This is the third sermon in the series titled “Stories for Summer: The parables of Jesus”.

Theme – Why is it that in Jesus’ story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, it’s the tax collector who goes home justified before God?  The reason:  the tax collector recognized that he was completely dependent on God’s mercy, while the Pharisee relied on his own goodness.  And that’s what connects us to God--the recognition that we are totally and completely dependent on God.

The text for the sermon was taken from Luke 18:9-14.

This Sunday was also our VBS finale. The VBS kids participated in the worship service which ended with our traditional VBS Carnival.

The following videos were also shown on Friday of last week, and during the worship service, to give the parents a feel for what happened during the week.

All our kids and our leaders had a fantastic time last week romping in the Crocodile Dock swamp. Some of the pictures from the Bayou themed event have been posted to our photo gallery

All that remains is the carnival which will take place following our worship service this Sunday.

Please note that our worship service starts this week at 10:30 AM. The VBS carnival will start immediately following the worship service.

We are looking forward to a wonderful romp in the swamp this year with our Bayou themed Crocodile Dock. As always, there are many, many ways you can help, and we need ALL the help we can get! This is a major outreach of Northminster and a MAJOR GROUP EFFORT! Young and not so young are encouraged to get involved!

Here are some ways you can help…and trust me when I say there will be more to come!

First off, we love having all of your wonderful encouraging faces join us during VBS week. Don’t be bashful…if you can spend an hour or the whole week, we would love to have you! You will be amazed at how spending time with this group of children will lift your spirits and renew your faith. Your heart cannot help but be filled to the brim…I PROMISE! Please contact me and I will give you ideas on how you can help.

If you cannot be on site during the week, we will be decorating Congdon Hall, the Sanctuary, Lindig Library, the Fireside Room, and the Sunday School classrooms to provide a Swamp Stomp atmosphere for our week! This will take place the Saturday and Sunday before VBS and we can use everyone…whether you think you are artistic or not! If I can decorate…EVERYONE can!

Elizabeth Zeigler and Bernie Kuchta have generously offered to head up this year’s Decorating Committee. Their minds are already cranking out wonderful ideas! If you have any ideas or would just like to help, please contact them via email at bkuchta1@san.rr.com. There will be much cutting out, gluing, sewing, etc. to do…maybe the Mariners would like to help with this one…hint, hint, hint!

And of course, we need a clean up crew! Something we ALL have LOTS of practice doing after this weekend’s Alley Cleanup…I am so proud of all of us, by the way!

We are mixing things up a little bit this year…seems to go with the theme of the church. Every year we have a lunch and carnival on the last day of VBS. This year we have decided to have the lunch and carnival after church the Sunday after VBS. The church service will start at 10:30 instead of our usual 9:30, and the lunch and carnival will follow directly after. Denise Crow has graciously offered to run the carnival this year, and there are a few things she needs:

• 4 to 6 portable shade canopies.
• Lots of candy for booth prizes…individually wrapped please, probably should stay away from chocolate so we don’t have to worry about them melting.
• Lots of McDonald’s toys any toy prize….
• NEW Face paints – this is the most popular booth and we need a lot. A Michael’s gift certificate would be great!

For lunch items we need people who are willing to take donation letters to local grocery stores asking for hot dogs, watermelon, etc. JoAn Johnson is in charge of lunch and would be happy to fill you in on what is needed.

We have several local businesses that have been kind enough to offer us fundraising opportunities:

• Monday, July 6 and Tuesday, July 7 — Applebee’s on Balboa ALL DAY—Dine in and Carry out—15% of purchases donated back to VBS
• Monday, July 13 through Friday, July 17 — Coldstone in Clairemont Square ALL DAY—25% of purchases donated back to VBS
• Tuesday, July 21 — Mountain Mike’s, ALL DAY—Dine in, Delivery and Carry-Out—UP to 30% of purchases donated back to VBS

In order for us to get credit for your purchases, you MUST present a flyer. The flyers are downloadable below or available in the church office. I will, of course, be reminding you all relentlessly. Also, you are encouraged to send fliers to anyone and everyone you know!

• Applebee’s Flyer
• Coldstone Flyer
• Mountain Mike’s Pizza Flyer

We also have ways you can sponsor a child’s VBS experience. Our goal is to have 140 children registered. Here are a few ideas:

• $1 covers the cost of a preschool child’s bible point sticker sheet
• $1 covers the cost of a child’s God Sight Light
• $2 covers the cost of a child’s mission project
• $4 covers the cost of a child’s workbook for the week
• $5 covers the cost of a child’s VBS t-shirt
• $15 (approximately) covers the cost of 1 child’s snacks for the week

Thank you all very much for your support! I can’t wait to get started!

Korin McCoy
VBS Director 2009
northminstervbs@northminstersandiego.com

I am looking forward to leading this congregation as we launch the 2009 Vacation Bible School. VBS is a wonderful legacy of Northminster that is known throughout San Diego. That being said, I want you ALL to know any and all volunteer efforts are encouraged and extremely welcome! This is not a VBS just for the Northminster friends and families who have elementary age children. This is a project of love that connects many generations here at Northminster!

Recently, several of you have stopped and asked me about VBS plans, so I wanted to give you all an update.

