Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know we are living in a time of turmoil. It has felt that way for a while, but with war, rumors of wars, and political unrest, things feel increasingly unstable. I think many of us feel nervous about the future of our country and world.  This is a time to remember that Christ is our anchor in times of trouble. His rule and reign will outlast any political turmoil. We only need to read the book of Revelation to be reminded that, though these times are hard and will likely get harder, they should not be a surprise. Scripture makes clear that in t ..read more

This month's newsletter is the last of the series written by one of our elder candidates as they develop their ministry to the church. by Paul Stoddard When someone asks you who you are, how do you respond? I usually mention that I work in finance and live in Utah, which usually includes something about mountains, skiing, camping or some other outdoor activity to make myself sound cooler than I really am. Most of us generally mention what we do for a living, perhaps a hobby or two, and where we are from. How we respond is a reflection of who we are. We have been discussing the challengi ..read more

Over the next months our newsletters will be written by one of our elder candidates as a way for him to develop his ministry to the church. by Matt Olson Sometimes in Scripture we read passages that make us question whether or not God changes His mind. One example comes from the book of Jonah. In chapter three, Jonah (finally) began to prophesy regarding Nineveh’s destruction; when the king of Nineveh heard about it, he issued a decree that every man and beast should fast and be covered in sackcloth and call out mightily to God. In verse ten, after God saw how Nineveh turned from their evil wa ..read more

Over the next months our newsletters will be written by one of our elder candidates as a way for him to develop his ministry to the church. by Jonathan Mauney If you have attended JVC for any length of time you will have noticed that our order of worship (liturgy) from Sunday to Sunday is very orderly and standardized. There is a call to worship, corporate reading, prayer for the people, sermon, confession, assurance of pardon, communion, benediction, and then we finish with the Doxology. These elements that make up the liturgy are extremely edifying; however, one of the most exciting times fo ..read more

The beginning of the new year often brings new diet and exercise goals, financial goals, and relational goals. But what about spiritual goals? Your elders would like to encourage you in this new year to consider setting some SMART spiritual goals, and we’d like to help! For those who aren’t familiar with SMART goals, it’s about setting goals that are: Specific - don’t be too general (i.e. I want to be a better Christian) Measurable - be able to gauge your progress (time, frequency, quantity) Attainable - don’t set too lofty a goal (i.e. I want to be the best Christian) Realistic ..read more

I want to begin by saying how grateful we are for how much people have given over the past couple of months. We’re thankful that so many of you responded to our call to give. This is the last in our series on giving, which we started because we think this is an area we need to grow in as a church. I don’t know what individual people give; however, given the average household income of West Jordan, it appears JVC members donate roughly 3-4% of their income. I don’t believe the tithe is required of Christians (see the last newsletter), but I do believe that most Christians should set a goal to ..read more

The past several months we’ve been talking about giving in our newsletters. The most practical reason for this is that last year’s giving didn’t cover our expenses; this is all more pressing because in September we started to cover 60% of Pastor Wes’s salary. (We covered 40% of it last year.) But we also believe that giving is an area we need to grow in as a church. If each household gave just 5% of their income (based on the average household income in West Jordan) we wouldn’t just cover our budget for this year; we would have enough to pay 100% of Pastor Wes’s salary, something we weren’t pl ..read more

First, I want to thank everyone who gave this past month; we received $17,443, about $5,000 more than we did the month before. I particularly want to thank those who gave for this first time. We are still a bit short of the $19,471 we need each month to meet our budget, but this is a great start. Additionally, if anyone feels led to make a one-time contribution to help us make up some of the current budget deficit, we would be grateful. As I mentioned last month, I want to take the next couple of newsletters to talk about some biblical principles for giving. I believe God has given us an oppor ..read more

by Shaun Murray Jordan Valley Church, You are the beautiful bride of Christ. As many of you have heard, we are moving up to West Haven in the coming months. I want each of you to know that I have not taken this decision lightly, especially given my calling to you here at JVC as one of your shepherds. I have spent hours in prayer seeking the Lord on what his will is for my family’s life and none of this has come easily. I recognize that I’ve been called to JVC as an elder and shepherd and need an equal sense of calling to leave that, which I feel the Lord has given me. As of now, I believe the ..read more

In the coming weeks we will be making a few minor changes to how we serve the Lord’s Supper, which I wanted to share with you all. With these modifications, we hope our practice of the Lord’s Supper will better reflect Jesus’s intentions and that they help you remember its true significance. First, we will present the elements to better reflect a first-century meal. Instead of brass cups and tray, we will use simple pottery that is reminiscent of what Jesus would have used during his meal with the disciples. We also will use wooden trays to hold the small cups. We found a woodworker in Ukraine ..read more