Add to Steadfastness

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:33

This verse is a call, not given nearly often enough, for us to be steadfast, anchored, and as Paul says, immovable. Not merely claiming faith in the Lord, but standing, unshaken on the solid rock of Jesus Christ, in the faith that we claim. Not tossed about, as Ephesians 4:14 says, "to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes." 

Far too many today are toe easily shaken, put back on their heels when the world pushes on their faith. But, this is not what we are called to! The Bible, over and over from Genesis to Revelation, calls us to stand firm in our faith! The Bible says that we have the source of our faith, our hope Jesus Christ, as an anchor for our soul! 

This Sunday we will look at adding steadfastness to our faith. If you have been following along with this sermon series, then the progression is that we would be adding steadfastness to our self-controlled, knowledgable, and virtuous faith. I hope you are safe and well through the past couple days ice: Jacqueline and I have been praying for you and look forward to seeing you this Sunday!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Deep Freeze!

"The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:31

In Mark 12:28-31, Jesus answers the question, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" He responds by saying that to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength is the first and greatest commandment. He then says the words in the verse above.

This week's weather has been extreme and we have neighbors who need us to love them. They need spiritual love and care, but they may also need physical love and care in the form of a warm meal or help around their home like shoveling snow. Check in on your neighbors. This isn't just a public service announcement. For us, it is a command from the King. I also know that I feel loved when people extend help to me or to my family. I want to help my neighbors have that feeling as well and, I pray, to know Jesus through my loving actions.

Reach out. The Lord has provided us the perfect weather to cold call or knock on your neighbor's door and make sure they are OK! You never know how the Spirit may be moving and what opportunity may come about just from following the simple command to love our neighbors!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Add to Knowledge

"and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." Colossians 3:10

This week, we are talking about knowledge. Second Peter says we are to "supplement our faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge." I've been studying knowledge in the Bible this week and let me tell you, it's a big topic that God spent a lot of time talking about which means it's important for us.

We are not called to follow the Lord and know nothing. But, knowing a bunch of stuff from the Bible doesn't mean that we are following the Lord. I've done a lot of funerals for people over the years, and in trying to understand if the person who passed away was a believing follower of Jesus Christ or not, loved ones will say, "Oh, they loved the Bible, they read it all the time." But anyone can do this. Anyone can read the Bible and, I believe, be drawn by the Spirit of God to faith in Jesus Christ and be saved. But, just reading the Bible and knowing what it says doesn't make you a faith-believing follower of Jesus Christ anymore than reading a cookbook makes you a chef in a restaurant.

The knowledge must be applied. Wisdom is found in the exercise of knowledge. Yes, we must be in the Word and grow in our knowledge of the Lord. But, the Word also says, in James 1:22, that we must to be doers of the Word and not hearers or readers only! This same verse says that those who only hear and never act on what they have heard are self deceived. We must apply the knowledge of God and the things of God that we have learned to our virtuous faith in Jesus Christ. 

This series has been fun for me to work through, because the more that I learn about the qualities that the Lord calls us to add to our faith, the more I can see the need I have of adding them. My prayer for us is that the Lord is using this passage of Scripture in our lives and in the life of our church. That, as we will see in a few weeks, if these qualities are ours and increasing we will be effective for the Kingdom! I'll see you Sunday!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Add to Virtue

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called," Ephesians 4:1

This Sunday, we continue the series "add to" and begin looking at the first of seven qualities that the Word calls us to add to our faith. It is my hope and prayer that as you read this, you have settled the matter of faith in Jesus Christ. Faith that brings the grace of God which saves. The Bible says that if you are hearing God today, don't harden your heart! Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, confess him as Lord and the Bible says you will be saved. Settle the matter of faith in Christ. Have the power of sin broken in your life. Become a new creation.

For those who have already believed by faith in Jesus as the risen Son of God and confessed Him as Lord, it's time to grow in our faith. 2 Peter 3:5 says to, "make every effort to add to your faith..." and the first quality we are told to add is virtue. In our faith, we must practice and exemplify a life of virtue, a life of integrity. In Ephesians 4:1, Paul urges believers to walk in a manner worthy of the calling they have received. We are called to new life in Christ, the old life must pass away. We cannot walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have received if we continue to walk in old ways. There is a new way to walk, it starts with faith and continues in virtue.

