Strengthening Families with Bible Studies for Life: Kids

katie2One of the things we love most about the new Bible Studies for Life: Kids are the elements created specifically to strengthen families and encourage discipleship at home.

  • Kids study the same biblical concept, or “Life Point”, each week as the rest of their family – from babies to adults.
  • All-church alignment, twice per year – In addition to studying the same concepts each week, twice a year kids studies fully align with students and adult resources to make church-wide campaigns even easier to do.
  • Every Kids Activity Page is filled with a helpful overview that connects the content from the adult, student, and kids session. Bible Studies for Life: Kids makes it easy for parents to keep the entire family engaged in “One Conversation” surrounding Scripture.

To learn more about Bible Studies for Life (for all ages!) and to preview three lessons of the material for free, visit biblestudiesforlife.com.

And this week only, (contest ends at 11:59 PM CDT) enter to win a year’s worth of Bible Studies for Life for your church.

Do you want in on that giveaway? Click here to learn more. Hurry! The giveaway ends tonight!

 

Catching a New Vision: VBS 2013

photoHappy Thursday, VBS friends!

I love Thursdays, don’t you?  If you’re anything like me, (busy!) you’re looking forward to the weekend and a couple of days of rest, but you’re thankful to still have two more days in the week to get everything on the “to-do” list done!

How’s your planning coming along so far?  What are you working on right now?

I’ve got a couple projects on my plate right now (including a brand new social media feature for sharing ideas you guys are gonna LOVE!) that I’m really excited about seeing come to fruition.

Speaking of seeing… do like my new specs?

Even though these Fun Glasses don’t have special lenses, I think wearing them is helping me catch a new vision for the work ahead. Maybe you could use a pair to help your team catch the vision for VBS 2013?

And of course, if YOU have them, your kiddos are going to need a pair for themselves, too!

 

Tabletopper, Photo Prop, or Something Else?

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tomlinsonIs it a tabletopper, photo prop, or something else? It’s all these and more.

In case you haven’t heard there is a really cool, new product in the LifeWay VBS lineup. It’s our VBS 2013 Tabletopper! And for $6.99 it’s a lot of bang for your buck.

Just check out how we used these at our Preview events this year.

 

 

 

Of course these are great tabletoppers for any table you need to set up. You can use them on your sign up and enlistment tables, registration tables, snack tables, and the list goes on. Here you can see we used the side with the park scene to conceal our extra supplies in the Cotton Candy Cafe.

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But wait! You can turn them around to use the coaster car side as a photo prop. As we’ve done here:

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Would you like to see how we created the coaster car “seatbelt?” Well, you’re in luck, we just happen to have a few pictures to show you how.

First we cut two slits at the bottom of the safety bar on each side. Then we ran some grograin ribbon through the slits. You may want to but a small piece of tape over the end of the ribbon to help you thread it through the slits. We used black ribbon at our events, however I only had blue available when I made these for the post. You can use whatever color you wish.

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Next we stapled the ribbon on one side of the tabletopper. We only stapled one side so that folks could “adjust” the seatbelt by pulling the opposite side longer for large groups or shorter for small groups.

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See how easy that was to give the tabletoppers another use? We would love to hear your ideas about how you plan to use the tabletoppers or any VBS accessory in an unusual way.

 

On Today's Agenda . . .

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As a member of the VBS Team, I get this question a lot: “You mean you have stuff to do all year?” Yes, yes, and yes! I was at the dentist office recently and the receptionist said to me, “Now that VBS is over, I guess your work has slowed down.” Au contraire, mon ami! We are in the crunch of trying to get 2013 ready and to the printer, and beginning development of 2014, all while churches are wrapping up and evaluating VBS 2012!

I keep a set of index cards, one product per card, and I write on each card what steps have been completed so I can keep up! Here’s my current rundown. . . .

1) Worship Rally DVD

• THE DRAMA: Working with the video editor on a daily basis right now; got approval from my management team on the content and overall appearance just a couple of days ago. Waiting for the editor to make final tweaks and send me an approval copy.

• THE CHOREOGRAPHY: Performance segments have been approved. Viewed the instruction segments over the weekend, and three corrections need to be made. I’m waiting to see those ASAP.

• ABC segment: Video editor #2 is working on that now. It’s due to me any minute for my approval.

• Still waiting to see “Scenic Footage” segment and the “Video Trailer.”

• I’ve created the DVD menu and just sent it to the DVD author.

2) Music Rotation Leader Guide

• Received a final approval copy from the graphic designer. This is being routed through our production editor and editorial project leader first, then will come back to me with any needed corrections marked.

3) Club VBS: Jungle Jaunt DVD

• This is due to me from the DVD author today. If everything looks OK, it will go on to the duplicator.

4) Spanish VBS Choreography DVD

• Talent enlisted. Waiting to receive Spanish recording and typeset music to send to her so she can create the choreography. (It has to be different because many of the words differ from the English versions!)

There are more products on my list, but this is probably more info than you care to read already! I will say, though, that everyone on my team feels fortunate to be able to work on VBS products. So, next time you’re wondering—yes, we have enough to do all year (and we are thankful for that)!

2012 Club VBS: SpaceQuest!

Hey guys!  I’m thrilled to be bringing you a little bit of fun info about this year’s club VBS, SpaceQuest!  I think space is AWESOME, and I’m excited to see what you guys are coming up with to help bring the whole theme together this year.

If you aren’t familiar with this year’s theme, it’s based on John 14:6 (HCSB), “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.“  Kids will have a galaxy full of fun as they learn all about Jesus’ mission for them.

One of the things I love about Club VBS is the flexibility of the material– not only does it work in a traditional VBS setting, but you could also use it over Spring Break, Fall Break, or even for a midweek gathering!  The material provides a two-hour schedule for five days, or one-hour schedule for ten days!  You could even use SpaceQuest as your material for a fun day camp.

Like the main VBS theme, there are Bible study, craft, and recreation/snack rotations.  During the two-hour daily SpaceQuest plan, kids will attend Worship Rally and travel to three rotation sites.

Flexibility is key here; the materials are usable with any Bible translation, and mission stories are available on the Web as a free download.

So what are we learning about this year as part of SpaceQuest?  Well, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

Preschoolers will learn that they can thank God for Jesus, show love to Jesus and others, remember what Jesus did, learn that Jesus showed God’s love for all people, and tell others about Jesus.  (Life Application, Days 1-5)

Older children will learn they can celebrate and worship Jesus, give their best to Jesus, choose to do what God wants them to do, accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, and tell others about Jesus!  (Life Application, Days 1-5)

The best part?  You can find everything you need to get started on your space journey right here!  And isn’t the art super cute?

Is your church using SpaceQuest this year?  Tell us how you’re utilizing the materials and share some of your planning and decorating tips with others who may need some help!

Door hanger Template

Hi guys, I fielded a question regarding our VBS 2013 Door hanger template that is usually online in our downloadable section of the website. Unfortunately it’s not there yet, so I wanted to post it on the blog in the meantime. :)

We changed the designed this year, so the old template will no longer work.

Here are the templates! Enjoy!

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12_Door_Hanger_TEMPLATE_2

Template Instructions

 

Hi guys, Keith again.  I noticed a function was not working correctly on the 12_Door_Hanger_TEMPLATE_2 and so I have gone back in to fix it. If you downloaded it before today (March 6, 2012), the file will not work correctly. Thanks all!