VBS 2015 - Top Ten - To the Edge from Regular Baptist Press - and Give-Away!

 Today we are looking at To the Edge from Regular Baptist Press! RBP did a great job with the content and substance of this VBS resource - if  you are not familiar with their materials and have never taken a close look at them in the past, this year is a great year to make a change and consider if To the Edge is a good "fit" for your children's ministry!

To the Edge
Regular Baptist Press

http://www.rbpvbs.org/

1. God's Care - Jesus cares and heals - Mark 1:40-2:13 - The God of the universe cares about our needs.
2. God's Omniscience - Woman at the well - John 4:3-42 - The God of the universe knows me and loves me.
3. God's Forgiveness - Woman anoints Jesus' feet - Luke 7:36-50 - The God of the universe can forgive sin.
4. God's Enabling - Peter walks on water - Matthew 14:22-33 - Look to the God of the universe to help you do the things He tells you to do.
5. God's Love - Jesus washes feet - John 13:1-17 - Jesus demonstrated His love by His service and sacrificial death.

Setting – Exploring deep space

Message – "God sent His Son, Jesus to planet Earth. His life reveals God in a way which the stars never could. Jesus is, 'The image of the invisible God'. In Jesus we can see the God of the universe loves us!"

Focus – Evangelism, Bible content and Application
Strengths –

• As I would expect, To the Edge has a strong evangelistic emphasis, solid Bible content, excellent mission project and great information on how to reach VBS families after VBS is over!
• I'm happy to see creative engagement of the kids during the Bible lesson portion of each day’s lesson again this year!
• I’m very happy to see teachers and children reading from the Bible during the Bible lessons for the Middler and Junior ages!
• The activities connect well and do a good job of reinforcing the daily point!
• Strong, intentional focus on providing children the opportunity to make the decision to get saved in each day’s lesson.
• I LOVE the reproducible certificates you can give children when you catch them being "good"! Great idea!
• I LOVE the science stations included with each day’s lesson!
• I still would like to see a bit more “pep” and possibly more original music – but you have the option to use music with a piano track or instrumental track again.
• Love the puppet – Astro the Space Monkey! Colorful and fun - children will love Astro, too!
• Great craft book with an abundance of affordable ideas
• Very complete director’s book – especially appreciate the info on engaging children with special needs and the thorough way it covers screening volunteers and safety!

Would like to see –

• Ideas to help kids serve in their own communities
• Zipper tags or something kids could take home each day to remind them of the lesson they learned and what they are going to do to live it
• Resources for churches which do not use the classroom model – Bible lessons in a book for a Bible lesson station and a station with object lessons/science projects/activities – this would provide more options and make the materials easier for churches to use.
• More excitement in the opening and closing – this is a great place for object lessons/science projects and gives you a big way to once again make your point before kids leave for the day.
• I’d like to see a more intentional and stronger focus on specific things for kids to go and “do” before they return the next day to live what they learned.

Regular Baptist Press says, "With to the Edge, students will encounter the God of the universe - seeing God's great power as they explore deep space, traveling beyond our solar system. They will learn about God's love, holiness, forgiveness and plan of salvation: which reveal through Jesus' life and teaching what God, the Creator of all, is like."  

As I would expect from Regular Baptist Press, the Bible content is solid and I’m very happy to once again see an intentional focus on helping children who are already Christians learn how to live what they learn in their everyday lives! Overall, To the Edge is a great option for a VBS with a strong evangelism focus and solid Bible content or for a mission trip resource! To the Edge is absolutely worth taking a serious look at it to see if it is a good “fit” for your ministry!

I am happy to say, Regular Baptist Press is making available one of their Starter kits which "has everything you need to launch your VBS and lead students to encounter the God of the universe!", for me to give away (USA only)! If you are over the age of 18 and would like to be included in the drawing for one of the Jump Start kits - which will be on January 22, 2015, please comment below to let me know how God has showed His great power to you; most recently I've been able to see this in how He answers prayer!

In addition if you have followed on Google Friend Connect, followed by liking on facebook with the tab in the "Find us on Facebook" box ON THE BLOG or at this link (not just liking the post) and/or have followed About the Children's Department by email you will receive one entry for each of these which you have done. Plus, if you "share" this post, you'll receive another entry (please let me know if you share). This will help me be able to draw names from among people who would like to win one of the Jump Start kits and it gives you several ways to enter the give-away! Thank you for reading About the Children's Department and for sharing it with the people you know!