In many stories in the Gospels, it appears that there are certain “attitudes of the heart” that can either inhibit or facilitate the power of God to heal. Last week we dealt with obstacles that might stand in our way. This week we discuss six attitudes from Scripture that can promote a healing heart.

As we begin our series on Healing Prayer, first let’s discuss some very real obstacles that stand in our way. Hurt. Disappointment. Doubt. Cynicism. What can we do with these so that we can move forward in our prayer for the sick?

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Kicking off our series on healing, Bruce runs through many of the forms of healing that God uses to heal our body. The message is to expand our understanding so we can see Him healing more often!

VCF at the Barn is moving into a new season of growth and reaching more people with the Gospel of Jesus. We are excited to announce the beginning of this growth with a new site to started in 2012 in the Newark/Bear/Glasgow area!

Do you struggle with grumpiness? With bad moods? Ever try to be thankful on a regular basis? Its a challenge! But it is life-giving and life-changing!  Bruce issues a challenge to do 7 days of Gratitude Meditations and Journaling for 20 minutes each day! Check out the progress by clicking here!

You can’t read the Christmas story without being struck by the prevalence of the supernatural power of God interacting with men and women as the story unfolds. You’ll be inspired by this message of God’s desire to regularly communicate with his children!

Financial Peace University, taught by Dave Ramsey, is a life-changing program that teaches how to achieve your
financial goals by eliminating debt, saving for the future, and giving like never before. You will be challenged and motivated to make a plan for your money and change your family tree forever.

The cost: $100

Facilitators: Nathan & Christy Appleby

When and Where: The Free ‘Preview Class’ will be on Sunday January 29th @ 5:30. We will take a week off for the Super Bowl and to get the materials ordered. The 13 week class begins Sunday,  February 12th @ 5:30 and go through May 13th, with a week off for Easter. Classes will be held at the barn.

Commitment level needed: 13 sunday evenings for about 2 hours. There is reading that goes along with the class and obviously exercises for budgeting, etc.

9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday January 14, 2011 (snow date Jan. 21)
Vineyard Community Church, 614 Fellowship Rd, Chester Springs, PA 19425

The cost: $100

Facilitators: Nathan & Christy Appleby

When and Where: The Free ‘Preview Class’ will be on Sunday January 29th @ 5:30. We will take a week off for the Super Bowl and to get the materials ordered. The 13 week class begins Sunday,  February 12th @ 5:30 and go through May 13th, with a week off for Easter. Classes will be held at the barn.

Commitment level needed: 13 sunday evenings for about 2 hours. There is reading that goes along with the class and obviously exercises for budgeting, etc.

You can participate in the Gratitude Journal in a couple of ways:

1) You can post your entire journal entry. Just copy it from your computer into the reply box below, fill out your name and email address, and hit the REPLY button. Please remember that anyone and everyone on the internet will be able to view this.

2) You can post a “synopsis” of your journal entry. If you’d rather not show your entire entry, just write a short paragraph highlighting what God is showing you.

3) You can read and comment on other people’s entries. This is easily done by clicking the word “Reply” that is found directly under their post.

Have fun!

Sometimes the story of the nativity is way too sterilized, when in reality many of the main characters risked everything (even their lives!) for the sake of Jesus. Be challenged by the nativity story in a new way, to live a life that’s not too comfortable to be used by God!

The angels declared to the shepherd that they brought good news that would produce great joy for ALL people!! What is the good news, and how can we experience it today?

What things stand in the way of your relating to God? When life gets busy and overwhelming, does your walk with God suffer? How can we

How we prioritize our finances can either open or shut the doors  of God’s blessing in our lives. Learn how to adjust your finances to invite God to be part of your financial future.

There is more to giving than just “doing it because the Bible says so.” There are spiritual laws that govern the power of giving in our lives. Learn how giving unlocks so much of what God wants to do in and through your life!

What do you do when you have extra? Maybe you feel like you never have extra? Learn how to find your extra – and then ask God what to do with it!

