Grace Awakening

Days 13 – 16

Day 16 – February 16, 2012

Our fellowship has prayed, prepared, and experienced a beautiful move of God.  The Awakening has truly awakened our hearts to worship; to an ever-deepening passion for the Word; to a prevailing desire to share with and invite those in our sphere of influence to know Christ;  and a personal  increasing love relationship with Christ.

That seems to be what Paul is praying for the Church at Ephesus in these verses.  Read through these verses again, and then take a moment to read the promise found in verse 20.

Ephesians 3:14-19

New International Version (NIV)

A Prayer for the Ephesians

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

As we fall in love with God and as we posture our fellowship to live as a place that demonstrates much of God’s grace and hope, then God thoroughly enjoys stepping into the middle of that type move and breathing more life, and more hope, and more grace, and more of Himself than can be imagined.   Check out verse 20.

Ephesians 3:20-21

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

So, as we close out this season of worship and open our hearts to God’s ‘next’ at Valley View, why not ask Him to allow our church to fit into the pages of His Word.  As Scott Dawson spoke on Monday night, he walked our fellowship through a God-sized move in the life early church.

In Acts 1:8, God breathed life into His FIRST church and He challenged them with an unequivocal mission….

Acts 1:8

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

 

Within a short span of 4 chapters, this group had filled Jerusalem with their passion for God!

Acts 5:28

²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

 

A short time later, the entire region was made aware of the grace of God.

Acts 13:49

⁴⁹ The word of the Lord spread through the whole region

Yeah, the entire continent was experiencing an Awakening…

Acts 19:10

¹⁰ This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

Paul went to the nations and parked his life in the midst of the “Gentiles” and discipled them in the grace and knowledge of Christ.  

Acts 28:30-31

³⁰ For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. ³¹ He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

From a few grace-filled ragamuffins praying in an upper room, the gospel of Christ spread to the nations.    This movement is a God-sized and Christ-glorifying movement and there is little doubt that God longs to Awaken His church to His fame for His glory.

What could God do through Valley View as our lives are given to Him and His name becomes the greatest desire of our soul?     It will likely be far beyond our imagination.  Wouldn’t it be fun to discover more Christ and more of His glory as we pursue Him together?

Close out 16 day journey of prayer with a video from Passion 2012….. the Nations are literally singing of the greatness of our God.    The nations await as God brings His church fully alive so that we bring Christ fully alive from T-town to the ends of the earth!

 

Day 15- February 15, 2012

So, we are headed into the last scheduled day of the Awakening.  However, God-sized and Christ-filled Awakenings have a profound way of stepping far outside our schedule and capturing our hearts.     Let’s continue to ask our God to give us fierce hearts that give great chase toward Him.   The Word of Christ has been spoken over us through Aaron Keyes.    In quoting the Psalmist, Aaron has reminded us of a mighty, pursuing, powerful God who is fighting for our hearts.    May we, as well, display our Christ who lives in us and who  in our hearts for His advance and His renown.

It has been a beautiful week.  As of this writing (Tuesday, Feb 14), we have watched as our God:

- has drawn 27 of our children to Himself and  into God’s salvation story.  GREAT things are happening in our Kid Awakening

- allowed worship to abound in hearts as God has used the Aaron Keyes band to draw us toward Himself

- compelled His people to give More than a thousand items  to needs in our city and to the Nations (Honduras).    The impact of the Awakening will make itself known in this City throughout the year.

- brought tremendous life change in the room as,

*lives are committed to Christ in a new and fresh way

* marriages are restored for His glory

* salvation has come to more than a dozen people

* a consistent renewing and zeal for Christ permeates our hearts.

This is a beautiful week as we seek more and more of our God.

Take a few minutes and bask in Paul’s prayer for the Church at Philippi:

Ephesians 3:14-19

New International Version (NIV)

A Prayer for the Ephesians

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Aaron shared, on Monday night, from Psalm 91.  He reminded us that our God is the most high God.  He is El-Elyon.. the God who stands over and above all and that we find our rest and hope in Him.    Later in the verse, our God is called El Shaddai, which means ‘the breakthrough that we have waited for’.     We rest in a holy, and high God who stands at all times as the crowning King of creation.  AND, we are loved by an intimate God who breathes life into our daily ventures and provides hope in the midst of life’s greatest highs and most challenging travails.

May we, as a church, find our rest, hope, life, and passion in our MOST HIGH GOD.  May we seek Him with all of our hearts.    As we seek Him, may He shape our hearts to His in such magnificent ways that we experience His awaited breakthroughs and these moments draw us to an ever-deepening love for our God.   

Awaken. Rest. Expect.

Day 14 – February 14, 2012

Today is a GREAT day.  Today is a day that God really enjoys.  Today is a day that is focused on the heart of our God.   His deepest hope is that we will love Him with all that we are and that our love for Him will result in an outpouring of love for those around us. (Matthew 22.37-38)

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

The lyrics of a song that Aaron led in worship are so fitting for this day.

His (God’s) love is deep.  His love is wide.  It covers us.

His love is fierce. His love is strong.  It is furious.

His love is sweet.  His love is wild.  Waking hearts to life.

Allow the fierce, passionate, deep, wide, strong, AWAKENING love of our God to flood your heart through His Word.  Pray these verses over you and through our faith-family.

Ephesians 3:14-19

New International Version (NIV)

A Prayer for the Ephesians

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Our God is a mighty warrior.  He is fierce in His love for us.  We desperately need a mighty God who will fight for our heart…. who will fight for our marriages… who will fight for our children… who will fight for our city.  May we pursue His fierce love!   Our God has the love of a sovereign warrior.  – Aaron Keyes

As we are Awakened, we continue to ask what the Kingdom of God could look like in this City.  What do you expect our God to do in your heart, so that His Kingdom of God draws near when you walk into each day?     Will you live a love relationship with God so expressly that those around you have no doubt of your first love?!?  Awaken to the joy and reality that our God has invited you to fall in love with Him and to bring His Kingdom near.   Go for it!!

