Zacchaeus: 2011 Vacation Bible School

A VBS banner

In July, we had Vacation Bible School at the Barton United (UCC & UMC) Church. I was the teller and discussion leader of the story of Zacchaeus who hid in a tree when Jesus visited his town. I worked with the older children. We had quite a discussion about making choices and our faith:

Luke 19: 3-13 [Zacchaeus] was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’ As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. So he said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return. He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds,* and said to them, “Do business with these until I come back.”

Anne's bulletin board for an activity

The tree that Zacchaeus sat in

Snack time behind the church under the ash tree next to Crystal Lake Outlet

Pastor Evelyn gives a puppet show

Agrimony was in bloom behind the church

We sat on the beach of Crystal Lake, at Pageant Park, as the children swam and played

We are all looking forward to our next Vacation Bible School!

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