Valley Presbyterian Church

6.1.25 - Message: Matthew 25 by Valley Presbyterian Church

Real community asks us to put aside our preferences in order to build a community that truly reflects the love of Christ. In the early church, Peter was given a vision that asked him to break tradition and religious restrictions in order to welcome those outside his circle. What are we called to let go of?

VPC is committed to being a place of welcome for everyone. We are always seeking new ways to spread our arms wider to the world. Over the years, our welcome of LGBTQIA+ folks has grown organically as we have listened to the stories in our congregation and come to understand how important it is to have a clear commitment to full inclusion. We are so proud to be a partner with kin•dom community, an organization that was founded by Rev. Pepa Paniagua, who grew up at VPC. This organization provides safe spaces of belonging for queer youth. And this coming Sunday, we are honored to have Rev. Dr. John Leedy, the current Executive Director of kin•dom, preach in our Sunday morning service.

There's Always Room for One More, Revelation 7:9-17 The writer of Revelation imagines a community of people from all nations and ages gathering together in the love of God. We will explore this vision together on Sunday and remember the mothers and grandmothers who taught us there was always room for one more.

Join us for a special guest sermon with Danny Thongsy! Danny is a community advocate, who has worked on a statewide effort for immigrant rights and to end mass incarceration. He mentors and supports directly impacted community members through advocacy and their reintegration. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a Sociology degree and had studied biblical/religious studies through the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. Danny is the Campaign Manager for the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, an immigrant rights group in Oakland. He is passionate about community work and had advocated with the Human Rights Watch in passing Assembly Bill 1308 Youth Offender Parole Hearing Up to the age of 25. As a child of refugees from Laos, Danny loves to celebrate the richness of his culture and roots by cooking traditional Lao/Thai food. He loves the outdoors, drawing, and teaching origami folding.

Join us for a special Sunday service as we learn about welcoming!

Join us for Easter Sunday!

The life and teachings of Jesus have a way of sorting and exposing our lives. But they are not meant to cause shame, they're meant to point us toward life. In these days, as we live in a swirl of escalating bad news, where do we put our focus? What does faithfulness look like?

As we head toward Easter, we are turning to the New Testament and the life of Jesus. On Sunday, I will explore a way to understand who Jesus is and how we relate to him as the center point of our faith. Get ready for a theological deep dive!

This Sunday, as we continue our journey through the Bible, I explore the story of a woman who was forgotten and invisible to everyone but God. God sees us in our hidden places too. With God's eyes, we are invited to see those who are invisible.

This Sunday, we welcomed Brian Heredia to preach on one of the first stories in the Bible, the story of Cain and Abel. Brian explored what it means to trust God and the hidden reasons we often struggle to trust.

We began this first Sunday of Lent by exploring our theme to approach the story of Scripture through the eyes of children. Jesus tells us that unless we approach God as a child, we will not enter into God's realm. How do we reclaim our innocence and sense of wonder in our faith? Join us to kick off this season!

This Sunday, we'll explore an obscure and rather dark biblical story from the time of King David. The story of the protest of a heartbroken mother named Rizpah changes the heart of a king and brings honor to her disgraced family. Her story brings to light the way our grief has power to make change in ourselves and in the world around us.

The practice of our faith is not judged by right opinions or beliefs but by the wideness of our welcome. The book of James invites us to examine the quality and limits of our embrace of those who are the "other." In the way of Jesus, there are no favorites and no exclusive access. Join us on Sunday as Pastor Jenny speaks from this passage and has a conversation with our Community Curator, Jaron Cheung, about his work exploring what it means to be an accessible community from the inside out.

This is a time to take a moment to reset our values and priorities as we enter into a new season. Pastor Jenny will invite us to consider Deuteronomy 10 when the Israelites were invited to a reset.

We live in communities fraught with othering, be it for race, gender, faith, class or political ideology. The question, for believers, is how do we navigate this terrain while being faithful to Jesus' call for us as disciples? Faithful practice means we must widen our circle of concern for those it is easiest to love and particularly for those with whom it's most difficult. Embracing the invitation from the Holy Spirit to be made anew means we embrace getting closer to those we see as enemies, seeing deeper into ourselves to recognize our shortcomings, and taking risks to join God in widening God's circle of concern for God's creation! This message is a call to surrender to God for the hard work of enemy-love. Join us to hear Ben McBride preach!

Our staff member Aisea Taimani preaches!

What does it mean to live with transparency? This week we'll explore the Ephesians' call to live in the light of God's love and let that light shine to others.

We're excited to welcome Naomi Kinsman back to preach this morning. Her message will highlight that each individual is God's poem, and collectively, our gifts work in harmony. One gift God gives us all is the ability to notice and celebrate gifts in each other. As we reflect on the roles we each play in our circles of community, how might we name the gifts we see in one another? How might we listen to God's voice naming for us who we truly are, as God's beloved children, and catch sight of how we might collectively create spaces of belonging?

We all have a part to play in this world. Our actions matter. Each of us has our own gifts to give. Ephesians 4 gives us a picture of how good it can be when we all do our part. We'll be worshipping in our Redwood Grove this Sunday. Join us under the trees to sing, pray and listen together!