Very practically… God is using us to provide hundreds (thousands) of shoes to the Honduras…. Much food to the hungry in T-town.. Warm feet (socks) and clean towels to the transient in Tuscaloosa.    As we worship this week, may the Kingdom of God draw near to those around us.     Find rest, strength, and hope in our God and fix your heart on Him.

Rest in the truth that our God is everlasting, never-failing… That He is our redeemer, hope, and fortress.

Day 13 – February 13, 2012

The Awakening 2012 is on GO!   The lead up to the Awakening has been so beautiful and so filled with God.   People are surrendering so many things to Him…. from resources, to passions, to calling, to life-purpose, to renewed focus, to restored marriage, to re-prioritized parenting, to brokenness over sin, to salvation, to commitment to prayer, to commitment to spiritual leadership, to…. Yeah, well the stories are abounding.  It appears that the ‘Awakening’ managed to get started prior to the services.

AND, last night was ON!    We saw God moving in HUGE ways.     Aaron Keyes and his band of worshippers felt free to lead us directly into the presence of our God.    It is so fresh to hear Aaron speak the Word over us and to lead us to a depth of passion for the living Word!    Wow, the next three days will be amazing.   Scott Dawson felt free to preach Christ and people responded….. that altar was full.  Salvation sprang up in the room and lives were eternally changed.

His question was profound.   Does affluence, adversity, or apathy keep you from living for the sake of Christ?

Not only was God moving in the adult room, but Dennis Lee was leading our kids to a totally crazy and fun time as they pursue Christ.    Hundreds of kids are having their hearts and minds turned toward our God.

This promises to be a great week!

So, this week we are going to join Paul in his prayer for Christ’s church.    Venture into the passage below and ask God to deepen you in His abounding love.  Invite Him to pour out His love, grace, and goodness in the hearts and lives of those experiencing His awakening this week and in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Ephesians 3:14-19

New International Version (NIV)

A Prayer for the Ephesians

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Aaron led us in a powerful, powerful, powerful moment of worship this morning.   He said that we often appreciate the ‘loving’ love of our God.    And it is right to thank Him for His kindness and gentle loving.  But, our God is also a might warrior and He loves us with a fierce love!

Our God is fighting for your heart; for the heart of your marriage; for your family; for those who are around you.  Our God is fierce in His desire for an Awakening this week.  Will you join Him in His fierce love for His Kingdom and His name in your life and the lives of those closest to you?

Grace Awakening

Days 9 – 12

Day 12 – February 12, 2012

This Isaiah passage is a ‘no doubt’ If/ Then proposition and it has to be our desire as a Valley View family of faith to want to take God up on His if/ then proposal.    Read this section of Scripture:

Isaiah 58

New International Version (NIV)

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings

God intends to use you and to use our faith-family to rebuils places of ruin.  He will raise up age-old foundations!      Our God will guide us.  He will be our satisfaction.  He will pour His strength into us.  We will be as a garden that flourishes at the hand of the Master and a Spring of life that has a never-ending supply of water.  We gain this, in Christ, when:

- we rid oppression through malice and harm done to others

- we spend ourselves for the hungry and needy

- when the oppressed find hope from us

He will, then, be our light and our light will burn into the darkness.

The Awakening will launch today.  Perhaps it will be a series of services where good music and preaching happens and we feel better about God and ourselves.  That is not enough!   Maybe just maybe, God will spark an awakening among us that will have epic ramifications around our City and to the Nations.     Maybe something will shift so deeply in our core that God will drive us into the hurting and broken places because we are a people who have tasted grace and found that it satisfies.

Today is a HUGE Day!   Today launches a much anticipated event!!    Pray that this day is the spark that starts the fire of a God-sized AWAKENING.    

Pray this Isaiah passage over our fellowship and buckle up for a serious God-sized move!

 

Day 11 – February 11, 2012

So, here is what our college students have planned for the Valley View family.  They think that, as a result of the Awakening, hungry should be fed; the homeless should have a fresh towel after they bathe; children in the Honduras should have shoes; homeless in Tuscaloosa should have warm feet (socks); a purse should be around the arm of a woman or little girl in the Honduras.  So, they are helping us to be quite practical!

As you come to worship during the week, we are inviting you to bring with you:

- Non-Perishable foods (to serve a food pantry in Tuscaloosa)

- Towels/ Socks – To supply a ministry that serves the transient in T-town

- Shoes/ Purses – To serve the people of the Honduras as we go ‘on mission’ in a few months

As you read and pray through the verses below, I think that you will discover why we/ they think that this is a really great idea as a part of the Awakening.

Isaiah 58:6-12

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings

What is really amazing is that our storage shed that holds all of the supplies for the Honduras was robbed recently.  As of this writing (2/8/12), God is redeeming this robbery in a CRAZY way.  Most of the shoes and purses that had been donated over the past year were stolen.    This week, a man willingly sold us 2000 clogs/ croc knock-offs for .50 each.  We asked for $1000 from the Valley View family Sunday… collected $2200+ and watched God work.  The Tuscaloosa News actually picked up the story and by the time that you read this, our entire City will be aware of the robbery and how to contribute.  Our God is a good and giving God and He steps into the middle of a church and a people who gladly give their lives away.   Our LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.   You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 

Pause and pray through the Isaiah passage.  Listen to a beautiful song that was sung at Passion 2012.

UPDATE TODAY – 2832 Clog/Crocs; 1400 Shoes Donated; 3 Television Stations have run the story & mulitple radio stations…. This is going to be good!

This song played as the Passion Conference came to an end.   May we raise out white flag at Valley View!

Day 10 – February 10, 2012

According to these Words from the Word, our worship of God will result in a direct outflow of service to the World.  God will use us to bind the broken; to speak freedom to the captive; to loose the chains of injustice; and to break every yoke!     Are you kidding!?!  EVERY YOKE!!

God is calling His church to live His life among His people in crazy ways.   So, I have practical questions that must be asked:

Are we setting captives free?

Are the broken and hurting finding healing among the church of Jesus Christ? at Valley View?

Are you shouting FREEDOM into the hearts of those who are bound?

