Pastor’s Message (Page 23)
As I’m writing this update, Mr. Joe Biden has been sworn in as President of the United States and is speaking to the nation in his inaugural speech. It is a rousing address full of calls for unity, promises of prosperity, and HOPE for the future. That’s exactly what an “inauguration” is supposed to do……
Every year, the National Geographic Society sponsors a geography contest called The National Geographic Bee, where students in the fourth through eighth grades compete to see whose geographic knowledge will reign supreme. Here are a few of the questions the students have been asked. (If you get all three right with no outside help, I’ll buy you…
Dearly Beloved, Do you know what today is? January 6, 2021, of course, but according to the Christian calendar it is “Epiphany.” You can read the historic account of the Maji traveling to worship God incarnate in Bethlehem in Matthew 2:1-12. They brought their gifts, but more than that, they opened their hearts to the…
MasterClass is a streaming platform that makes it possible for anyone to watch or listen to hundreds of video lessons taught by 100+ of the world’s best. Each class is taught by a world-renowned expert in their field. You can learn to cook with Gordon Ramsey, make movies with Ron Howard, shoot 3 pointers with…
Dearly Beloved, Do you know what I know? You probably know more than I know, but perhaps you do not know how many kinds of bread there are in the world? Let me state as a fact that there are a ton! The goggle site that I checked on lists around 200 complete with pictures.…
Dear Valley Church Family, Advent is about anticipation of something great coming in the future… looking for the promise of Messiah in the middle of a long period of isolation from God. I think we can all understand that with COVID on the upswing and regulations getting more and more restrictive. The prophet Isaiah said,…
Dear friends, Is Jesus of Nazareth the Son of God? Christianity stands and fails on this one question! If Jesus is not the Messiah and the Son of the living God, then the implications are devasting! If Jesus is not the promised Messiah, the King of the Jews and God manifested in the flesh then…
What has been your worst job? Several years ago there was a TV show called “Dirty Jobs”. For eight seasons the host, Mike Rowe, performed difficult, strange, dangerous, disgusting or messy occupations alongside the typical employees. These included sewer inspector, shark suit tester, worm dung farmer, and garbage pit technician. Nearly every job was even…
Dear Church Family: Archie Karas is famous for the largest and longest documented winning streak in casino gambling history, simply known as The Run, when he drove to Las Vegas with $50 in December 1992 and then turned a $10,000 loan into more than $40 million by the beginning of 1995. He was a “high…
Do you have a life verse? If not, how about this one, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves?” I have heard a lot of people share with me their life verse, but I have never heard of anyone claiming Matt. 10:16? Kurt reminded us last week that the “persecuted…