Have you ever felt like you are the hamster running endlessly in the wheel, never getting anywhere? Sometimes life becomes so busy and so routine, that we lose our passion for Jesus, and the fire of our hearts begins to die.  We have the opportunity to fan the flame of our hearts – of desire and passion – into every greater intensity.

Debt is something most Americans struggle with. What does God say about debt, and is there any way to live free from the bondage to it?

This week we kick off a series on learning to live in balance financially. With materials borrowed (with permission) from Andy Stanley’s “Balanced” series, we begin to apply them to our church. Week 1 focuses on the placement of our hearts with regards to our money and stuff, and begins the series with a challenge to “Know where you money is going!”

One of our values as a church is working together across generational lines. It is good to have a as a value, but the real blessing comes when we actually implement it together!

Download printable version of Basic Expense Tracking Sheet

Download Excel Spreadsheet version

God has called us to take the kingdom by force! We are not called to passively wait for the Kingdom of God to breakthrough, but rather, we are to press in! Be passionate! Be aggressive! And see the Kingdom breakthrough in our lives!

Vision:

- Learn to understand the Spirit’s “language” for prophecy

- Learn how to recognize, understand, and deliver prophetic words and visions

- Learn how to receive prophetic words of knowledge for healing

- Learn to discern timing, context (personal and corporate), and protocol for prophetic ministry

- Learn how to test prophetic words

- Experience interactive “clinic” practice times

Schedule:

9am-12pm – Morning Sessions

Noon – Lunch (provided onsite with donation)

1:15-5pm Afternoon Sessions

As an infant, a babe too young to know either good or evil or faith in Christ, I was “christened” according to the rites of the Methodist Church.  As the minister sprinkled water on my head, my Christian name was conferred and my parents were charged with the responsibility of raising me “in the faith”.  Although I subsequently attended Sunday school and was eventually “confirmed” as a member of that Church, I remained spiritually hungry.  Not having found the desired personal encounter with God, in the 1960s I began to seek Him outside the church and especially in Asian faith traditions.

It wasn’t until years later, after I had graduated from college and was engaged to be married, that I encountered the person of the Living Christ and surrendered my life to Jesus, my Lord and Master.  I remember vividly the winter’s day when, standing in an empty apartment, I felt the power of the holy presence of God descend on me.   Alone in that quiet room, loaded down by my own sin and inability to fix my life, and feeling the weight of that glorious anointing that was descending all around me, I fell flat on my face on the cold, bare floorboards.  At that moment I surrendered my life to the Living God, as Christ seemed to fill not only my heart but also the very air I breathed.

I didn’t know to pray the “sinner’s prayer” or any other formal prayer and, coming out of the solitary yogic spiritual experience, it never occurred to me to tell anyone about this life-changing event.  Not even my soon-to-be wife, who had also become a Christian only months before, knew about my conversion experience.  However, the next summer Abby began to talk about her desire to be water-baptized as an adult believer.  Even though it was not the practice of the Methodist Church we were attending, she had become persuaded from the scriptures that those who believe in Jesus should receive water-baptism by immersion.

When Abby shared her desire, I spoke up that I, too, wanted to be baptized.  She was shocked to hear this, as this was the first time I had mentioned that I was a believer. Even though we had been attending church, I had never publicly confessed Christ.  Our request also created quite a stir in our little Methodist Church, and our pastor at first hesitated.  However, after procrastinating through late summer and into the fall (probably hoping we would forget about the whole thing), he finally assented to our unorthodox request and agreed to perform an immersion service at a public landing on the Chincoteague Bay near our community on the Lower Shore.  This spot was a local hangout for teenagers and a place where I had spent much time during my high school years, before I had become a believer.