Are we standing in the arenas of injustice and speaking JUSTICE!?

Are we breaking every yoke of oppression by the grace-giving, life-holding, hope-filled Savior who is Jesus Christ?

Every time that we meet, homeless in Tuscaloosa desperately need shelter.  Every time that we meet, there are hungry in our City who need to be fed.  Every time that we meet, women are enslaved to abuse and in need of someone to cry ‘freedom’.  Every time that we meet, dozens of teenage girls discovered that they are pregnant on THAT DAY and they need refuge and hope.  Every time that we meet for the span of an hour, 900 people die during that hour due to malnutrition.    Pandemics abound in our world.  27M are enslaved in our World.  27 MILLION!  Multitudes are lost and without Christ in our world.   We are surrounded by hurt and our God invites us to step into the fray and to bring His light.

Will we?

Isaiah 58:6-12

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings

At Valley View, we hold the core values of being a people who live as Disciples who share life in community and live on mission.  Disciple. Community. Mission.   These core values move us because we believe that Jesus is constantly reaching and teaching of His transforming work on this earth.   We want in on that mission!

So, what is your mission?  Who is experiencing freedom because you are in Christ?  What is the mission of your ABS?  Who is discovering freedom in this City because you meet?   Are you giving your life, time, energy, hope, passions, resources away because of your deep love of and for God?

These are hard questions.  In our self-centered; body-worshipping; clothes abounding; self-serving culture, how is God fostering a peculiar people at Valley View who find great joy in giving themselves away for His sake?

Think.  Live.  Be.

I first saw this video several years ago.  It never ceases to challenge me to think less of me; more of Christ; and to care more for others.

Day 9  – February 9, 2012

Our Valley View college students were sitting in Atlanta in January, 2012 attending the Passion Conference.    They were joined by 45,000 other college students who met together with the purpose of an incredible experience with God.    Over a four-day period, they experienced just that… a total and glorious encounter with Christ.    As they worshipped, they were also asked to step directly into several needs in the world (specifically, sex trafficking/ worldwide slavery  & meeting the needs of the homeless in ATL) and to live as a people who incarnate Christ into those needs..

At one point in the worship 5 leaders, who are making great impact around the world as they bring freedom to those who are enslaved, sat on the stage and shared their hearts.  One of the women read the following verses to those in the arena.

Isaiah 58:6-12

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

These verses had compelled her (and thousands of others) toward the realization that it is simply not enough to meet with fellow Christians in a church and to sing a few songs; have a man to preach for awhile; hold an invitation; shake hands and exit into an ordinary day.   That is not the picture of the New Testament church.  That is not the offering that our God is looking for from His people who He desires to spend themselves for His name.

So, what is our God looking for as we gather in our Awakening.   As you spend a few minutes today reading the verses in Isaiah, take the time to write down in your journal what you read as truth and hope that flows from the heart of our God.    It seems that God leaves some pretty explicit instruction for His church and His people in this Isaiah passage.

As you read, consider the first sentence.  God assumes that we are a people of prayer.  He expects that we are fasting.  He expects that we are wrestling with Him in prayer.  He expects that we desperately desire that our God display His wonder among us and that we are crying out for more of Him.

Are we?  Are you?

Henry Blackaby writes, All revival begins, and continues, in the prayer meeting.  Some have also called prayer the ‘great fruit of revival.’    In times of revival, thousands may be found on their knees for hours, lifting up their heartfelt cries, with thanksgiving, to heaven.

May the Valley View faith-family truly anguish in prayer as we ask our God for an Awakening.

Grace Awakening

Days 5 – 8

Day 8 – February 8, 2012

Invite. Unite. Serve.

Perhaps one of the most profound verses in Scripture is Acts 2.43.   Everyone was filled with ‘awe‘… EVERYONE.   Not only were the followers of Christ stunned by Him, but also those who were watching from the outside.    They may not yet have embraced Christ as Savior, Redeemer, and Friend, but they were in awe of what is doing among His people.  ‘ Everyone in awe of Christ among them’ makes for a beautiful description of His church!

The Scripture below gives another favorite verse.   Do you not know that all over the provinces, believers look up to you?!?    Would it not be amazing to live in such unity and such passion for our God that others look toward us and say, ‘Jesus is in the middle of them… Jesus is clearly the desire of their soul… We see Jesus in that fellowship and we want what they have discovered!‘    May the Valley View faith family walk so intimately with God that you simply cannot tell where God stops and our lives begin. We are lost in Him!  He is all to us!!

The verses below say that the church is an  Echo of the Master’s Word.  Echo is defined - an imitation of another.   They are imitator’s of Christ and others follow them and, as they follow them, they discover more Christ.     An echo is NOT THE SOURCE, but simply a reverberation of the source.      As we discover, more and more, that we are not the point of this story, but Jesus is the all-consuming, never-ending, glorious Savior who will stand over and in eternity as the sole focus of worship, we will gladly become an echo.  We will stop making clanging sounds and bonging cymbals trying to make our small story the point.  Instead, we will become a part of the glorious symphony that, with one accord, plays of the goodness of Christ and tells of His greatness.

Enjoy the verses below.  Especially focus, today, on the descriptions of this church found in verses 7-10. If we are a people who work in faith, labor in love and are patient in hope…. if we are a people who follow Jesus…. If we are a people who are changed by His Word and who live with steep convictions because of His word….if we are a people who are carefully attentive to those who lead us toward Christ….If we are a people who are patient in distress and who take joy in the Spirit regardless the circumstance…If we are a people who are determined in our pursuit of Christ… If all of these, then maybe God will allow us to make Him more famous and to echo His glory and to wait, with great expectancy, of His return.  Maybe we will play a significant role for the sake of His glory.

 

I Thessalonians 1.2-10

^2-5Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

^5-6You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.

^7-10Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

So, the church in this passage is described with these words:

- A group to be modeled

- An echo of the Master

- An echo everywhere… all over the place.. locally and to the nations

- They are the MESSAGE

- Christ is clearly the SUPREME DESIRE OF THEIR SOUL

- Expectantly await the arrival of the Son of God

 

How would others describe you?  Valley View?

