WE HEARD THE "GOOD NEWS"...

...and learned we could spread it too!

We met Paul in our Bible story today.  He told
us about his shipwreck on the way to Rome,
that God came to him in a dream and said not
to fear.  He would be saved from the storm at sea.
He told us the "good news" that all who follow
 Jesus will be blessed with eternal life and know that God loves them!

"Go into the world and proclaim the good news to every creature."
                    Mark 16:15

On our last "dive" we praised God through the songs we have learned this week..

We had some "stormy seas" of our own in the pirate ship bounce house at VBS!

We tried NOT to fall overboard, while
having a great time getting tossed around!

We stopped by the well to check out the coins "divers" had tossed in this week to help buy water jugs for people in Africa who must carry their drinking water long distances to bring it to their families.

"PUFF, PUFF, PUFFERFISH!..."
we learned a cheer to share with the other "dive groups".

Paul brought the "good news"
to US and we know we can
share it with others we meet.
We can CHANGE THE WORLD
one person at a time!

                We are the Pufferfish!

 We really can CHANGE THE WORLD
  and make it a better place to be!

Keep "DIVING DEEP" with God!

God's love is deeper than the sea!

WE WENT FISHING...

WITH PETER AND JESUS!

WHAT A CATCH!
...and Jesus said, "Come with me
and I will make you fishers of MEN".

In our Bible story we  saw Jesus talking to Peter, asking him to leave his fishing nets to come and follow Him, to become one of his disciples.

EACH DAY AT VBS WE HAVE BEEN
ADDING TO OUR "BIBLE VERSE" MOBILE.
TODAY'S VERSE WAS:
"Choose today whom you will serve...
But my family and I will serve the Lord."Joshua 24:15

In crafts today we made fish bracelets

and necklaces with a message in a bottle.

We could write any message inside, maybe

even a prayer.

Many of our craft projects were ready to go home today.

These are some of our painted sand dollars and our photo CDs.

In science we did experiments with water, and

watched magnets attract, just as Jesus wants us

to be "attracted" to Him.

In assembly, we sang and danced...and even did

some deep sea diver yoga!!! We had fun!

It's GREAT TO "DIVE DEEP" with God!

Jesus is an "anchor" in our lives, always helping us to  stay  afloat and not  drift away from God and His love.

Tomorrow is our last day to "dive deep" with God, but we heard they have saved the best for last...we will hear the "good news" from Paul!

WE WERE THERE...

...ON THE BANKS OF  THE  JORDAN RIVER WHEN JESUS WAS BAPTIZED BY JOHN! 

On today's dive, we went even deeper with God, as we learned how HE gave his only Son as a gift to the world, so that we may have eternal life.

Heading out on today's dive...

When we "CLAIM JESUS", we choose to
believe and trust HIM as God's Son.
We can "claim" HIM by... coming to church,
telling others about HIM, reading the Bible
and being kind and loving to our neighbors.

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him won't perish, but will have eternal life."

                        JJohn 3:16

We decorated sand dollars in crafts...

and made crosses that look like stained glass.

The pufferfish played diving games in recreation...

The "DIVE MASTERS"...

"DIVE IN" PUFFERFISH!

Back in our dive room, we  

chose our own samples of driftwood to take home from the Texas gulf of Mexico.  We talked about where driftwood comes from and what a beautiful "gift from the sea" it is.

Later in the week, we will "dive in" to a story about a wooden shipwreck, one of the kinds of wood that can become driftwood.

Tomorrow we will hear a story about
disciples who chose to follow Jesus...
what a BIG FISH story it will be!

"DARING TO CARE...

FOR OTHERS!

Today we learned how to show
"Deep Faith" in God by daring to care for others. Our story was from 2 Kings 5. It was about a young servant girl who "dared to care" for her master, by helping to find someone
to cure him of his skin disease.

Our Bible verse taught us that God wants us to "care" for each other.
"Love your neighbor as you love yourself."Matthew 22:39

In our "pufferfish" dive room, we are creating a mural of God's beautiful underwater world and writing about HIS great love for us...

In crafts, we made an "ocean in a bottle"...
and created handmade tags to tie on
water bottles to be handed out to the
homeless in our city.

Back in our dive room...

       ...we used Legos to create vehicles and deep sea divers to explore the underwater world. 

and we made a hand-print octopus to remind us to

"DIVE DEEP WITH GOD"...

We sang with "OCHO the OCTOPUS" in assembly...

...and played with blue balloon "bubbles" in recreation time!

It was a B-I-G "DIVE" day at VBS!

Tomorrow we will hear a story about a prophet who shared a great message about the coming

of God's Son, Jesus...