Through our request, I began to understand that baptism was a public statement of faith, a way of sharing my decision to follow Jesus not only with fellow believers and family members but also with the wider community, including former companions in “the world”.  My previously closely-held, private spiritual life was about to become public knowledge, and in the very place which had been the scene of some of my most decidedly un-Christian adventures in years past.  I saw how baptism creates a definite mark, a dividing line between one’s old life and the new-creation life.  It is a public identification with Christ, an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.  Jesus said, “Whoever declares publicly that he belongs to me, I will do the same for him before my Father in heaven.” (Matt. 10:32, Good News)

The scriptures describe the symbolism as well as the spiritual reality of this identification with Christ (see Rom. 6:3-11, Gal. 3:27, Col. 2:12), and they hint at the powerful work of the Holy Spirit that is released through the act of faith and obedience in submitting to water baptism (I Cor. 12:13).  We are “buried with Him” in baptism.  In this rite we “put on Christ” and are “raised to new life in Him”.  It is a “type” of the spiritual incorporation into the body of Christ accomplished by the Holy Spirit.  Going beneath the water symbolizes our death to our old, sinful lives through identification with Christ in His death and burial in our behalf.  Coming up out of the water symbolizes our new life, sharing in the resurrection power of Christ.   It is a picture of our transformation into totally new creatures, saved men and women, children of the Ever-Living God (II Cor. 5:17).

The appointed day arrived, blustery and cold (as our pastor’s procrastination meant that it was now unpredictable October).  Dramatic clouds scudded across the autumn sky, and the surface of the bay bristled with white caps.  Occasionally, the sun would break through, causing the white-crested waves to sparkle.  Although somewhat daunted by the weather, our pastor bravely descended into the dark waters, and Abby and I followed close behind.  A crowd of well-wishers and curious spectators looked on from the shoreline.  After a public reaffirmation of our faith in Christ, the time had come.  When the pastor plunged me under, I kept my eyes wide open.  I wanted to fully experience the moment of the symbolic death of the “old Russ”.  I wanted to mark this milestone, the beginning of my new life in Christ, so that I would never doubt my new identity as a spirit-born person, a child of God.  As I sank into my dark, cold, watery “grave”, I released my faith to encounter the living God.  At that moment, through the darkness, I could see beams of sunlight piercing the green waters.  As the pastor pulled me up toward the surface, I trusted God to release His resurrection power and “zoe” (Greek for life!) life inside my heart.  And as I burst up out of the water, I imagined the Lord Jesus bursting out of the tomb, victorious over sin, death, and the grave, for it is His act of redemptive resurrection which has proven forever that I have been forgiven and accepted by God.  Standing up into the sunlight and bracing breeze, I imagined that I was emerging into a new world.  By an act of faith, I “put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness, and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy” (Eph. 4:24).

For me personally, water baptism was a powerful spiritual experience, an act of obedience to the Master, and a blessing I will never forget.  In addition, my participation in the baptism of others has blessed me enormously.  If you have never been baptized since you trusted Jesus as your savior, I encourage you to do so.  Please contact the pastoral staff if you would like to be included in the upcoming baptismal event.  And, if you can, please plan to come and support your brothers and sisters as they take this memorable step in their spiritual journey.  Baptism represents a point of intersection of all four areas of VCF’s vision: encountering God, nurturing community, transforming lives, and living the adventure!  Come and be a part of it!

Russ Mason

Compromise. It is hard to define and even harder to resist. As Christians, how do we remain true the scripture over time, without watering it down, but also without coming across as judgmental and mean?

It seems that of all the important spiritual disciplines in our lives, reading the Bible is the first to fall by the way-side of the hectic nature of daily living. You will be encouraged by practical insights and steps you can take to re-establish your connection to the living word of God.

Breakaway Soccer Camp
Free Soccer Camp for anyone in the community. Ages 9-14 (June 20-24) and ages 6-8 (June 27-29) are welcome. Sign up quickly as spots are limited!

The Forge – Teen Ministry Boot Camp
All teens in the church are welcome to participate in this weeklong event! It is an all-day, all-night long event for 7 days! We will focus on outreach and ministry training – don’t miss it!

