{"id":33242,"date":"2024-05-07T13:54:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T17:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=33242"},"modified":"2024-06-29T14:00:58","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T18:00:58","slug":"2024-vacation-bible-school-ready-to-take-a-dive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=33242","title":{"rendered":"2024 Vacation Bible School Ready to take the Plunge!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The 2024 edition of Vacation Bible School is upon us!\u00a0 Last year we took a Stellar Adventure and learned how to shine God&#8217;s light.\u00a0 This year, we&#8217;ll stay on earth and dive into God&#8217;s Friendship to see what Living Water is all about.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>All are invited to become part of this experience.\u00a0 Here are the details:<\/p>\n<div class='et-box et-info'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et-box-content'><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">WHAT<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 Scuba: Diving into Friendship with God<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">WHEN<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 Monday June 24 thru Friday June 28<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">TIME<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Starts at 6:00 PM.\u00a0 Ends around 8:00 PM<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">WHERE<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 Pitman United Methodist Church (<a href=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?page_id=609\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">directions<\/a>)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">WHO<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 \u00a0 All kids!\u00a0 Nursery through 6th grade<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">COST<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 \u00a0 No way!!!! Absolutely free.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">REGISTRATION<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 Pre-registration is now open, either online or in person.\u00a0 Click the below button to register:<\/span><\/p>\n<a href='https:\/\/vbspro.events\/p\/events\/725ee7' class='small-button smallpurple' target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">PUMC VBS Registration<\/span><\/a>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"color: #993366;\"><em>Online registration will continue through Sunday June 23 at 12:00 p.m. After that just come a little earlier on Monday June 24 and we will register you there!!<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><em>How&#8217;s this Gonna Work???<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Each evening will last about 2 hours and follow a 4-part format:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>We&#8217;ll kick things off in the sanctuary with a &#8220;Sing and Play Splash.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Each &#8220;crew&#8221; will then rotate through a set of four stations:\n<ol style=\"list-style-type: lower-alpha;\">\n<li>Deep Bible Adventures<\/li>\n<li>Imagination Station<\/li>\n<li>Reef Rec.\u00a0 (games)<\/li>\n<li>Sticky Scripture<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Tidal Treats&#8221; (snacks)<\/li>\n<li>We&#8217;ll all get together for a &#8220;Fin-tastic Finale&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few glimpses from previous VBS&#8217;s:<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-33242 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=28054'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/VBS21-Theme2-_vbs511-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/VBS21-Theme2-_vbs511-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/VBS21-Theme2-_vbs511-178x178.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/VBS21-Theme2-_vbs511-184x184.jpg 184w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=21491'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/VBS19-Relay-2-_400x300-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/VBS19-Relay-2-_400x300-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/VBS19-Relay-2-_400x300-178x178.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/VBS19-Relay-2-_400x300-184x184.jpg 184w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?attachment_id=21479'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/VBS19-MrSoftie-01-_400x300-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/VBS19-MrSoftie-01-_400x300-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/VBS19-MrSoftie-01-_400x300-178x178.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/VBS19-MrSoftie-01-_400x300-184x184.jpg 184w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Living Water<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The book of Acts tells us that new Christians were baptized and then they received the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 And before that, Jesus told the woman at the well that she (and we) need to be filled with &#8220;Living Water&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class='et-box et-bio'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et-box-content'><p><span style=\"color: #993366;\">Jesus answered her, \u201cIf you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993366;\">\u201cSir,\u201d the woman said, \u201cyou have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #993366;\">Jesus answered, \u201cEveryone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">John 4:10-14<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><em>What&#8217;s the deal with Water?\u00a0 What is this &#8220;Living Water&#8221; stuff anyway????<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>&#8220;Living Water&#8221; is a metaphor describing the relationship that we can have with God.\u00a0 Jesus even called His disciples Friends!\u00a0 We can be a &#8220;Friend&#8221; of the almighty God, even as we revere and worship Him.\u00a0 Like the deep end of a pool, God&#8217;s love immerses us and covers us from head to toe. Living Water flows to us in the form of &#8220;coincidences&#8221;, answered prayers, moments of inspiration, familiar Bible verses that &#8220;hit you&#8221; afresh, and friends who show you love.\u00a0 We can receive this &#8220;water,&#8221; and we can share it with others as is overflows in our soul.