Victory News (Page 3)
Victory News – January 7, 2022
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, We live in a pluralistic and entitled culture. This kind of culture doesn’t see the wisdom in the word “no.” Instead of “no,” it is “everything goes.” And if we are not careful, this culture will be absorbed by the church and corrupt it. A New York city pastor tweeted, “If we do not make formation in Christ the priority, then we’re just going to keep on producing Christians that are indistinguishable in their character from…
Victory News – December 22, 2021
MESSAGE OF ENCOURAGEMENT Hi Friends, Christmas is almost here… but you might find yourself feeling a little less than enthusiastic about it. Maybe you were expecting things to be different this year, but you’ve faced many of the same challenges as you did last Christmas. Perhaps you couldn’t afford those gifts your family members wanted, and you dread their looks of disappointment on Christmas morning. You might be struggling with depression or anxiety this year and wish you could “opt…
Victory News – December 17, 2021
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, One week to go. I can remember 13 weeks ago posting on FB that Christmas was in 14 weeks. Some were excited about that some were chagrined that I would post that. One week to go. Where are you at? Are you excited? Or are you ready for it to all be over? If Christmas is about ribbons, tags, packages, boxes and bags, I can see why people would want it to be over. But if…
Victory News – December 10, 2021
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, It’s a Wonderful Life is one of my favorite Christmas movies. And I’m not alone. It is considered one of the greatest movies of all time. Which is surprising, because when it was first released, it was a box office flop. But over time, it grew in popularity and now it is a Christmas classic. How did this happen? What makes this movie resonate with so many people throughout the decades? Why do we keep watching…
Victory News – December 3, 2021
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, I am excited as this weekend we begin our new series, Christmas at the Movies. Watching Christmas movies is part of our yearly traditions. So this year at Victory, we’ll view some of your favorite movies through the lens of the greatest story ever told: God sending our Savior to earth on the first Christmas. Data from Barna’s recent study, Gen Z Volume 2, show that, in describing their experience with various emotions, 44% of 13–21-year-olds reported feeling…
Victory News – November 26, 2021
MESSAGE OF ENCOURAGEMENT Hi Friends, Has your Christmas countdown began? Maybe you don’t start your Advent calendars until December 1, but my guess is that you’ve got the number of days – and all of the things you have to get done in those days – weighing heavily on your minds. But when we consider why we celebrate Christmas, we can all find joy and hope. Jeremiah tells us this promise of God: ‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord,…
Victory News – November 19, 2021
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, Some of have left the Christian Church because they heard that Christianity hinders scientific progress. But Scripture shows that Jesus loved the natural world and taught us to investigate it so that we might know the Creator even better. When we look at Jesus’ words, we will be encouraged to study science, and discover how the world works. Did you know that many leading scientists of today are Christians? Francis S. Collins, a physician and the…
Victory News – November 12, 2021
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, How could a loving God send people to hell? That is a challenging question in our current culture. To most people (even strong Christians), God’s final judgment seems too extreme. In fact, there are a number of people who have left the Christian faith because they no longer believe in what they call “eternal conscious torment” (ECT). But has the rejection of hell helped our society? Has it made us more loving and less judgmental? I…
Victory News – November 5, 2021
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, When you read through the Gospel accounts you see Jesus interacting and mixing with all kinds of people. Is there an account or type of account that stands out to you? Here are some of the accounts of faith that stand out to me: The woman who was healed after twelve years of bleeding (Matthew 9), Martha confessing that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who is to come into the world (John 11),…
Victory News – October 29, 2021
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, Recently, a number of well-known Christian leaders have publicly renounced their faith. Some of these include: Joshua Harris, the best-selling author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye; Marty Sampson, the lead singer of the Christian band Hillsong; and Abraham Piper, the son of John Piper, a well-known preacher. Maybe you don’t recognize some of these “Christian celebrities”, but you probably know someone close to you who has walked away from Christianity. In fact, maybe you are going…
Victory News – October 22, 2021
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, We live in a time of division. It’s like we can come up with any reason to dislike or even hate someone. Teams people cheer for, political parties, view on mask-wearing, decision on vaccinations, gender, and race… all of these cause division between people. At the time of the early Christian church, there was opportunity for extraordinary division. There were five groups of people: Jews, who thought they were better than everyone else; Gentiles, who thought…
Victory News – October 15, 2021
PASTOR’S MESSAGE Hi Friends, This weekend we are finishing up our sermon series on the book of Nehemiah. So far this book has been a masterclass in how to carry out a God-sized vision. Under Nehemiah’s leadership, God’s people seem to do everything necessary to be a great success. But that’s why the last chapter of this book is such a surprise. After only a few years of completing their mission, they are backsliding into their old ways of apathy,…