VCF Kids Drama Camp
Kids 6-16 are welcome to sign up for our two week drama camp. Click the link to the right for all the info and to sign up!

Breakmark Frisbee
If you are interested in participating in our instructional frisbee league for the month of July, click the link to the right!

Another healing that occurred was when my friend , Nancy Windle, came to the service to pray for healing for herself.  She is an oncology nurse who has Lymes disease, and has needed to be on antibiotics for years now or she will start getting symptoms of it.  Anyway, she told me this story when we were together memorial day weekend at the beach house.

She said that she was selfishly coming to pray for healing for herself and when she went up front to pray for Cathie, and for prayer…she got a vision of one of her collegues husband who was dying of cancer.  She had a vision that he was healed and going to work. He had cancer of the liver and kidneys and several courses of chemotherapy to no avail.  He was pretty sick with not much hope of recovery. So Nancy texted her colleague after that service and told her she was praying for her husband at this healing service.  I think that is all she said.

So in the past 6 months, her husband has dramatically improved and is starting back to work this week.  The doctors and his wife were actually calling it a miracle.  So a few weeks ago, Nancy was talking to her about this, and found out that the women never knew that the text was from Nancy, because she didn’t recognize the phone number.  But the women told her, that the message was so timely and gave her so much hope through the hard months of watching her husband dying of cancer, that she felt like it was directly from God.

Each person is created differently, and therefore each person connects to God in differing ways. Fortunately God is creative in how he allows us to approach him—learn about the 7 different ways to come into God’s presence on a personal basis!

In the past two weeks we’ve seen God setting up “divine opportunities” of all kinds in our church—as we continue to pray for more of these, how is the best way for us to step into what God is doing and partner with him in loving and serving others?

Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts and knocking . . . will we respond? We are created for his presence, we need it, but do we receive what he offers on a daily basis?

God’s love is passionately, relentlessly pursuing those who have not yet begun a relationship with him. His love is tenacious and powerful. Do we share this same love for others? How can we join in what God is doing all over the earth pursuing those who don’t know him yet?

In this teaching Bruce continues his personal series on the many aspects of the fullness of God’s Presence. First in the series was Light, second is Glory. Using the Exodus 11 encounter Moses had with God after asking Him to “show me Your glory,” Bruce explores the nature of God’s glory and how His glory transforms us into the image of Christ “from glory to glory.”

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Memorial Day, May 29
Fourth of July Celebration, July 3
Summer BLAST, August 7
Labor Day, September 4

Phil Chorlian from North Jersey Vineyard will be teaching two seminars at 9:30am and 1:30pm on the power of healing. Then at 7pm he will lead a meeting where those who have attended the first two seminars will have a chance to pray for people who are sick. These meetings will be held in the main meeting room at the new building.

“Beautiful” Girls Conference

The girls conference runs from Friday night at 6pm through Sunday night at 6pm and will be held at the “little barn.” All teen girls ages 12-18 are welcome. Click here to read all the details and to register! Spots are still available!

On Easter Sunday we see the dominion of God revealed over death and all the power of the enemy. Listen as Bruce encourages us to live in that same power!

As we reflect on Jesus’ triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, we see His heart being broken for the promises of God that His people are choosing to NOT walk in. What promises are we not walking in? What can we do to live in His promises instead?

We all know that anger can lead to many bad consequences. But can it be used for good?

Brad shares of the balance of work in our lives as seen in the book Proverbs. He challenges us to not let work dominate our lives, but at the same time, to work as unto the Lord!

Pastor Bruce Latshaw has assigned me the honor of kicking off a new venture for the Barn: written articles to be posted on the VCF Website.  In accord with the recent teaching series on the wisdom of the Book of Proverbs, I’ve taken my text for this first teaching article from two passages:

Proverbs 4:20-22 “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.  Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health [medicine] to all their flesh.”

Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue….” (NKJ)

While listening to Bruce’s teaching in this series, I felt the Spirit quicken these verses to me and prompt me to share some thoughts on God’s will concerning healing and His methods of healing.  These lines from Proverbs suggest three fundamental themes that appear again and again in Scripture: healing, meditation, and the power of words.

First, it is clear from the first passage that God’s deep desire for all of His children is that they be physically well and overflowing with abundant life.  Scripture is a message from God’s heart to yours, and the Bible is bursting with proofs on nearly every page that He wants us to be well.  I can think of at least 25 reasons (demonstrated by major bible themes, commandments, and promises) why you and I can be confident that God wants us to be healed.  He has demonstrated this truth again and again in the Scriptures and in the works of Jesus.  Here, in Proverbs 4, our loving Father has revealed His will to heal quite plainly.  God’s words are for everyone!  If His words are a healing medicine to a person’s whole being, then it is clear that God’s will in this matter is for everyone to be healed of every kind of infirmity.

In describing the effect of God’s words, the Amplified Bible translates the last part of verse 22 like this: “healing and health to all their flesh.”  The Jerusalem Bible reads: “health for the entire body”, and Taylor’s Living Bible puts it: “they will mean real life for you, and radiant health”!  The Hebrew word translated “health” means “curative” or, literally, “medicine”.  It is derived from the same word used in Exodus 15:26 where God revealed His Covenant Name, Jehovah Rapha: “I Am the LORD that heals you!”

Words are spiritual containers.  If God’s very nature radiates life and health, then it makes perfect sense that His words would be spiritual containers of life and health—medicine to every part of our being.  But, in order for medicine to be effective, in order for it to do its work and bring about healing and health, it has to get into our system.  It has to reach the critical target.  We have to take the medication properly, according to the doctor’s instructions.  What does the Great Physician have to say about the proper handling of His Word?  What is God’s prescription for taking His medicine?

In order to answer this question, we must come to the second great and fundamental truth of the passage: we are commanded by God to cultivate a lifestyle of continual mediation upon His words.

Let’s examine the passage more carefully.  First, we are told to attend to God’s word.  He says, “Pay attention to what I say!  Incline your ear to Me, and listen carefully!  Never let My instructions out of your sight!”  Why would God tell us to fill our senses with the truth of His word?  One reason may be that we are continually subjected to contradictory data from the material world through the avenue of our senses.  It is through our five senses that we become aware of the “attacking” symptoms of sickness.  This “sense knowledge data” contradicts what God says about us.  However, our Lord reminds us that we are not to fix our attention on the temporal, material world or on our changing feelings but on unchanging spiritual realities (Heb. 12:2, II Cor. 4:18, Heb. 11:27).  Divine healing is a spiritual reality.  If I give heed continually to what my senses tell me, I am likely to forget the truth that: by His stripes, healing is provided for me.  We are instructed to resist the attacks of the enemy (sin, oppression, sickness), choosing to hold fast to the promises of God.

The direction to continually pay attention to God’s word also means that God and God’s words should have first place in my life.  What God says is true is true.  He defines my reality.  If I call Jesus, the Living Word, my Lord, my Master, and my King, then I am to focus my attention on Him, listening intently for His command and instantly obeying it.  Hearing, believing, and faithful obedience go hand in hand.  This passage aligns with many other Bible verses in which we are commanded to meditate continually on God’s word.

In modern use, the term “meditation” has come to be identified with silent contemplation.  Although the Bible does teach the importance of waiting silently on the Lord, the kind of meditation referred to here is a very different spiritual discipline.  The Hebrew word most often translated “meditate” is “hagah” (pronounced “haw-gaw’”; Strong’s number 1897), and its primary meaning is “to murmur”.  Secondary meanings include: to ponder, imagine, meditate, mutter, study, talk, and utter.  The second most common Hebrew word translated “meditate” is “siyach” (pronounced “see’akh”; Strong’s number 7878), and its meanings include: to ponder, meditate, speak, and converse with oneself aloud.  If we are to meditate on God’s word according to His instructions, that means that we must not only ponder it but also confess it out loud, audibly mulling it over.