My prayer, for us individually and as a church, is that we would live out our faith while walking in virtue, and by doing so, point the world around us to Christ. I'll see you this Sunday!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Add to Faith

"Now faith is the evidence of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

Last Sunday I said, "It's not just faith, faith is just the beginning." And, that is true. But in a day where "all it takes is a little faith" is thrown around like candy at a Fourth of July parade, we sometimes end up with wrong thinking about faith. Here are two simple thoughts on faith for you to dwell on and get into the Bible about:
 

1. We are not saved by faith. We are saved by the grace of God when we, through faith, believe in Jesus Christ as the risen Son of God and confess Him as Lord (Romans 10:9). We do not have a faith strong enough to save us. If we did, God wouldn't have had to do what He has done to save us. We place our faith in the One who died to save us, and through Jesus, God extends His grace to us, calling us His own (Ephesians 2:1-10). That is powerful.
    

2. Real, true faith is accompanied by action. James 2:14-26 is crystal clear. We are not saved by what we do, but what we do must be driven by our salvation. "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." James 2:17. Faith is not real without action, but action alone cannot save. We believe by faith in Jesus and our actions reveal our belief.

This Sunday "add to faith" will answer, "What is faith? Do I have faith? What is it in? Go back and read 2 Peter 1:3-15 again and also check out Hebrews 11 this week! See you Sunday!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Add To

"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with..." 2 Peter 1:5

"Supplement your faith? What more is there beyond faith?" Quite a lot actually. And if you join us this Sunday, we will begin the journey of learning what supplements need to be added to our faith. I grew up reading the NIV, but the King James and other versions also say, "add to your faith."

"Add to" is the new sermon series we are going to begin this weekend. Faith is at the core of the Christian life. The Bible tells us that it is "by grace, through faith" that we are saved. Faith is a common thread throughout all of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. But so many people stop at the faith. Faith is just the beginning! Not the ending! 

We have discussed before, we are called to make disciples and discipleship means learning. We must learn about what we should be adding to our faith and, as we will learn, make sure that we are becoming effective and fruitful. You can read 2 Peter 1:3-15 and begin preparing your hearts for our time together in the Word.

I hope you will be able to join us! It is a pleasure to open the Word of God with you and I don't take it for granted. I am beyond excited that 2019 is underway and cannot wait to see all that God has in store! Let's be praying for it! Pray for the year, the Work we will do and the people we will be able to care for! I am praying that 2019 will see a great increase in our love for God and our love for people! Happy New Year! We'll see you Sunday!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Farewell 2018!

"But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and striving forward to what lies ahead," Philippians 3:13

I hope you had as wonderful of a time as I did, worshipping and celebrating Christ the Savior on Christmas Eve. I hope you were encouraged and able to be an encouragement to someone else. Thank you to the many hands (I feel like the whole church showed up to help with setup!) that came out over the 3 days to help setup, serve during and teardown everything for Christmas Eve. I enjoyed watching you all have times of fellowship with one another and getting to know one another better.

But now, we are staring down the beginning of a new year. 2018 will soon be over and 2019 will be underway. There is nothing that any one of us can do to change anything that happened in 2018. But, we don't have to let the things happened in 2018 dictate what will happen in 2019. 

Join us this Sunday as we talk about forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead! We will share in the Lord's Supper and remember the only thing in the past that can change the future. I hope to see you this Sunday morning!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Strengthen Your Hands!

"So they strengthened their hands for the good work." Nehemiah 2:18

Well, here we are. As of the time that I'm writing this, Christmas eve is just a few short days away. We have been planning and praying, and now it is time to work. Oh, we're not building a wall like the Jews with Nehemiah. And, I'm not referring to the moving and setup of equipment and festive decorations on Sunday. I'm talking about the good work of proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ to our community, our friends and our neighbors.

No, we won't all help setup and we won't all sing with the band. We won't all greet and welcome people and we won't all open the Word of God and proclaim His truth. But, we will all, as the Body of Christ, in unison proclaim the living King of kings and Lord of lords, our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Who have you invited? How are you serving? Remain steadfast in prayer, especially for the salvation of lost souls! There is still room and time for you to join and support the work going into Christmas Eve! Strengthen your hands for the good work in front of us, Village Church!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Stand Firm!

"Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Ephesians 6:13

It may seem like just a simple thing. We will decorate, gather, sing, preach, feel great about Christmas and Jesus and go home. But, there is nothing in any of this that is simple. It is actually, on the contrary, impossible. Not only is it impossible, but we have an enemy in satan who would seek to do all that he can to steal and kill and destroy the work we are doing.

As we enter into this fourth week of 30 Days of Prayer for Christmas Eve, let us focus our attention on standing firm in prayer against the enemy. Let us call on the name of the Lord, our Warrior God, to keep the enemy away, silent, and powerless in the face of the work we are doing.

