Service Times
Sunday- 9:30am - Sun. School
- 10:30am - AM Worship
- 12:00pm - Luncheon
- 1:00pm - Bible Study
- 7:00pm - Prayer Mtg. Truth Trackers (children's program)
| Philosophy of Ministry |
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A church is a curious thing. It is located on a certain corner in this world, and speaks of the existence of another world, with a message for the people of all the world. It is, at the same time, both the contemporary crossroad of the temporal and the eternal, and the visible intersection of the local and the global. As such, the church is the convergence of three distinct players - God, sinners and saints - operating in three distinct realms - eternity, time and space. The whole thing is simple in that time and space are segments of eternity, and sinners and saints are responsible to God. But the whole thing becomes muddled in that times and places continually change, and saved saints remain struggling sinners. The task: church ministry. The challenge: defining ministry. Because the church is established for God's glory (Eph. 3:10), it is decidedly doxological. But because it is concerned with the reconciliation of humanity (2 Cor. 5:20), it is simultaneously anthropological. A ministry model must comprehensively reflect a profound awareness of the need to delicately balance both the doxological and anthropological aspects of the church. Here is how we try to do that at Valley View.
We exist as a church to glorify God by leading people to an individual passion to know God through His Word, and a corporate effort to make Him known in His world.
Our purpose is to glorify God - responding to, revealing, and reflecting His absolute and holy magnificence. This must define our vision of all things - our hermeneutic, our message, our identity, our goal, and our only satisfaction. When boiled down to its irreducible minimum, we do what we do because God is who he is. 1 Peter 2:9 - "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light."
Just as "faith without works is dead" (Jms 2:26), so religion without passion is detestable to God (Isa 1:11-14; Rev 2:2-4; 3:15-16). Good doctrine is essential. But good doctrine will condemn all who hold it without love for God. Religious activity is a must. However, we are not called to "redeem the time" dutifully, but to redeem it passionately. The essence of our calling is this, to "love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Matthew 22:37-38 - "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment."
In an age governed by existentialism, relativism and pluralism, the conviction of absolute truth is, for us, both fundamental and non-negotiable. God creates and defines reality (Isa 37:16-20). But God is not created; nor can he be defined by experience. Instead, he must be revealed. This he does through his Word, both written and incarnate. The ultimate revelation of God is Christ. And the reality is that all will stand before him to be judged in light of the truth as defined by him (Eccl 12:14; Rom 14:12; John 14:6). John 5:39 - "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."
Just as God has chosen to image himself in man corporately (Gen 1:27), so the Church is called to corporately bear the image of his Son (1 Cor 12:12-14). The work of God is not meant to be carried out by maverick heroes of the faith, but by faithful members in union with the body of Christ (Eph 4:11-13). Biblical discipleship, the progressive pursuit of Christ-likeness, is not about using the people of Christ to build the programs of the church, but using the church's programs to build the people of Christ. We acknowledge the "already, not yet" tension in which genuine (but not perfect) Christians operate this side of eternity. However, our confidence is placed in the reality of God's work in conversion (2 Cor. 5:17) and his promise of progressive sanctification (Phil. 1:6). Internally (i.e., with regard to ourselves) these realities should translate into an atmosphere of humble transparency, patient expectation, gracious correction, and mutual edification. Externally (i.e., with regard to the world) these realities ought to translate into obvious separation with strategic penetration. 1 Corinthians 12:12 - "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ."
Throughout the ages, the people of God have been consumed with making their God known. When David slew Goliath, he did so, "that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel" (1 Samuel 17:46). When Solomon dedicated the temple, he did so with this prayer, "that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel" (1 Kings 8:43). And when Hezekiah beseeched God to deliver him from the hands of Sennacherib, the foundation of his request was "that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only" (Isa 37:20). Our God is unique. He is uniquely great (Psa 86:6-10); and he is uniquely good (Psa 86:1-5). And it is he alone who offers eternal life to all who place their trust in the atoning death of his own Son (John 17:3; 1 John 2:2). "And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Rom 10:14). Acts 1:8 - "And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
Our desire is to be a church where people of all ages will be instilled with the knowledge of God and incited to a passion for God as we are informed by the word of God. As we succeed in this, we will be identified as the people of God, evidently infused with the Spirit of God as we anticipate the kingdom of God. |