Valleyview Friends Church

True satisfaction in your life depends on your seeking God and knowing him.

God outrageously loves you, he is seeking you, he desires for your repentance and wants to wildly celebrate your return to him.

Easter is about the Lord Jesus Conquering death and redeeming us and you can hear in this text the first transformations, of sorrow and death to joy and the mission of proclaiming the risen Christ.

The decision you make about who Jesus is matters; declaring Jesus your king grants entrance into the kingdom of heaven but it also affects your present moment. If you proclaim Jesus as your king, you also have the ability to praise, rejoice and hope in the face of any circumstances.

Aim relentlessly at the goal of Christ, anything less will cause you to come up short in life.

Take heart that you can be a new creation in Christ, but also take hold of the truth that you really are a new creation in Christ.  

You are invited to God's everlasting feast, don't miss out, experience and enjoy his invitation.

God is good and so are his promises. You are called to trust in the promises of God.

To call upon the name of the Lord your faith must come from your heart and your mouth.

Perhaps you feel like a prisoner to decisions you have made, sins you committed or the actions of others done to you. You too can have the hope of Christ and transformation in your life.

What are we to make of judging? Jesus tells you and me, do not judge. Jesus tells us that the best way to help someone else out of their sin is to face our own sin first. In warning against judging Jesus is warning against damaging our relationships with one another, the very relationships that should be pointing one another to the redemptive power of Jesus.

Jesus is clear, discipleship is not easy, but you cannot have life any other way.

Today I want to take a few moments and talk about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

The Treasure of Heaven is valuable, it changes the course of your life and your behaviors, and it testifies to your worth to God   

Psalm 34 invites you to live out verse 8; “Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

In Psalm 51 we read a masterclass on how to get right with God. David is heartfelt, honest, direct, he wholeheartedly confesses his sin and that God alone has the authority to forgive and restore him. There is a road map within the Psalm for each and every one of us to receive redemption. The psalm describes; Facing sin, relying on God's mercy, and responding to that mercy with testimony.

God is the owner of your world and he is King. The decision is for you to believe and let him into your life.

Resounding through out the Lord's prayer is a call for us to put our own priorities aside and depend less on ourselves. The Lord's prayer invites us to make God's priorities our own and to depend upon him.

Be careful, the more you take charge the more you will limit the authority of God over your life.

You are invited to trade fear for great joy for God's good news to you is that Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah and the Lord.

Belief in God's promises lead to blessing and purpose in your life.

God's promises reveal his very nature to us; That he is gracious, protective, he desires good for his people, that God delights over you and he desires to actively work restoration in your life.

God is a master craftsman. He desires to enter into your life to refine and purify you.

Advent shows how good and trustworthy God's promises are by reminding us that God fulfilled his greatest promise, sending Jesus our Savior. You and I can trust God's promises and know they are good for us.

Jesus is King and because he is King, you should respond to him with worship, obedience and holiness.

This week I want to return us to thinking about Heaven. I want to share God's promise of Heaven from the final chapter of the Bible. What we find is that heaven is a place of life, a place with God and a place where we will good, rewarding, holy work to do.

Ignoring the check engine light was not going to make the problem better, in fact it will make things much worse. When the Bible mentions hell, we are seeing a check engine light. It's a warning. Don't ignore the problem, if you do things will get a lot worse.

When it comes to heave and Hell the Bible is clear about a lot, but it also leave you and I uncertain about some of the details. It's ok to have uncertainties and want answers but I also want to invite you to grab onto what is clear about heaven and hell. What God shares about Heaven and Hell is important for the growth of your faith.

Life changing faith relentlessly pursues of God, appeals to the authority of Jesus, is built on mercy, desires spiritual restoration and results in true discipleship.

Communion is a lovely and beautiful part of the worship of the Church.

Eternal life is yours to receive by the love of Christ and the power of God.

The Church worldwide is called to unity. A bond of togetherness with purpose. Not only does God call the church worldwide to unity, but he calls each congregation together in unity.

You and I need to follow Jesus with childlike faith that exhibits trust, dependence, curiosity, wonder and respect for the authority of God.

Jesus invites you to God's way of valuing people.

Living with faith in Jesus, Living under the lordship of Jesus will fill you with wonder, hope, freedom, life, power and possibility.

God both warns you and encourages you of how you use words, respect their power, use them to bless others and be wary of the destructive power of your words.

Real peace comes from Jesus Christ alone, Jesus' is a gift and can carry you through any hardship you will face.

Receiving Jesus' invitation to come to him will bring you relief from whatever burdens you and wears on your soul.

Hearing from God is something most people both want and struggle with.  How do you hear the voice of God? How can you be certain?

Obedience to the Lord is the natural response of the believer and essential for spiritual revival and renewal.

As we return to Elijah's story we are at a very important moment. Elijah has challenged Israel to choose whether they will follow Baal or the LORD. I contend that two recipes for life are presented; the prophets of Baal present their recipe of performance, manipulation and transaction for spiritual life, which never works, and Elijah presents a different recipe; of honoring God, speaking truth, humility, transparency and concern for redemption.

If you want revival and renewal in your life, you will have to choose, choose the Lord, and when you choose you will have to be ready to face the pressure of the crowd.

The best way to conquer fear is to draw near to the Lord because trusting God is the antidote to fear.

Over the next several weeks I want to explore with you themes in Elijah story that lead to spiritual breakthrough and renewal. Six themes I want to explore are these: Facing Sin, Facing fear, Facing the Crowd, Facing power, Facing success, Facing failure and finally Facing God.

Jesus does not just want to share dinner with you, he has in mind a redemptive wedding banquet that erases the debt of sin and blesses you with abundant life.

Jesus invites you to dine with him so you can encounter, know and be restored by him.

Dinner with Jesus is an opportunity you don't want to miss, Jesus wants to welcome you, restore you to God's family and bring salvation to your home.

Despite our very real struggles, trials and persecutions God breathes life into us. As the text says for the Christian though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

The Sabbath is God's Gift to you and me, it is not meant to be a burden, a demanding obligation, Sabbath remembrance should result in joy.

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and he has declared that the Sabbath is for you, it is a gift, a blessing and a help, and you and I are invited through the Sabbath to enter God's timing, plan and rest.

Sabbath cannot save you, but Sabbath is a precious gift from God that rejuvenates and restores us and draws us into a deeper relationship with Him.