When tempers flare, when words are short, when children are out of control, remember that the enemy of our God is working. Don't write these things off, have a heightened awareness and be on guard against the enemies attempt to work. But, also remember that the enemy of our God is defeated! Stand firm! Join me in praying for the protection of Almighty God over us during this season and always.

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

It's Impossible!

"And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." Acts 4:31

As we enter our third week of 30 Days of Prayer for Christmas Eve, I want to help focus our attention on two things. One, when the people of God get before Him in prayer, God shows up and works. Two, the power that God shows up with when His people get before Him in prayer.

If we have a right understanding of God through His Word, then we must have a greater understanding of prayer as well. It is commonly said, "There is power in prayer." And, while I understand what is being said (James 5:16 literally says, "the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."), we cannot let ourselves think for a moment that we have power in anything we do. There isn't any power in our prayer. There is power in the One we are praying to. We are given access and allowed to come before the Lord Almighty with boldness and confidence to ask that He exert His power in a given matter on our behalf. And, He does, if what we are asking is in accordance with His will.

Presently, we are in a season of prayer. We are asking for some things that, at face value, probably seem simple and small. For example, the effective planning and setup for Christmas Eve, the logistics, and our safety. These are not overly complicated. However, even these things are utterly impossible for us without the strength and power of God. And, if these are impossible for us without Him, how much more do we need His power for things like the protection of our families and our work from the enemy, our unity in spirit and mind, and, most importantly, the salvation of lost souls.

In this season of prayer, I am asking that God shake the place in which we are gathered. That we all, filled with the Holy Spirit, speak the Word more boldly, care more compassionately, and love more compellingly. We have two weeks remaining, don't stop praying now. Start praying more, now!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Favor With All the People

"Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Acts 2:47

As we head into our second week of prayer in our 30 Days of Prayer for Christmas Eve Journey, this week I want to draw our attention to praying for favor with all the people. In the passage of Scripture that the above verse comes from, it is important to note what the believers did to earn the favor of the people. They followed the Lord in devotion to His teachings, fellowship, the breaking of bread and to prayer. They bore the burdens of one another and cared for one another. They spent time together and they were visible to the people around them, not hidden, concealed, embarrassed, ashamed.

I love when new people join us for our worship gatherings and I love that the Lord gives us a voice to proclaim His truth to them, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But we cannot rely solely on the drawing of people into our fellowship. We must be out among them.

Next Friday is Byron's Christmas in the Village. We will have the opportunity to be seen, to talk, to meet, and I pray, to share the Good News of Jesus with someone. As we are in prayer this next week, let's pray that our lives before the Lord would bring His continued hand of favor upon our church body in our community. That His favor would lead to the favor of the people around us. And, not so we can feel good about something we did but that we might also see the Lord add daily to His Kingdom those who are being saved!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

30 Days of Prayer for Christmas Eve

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God." Philippians 4:6

With yesterday's celebration, a national day of thanksgiving, we have officially entered into the 2018 holiday season. For the world, this just means the hustle and bustle of shopping, parties, stress, and spending too much money. For the follower of Christ, it should mean the heightened awareness that the unsaved, lost soul will be more vulnerable and receptive to the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

We will be getting you specific information about our Christmas Eve gathering very soon and we appreciate your patience as we finalize the last details. But, before we mobilize behind this year's Christmas Eve Outreach plans, let's begin going before the Lord in prayer. Once we begin inviting people to our Christmas eve gathering, let's remain before the Lord in prayer. And, as people begin to gather on December 24th to hear the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, let's be in prayer for their soul that they might be saved!

This is a church wide call to prayer, from November 24th through December 23rd. Every day for the next thirty days, join me in setting aside time for prayer, urgent prayer, with thanksgiving in our hearts for what God will do through our effort this Christmas. Each week in this article, I will highlight areas for us to focus our prayer on. We cannot do anything if the Lord does not go before us. And, the surest way to have the Lord before us is to be before Him in prayer.

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Don't Be Robbed!

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10

This Sunday, we are going to look at a passage of Scripture that talks about the Body of Christ - the church - and it's many parts. It's a topic I am very passionate about. Here's why in a nutshell. Come Sunday for the long form! 

You have a part to play in what God is doing here at The Village Church and throughout the world. The Bible compares us to lost sheep, or lost coins, that the owners go to great lengths to find. God has gone to great lengths to bring us into His kingdom. In the verse above, Jesus tells us that the reason He came was that we may have life and have it abundantly. When we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, we find life. When we step into God's design for our life, we find it to the full. Part of God's design for our life is that we would be active, working, members of the body. This is out there for everyone. It's not for a select club or group or specific person. We are all members of the body and we are important and we matter to the function of the body!

