Grow

Grow into Oaks of Righteousness

When I first felt a call to come to Valley View back in the summer of 2021, I felt a burden to begin praying Isaiah 61:3 for our church, that Valley View would grow into a mighty oak of righteousness. 

Since then I’ve often found myself praying words along these lines: “God would you grow this church. Give us deep roots. Make us a people who stand firm and tall and strong for the sake of the gospel in the South End of Louisville. We don’t want to be like the plant in Matthew 13 that shoots up, but when the sun comes, it dries up and withers because it lacks roots. Help us to grow into an oak of righteousness!”

I know Valley View already has deep roots. Growing up here, we worked hard in Bible Drill. I remember the guy sitting there with me, helping me memorize the books of the Bible, repeating them over and over again. Our student pastor would push us to memorize verses at summer camp, tricking us with a team competition, with the most points awarded to those who memorized the passage for the week. And it worked. I still think of the Holy Spirit interceding for us because we memorized Romans 8:26-28 one summer. Phil Peercy still comments on how Dave Walker wouldn’t let them get on the bus to Kings Island until they quoted a verse. We sang Scripture memory songs, our leaders were always quoting Scripture, always pushing us to know God’s word. 

Valley View has deep roots, and I pray they keep going deeper. Because in our day and age no church can stay on the surface. People aren’t coming to church anymore out of a sense of duty, or to please their parents. I know plenty of people who used to be key leaders in their churches and are uninvolved now. We have to give them something of depth to help them survive and flourish in this crazy world. 

Another area where we have to keep growing is in helping new Christians establish their faith, to help them have a lasting commitment to following Christ. Larry Peercy keeps a list in the front of his Bible. It’s a list from a church service at Valley View in November of 2013. There are ninety-one names on that list. That’s how many people were baptized that Sunday morning. That’s incredible! Without a doubt it’s an amazing thing to celebrate. However there is something about this list that troubles Larry, and it troubles me as well. I think by now I’ve learned the names of everyone who is a regular part of this church, and of the names of those who were baptized that powerful Sunday in 2013, I only recognize two.

Now, maybe some are still around. Or maybe God moved them on to another church where He needed them to serve and is still working in their life in a powerful way. But what I hope to see in the coming years are people who are baptized, built up in the faith, and remain faithfully involved and growing at Valley View for decades. God has called us to make disciples, to invest heavily in growing others in the faith. We can’t be focused on merely getting people wet. That’s like an engaged couple that only focuses on the wedding day and forgets to prepare for the marriage. The wedding day is not the finish line, in fact, like baptism, it’s actually the starting line for a new relationship.

This is why our burden for the coming year is that we would become Oaks of Righteousness. We don’t want to send out lots of shoots that spring up quickly then wither away. We want to create oaks. Mighty oaks. Oaks that don’t just appear strong, but can withstand storms, suffering, trials, challenges and flourish through them.

How are we going to do that? There are three main things we’re going to focus on this year: 

1. GROWTH: Our first step is that each established member at Valley View keeps growing personally, spiritually, and emotionally. There’s never a moment when a Christian has arrived and has everything figured out. We need to keep growing! Even the mightiest oak is growing, it might be imperceptible, but it’s growing, because if it’s not growing, it’s dying. Be praying that God would reveal to you how he wants you to grow in one specific area this year.

2. SPIRITUAL MENTORING: When Christians are growing, they can’t help but be a blessing to those around them. Psalm 1 talks about trees that are growing as “yielding fruit in season.” As we grow we bear fruit that spills over into the lives of others. In fact, the charge Jesus gave us as he was departing the earth in Matthew 28 was to “Go and make disciples,” to be about passing on our faith to future generations. 

My burden for the church this year is that we would have a new adult believer resource we could put in the hands of a mature Christian to help them mentor a new Christian. When someone first comes to faith, they’re like a newly planted seed that needs water, sunlight, good soil, protection, and fertilizer. Someone new to the faith needs similar focus and care. We are testing a few resources and hope to have one identified by early 2025.

3. PRAYER: Lastly, we need to be praying for God to open doors, all across South Louisville, for us to speak of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. This week one of our members shared with me that he had been praying this specific prayer, “God, would you open the door for me to talk about my faith with someone?” That very week a co-worker approached him and said, “My child is interested in Jesus, but I don’t know anything about faith and we’re not involved in church. Would you talk with her?” WOW! My encouragement is that we each pick one person and begin praying for them by name, that God would open a door to pour the power of the gospel into their lives.

Be praying that Valley View would be actively growing: that we would each Grow into an Oak of Righteousness. Why? Here’s the point: It’s found at the end of Isaiah 61:3, “That they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” The reason we want to grow into mighty oaks is not so that people will be impressed by us, but so that God will be glorified!