How would you like for us to be described?

 

Read Colossians 1.27 and consider the ONLY WAY to unleash the goodness and grace of God among us.  We have one hope of glory and that hope is ALL TO US.  Enjoy the song…. Enjoy Christ.

Day 7 – February 7, 2012

God is doing great things among us!   Stories of God moving in families are beautifully flowing.  A 42 year old writing of being compelled to church as never before… literally, never before desiring being involved in a faith-family, yet today discovering the joy of Christ in context of His church.   Another story of a 12-year praying for her family and asking God to allow her to ‘display’ Christ to them.    While, at the same time her family is gathering with new friends in Christ and weeping as they share that they have been led to our God by their own child.    Groups gathered last night during the Super Bowl, and several did not turn on the game because they were lost in conversation about Christ and how He is changing their lives, homes, priorities, and passions.      Bible Study leaders saying that they have to prepare to multiply  their ministry because God keeps sending more people their way and they must develop more leaders.   Two different families who had two VERY similar experiences during last year’s Awakening are totally stoked about 2012.   Both families had salvation spring up in their home last year.  In one family, both husband and wife were rescued into Christ’s eternal story for His glory.  Another saw their much prayed for son step into the Kingdom of God.   They anticipate HUGE things this year.

As you pray, we are currently asking God for three things.  We hope for MUCH more from Him, but we are currently asking Him to compel us to Invite,  Unite,  & Serve.

- Invite those who need a powerful touch from our God

- Unite in prayer and passion toward our God

- Serve this City – because we meet, this City has to rejoice!

Celebrate this reality… One way that we will serve is to give purses and shoes away on the Honduras mission.  Recently, we were robbed of many of the shoes and purses collected.   This past week we were offered the chance to purchase 2000 pair of clogs for $1000.  We asked the Valley View family to give this past Sunday.  We asked for $1000 and we received $2000+.   God will move us in the Awakening and the Nations will be glad that we met!

As you pray and prepare for the Awakening, read these verses below:

I Thessalonians 1.2-10

^2-5Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

^5-6You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.

^7-10Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

A single sentence challenges me as I read this passage over and over throughout the past weeks.   Paul writes of ‘how they had deserted the dead idols of your old life so that you could embrace and serve God, the true God.’

Is that true of you?  Have you deserted the DEAD idols of your old life?

Will you?

As a faith-family, what dead ‘idols’ do we need to desert in order to embrace and serve God?

What will be different when you fully embrace and serve God?

Invite. Unite. Serve.

Day 6 – February 6, 2012

Valley View celebrated a glorious day of worship yesterday.    It is very evident that our hearts are unifying as, together, we move in line with the heart of our God.    It was beautiful to see our faith-family stream to the altar in prayer, hope, and brokenness; to worship with holy hands lifted to our Father; to align our lives with the move of the Spirit of God and to expect that God wants to do the inexplicable among us.      It was a very good day.

We closed the day with ABS groups breaking bread together; enjoying football; and praying for an Awakening among our fellowship.  All in all, a good and Christ-glorifying day!

As we shared in worship yesterday, our fellowship is expecting an Awakening of God’s presence among us. Because that is true, good news is coming to this City!   During the Awakening, we will be taking up:

-Shoes for the Honduras – Sizes are Women 5-8; Men 7-10; All Girls and Boys and Sandals/Clogs

- Gently Used or New Purses for the Honduras Mission

- Non-Perishable Foods to Re-Stock a Pantry in T-town

- Socks/ Towels for Homeless in T-town

Providing these items will be a part of our ‘work of faith’ during the Awakening!

If you have not heard, our storage shed for the Honduras mission trip was robbed and most of our shoes and purses were stolen.    So, we are going to watch God redeem this theft!  In fact, today our church took up enough money to purchase 2000… You read that right  – TWO THOUSAND clogs!    Awakening!!

Read the verses below, and ask God to bring these verses to life among our family of faith.

I Thessalonians 1.2-10

^2-5Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

^5-6You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.

^7-10Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

How is faith working in you?

Where do you see the love of Christ flowing through the Valley View family?

When have you seen hope abound, in circumstance or even despite the circumstance?   Hope abounds, regardless of ‘trouble’ because our hope is in Christ!

Today, let it be your prayer that God will give you and that He will give our faith-family ‘steel in our convictions’.

Conviction flows out of our view of God.  Yesterday, we worshipped to a song that compels us to see God for who He is and what He wants to do among us.  Enjoy this song…   May an ever-increasing view of Him serve to place ever-increasing steel in your conviction.

Day 5 – February 5, 2012

Our Middle School Pastor, Steven Platt, read these verses over our students prior to D-Now and these words from the Word have captured our imagination.    The passage below is written in the Message version.   Over the next four days, we will read, enjoy, and think about this Scripture.

I Thessalonians 1.2-10

^2-5Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you’re in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

^5-6You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.

^7-10Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

Read these verses again and consider how Paul describes this beautiful group of Christians.  What do you see happening in this fellowship and how does Paul describe them?  These verses are a remarkable picture of a group of Christ-followers who are experiencing an Awakening.

How would Paul describe the Valley View faith family?  What about your own family?

As you watch this video, would you ask God for an Awakening in your heart?  your family?  our church family?

Grace Awakening

Days 1 – 4

Day 4 – February 4, 2012

24 Hours of Prayer is going on RIGHT NOW!  (I feel like we should strike up the music to ’24′ – the Show right about NOW)

                * Come at any hour and pray with your faith-family

                * We are praying for an Awakening to our God and to His presence among us

6 PM Friday Evening – 6 PM Saturday Evening

Remember TODAY from 11 AM – 6 PM, the 24 Hours of Prayer will move out of the worship room and into the rooms beside the worship center.   The life and memory of Christie Dover will be celebrated in our worship room this afternoon.