Sadly, many professing believers don't see what they're worth to the Kingdom and they don't take that step toward finding the abundant life that Christ gives us. This is because the enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy. With all that I have within me, I want to work for the Lord in such a way that helps you see and understand that you have value to the Kingdom. You have value to The Village Church. And, you have value to the lost world around you as a light for Jesus Christ. 

Let's walk together in this. We need each other. Let's take chances for His name and for His glory. Let's be bold to share Christ with the family member or friend who doesn't know Him. Let's be actively serving in the church. Let us step out of any comfort zones, and go to the lost world, whether it's across the street or around the globe. Let us not just have life in Christ, let's have it abundantly!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Be a Burden Bearer

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

We all desire to obey the law. We see a speed limit sign, we drive the number on it. We see a no trespassing sign, we don't go beyond that boundary. We hear any number of The Ten Commandments and we look at our life and make sure we are in line. 

So, in our attempt to be law-abiding citizens in a home not of this world, what burdens belonging to your brothers and sisters around you are you carrying right now?

I love the verse I used up there. I quote it frequently. It is at the core of what I believe people should find among Christians. And, according to the Word of God, bearing the burdens of your brothers and sisters fulfills the law of Christ. There is tremendous opportunity for growth in the Lord when someone has a safe confident place to share their burdens and find Godly, Biblical accountability and encouragement.

I'd like to point out that the passage this comes from, Galatians 6, is not a passage directed at church leaders, pastors, or teachers. It's directed to the Church at large. That's all of us. So in my calling as a pastor to equip you for the work of the ministry, I must be diligent to call out the things we must do. And one of the things we must do is to bear one another's burdens.

One of the greatest ways to step into this law-fulfilling action is to connect with other believers and a great way to do that is the Village Homes ministry. These homes offer the opportunity to meet with other believers. And, when you are comfortable, share the burdens you have so that others can help you with them and pray for you. I'd encourage you to take this bold step in your life and watch the Lord begin working. The more people that take this step, the better we can all be at fulfilling the law of Christ.

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Thank You!

Thank you Village Church! Thank you for coming out on a beautiful October 31st night and taking the time to love our community! If the smiles and the countless "thank you's" weren't enough to show how much our efforts were appreciated, I'm not sure what was! 

Thank you to all of those who helped setup from 12 o'clock on, who came out and decorated a trunk, who worked traffic/security, who handed out donuts and cider, who were ready to answer questions about the church, thank you!

We didn't have an official count, but we know for a fact that greater than 800 children received candy. Trunk-or-Treat is just a silly thing of man, but it is a way for us to love our neighbor. And that is a big deal to God! Now, let's pray for all those invite cards and points of contact that were made, that God would use our small effort as a seed planted to bring many to His Kingdom!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Favor of the People

"praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." Acts 2:47

The Village Church of Byron is a church deeply rooted in the belief that Acts 2:42 should be a guiding verse for all of God's churches. It shows a church devoted to "the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." For us, this means we seek to be devoted to the Word of God, to the fellowship of believers, to the Lord's Supper and to prayer.

The verses that follow Acts 2:42 shows us the fruit of a church devoted to these things before the Lord. Incredibly awesome things were happening all around the church in Jerusalem at this time and the believers within the church were living in great unity and harmony.

One of the things that we see as a product of our devotion to these things is found in the verse above. Acts 2:47 says, "having favor of all the people." We have talked a lot about, as a church, maintaining a strong witness and testimony of our God before our community, our Jerusalem. And, we are thankful to God for granting us favor with all of the people.

This coming Wednesday, October 31st, is Trunk-or-Treat, from 6-8pm, and this year the Village of Byron is allowing us to close off a portion of Saginaw Street in downtown Byron for the event! I do not believe this is a result of being friends with many in the village or from our being super awesome people (which you all are!). No, I believe this is much higher than our earthly limitation can see or produce. This is the result of a church being devoted to the Lord and the Lord granting us favor with all the people. 

