Pastor John’s Blog

Last Sunday we wrapped up our “Know Thyself” mini-series. This week we return to 1 Peter for the next six weeks. Read ahead in 1 Peter 4:7-11 as we prepare to focus on the power of prayer. If we want to see God move and Grow Valley View in the South End of Louisville, our starting place in 2025 is prayer. May He guide you to find more moments of prayer this week. 

About a year ago Kevin Brian, a student pastor here many years ago, stopped by to visit and brought with him twelve framed prints. These prints used to hang in the hallways flanking the sanctuary and included symbols representing some of the spiritual priorities of the church. One has in the center of the print two Greek letters overlaid on one another: Alpha and Omega.

No matter your feelings about winter weather, one thing is the same, we had no control over it. We all had our plans for the last few days. Church was scheduled for Sunday, Monday was supposed to be the start of school, AWANAs, students, and D-Groups were all supposed to start Wednesday. I’m sure you had your plans as well for family and work, and yet when winter weather shows up, things necessarily must change. Our plans must submit to the dictates of the weather, and, ultimately, we must humble ourselves to this reality that we are not in control of something as normal as the weather.

What is your word for 2025? If you could look back and have one word true of you at the end of the year, what would it be? Choose that word now and begin praying for God to be at work in your life. Most mornings I begin the day praying for genuine joy to be pervasive in my life. I read Psalm 40 and reflect on the truths in it, like verse 8, “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

I’m guessing that most of us were rather generous yesterday, giving gifts to many friends and family members. Find some time today to simply discuss as a family some of the ways you are grateful for Christ in your life, how He has forgiven you and loved you even when you felt you didn’t deserve it. I think the more we focus on how much we’ve been forgiven, the more naturally generous and serving we become.

Not too long ago I was riding my bike down a lonely country road. Normally I would be enjoying the crisp morning air, the beautiful scenery, and moments of prayer and reflection. But this day I was struggling to turn the pedals, trying to find the willpower to keep pressing forward, feeling kind of alone in my misery. At least I thought I was all alone, but then out of nowhere I felt the presence of a car looming behind me. Normally people zoom past or stay pretty far back, but this person kept inching closer and closer, eventually coming alongside me. Their window was down, and I thought, “Oh no, they’re going to yell at me for getting in the way and making them slow down.” I tried pedaling faster but the body wasn’t responding. So I waited for the verbal barrage to come, and as I glanced over at the woman, seeing her take in full lungs of air to yell her loudest, I heard an energetic, “KEEP GOING!!!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!”

I remember a time when I felt probably the most in need in my life. It was my first year of college. I had just wrecked my dream car, a 1981 Malibu low-rider with custom paint and interior. The car was totaled but somehow I escaped serious injury. I was in between jobs and low on cash. My spiritual life was struggling as well. I was living at home during college, so my dad was able to take me to school. As he was dropping me off one day when I was feeling particularly low, he stopped me as I was stepping out of the car and handed me a crisp $20 bill. That may not seem like much now, but it felt like the keys to Ft. Knox to me at the time.

Last week our church lost one of our most faithful members. Emogene Clay was a member of Valley View for over SIXTY years, having joined the church in November of 1958 (Eddie Lee looked it up). Her life and service here sums up the phrase “Long obedience in the same direction.”…I pray we are all able to somehow model Emogene’s faithfulness in our lives.

It’s hard to transition from a heavy movie like that back to everyday life. The walk from the theater to the car was more solemn than normal. My hope is that his life would serve as a reminder that following Christ calls us to live differently, to stand out, and as we saw in 1 Peter Sunday, to remember that this is our calling. Come join us this week as we study 1 Peter 3:13-17, where we will see how our lives can point others to Christ. There is a cost to following Christ, to being his disciples, and yet there is great reward. Our prayer is that all of the South End of Louisville would come to know Christ because of our testimony of faithfulness. 

Our theme as a church for the coming year is to Grow into Oaks of Righteousness. Psalm 92 also emphasizes growth like a palm tree and cedar, flourishing that will still “bear fruit in old age.” Psalm 92 was written as a Psalm for the Sabbath, and my encouragement to those in their sabbath years was that sabbath, or rest, doesn’t mean finished. God still has work for all of us to do. Those who are growing and flourishing bear fruit, even in old age. And what is the key in this passage to flourishing and bearing fruit? Verse 13 says, “They are planted in the house of the Lord.”