This Sunday Alicia Garcia from the amazing organization, WeHope will join us to share her message about how we need each other to bring out the essence of God in our lives and to be a thriving church who shines light into the darkness. WeHope serves the unhoused population all over the Bay Area, bringing dignity and hope through their shelters, Dignity on Wheels and job training programs. Alicia is the powerhouse behind the vision of WeHope and you'll enjoy her positive and encouraging preaching.

These verses in Ephesians 3:14-21 are what you pray when you don't know what to pray. They express the inner architecture of faith and the guiding words for our journeys in Christ. As we read and consider them, we'll seek hearts enlarged with God's love and strength beyond our own to live the lives God is calling us to.

We are excited to welcome Kafunyi Mwamba as our preacher this week. Kafunyi is a chaplain at Stanford Hospital and part of the pastoral staff at our partner church, St Mark AME Zion in East Palo Alto. A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kafunyi truly represents the title of his sermon, "Joy." In his own words: "The topic today is joy. And the chief question is: How can we be happy in difficult times, in dark times? How can we be happy when we are sick, and we are in pain?" Join us in exploring JOY on Sunday!

On this fourth of July weekend, we'll consider our allegiances. This beautiful passage in Ephesians 2:11-22 invites us to place our allegiance to Jesus beyond any other group, identity or nation. When we do that, we find peace and community.

We begin our summer study of Ephesians with Ephesians 1:3-14. This letter is set up with a bunch of superlatives, reminding us that we are the beloved adopted children of God. What if we lived as if "every spiritual blessing" were ours? Let's take a moment to focus on what God has given us and to soak in the indescribably good gift of being children of God.

God calls us his masterpiece, his "poeima," which can be translated as his poem. What does it mean to be God's poem, God's poetry? As we live out this life-giving vocation, how might we listen for God's call, and use our voice in response? How might we join the artful pursuit of building a more loving world? Guest preacher Naomi Kinsman speaks.

Guest preacher Nate Millheim speaks on living with gratitude.

Today we hear from one of our seniors, Theo!

Why does it matter that Christians think of God as the Trinity? How might this ancient idea change how we view our world? And what does it mean for us in every day life? As we consider Nicodemus' visit to Jesus at night, we'll explore the answers to these questions on this Trinity Sunday.

This morning we'll explore the challenge of faith in our current time and how the story of Pentecost may give us signposts for reviving our lives and communities. Pastor Jenny will be preaching and Aisea will be sharing his story along with leading music.

One of the most powerful gifts of being human is to give witness to each other in the contours of our stories. Jesus asks his disciples to bear witness as he ascends to heaven. How do we become more skilled witnesses to God's love?

Interview Kelly Bean and Evariste about work in Burundi, the joy that comes from giving our lives to another.

Today we go back to the beginning, looking at one of the Creation accounts in Genesis and how it invites us to partner with God in affection and care for the earth. What if we started our conversations about caring for the earth by acknowledging that this is what we are made for? This morning we will rediscover the joy of being a part of all God has made.

Resurrection becomes real when we make it local, considering the place we live and what is needed here and now. Today's service will begin our April focus on caring for the earth as an expression our faith.

Jenny preaches on Easter Sunday.

This week guest preacher, Nate Millheim preaches on, "Streams of mercy never ceasing".

Jenny preaches on, "Jesus sought me when a stranger" an our worship team sings!

This week Jenny gives a sermon entitled, "Prone to Wander". Aisea gives a beautiful spoken word and leads our music for the week. Be well.

This Sunday Jenny reflects with the congregation over one of Rembrandt's most know paintings, The Return of the Prodigal Son.

This Sunday Pastor Jenny preaches on "Becoming Belonging".

For the first week of Black History Month Jenny preaches on the topic, "Beyond". she interviews a member of the church on her experience meeting MLK while on a flight to Chicago. Our worship team sings "Heal Us" in response.

This Week Jenny preaches on the scripture

This week guest preacher, Nate Millheim preaches on the topic, "Bringing Back". Our music is from our worship team.

This week's sermon, "Beloved" is from Rev Jenny Warner. Music by Aisea Taimani & Kate Lamont

This week, guest preachers Jay and Caryl Casbon preach on the topic, "Where Two or More Are Gathered: The Sacred Art of Relationships".

Pastor Jenny launches the summer series about finding authentic connection, we'll explore stories of Jesus gathering, healing, forgiving and breaking boundaries of who's in and who's out. What might it mean if we were to measure our lives in authentic connection? What if connection is the way the world changes?

May 7, 2023 Jenny Warner "Receive" by Valley Presbyterian Church

Aaron Niequist visits VPC to lead music and teach the Prayer of the Examen. Nate Millheim sharing his experience with the Prayer of the Examen. Chancel Choir singing "Take My Life." aaronniequest.com valleypreschurch.org

David Cropper shares his experience of practicing Lectio Divina. Pastor Jenny invites us to clear space for God this Lent. The Chancel Choir offers a beautiful sung invitation to "Come to me". Find more at valleypreschurch.org

Shane Claiborne speaks at VPC on February 19, 2023. Read his latest book, Rethinking Life or find out more at shaneclaiborne.com Aisea Taimani is a local musician. Find more of his music at https://minorislands.bandcamp.com

Jenny concludes her sermon series on Colossians by focusing on the power of friendship. If you'd like to read a transcript of this sermon, please visit jennywarner.com/blog valleypreschurch.org