The 16 Day Journey offers 3 unique ways through 3 unique Scriptures that display how God has moved among His people.  As God’s people responded to His goodness and glory, He then showed some serious God-glory in beautiful and overwhelming ways.    We know that there is not a recipe or a means to manipulate God and that we cannot simply do a few things ourselves and then push the ‘God-button’ for Him to do His part.  We can, however, posture our lives in such a way as to receive an outpouring from God.   There is a great line in the movie Facing the Giants, when the coach said that they are ‘preparing for rain’.   We cannot make it rain, but we sure can prepare and make way!   The goal of 16-Days is to position our lives for God to have freedom to be Himself and to do as He pleases and to gain as much glory as possible through each of us and through the Valley View family.  Prepare for rain!

The 2 Chronicles 6 – 7 passage a glorious If/ Then proposition… If my people will worship and want MORE of Me and will be broken for their sin, I will move among them and they will never be the same.

Bask in today’s reading.   2 Chronicles 7.1-4

Two very simple questions:

*Do you believe that God is willing to move among His people as He did in these passages?

*How are you posturing your life so that He has the freedom to overwhelm you with Himself?

When all of God’s chosen people saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the Temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshipped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,  He is good; His love endures forever.  2 Chronicle 7.3

Stop, listen, and enjoy that our God fills His earth with His glory.  Awaken!

 

Day 3 – February 3,2012

24 Hours of Prayer Kicks Off Tonight @ Valley View

                * Come at any hour and pray with your faith-family

                * We are praying for an Awakening to our God and to His presence among us

6 PM Friday Evening – 6 PM Saturday Evening

Yesterday, we settled in on what it means to live in agreement with God.   Jesus is our model.  He lived a life in perfect agreement with His Father.   In temptation, He lived and breathed the Word.  In worship, He loved His Father’s presence.    In a magnificent prayer found in John 17, Jesus describes perfect unity of Father and Son.  He said that ‘He and His Father are ONE’ and that ‘He could do nothing by Himself, but only what He sees the Father doing.’

Throughout Sccripture, others live in beautiful agreement with God.  Enoch walked with God!  (Hey, he walked with God so much that he simply disappeared from this planet.  He was lost in God!  What glorious agreement!)   Noah was in agreement with God.  He was pure in a radically impure day.  His life was crazy to those around him, but completely beautiful in the eyes of God.  Abraham lived in such agreement with God that he is described as a ‘friend of God’.    Agreement with God flows out of intimate fellowship with Him.    Agreement with God stems from a willingness to rid yourself of things that hinder, hold back, or break that unity with Him.

It would be a good thing for people to describe the Valley View faith-family as a bunch of ‘friends of God’.  It would be awesome for many in our fellowship to walk with God so intimately that we can’t separate where God ends and where we begin!

As you read 2 Chronicles 6 again today, Solomon has wrestled with agreement and with bringing his life and the life of His people in alignment with God.       As that happens, he writes some excellent words in verses 41 – 42.    He asks God to

*rise among His people and for His wonder and His might to prevail

*for salvation to Spring among His people and for His people to live Christ

*that great rejoicing will flow from the people of God

*and that God will do again, what He has done in the past… that His name will be great and that                               His glory will be known among His people as He has done over and over

Solomon has spent YEARS in preparation; experienced much of God; seen MIGHTY works of God among His people; help up His hands and cried out for MORE GOD; and repented for His ways and cried out for His people.   Now He rests and hopes.  He longs for His people to so passionately pursue their God for the purpose of God doing a GREAT work among them.

Maybe, as we pursue the heart of God, there will become a revulsion for sin among us and an unquenchable passion for Christ to be well known among us.

Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. – 2 Chronicles 6.40

Day 2 – February 2, 2012

2 Chronicles 6.14 – 42

Solomon launches this prayer with some seriously passion-driven worship.     He was totally amazed by God.  He has seen God move among his people in the very recent past.   He has seen God in such a profound way that the glory of God fell among the people of God and the people of God could not do anything but bask in Him.   He cries out for more God!    He has tasted and seen that the Lord is good and that His love endures forever and His soul is only satisfied with the longing desire to experience God.

So, what happens next is not surprising at all.  Solomon worships.  God exposes.   There is a repeating refrain as you read 2 Chronicles 6 and it reads like this..‘God, hear from heaven and forgive….’   Solomon describes his personal failure before God; the failure of His people before God;  the reality that their hearts are totally messed up and they are not seeking God; and that they are just generally stinking it up spiritually.  God, hear from heaven and forgive us of our spiritual mediocrity and relational brokenness and our lack of passion for the things that move in Your heart, O God.  Hear from heaven and allow heaven to move in our hearts and align us with you.

Solomon said, I am broken over my sin, mediocrity, and lack of passion.  I am shattered that the people that I am sharing life with and that you have CHOSEN to be your people are a people who are chasing all things except You and Your glory.

This is Solomon’s response.

As we seek an awakening, it seems that the gateway to an awakening among us is an awakening to our own spiritual lethargy, sin, mediocrity and an invitation to repentance.   Day 2 of our journey is a sackcloth and ashes type day.  Today is a day that we come into agreement with God about who He is and who we are and who we long to become.  The gateway to an Awakening is brokenness from the people of God.

Agreement with God means that we pray according to His desires; put into practice His actions; live with His nature flowing through us; and think with the same mind as Christ.  Sin breaks your agreement with God.  If your life is not in agreement with God, then you cannot walk with God and you will not experience an Awakening of His presence.

The Greek word for confession means ‘to speak the same things God speaks. ‘  That is the essence of a Christ-filled life and of a passion for prayer.   Solomon is seeking a life that is fully in agreement with God!

What about you?   Will you and will the Valley View faith-family seek a life that is fully in agreement with God?

O God, hear us my cry from heaven and heal… forgive… cleanse… and move me and move us in line with your life so that we can continue to plead for ‘more God’!  Hear us from heaven.

Listen. Contemplate. Repent. Renew.

Day 1 – February 1, 2012

Grace Awakening is our hope and heart’s cry as a people after God’s heart.  As the Valley View family of faith, we are praying that God will awaken us to His grace and His move among us. A very simple definition of the word ‘Grace‘ is ‘God at work’. As a Valley View faith-family, we want to become increasingly aware of the reality that God is always at work around us.  He lives, moves and has His way among us and it is our role to seek Him and join Him in His work.