If you haven't signed up yet, to serve, to have fun, to further our strong witness and testimony of the Lord we are devoted to, join the fun today! Don't even worry about decorating a trunk. Come park your car and hand out candy to kids passing by. Share a cup of cider with someone you just met from our community. Be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit and watch the Lord add to our number those being saved. It's an incredible opportunity for us as a church! Don't just hear about it, be a part of it!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Guardian God

"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." Psalm 91:11-12

I blew a brake line in my truck the other day. I was by myself running some errands. As I eased into the stoplight at the intersection in Corunna, right by the courthouse, I could feel the brake pedal going way farther down to the floor than normal. Then I realized I was moving with my foot on the brake. I got to Aldi, one of two stops I needed to make, safely and went in to pick up a few groceries. I came out and when I put my foot on the brake to put the truck in gear I felt this pop and all of a sudden the pedal was going all the way to the ground and there was fluid dripping under the truck.

I slowly limped the vehicle home with hazard lights on, shifting into neutral to stop better, then back to drive to go. A normal 20 minute drive definitely took me well over an hour. I was frustrated. It was a defeating moment, but I was safe. Why was I safe? Because I know that shifting the vehicle to neutral helps the vehicle to stop without the transmission telling it to go forward? Because I had four-way flashers on? Because I was driving slow and took roads not many others did?

No. I was safe because the Lord assures us through His Word that He guards us and that He dispatches His angels to guard us. And if He doesn't, we must submit to the fact that His plan is far greater than our own and that He is working His will. This situation could have played out differently. What if I hadn't been safe? What if I had been in an accident? Would I have remembered that the Lord guards us and dispatches His angels to guard us? If something had happened to me, would my wife and children have remembered and realized this? I hope so! It definitely would have been more difficult to remember, but it wouldn't have made the promise any less true.

And, what is wrapped up in this promise? The Lord commands His angels to guard us and so we must come to see that God loves us and cares for us so greatly! You are loved!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Being a Disciple Means Learning

"Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

Discipleship is the hardest part of the Great Commission. Christians and churches have really made it a messy thing over the years. Discipleship is hard, because that is where we begin learning all that Christ teaches. And, in that learning is where the Holy Spirit begins to sanctify our lives. Sanctify, that might be a strange word to some. It simply means the cleaning out of worldly, sinful ways and being filled with holy, Godly ways. And, sanctification can be an extremely uncomfortable place as ungodly patterns we have had for many years are confronted by the truth of His Word.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor in Nazi Germany during World War II and author of "The Cost of Discipleship" wrote, "Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ." And, discipleship without learning is not discipleship. Jesus commands that we proclaim the Gospel, baptize new believers, and teach them all that He commands. Many preach and many baptize, but oftentimes the teaching then falls to the wayside as though two-thirds of the Great Commission was enough to accomplish the whole. But, it is in the teaching where the seed of the Gospel is watered and grows and blooms and blossoms into something amazing - a maturing follower of Jesus Christ. We cannot escape the call to teach and to learn as disciple-making-disciples of Jesus Christ. It is found throughout the Word.

Maybe you are a new believer and as you read this you are saying to yourself, "I'd like to learn more about this Jesus that has saved me! I'd like to know Him better and share Him with others. But, I don't know where to start." Maybe you are intimidated by opening the Bible to read, where to start, what to read. Maybe you would like to start learning how to pray or maybe you just have questions about what church is, why we sing, why we give. Well, then I'm glad you are reading this, because we have people standing ready to come alongside of you in your new faith in Jesus Christ and help you with these exact things. 

If you are looking for help and where to begin growing in your walk with Christ, please reach out to us today and we will connect you with some very kind, caring, and patient people who will walk next to you and help you build on the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ as you learn to observe all that Christ commands.

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Proving to Be Disciples

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35

I am extremely thankful for you, The Village Church family, as I look around and watch you living life with one another. Walking alongside of each other. Learning to carry burdens for each other. I observed this past week, people randomly caring for others going through a rough time, lending a helping hand when available, praying for one another. What a blessing to this pastor's heart.

These are the exact actions that Jesus said would prove to the world that we are His disciples! You are showing me, and the community around us, that you are truly disciples of Jesus because you love one another.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be giving my attention to a different area within the church other than preaching. Todd, and perhaps some others, will be filling in for me preaching on Sunday mornings. I'll still be with you each weekend and fulfilling any and all of my regular responsibilities necessary during the week. I appreciate your prayer for guidance and wisdom in this other area. I love ya church! I'll see you Sunday!

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)

Praise the Lord!

The Village Church One Year Celebration. I can't even believe those words. The Lord, He is good, praise His Name! As we gather this weekend, let’s come together with thanksgiving in our hearts to worship the Lord for who He is and what He has done. Instead of many words this week, I just want to leave you with Psalm 150. I hope to see you all Saturday at the Richardson's as we celebrate our first year and again Sunday as we gather downtown to worship the Almighty who has done great things!

"Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD."

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)