The reason you have heard very little from me regarding VBS is because I do not want to detract from our Alley Beautification project coming up on June 14. I think this is a wonderful thing our church is doing and I want it to be the focus.

My current plan is to have our first volunteer meeting following this project on June 14th. I am tentatively planning to have us all meet at noon. Since we will all be there working on the alley, we can move the time earlier or later if necessary.

We are well on the way with our registration. As of now we have 90 of the available 140 spots filled. If you are planning on volunteering and having your children participate, or if you are just planning on registering your children please do so soon! To give you an idea of the kind of outreach this program is, of the 90 children currently registered, only 49 of the children listed a church home and only 13 listed Northminster as their church home. That’s pretty amazing!

This year’s theme is Crocodile Dock. It is a Bayou theme and promises to be tons of fun for everyone involved! Keep your eyes peeled for crocodiles, turtles, opossums, fireflies, mosquito nets, lanterns, etc.

Pastor Marcus needs a tall pair of rubber wading boots if anyone has those handy!

I will see you all at the volunteer meeting on June 14th! If you cannot be at the meeting but are interested in volunteering, please send me an email.

Also, if you have any ideas you would like to share, send me an email.

Thank you and God bless!

Korin

There is now a new email address to facilitate contact with our VBS Director.

If you have any questions regarding VBS, don’t hesitate to send an email to northminstervbs@northminstersandiego.com

Vacation Bible School registration for the summer of 2009 is now open.

Forms should be filled out and turned into the church office at your earliest opportunity — our program fills up fast!!!

Every child must have a completed registration form and release form turned into the church office.  Scholarships are available; please let us know if there is a need.  The Youth Volunteer Application Form and Release Form must be filled out and returned to the church office.

You may download registration and release forms for your children below.

• Registration Form
• Release Form
• Youth Volunteer Application

Enrollment is limited,  so please register early to avoid being placed on the wait-list or missing out!!

This summer Northminster is planning a romp through the swamp with our Bayou themed Crocodile Dock, and you’re invited!  We hope you’ll join us for this year’s Vacation Bible School.

Each day children will take part in a fun, Bible learning experience that they can see, hear, touch, and even taste!   Bible point crafts, team-building games, lively Bible songs, video visits from Chadder Chipmunk, and Bible drama adventures are just a few of the fun activities that children will enjoy.

July 27th to July 31st 9 AM to noon

Pre-registration- starts on Sunday April 26th AFTER the worship service.

FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED…..AND IT FILLS UP FAST!!!!

• $40 for first child in family, $30 for each additional child
• Potty trained 3 year olds to 5th graders are welcome

Enrollment is limited to 140 children (34 total Preschool age), so please register early to avoid being placed on the wait-list or missing out.  Every child must have a completed registration form and release form turned into the church office.  Scholarships are available; please let us know if there is a need.

Older students (entering 6th grade and above) are invited to apply to be VBS volunteer helpers.  Limited volunteer spaces are available.  Not all applications will be approved. 

Registration and release forms will be posted to this site following pre-registration on the 26th.  Please print out the forms you need, fill out, and return to the church office.

If you would like to see what happened last year, go to our Photo Gallery.

We look forward to seeing you at Crocodile Dock!

Sermon by Markus Watson on August 3, 2008

This is the sixth sermon in the series on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Theme – It’s amazing to think that God is interested in us.  It’s even more amazing to think that God actually makes his power available to us!  In Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul tells us three things about God’s power:  1) God gives us the power to be inwardly strong, 2) God gives us the power to know how much he loves us, and 3) God’s power is at work within us.

The videos below were shown during the worship service which was a celebration of the time spent with “our kids”.  This worship service was our opportunity to provide our congregation and the parents a few of the highlights of our Amazing Week at VBS.

Just a reminder that we will have a special VBS Celebration service this Sunday from 9:30-10:30 a.m.  We’ll have all kinds of good food before and after the service.  We will see some videos from the week and listen to the kids sing!  This Sunday will be all about our VBS kids!

Also, all families whose kids came to VBS this week will receive a free DVD with videos from this past week after the service!

What an amazing week this has been here at Northminster!  All year long I’d been hearing about how great Vacation Bible School is each summer.  And now I’ve finally experienced it for myself!  I’ve worked with VBS at several churches in the past and I can honestly say that this has been one of my best VBS experiences ever!

There are two things that made this VBS week so great for me—the kids and the volunteers.

It was so wonderful to have this campus overrun with little kids for a whole week!  I was thinking about why it’s so great to be surrounded by little kids, and I think it’s because kids remind us about what’s really important.  When they’re asked what they’re thankful for, they don’t say things like, “My new car” or “My big screen HDTV.”  Instead, kids will say things like, “Playing with my mom and dad,” “Hugging my grandma and grandpa,” and “Playing with my friends.”

What I’m finding is that kids haven’t been around long enough to let our world distort their priorities.  Yes, we taught the kids about Jesus this week—but they taught us a whole lot about what’s really important in life!

The volunteers also made it a terrific week for me!  It was so exciting to arrive on Monday morning and see so many people wearing their green Power Lab t-shirts!  I couldn’t believe how many people—of all ages—were there and were excited to love on these kids for the whole week!

So I want to say thank you to all of the volunteers who worked so hard this week.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  God has done some amazing things through each one of you in the lives of these little ones.  Because of you, Jesus words came true this week:  “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”