The famous linguist, researcher, and language teacher, Charles Berlitz, carefully investigated a variety of learning techniques.  He discovered that saying a word out loud, so that your own ears hear your own mouth speaking it, is as much as ten times more effective than merely thinking about or reading the word silently.  Oral repetition is a tremendously powerful learning technique as it makes a deep impression on the mind.

The Lord God, who created human beings and who understands us intimately, commands us to meditate on His words in order that we may move beyond mere intellectual assent to a condition of believing, or “knowing” a truth in our hearts.  It is not enough to agree mentally with God.  It is not sufficient to believe that God can heal or even that He sometimes heals.  I must know that I know that God wants for me to be healed NOW.  This is the prerequisite for receiving from God by the prayer of faith.  So, how am I to get and keep God’s words “in the midst” of my heart, as He commands?  One way is through the spiritual discipline of meditation for: “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17 NAS)

Therefore, in the Old Testament, God commands His people through the mouth of Isaiah the Prophet (Isa. 59:21) saying: “…This is My covenant…My Spirit that is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the LORD, from now on and forever.” (NRSV)

As Joshua was about to lead the Children of Israel into the promised land, the LORD commanded him: “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it.  For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.” (Joshua 1:8, NRSV)  The “law” here refers to the five books of Moses, which was the entire body of scripture that existed at that time.  Therefore, the command here was to meditate on the Scripture: the recorded words and acts of God.

David writes of those who are “blessed” in the first Psalm that God inspired: “Their delight is in the law of the LORD; and on His law they meditate day and night.  They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.  In all that they do, they prosper.” (Psalm 1:2-3, NRSV)

The writer of Psalm 119 cries: “With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth! …I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways, I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word!” (Psalm 119:13-16, NRSV)

So God’s prescription for taking His medicine is to meditate upon His words day and night: while sitting in the house, while walking in the way, when lying down, and when rising up (Deut. 6:6-7).  Meditation upon God’s “medication” is the way of life!  His words are to be continually in our mouths and in our hearts!

This brings us to the third and final truth that resonates in our two passages: life is in the power of the tongue.  Our words have creative power!

Hebrews 11:3 (NEB) “By faith we perceive that the universe was fashioned by the word of God, so that the visible came forth from the invisible.”

God first said, “Light be!” And then light came into existence as the first feature of the material universe, and God saw it and pronounced it “good.”  Things that exist in the spirit world are called into being in the material world through the agency of faith-filled words.  This is how our Father God operates.  This is how our Lord Jesus operates.  And this is how we, God’s faithful children, are instructed to operate.

Jesus tells us: “Have faith in God!  Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.  So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:23-24, NRSV)

Like Abraham, our father in the faith, we are made in the image and likeness of God.  Like Jesus and like Abraham, we are to agree with God, who: “summons things that are not yet in existence as if they already were.” (Rom. 4:17 NEB)

How can we speak and pray in faith?  Faith begins where the will of God is known!  As the Apostle John wrote: “This is the boldness we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of Him.” (I John 5:14-15, NRSV)

And how can we know that we are praying the prayer of faith in accordance with the will of God?  God’s word is the revelation of His will.  By prayerfully and continually feeding and meditating on God’s words, our hearts become established in the will of God and in faith in His promises.  This is how we enter into faith, into the state of full heart persuasion: by hearing God’s word.  Then, when it is time to receive by faith, to release the creative power of our words, we can do so in all boldness and confidence that what we are speaking is not simply our personal desire but it is the will and purpose of the Lord of Heaven and Earth. When our words, our faith, and the purpose of our hearts are in perfect agreement with the words, the faith, and the purpose of the Lord of Heaven, then we will see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven.

