We exist to reach and teach about the transformational power of Jesus Christ! If the preceding statement is to be found true among us, we need to increasingly become a people of focus and passion. Paul, in the Letter to the Church at Philippi, wrote some simple, yet astounding words. He said, ‘I want to know Christ….’ In the simplest form, those words are our only shot at fulfilling our mission. We want to know Christ. More than any other good on this planet, we want to know Christ. More than any other pursuit of our lives, we want to know Christ. We want to know Him…. to see Him… to pursue Him…. to glory in Him…. and to be used by Him to elevate His glory. I am very confident that we will reach and teach of the transformational power of Jesus Christ WHEN we write on our hearts that the consuming desire of our soul is to know Christ. I want to know Christ and, out of that knowledge, to make Him known!
Christmas is great and one of my absolute favorite times of the year. There are so many exciting things going on during this Season. Feel free to venture back to last week’s e mail if you need the calendar for December. A favorite saying of mine over the last several Christmas seasons flows something like this…..’I want to be far less about consumption and far more about compassion.’ In other words, I want to worry far less about my needs and the crazy and excessive spending during the Christmas Season so that my resources are available to meet the needs of the world around me. Enjoy a phenomenal Christmas season. Enjoy a debt free Christmas! Want to think more about compassion? Check out:
This Sunday will be another significant spiritual marker in the life of Valley View. This Sunday…..
- We will adopt a budget that will cast vision for 2011 and will impact our ministries for the next 12 months. What an exciting reality to vote about a budget, but even more, to implement a vision that will impact the Nations; this city; our students; our senior adults; food banks in this area; the Honduras; our preschoolers; our discipleship; Royal Family Kids; our children; and SO much more. We GET to give so that Valley View will reach and teach of the transformational power of Jesus Christ!
- We will vote to affirm the call of T.J. Joy (Malyssa) as our High School Pastor and Steven Platt (Ashley) as our Middle School Pastor. We will be voting to put leaders in place who will affect our students and those who volunteer and invest in our students and in the family’s of students. This Sunday will be a massive moment that will have implications for many years to come. We are praying that God will raise up a generation of students who radically advance the passion and purpose of Christ for their lives. We believe HUGE things for our students…. Ephesians 3.20!
This is a big deal Sunday! Come expectant!!
Let’s Pray….
- Pray for uncommon unity within our body
- Pray for continuously expectant hearts. After all, Christ is resurrected and He has chosen to live in and through us. Ask God to raise our level of expectancy
- Pray for a church-wide move of people who refuse to indebt themselves this Christmas!
- Pray for God to prepare the hearts of our students as we move into God’s ‘next’ in the ministry through them
- Pray for our Pastor! God has blessed us with a great pastor
- Pray for our staff! God has blessed us with an amazing staff
- Ask God to move in ways that simply cannot be explained by men. Join with me in praying that the people of Taylorville will have no capacity to grasp why we are who we are and how fresh God is among us!
It is such a remarkable thing to share life with you! As I move through Thanksgiving and into the Christmas Season, I find myself giving such levels of thanks for you…. Thanks for allowing me to be a part of what God is doing in and through Valley View…. Thanks for believing that God will use this body to transform our lives and to transform the culture around us and to move our lives into His transformational work around the world! I am deeply grateful that we are partners in the gospel! Have an amazing weekend and come expectant Sunday…. Expectant for changed lives… finances adopted… student leaders affirmed…. Salvation to spring from our worship… our hearts changed. Come expectant!
By Grace… For Glory,
Mark
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