Dear Family,
My heart is full for four reasons.
Reason #1: J-Mae Taylor’s Celebration of Life this Sunday at 2:00 PM
This Sunday, Oct. 24, at 2:00 PM in the Valley Church Worship Center, we’ll gather as
a church family to celebrate the life (and Lord) of J-Mae Taylor. When the King took
J-Mae to himself, she was two weeks shy of her 95th birthday. As someone said who loved her, “she had a good run on life.”
Yes, she did. She also had a good run on faith. In short, she fought the good fight, she finished the race, she kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:7). Here’s a beautiful picture of our sister.
One quick observation: Last Sunday, I saw Lyman marching in Caleb-like fashion (not walking, but striding) from the Campus Center towards the main building to join the throng of worshippers. I thanked God for Lyman’s vitality. Let’s keep remembering him in prayer. He and J-Mae had been married for 68 years.
Reason #2: Our Staff Retreat Last Week
Why else is my heart full? We had a wonderful staff retreat on Wednesday and Thursday at the Mount Hermon cabin of some generous friends. I wish I could tell you all about it. More than that, I wish I could recreate it, but with all of us, our entire church family sharing in the Scriptures, playing bocce ball, and enjoying Thomas’ cooking. (OK, maybe Thomas can’t cook for everyone, but we’ll pull in Susie Morales, along with Ralph Byrd and Raji Chitihoti. Dana Beffa is also an astonishingly good cook. I have first-hand experience. I think with that crew we can do it! But back to the staff retreat.
Glen and Jaime led rich times in the Scriptures on the person of Jesus, the church, and purity. Kurt surprised us with the session he planned. He invited us all to affirm one another, that is, to express how we see God enriching our team through each particular member. For nearly three hours, we spoke this way to each other. It was very powerful for me to see, for example, how Andy sees God at work in Debbie, and how Debbie sees God’s blessing through Max, and how Max thanks God for SiuLin, and so on. Here’s a picture.
Reason #3: “Killing in the Name of God: Understanding the Book of Joshua’s “Ban of Destruction.”
My heart is full of excitement because of this seminar we’re offering this Sunday called “Killing in the Name of God: Understanding the Book of Joshua’s “Ban of Destruction.” As we learned last week when we covered Chapter 7 in The Story, God commanded the Israelites to leave no survivors in their military campaigns. This is jolting for many readers. What’s going on? How are we to understand this?
So, this Sunday at 12:30 PM in the Activity Center, Andy Wu will do a presentation on this thorny issue. Please come. PLACE YOUR LUNCH IN A COOLER SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO OUT AND GRAB FOOD AFTER CHURCH. Andy will share for 30 minutes and then we’ll have 30 minutes of discussion. Then we can go right after the seminar to the Worship Center for J-Mae’s Celebration of Life. God has given Andy a unique gift to explain hard truths. And he presents with humility and grace. You’ll be built up. Trust me.
Reason #3: It’s going to rain this Sunday.
God is giving us rain (Ps. 147:8)! Now, this won’t impact the “inside worshipers,” but for those of you who like to worship outside, here’s the plan: we’ll put the large video screen inside the Campus Center, about halfway in. We’ll also open the glass doors, so you’ll have lots of ventilation. You can sit either outside and look in or sit inside the Campus Center and still maintain some distance from those around you.
Reason #4: We’re opening Chapter 8 of The Story this week on the Book of Judges
My heart is full of gratitude for the Book of Judges, which is Chapter 8 in The Story. It’s often neglected in churches, which is a shame. It’s 21 rough-and-tumble chapters on God’s severe tenderness and tender severity. Before we look at God’s Word, we’ll worship with songs across the stylistic spectrum. And the Valley Ringers will make beautiful sounds. Oh, and Kurt will interview our Global Partners Rob and Karen Jaworski so we can support them knowledgeably and appeal to God to make their ministry prosperous in every respect.
Here’s one final picture of last Sunday night. At The Story gathering at 6:30 PM we had a fun game to get our motors running. Here’s one team trying to find ten items they all had in common. They put up a valiant effort, but came up just short. Feel free to join us this Sunday night at 6:30 PM.
Last item, our Board Chairman Alex Auer has some exciting and important news regarding a beloved person at Valley whom the elders sense is being called to a significant ministry. Come and find out who it is, because you church members will have a significant role to play as we discern God’s will for this man.
OK, that’s enough for now!
For the King,
Darren
P.S. Louise’s baby chicks hatched! Come and meet them, while making butter, doing crafts and guessing the weight of the giant pumpkin at our Barnyard Bash this Saturday from 3 PM – 5:00 PM. Don’t come alone, and try to greet and talk to everyone there.