Grace Awakening is a 16-Day prayer journey that will guide us into an ever-increasing zeal for God’s presence. This journey is founded upon a beautiful verse that flows from the pen of Paul. He writes, in Romans 1.16, The message of God’s grace is good news that I am most proud to proclaim. His gospel and His grace is the most extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts Him. We are praying that we will be captured and enraptured by the grace of our God and that we will join with Him in His city-wide and world-wide work of rescue for those who desperately need and desire Him. Let the journey of awakening begin!

Over the next 16 days, we will:
- unite in prayer
- allow the Word of Christ to dwell in and among us richly
- Invite God to move in Spirit and in Power during our Awakening services (Feb 12 – 15)
- Invite God to move in Spirit and in Power at all times, in all ways, and to align our hearts for the sake of His ever-increasing glory!

So, follow this blog… follow the prayer card… spend time in the Word… seek God’s face in prayer… expect an outpouring of God’s grace as we become more and more aware of His work…. and invite Him to awaken you to His grace, which is His work going on around us!

Over the next few days, we will be reading a beautiful prayer by Solomon found in 2 Chronicles 6.14 – 42.

The people of God have spent an inordinate amount of time preparing the way for God to move among them.  They have sacrificed greatly and given much of their resources and build a place to gather with their own hands.  They have tremendous amounts of sweat equity in this preparation.    They also have a tremendous amount of sacrificial giving to lead to this moment that you will read about in Scripture.

The people have already worshipped.  God has already manifested His presence.   The place has been covered in the glory of God in a very tangible way (as in, smoke filled the room and the people could not carry on with life as normal because they were stunned by the Presence of God).   Leading up to this prayer has been some seriously sweet spiritual encounters.

Solomon wants MORE GOD!

Take a few minutes and read through this prayer.     After reading through the prayer in its entirety, return to verses 14 – 15.   Solomon raises His hands in the air and proclaims that there is NO GOD LIKE YOU.  None.  No one and no thing and no person and no ambition and no pursuit and no accomplishment and no thing…NOTHING can compare to the surpassing greatness of God.

Solomon is in love with and in awe of our God.   Nothing else captures His heart.   He has experienced great things and His accomplishments are pretty big and, remember, God has already revealed Himself in a massive way.   Solomon, as He is overwhelmed by God, simply says to Him, ‘please show us more of you!’  More God.

Can we, likewise, cry out for MORE GOD in a world that that seems to be satisfied with ‘enough God’.   An Awakening begins in our hearts, not with what God has done in the past or with our own personal accomplishments.  An awakening begins when we cry out for MORE GOD!

Join with your Valley View family today in asking for MORE GOD.  Raise your hands and thank Him for what He has done, while crying out to Him MORE….. MORE OF YOU… MORE OF YOUR GLORY.

Take a moment and enjoy a beautiful song of Waiting Here for You

4.32 Tuesday

Valley View faith-family seeking to be one in spirit and in purpose.  – Acts 4.32

Celebrate Yahweh!

For the past year, we have experienced God’s remarkable and divine encounters with His people. He transforms lives and changes and shapes the culture around us. He uses us for the sake of His glory, and He disciplines us when we choose to live for our own glory.    It is absolutely amazing to consider how many accounts of people in the Old Testament chose to spend their lives for their own small story and selfish gain, rather than give all of who they are to advance the ONLY story and the ONLY name that will carry on for eternity – Yahweh!     Likewise, it is amazing and saddening that we choose to live as if our story is THE story.    Do we not know that the point of our lives is to point toward Him and to live and shout and elevate the truth that Christ alone is supreme.    

 Our God longs to be explored and discovered, and He invites His people to seek Him. The study of Yahweh has been an amazing adventure. God has used the study this past year to change the way that we think and the way that we live. God has provided the Valley View faith family with an expanded vision of God and an expansive hope of our role in His work. He has taught us, through the OT characters in His Word, that He chooses to use broken, flawed, and challenged people for the display of His glory. We should have GREAT hope. As we continue to learn to submit our lives to Him for the sake of His purpose, we can anticipate that He will use our faith-family in ways that we simply cannot imagine.        He chooses to use you.   What abounding grace!    In our weakness and in our brokenness and in our flaws, faults, hurts, pains, sorrows…. in our strength and beauty and our wins, joy, and greatest of highs our God chooses to use us.      He chooses us for His sake as we learn, more and more, that His story is the only story worthy of advancing.   Consider these words from the pen of Paul.

Think of what you were when you were called.  Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things — and things that are NOT — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.  It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption… Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord – I Cor 1.26-31

God is…. He is exalted and glorious and It.   He is all of who we are and we are not, except by Him.    As a Valley View faith-family, let us be well known for making Him well known.  Let us grow smaller and smaller and smaller and to make His name famous among us.    The study, over the past year, is of people who have failed.  Some have remained in their failure.  Others, however, have recognized that life is not about making a name for themselves, but of making the ONLY Name great and glorious….. Yahweh!!

May we be well known for making Christ well known.

May the point of your life be to point toward Him.

Join in His story, and never stop seeking to encounter Him.

For the sake of Christ, don’t be sidelined living for your own dwarfed goals and dreams which have no redeeming or eternal value.   Spend yourself for that which is eternal.

Enjoy this song as you glory in Christ Jesus….

4.32 Tuesday

8.23.11

Our staff family team is reading (or re-reading) the book Crazy Love in prep for our off-site together in a few weeks.   What a great book!    I want to post a couple of sentences from this book and invite you to stop and think about these truths.   Chan writes, ‘this book is for Christians who want more Jesus… It is for those who do not want to plateau, those who would rather die before their convictions do.    It is a passion to fan the flame for ‘more God’ — even if you are surrounded by people who have ‘enough God’.

As the Valley View faith-family, do we:

- want more Jesus?

- desire to leave this earth before our convictions, passion, and our purpose for God wanes?

- compel one another to long for more God, even though surrounded by many who are satisfied with just enough of God?

Think.  Seek.  Become.

