closer to being the people we were designed to be, the people our Spirit-renewed hearts want us to be.”

– Tim Keller

In a self-help world, it is freeing to know that I cannot become who God wants me to become by myself, by trying harder. I cannot simply decide one day to become a decorative fruit bowl and beat myself up until I am patient and kind and full of joy.

The original Greek word for “Fruit” in Galatians 5 is karpos, and one definition means “a result of something.” When the Fruit of the Spirit is displayed in our lives, it is a sign, or result, that we are being led by the Spirit of God. This is the best news! We can literally stop faking it or using willpower to try and possess all of traits we are “supposed” to have. God sent the Holy Spirit to transform us and the result will be far better than anything you or I could manufacture on our strength. My prayer for you today is that you will let go of the burden to try and fit into what you think you should be like and that you will be reminded to allow our Heavenly Father to transform your life and heart.

^"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23