Pastor John’s Blog

I remember the summer between graduating high school and starting college. It was a time filled with anticipation and excitement, but also with a little fear and trepidation. I was excited for the freedom of setting my own schedule, nobody telling me what to do (or at least I thought… there were still teachers… and bosses… oh, and sometimes my parents), and for the new challenge. But also there was just a hint of wondering if I’d be able to step up to the challenge or not, a healthy fear of wondering how I would fare. Would I lean on self or on Christ? Would my walk strengthen or fade? Would I flourish or flounder?

The moment when it felt the largest … was when we were standing at the base. One son noted, “it’s hard to look up at it.” And it was true. Our natural inclination is to look up and stare at something so impressive, so majestic, a shining display of ingenuity. We naturally look up, and yet it’s also hard to look up. My neck starts to ache. The sun reflects off the stainless steel skin of the arch, forcing me to squint. The brightness of the blue sky also fatigues my eyes. Leaning back to look up and trying to take it all in puts pressure on my lower back in a funny way (I’m sounding older than I am). The size of it all looming over me causes a slight dizzying effect. It’s not long before I have to look back down to take a break from the effort. We naturally want to look up, and yet looking up is hard.

The Bible talks about our hearts like a storage unit. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Like a storage unit, what you put in your heart is what will come out. That’s why our memory verse for the month is Matthew 12:34, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” 

The thing I learned that day is that God is always working behind the scenes to prepare you for what is next, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Even when you think your work or season of life is a complete waste, He is still at work. One of our memory verses last year was I Corinthians 1:8-9. In it are two powerful phrases: “God is faithful,” and, “He will sustain you.” He is faithfully working behind the scenes to prepare and sustain you for what comes next. This is also a major theme of the book of Esther, which we started studying this past Sunday. God’s name is not even mentioned in Esther, and yet He is at work behind the scenes, orchestrating events. 

We try to do things with excellence at Valley View. We don’t ever want to excuse laziness or sloppiness. And yet we also never want to think it’s our ability to be polished and well put together or ‘professional’ that will transform the hearts of those who don’t know Christ. There is only one power that does that, and as Andrew pointed out Sunday, it is the power of the Holy Spirit stirring and awakening hearts to know and love Jesus.

John Piper lists ten reasons to read the Word daily, all of which increased my understanding of how essential our regular reading of God’s Word is for health and life and growth. The Bible is where we see what real life is about. Many of the messages we absorb throughout the day are tugging us toward a false reality – one not concerned with Christ. Starting the day by saturating our minds with truth helps us to believe truth rather than lies.

Seven years ago I walked into a meeting room to listen to our ministry leader give a monthly update. He said something along the lines of “This year I experienced one of the most profound moments of my life, in fact, apart from the birth of my children, it was likely the most profound moment.” What was it? A total eclipse of the sun. We were living in Little Rock at the time, not in the path of totality, and I didn’t care to take the drive up to Missouri, but after hearing this, I was sure we would drive wherever we had to this time.

…even in the midst of challenges, those who know Christ have a peace, a hope, and a joy that gives us the ability to acknowledge that we truly are blessed. That’s one of the things I love about Valley View. I love coming on Sunday and seeing joy pour out of so many, even in the midst of some very real challenges many are facing. We don’t pretend life isn’t hard, and yet we lean on the joy of knowing Christ and the power of community to get through the pain.

Who has God put on your heart to invite? They might be the beginning of a chain of eight or more families of a new spiritual family tree. God might use you to change the spiritual legacy of generations throughout our community just by taking one step of faith to invite someone. And over time, as we plant new family trees, our prayer is that these seeds grow into a mighty forest throughout all of Southwest Louisville!

Everyone wants to encounter God at church, that’s why we come. And when we do encounter God, when we experience His presence, we want others to know and experience that too. In fact, Bob makes the point that a worship service filled with the awe and joy of God’s presence is one of the most powerful evangelistic tools the church has today. Where else can one encounter the presence of God in such a powerful and tangible way? Even a pre-Christian (a friend of mine says that instead of ‘non-Christian’ – I love it) can sense that something powerful is at work in a worship service where God is moving.