Becoming one in heart and mind.  – Acts 4.32

4.32 Tuesday

8.16.11

Followers of Christ, one in heart and mind.  – Acts 4.32

Our pastor was leading the staff team in a devotional.     He was talking about worshipping in holiness.    The text that he used was from Psalm 29.2 and the general idea was that we worship God because of His holiness and  His holiness abounds because of His attributes.       Our staff team shared of our wonder in God and of our fear, awe and reverence of and for God.  We talked about His creation and His sovereignty and all of those God-type qualities that compel us to worship Him in His holiness.   We talked about His holiness.

Then, we talked about us.

The conversation took a sharp turn.    The devotion surged in our hearts as we talked about our ability to worship.     We worship in holiness.  Our holiness does not stem from our feelings or our actions or our current status or our recent decision making or how life might be treating us at the moment.    We are MADE holy because of one simple, yet life-altering and eternity-changing decision.    At the moment that we made the decision to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to embrace Him as our life, hope, & salvation, we were made holy in Him.      In Christ, we are ROBED in righteousness and we are made whole and fully forgiven and holy and complete and free and accepted and we are a friend of God and redeemed and secure and FREE from condemnation and incapable of being separated from His love and anointed and chosen and all of this truth, and more, flows out of  His grace toward us.   We worship in the holiness of wonder because of who we are in Christ.

Billy asked us a simple question.   On a scale of 0 – 100%, what % righteous are you?     The answer is tricky, unless you understand the transaction of the cross.  The answer will rely upon something that you do or have done if you do not fully grasp the work of the cross.     The answer is clear, easy, and overwhelming when you get the cross.  You are 100% righteous!    You are righteous because you are covered in Christ.    The justifying work of the cross brings freedom, hope, promise and the cross invites passion.    When we begin to grasp the cross, our hearts are unleashed toward our God.

Therefore, we worship in HOLINESS.  We are stunned by grace.  How could we do anything less when we grasp the overwhelming love of Christ that is poured over us and into us and flows through us into this earth?  We worship in response to His holiness and out of our own holiness, which was granted to us by the finised work of the cross.   Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…..

Paul prayed a great prayer for the church at Ephesus.  Maybe you could linger in the truth of that prayer in Ephesians 3.14-21.   Paul prays for us, that we will grasp what we can never grasp, which is the great and wondrous love and grace of Jesus Christ.  Dive deep.  Read the Word.  Pray.  Enjoy.  Transform.

Check out the video below.  It is a compelling video as you continue to discover your identity in Christ and how your identity shapes your worship.

4.32 Tuesday

8.9.11

At Valley View, we are becoming more organized and we give much to the needs in this city and we have ridiculously good worship and we open the Word and ask God for more God each week and we have hundreds involved in small group and we have kid, youth, college programming that is amazing and we eat very well and we have men’s and women’s stuff and… yeah, the list could go on and on. We are doing good stuff and we are being pretty amazing people to those in this city. All of which leaves us completely terrified by the question postured Sunday morning by our pastor via Revelation 2.

Do we love Christ more than every other thing on this planet? Does our love for Christ serve as the driver for every other thing that we do? Would the people of Taylorville and Greater T-town describe Valley View as a whole slew of people who are passionate followers of Christ and who are madly in love with Christ?

If not, then we are in trouble!

Revelation 2.4 is a profound verse. It is worth our prayer and time. It is worth wrestling over. It is vital that we KNOW that we love Christ. Our personal venture of faith hinges upon the answer! The sphere of influence of our church rests on the answer.

Do you love Christ? Not what He does for you or for your church.  Not the things that He provides.    Not because current circumstance is all well and good.    The question of your depth of love for Him will cut through all false motives and pretense.     So, we have to wrestle with the question, Do you love Him? Is Valley View defined by love for Christ?

Ask God to plant your life in the middle of a bunch of people who give great chase after the heart of Christ. Ask Him to compel the Valley View family of faith after Him. That is a 4.32 prayer and hope…. that we will be one in heart and purpose in our pursuit after Christ!

Below is a great tune that reflects the heart of a follower who is in LOVE with Christ….

4.32 Tuesday

On 8.2.11

All of Valley View is one in heart and mind.  – Acts 4.32

3 Moments that were just beautiful over the weekend…

- Several of our ABS groups jumped into an initiative to reach out to children and families who are returning to school.   We partnered to create an amazing environment at Englewood Elementary and we felt free to display the beauty of Christ to many who came.     As Wes was telling me the story, he shared that so many turned out that they just ran out of supplies, but kept sharing love and hope and fun and face-painting and… well, just more Jesus.     I listened to his story and I remembered the words of Christ, when He said that the harvest is SO plentiful.   There are people who line up to have basic needs met and it is our role, thrill, call, and responsibility to live and be Christ to them.       As God moves our fellowship forward, I am praying that there will be ample workers who live and display Christ from among us.     Jesus says that the workers are ‘few’, but those few workers surely must not  have  had their hearts captured by an amazing Savior!      May the abounding grace of Jesus Christ overwhelm us in love and may that love compel us to action.

- Mark handed out books to our Disciple leaders yesterday.    What will God do in our fellowship as we study the life of Christ over the next year?     Seriously, what could happen as hundreds of folks in the Valley View family of faith look at the life of Christ and allow His life to impact our lives?    We could experience transformation in the next year like never before.        It is our prayer that we study the life of Christ, but even more vital that the life of Christ explode in our hearts.

- We buried a simple man with a profound impact yesterday.   I listened to stories of a man (Mr. Wyatt) who lived a very simple life, but who demonstrated the ‘things’ that God adds to those whose hearts turn toward him.  I heard stories of a man who served his country well.   I listened to other accounts of a man who literally laid down his wants and his priorities and his life for the sake of his wife.   I watched his children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren grieve his death and celebrate his life.       The church was full of people…. the music was amazing (it was the Wyatt family!)…. and the service as beautiful.     One of my life verses was the theme verse by Brother Pinion…. may we never boast but in the cross of Jesus Christ, for in the cross of Christ the world dies to us and we die to the world.  – Galatians 6.14        I prayed that  I might live a simple life that has a semblance of the profound impact of Mr. Wyatt.

