Two months ago I took on the personal challenge of seeing if I could memorize the first chapter of James. I was preparing to start a new sermon series in this book and thought it would be a good discipline to commit the beginning words of James to memory. After memorizing the first chapter over the next couple of weeks, I decided to keep going and entered into chapter two. This time I was able to memorize the second chapter in just one week. And then a new thought entered my mind: What if I memorized the whole book? Now Scripture memorization has never been a strength of mine. Up to this ..read more

Most churches have a mission statement that states the purpose for their existence. The goal of these statements is to provide clarity, focus, unity. These statements can help everyone move in the same direction as they seek to live out God’s calling for them as a church. But the challenge with the mission statement is that it is only effective when it moves from a statement to an action. Too many churches have a mission statement but not a mission lifestyle. There can be a disconnect between what a church says they want to do and what they are actually doing. Recognizing this challenge, the E ..read more

Last month we talked about different types of worship songs in the Bible. Over the years, in the many churches I have worked at as a worship leader, worship pastor and a variety of other titles (the most convoluted being “Pastor of Creative Communications and Worship Leader”), I often received messages concerned that a specific song we had sung in service wasn’t “biblical.” And while the songs were not unbiblical, what those people had actually noticed was that the songs were incomplete. Worship songs all have their strengths and weaknesses biblically speaking. All in some sense or form may be ..read more

Jesus says in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Go and make disciples. We hear those verses so often at Village, and I bet most of the time we are thinking that the outside world away from Village is where we are to go. But if you take a look around our own church body, you’ll see that we have many right here tha ..read more

Like many of us, I work in the business world that offers customers capabilities, products and solutions they need to improve and grow their business. But customers tell us that they don’t do business with us just because we have the best products and services, they do business with us because we CARE about them and their company. Teddy Roosevelt once said: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” I have recently been challenging myself with this question: “Do I CARE about people?” I mean, do I truly CARE about them?  Do I CARE about the customers I work wi ..read more

Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 20, and come join the Village family from 8-10 AM as we help clean up the landscaping on our church property. Bring you own gardening and landscaping tools and let’s enjoy a morning of helping clean up the outside of our church. For more information, please contact Kelly Westberg.   ..read more

I understand that the first day of spring this year was March 19 and yes, we have had some nice days, but certainly there has been ever-changing weather.  With the onset of spring, many of us start thinking about our yards and planting flowers, and farmers begin sowing the seeds of the various crops for harvest. In Luke 8:4-15 Jesus tells a parable of someone sowing seeds and what can happen to the seeds after they have been scattered. Certainly, we don’t need to wait till spring to spread seeds of God’s love and goodness. I think that springtime is a good reminder of a time when life spr ..read more

We have been having a great time in Sunday School this month focusing on how to start gospel conversations. We have been using a tool called “The 411.” So, if you weren’t able to attend, what did you miss? Well, the 411 is a training tool that helps believers share the gospel and start making disciples by answering four questions on one piece of paper in one study. The four questions are: 1.) Why should I make disciples? 2.) Who should I share with? 3.) What should I say? 4.) When should I do the things I’ve learned? The tool is part of the global Christian discipleship movement called “No Pla ..read more

Our Semi-Annual business meeting will be Sunday, June 4 at 10:30 AM. Please make plans to join us as we take a moment to look back over the last 6 months and look ahead to future plans. If you have any questions, please see one of the Elders.   ..read more

During the Gospel Conversations Sunday School class, one of the ways Hal has been encouraging us to enter into the work of the gospel is through intentional prayer walking: whether that is in your neighborhood, workplace or even a café. We want to invite the church family to spend one week during the week of May 21 prayer walking through an area of your life such as your school, your workplace, your neighborhood. Spend a moment every day praying for the people in that area. The work of the gospel begins with prayer ..read more