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some other qualities of the &#8220;Living Water&#8221;:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Living Water cleanses<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 When we discover that we&#8217;ve been &#8220;out of synch&#8221; with God, off doing our own thing and not even thinking of God, we feel &#8220;dirty.&#8221;\u00a0 Living Water is the unconditional forgiveness that makes us feel clean again.\u00a0 God&#8217;s forgiveness isn&#8217;t &#8220;burying the hatchet with the handle sticking out&#8221; (<a href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/Garth-brooks-we-bury-the-hatchet-lyrics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">as Garth Brooks sang<\/a>).\u00a0 God&#8217;s forgiveness is complete and unconditional: He removes our sins &#8220;as far as the East is from the West (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bible.com\/bible\/111\/psa.103.12\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Psalm 103:12<\/a>).\u00a0 \u00a0The past is so far removed that even God doesn&#8217;t remember our sins anymore.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Living Water refreshes<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Life can sometimes feel like we&#8217;re just spinning our wheels, spending all of our effort on things that don&#8217;t matter or last.\u00a0 God&#8217;s Living Water is a lasting and meaningful purpose.\u00a0 When we&#8217;re tired from wasting our efforts, Living Water refreshes our spirit, points us in a new direction and puts winds in our sails.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Living Water is eternal<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 \u00a0When you drink from a cold bottle of water, you feel great.\u00a0 But after a few minutes in the hot sun you&#8217;ll feel thirsty again.\u00a0 You need another drink.\u00a0 If that bottle is too big to carry around with you or if it&#8217;s too small and runs out, you need another supply.\u00a0 \u00a0But God&#8217;s supply of life-giving water is not only endless, it&#8217;s continuous.\u00a0 It&#8217;s always available to flow into your thirsty spirit.\u00a0 Check out this description of heaven:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bible.com\/bible\/111\/REV.22.NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Revelation 22:1-6<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Living Water is deep<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 You can&#8217;t keep in tune with God simply by sipping some Living Water now and then.\u00a0 It&#8217;s good to read the Bible in the morning, but are you thinking of God driving home from work in rush hour traffic?\u00a0 Living Water invites you to become immersed in it.\u00a0 Not to just dip your toe into it once in a while, but take the plunge and dive into it. \u00a0 \u00a0You can&#8217;t develop a rich relationship with God just by going to church once a week.\u00a0 To be surrounded by a friendship with God, to feel His presence and purpose, you need to dive into the Living Water by inviting God to be in every minute by minute detail of your life.\u00a0 See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bible.com\/bible\/97\/PHP.4.MSG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Philippians 4:4-9<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Living Water is for everybody.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0The woman at the well in the above verse (John 4:10-14) came to the well alone during the heat of the day because she not respected by her community.\u00a0 She was married five times and was currently living with a man who wasn&#8217;t her husband.\u00a0 And she was a Samaritan- a &#8220;half breed&#8221; who Jews wouldn&#8217;t associate with&#8230;. but Jesus did.\u00a0 She wouldn&#8217;t have been invited to their synagogue, but Jesus invited her into His &#8220;Church.&#8221;\u00a0 Regardless of your past, regardless of what others think of you, God still loves you and welcomes you into His fellowship.\u00a0 Living Water is available to anyone.\u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4436\" src=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/waves-circles-285359__180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/waves-circles-285359__180.jpg 270w, https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/waves-circles-285359__180-140x94.jpg 140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This summer, dive deep into an amazing undersea adventure where kids will experience the ever-flowing, never-ending love of God. At Scuba VBS, kids will be immersed in the Word and discover what living water is really all about!\u2028During the week, adults can immerse kids in prayer and acts of service.\u00a0 Circle the week of June 24 on your calendar and pre-prayer to surround yourself and others with God&#8217;s amazing love.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For a sneak preview, check out the below video:<\/p>\n<div class='et-box et-shadow'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et-box-content'><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"VBS24 Theme Promo\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/834887893?h=e87b078ead&amp;dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #008000; font-size: 24pt;\">+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For more info on our Vacation Bible School ministry (or to see posts about previous years&#8217; VBS), click this button:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href='https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?page_id=1802' class='big-button biggreen'><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Vacation Bible School<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vacation Bible School is one of the traditional highlights of our year, and 2024 won&#8217;t be an exception!  This year, VBS will be held during the week of June 24, and we&#8217;ll learn about God&#8217;s Friendship and offer of Living Water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9,23,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-study","category-evann","category-kids","category-vbs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33242"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33267,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33242\/revisions\/33267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}