It is good to face death often.  It lends great persepctive to life.    95% of those of us reading these words will not be on this planet in 50 years.   Because that is true, it is my crying passion that we live our lives with our eyes fixed on eternity.     As Paul, the apostle, writes… all of the light and momentary afflictions that we face pale in comparison to the all-surpassing joy of living in and for Christ.     They fade…. He is eternal!  Let us live every moment of our lives with our eyes, hopes, priorities, passions, and focus fixed on eternity.

So, Valley View is heading into a new season of life.   We are….

- preparing for the return of school.   Pray for families and teachers and all of the insanity of that return.

- all of our Fall programming is on the verge of returning.    Ask God to flood our programming with His presence.

- our student ministry men (young fellas) are heading to a Wild @ Heart weekend on Thursday – Saturday this week.    Ask God to raise uf Godly men among our students for the sake of His fame!

- We are preparing to enter a ‘building phase’ in the life of Valley View.   Change and buildings always leave cracks for friction and unrest.   As a church, let us refuse satan a single foothold among us.   Let us fix our eyes on the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.    Buildings are NOT our point… Christ alone is the point of Valley View.   Buildings are just tools, and as such deserve none of our emotion.    Christ!   Ask our God to reign as the supreme and sole desire of our fellowship.

Closing thought… I love Caleb Ellis.  He is an amazing young man in our church.   Caleb is sensing God’s call to preach and he shared his FIRST sermon Sunday.   We should celebrate that as a church.  Feel free to do a “Jesus dance” right now as you realize that God is calling ANOTHER young man from among us.  Also,  pray for Caleb as he continues to pursue God’s plan.     High five Caleb when you see him and tell him that you are doggone proud of him.

May God have much glory in this church.  May Christ be the only thing that people are amazed by when they think “Valley View”.     Enjoy today!

4.32 Tuesday on 7.26.11

All the believers were one in heart and mind.  – Acts 4.32

Yesterday was a good day.   It was a pretty typical Sunday in the Summer around Valley View.     A few people were at the beach.   Lots of folks were at Valley View.  Stories were being shared about recent trips to the Honduras and more stories from another group who recently returned from Royal Family Camp.     A fun conversation was had about a Royal Family child who desires to be adopted by a family in Valley View.   That conversation led to a more in-depth talk about the potential of our fellowship being a place that is truly a ‘father to the fatherless’ and how God may want to use us in days and years ahead.      It was a beautiful day of worship and we are so grateful that all of our fountains are in Christ and that His living water truly satisfies our  soul.  A good and typical Sunday.  It is good to have a typical Sunday that points to world change through our fellowship!

During our worship, a particular song asked a penetrating question that has a glorious answer.   The question was, ‘are you satisfied with me, Christ?’      There are two layers to that question and I believe that the first answer leads to the second.    Because of the cross of Jesus Christ and the grace of Jesus Christ and the completed work of Jesus Christ, we find great satisfaction.     God is satisfied with the work of the cross.    For those of us who have embraced the cross and who have found redemption and freedom in Him, we have found satisfaction for our soul and for our sin and for our shame and for our deeds and for our present and for our past and for our future and for our eternity.     Christ is completely and wholely satisfied with us and that satisfaction is not based upon our work or what we have done to impress Him, but His spiritual satisfaction in us is found in the completed work on the cross.  Satisfaction is found in our willingness to hold up nothing that we can do other than to stake our lives at the foot of the cross.  Our ‘satisfaction’ before God has nothing… zero… not one thing other than the grace of Christ and our covering in Christ.    It was with great joy, as I listened to Greg sing, that I could shout in my soul ‘ Thank you, Lord for the satisfying work of the cross!’   We boast loudly and boldly in the cross!! (Galatians 6.14)

Which leads to the deeper question and, perhaps, the question asked during that song.    God, is my life a response to the work of the cross?   God, do my actions and decisions and choices and passions and conversations and stewardship and relationships and work ethic… do all that I am and all that I do give reflection that I am a completely whole and that I am a new creation who is consumed with joy by the cross?        I want my life and my satisfaction to flow from the cross and I want carry the work of the cross and the hope in the cross to this world.   God, compel within me a never-ending passion to pursue the cross and allow my life to be an overflow of that zeal.      Here is a good question for God..’ Are you satisfied that I am satisfied in the cross?’   Better typed… God, does my life reflect who I am in Christ?     Do I live as a person who is deeply, madly, and passionately in love with you?   Do my actions reflect that the cross of Jesus Christ stands gloriously over me?    Are you satisfied with my level of satisfaction in You?

There was a single verse that I will ponder for the rest of this week (and beyond).  In Acts 9.20, Paul steps out and makes great proclamation of his satisfaction in Christ.   This is a potent verse about a man who teaches and speaks with conviction and clarity, which is something that we all desire.    The ‘how’ of verse 20 is found in verse 19.  Paul spent several days with the disciples.    What a ridiculously simple statement.   Paul spent several days with the disciples, then He changed the world for the sake of Christ.  

As I walked out of the worship room, I asked my wife this question…’ What would someone be like if they spent several days with us?‘    Seriously!   Would someone who spent a few days with us discover a people who are deeply and clearly satisfied in Christ?   Would someone who spent time with us be clearly convicted about the Word?   Would someone who spent time with us see Jesus so evidenced in our lives that they had no other path to follow except to step into the world and proclaim Him with clarity?     

He spent several days with the disciples!  

So, what if someone spent several days with you?  with your family?  with our fellowship?    Would they walk away with a clear picture of the Kingdom of God?      The answer to that question may lie in this question.  Who or what are you pursuing as your source of satisfaction?

If I could re-write a lyric in the song yesterday,  I might ask this question… God, do I find You to be the all-consuming, all-satisfying desire of my soul?

The cross satisfies.

Amazing Monday Night @ Renew 2011!

As you pray for Valley View, pray for:

- A radical love for our Savior

- A relentless commitment to one another

- A passion for the Spirit to roam freely in our hearts and among us