God’s words are life, and health, and medicine to all our flesh!  Let us meditate on the truth of God’s healing word.  Some great “medication for meditation” on the subject of healing can be found in the following verses: Ex. 15:25-26, Psalm 103:3, Prov. 4:22, Isa. 53:4-5, Mat. 8:17, I Pet. 2:24, James 5:14-16, and III John 2.

There are many ways to receive healing.  However, I believe that what God prefers for His own dear children is that we simply walk in the truth of who we are in Christ—and that includes living in the state of divine health!  His words are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh!

Proverbs has much to say about friendship. Jonathan challenges us to experience the power of friendship as God intended it!

Sometimes we can take worshiping God for granted. Bruce reminds us of the majesty and wonder of the Almighty God we worship!

We speak thousands of words each day—the question is do we do this carelessly or with good intention? Are we investing in other people’s lives with our words?

The amount of injustice in the world can be downright overwhelming. How are we, as Christians, supposed to respond? Can we even make a difference?

Strife, dissension, and division are sure fire weapons of the Enemy to destroy the community that God wants for all believers to experience. Lynn gives a challenging message on overcoming their power together!

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What You Will Receive. In “The Prosperity Seminar,” you will gain a balanced scriptural perspective on God’s idea of prosperity in His kingdom. We will also identify and destroy strongholds in our thinking and behaviors that have hindered us from receiving the fullness of God’s prosperity in the whole of our lives.

Who Should Attend? Anyone with a desire for freedom from the “just barely getting by” mentality. For all, not just VCF members. This seminar is for those who are tired of suffering insufficiency, and who desire the abundance of life –spiritual, financial, psychological, relational, and vocational–that Jesus came to give us! Come expecting to be set free!

Cost? Offering during the seminar to cover cost of materials preparation.  Please sign up if you’re at the Barn on a Sunday so we have an idea how many materials packets to prepare. For non-Barn folks, just show up on March 19th and we’ll make sure you get your packet.

Saturday, March 19, 1-5 PM @ The Barn, Room 101

Bruce Latshaw: Seminar Presenter

Kicking off the Proverbs series, Lynn gives a convicting challenge to keep the fear of the Lord before all other things in our lives.

Sometimes it is easy to feel alone with the struggles we face in our personal lives, but God calls us to bring these things into “the light” and welcome the power of community and confession to transform us from the inside out.

Jonathan challenges to get outside of our own little worlds, and see the need around us—and then to do something about it!

As God expands our church, He will also expand our leadership. Hear how!

God is calling us to a new season of reaching out to people for the Kingdom of God—and it starts with prayer!

Starting of a new year, Russ encourages us to keep our eyes focused on the need to encounter God and live in His presence.

Neil gives us a beautiful and magnificent picture of the divinity of Christ!

Let’s take a second during this holiday season to reflect on the amazing sacrifice and obedience of a character who receives little attention usually—Joseph. As we study his response to God, we see a shining example of someone living a “Spirit led life.”

Finishing up the series on 1 John, Christian brings a word of encouragement for us to not give up in many areas of our spiritual lives!

Prayer is arguably the most powerful tool/weapon at a Christian’s disposal. Be encouraged with God’s power to answer prayer!

Love is arguably the central theme of the book of 1 John. Lynn explains how, without a true experience of God’s love in our lives, we easily slip into man-made religion and rule-keeping.

John warns about a “spirit of falsehood” invading the churches of his time. Do we combat similar false teachings in the American church of today? Christian outlines some ways in which we can unknowingly begin to “water down” the message of Jesus.

How do we show our love as Christians? Through action!

God wants all of us to hear his voice, and be led by his will. Bruce describes the difference between leading our lives attempting to follow the letter of the law, and living our lives by the daily revealed leading of the voice of the Lord.

We are called to destroy the works of the devil in our lives and in others lives! Bruce exhorts us to have a no tolerance policy towards the Enemy’s plans!

What does the “Anti-Christ” mean for us today? Find out how many ways we put things in the forefront of our lives “instead of Jesus”!