Our church used Answers in Genesis’ Kingdom Chronicles for our VBS this year.
I loved this curriculum.
It may be the “2013 VBS” curriculum, but I would still recommend it for your church next year or maybe choose to use it as a Wednesday or Sunday night class as we are doing with the GoFish Guys Gotta Move VBS curriculum. Just adapt it to fit.
Kingdom Chronicles began in Genesis. It began with the introduction of two kingdoms. Then it began to explain how the two kingdoms came to be and it explained who the rulers were of these two kingdoms. Next it explained that everyone is in one of these two kingdoms. On Day Two it asks us to examine ourselves and see which kingdom we are in.
I challenged all the kids during the Bible lesson on the first day to ask God one question. I challenged them to ask it when they got home that night… to pray about it through the next day… I asked them to ask “God, whose kingdom am I in?”
The next day, VBS Day Two, God put it on my heart to offer an invitation.
I reminded the children of the question I challenged them to ask… and then I asked the children to raise their hand if they did not know whose kingdom they were in… hands went up all over the sanctuary.
At least seventeen children were transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Light right then… God chose to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me (Jesus).’ (Acts 26:18)
It was at least 10pm that night before I had things cleaned up enough to leave for the night and head home… as I was walking through the church cutting out lights, my nine year old was walking with me… as I cut the light out in our preschool hall I looked back to grab her hand as we walked down the hall in the almost dark and I saw that she was on the edge of tears.
I asked her what was wrong..
She began to cry and said she was afraid that she was in the bad kingdom and that the prayer that she prayed when she was 4 years old was not real…
We stopped right there in the hall and I knelt down in the floor and pulled her into my lap… and I prayed silently for wisdom.
You see I learned a long time ago that I was not to tell someone they were saved when God just might be telling them they are not. I had rather err on leading someone to seek God further and harder and pray for salvation again as opposed to giving someone a false assurance…
“So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people, nor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, that you may know that I am the Lord God. It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace.”
Ezekiel 13:9-10
I prayed for wisdom and I pulled my little girl close to me and I told her that God has a whole book in the Bible that was written and recorded just so we could know that we were indeed saved or not… and I told her when we got home her Daddy and I would sit down with her and we would read it and we would see if what she prayed when she was 4 years old was indeed real. God would let her know.
So as we rode home I could see she rode home in concern… her heart broken… her mind searching her heart. My heart still aching as I prayed… God give us truth.
My husband had already came home with our twelve year old and he was out in the backyard watering our garden. I walked outside to tell him what was going on and he came in the door with me… and there was our Bekah sitting on the couch, her Bible open and turned to the book that I had told her about, waiting for us…
We began with…
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
1 John 1:1-4
We began reading through the entire book of 1 John. Stopping at every “If we…” and asking her to address “if” as a question…
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)
Do you know that you sin and do you recognize it as sin?
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
When you know that you have sinned do you confess it and ask for forgiveness from God and from the one you sinned against?
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:10)
Do you admit that you are a sinner?
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. (1 John 2:3)
Do you believe that the commandments of God are good and do you try to keep them?
By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1 John 2:5-6)
Do you try to walk like Jesus walked?
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)
Do you know and believe that it is only through Jesus that you can be saved? Do you believe that when God said “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” (Romans 10:9) He meant it?
As our Bekah answered these questions… we looked at her and said, well according to the Word of God and your own confession, the truth is in you, and who is the Truth? She answered “Jesus”.
You have admitted that you are sinner, you are not lying about that, so according to the Word of God and your own confession, the word is in you, and who is the Word? She answered “Jesus”.
You have admitted that you try to keep the commandments of God and your father and I can testify on your behalf that this is true, because we see it in you every day… so according to the Word of God and your own confession, you know Him.
We then asked her if she believed God kept His Word. She answered “Yes”.
So we encouraged her to take a minute and talk to Jesus herself… and she closed her eyes and silently prayed…
And well me being the nosy mother wanted to know what she prayed… so I asked her. She said, “I just told Jesus that I loved Him, and I thanked Him for loving me”
We hugged her and sent her upstairs to change into pj’s and get in the bed… then God being God and so very good to us as I tucked her in and we read our bedtime devo… it ended with “real alive faith is about loving Jesus with all we got”
The final assurance to this precious heart that just wanted to be sure that she was with Jesus for the rest of her life and all eternity.