Roger Valci, Cities…God's Ultimate Aim - VCC Welcomes Scott Farmer, John 17:12-19, This week we enjoyed a message from Scott Farmer, Pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Danville. In sharing a message of the need for unity in the Church, he brought our attention to the words that Jesus prayed over all of us the last night of his life. In John 17:12-19, Jesus prays four things for us: 1) that we be protected by the power of His name, 2) that we have the full measure of His joy in us, 3) that we be in the world but protected from the evil one, and 4) that we be sanctified by the Truth that is the Word of God.

Roger Valci, Cities…God's Ultimate Aim, Antioch - The Ideal Church, Acts 11, The word "Christian" was first used by the Antioch Church. Pastor Roger uses the story of the Antioch Church to give us a model that is still valuable today. He describes several ways in which Antioch stands out, including the fact that it represented the first large scale missionary movement that reached outside the Jewish community. He also talks about how it was created through an evangelical partnership of two other churches. Antioch also flourished by giving opportunities to those who pasts and whose upbringing may have posed a challenge to a more close minded Church. Bringing together all of these points, Pastor Roger reminds us of the many lessons from Antioch that we can apply to our mission to reach a city God loves.

Roger Valci, Cities…God's Ultimate Aim - ME!!!, In a message simply entitled "Me," Pastor Roger uses the story of the punishment of Herod in Acts 12 to get us to look at our intrinsic human need for focus, attention and praise. While looking at Herod's unhealthy thirst for praise, Pastor Roger leads us to see that the ultimately the best model for a mature Christian is to give our focus, attention and praise to God so we can get it back from him and then share it with others.

Roger Valci, Cities…God's Ultimate Aim, The Non-Intervention of God, Acts 12:1-19, During this brief passage in the Book of Acts, God intervenes and sends an angel to release Peter from prison. However, during this same passage God does not intervene to save the life of James who is slain. Pastor Roger devotes this morning to the challenging concept that life is a combination of God's intervention and His non-intervention and helps us to understand that in God's plan non-intervention is as active, intentional and significant as intervention.

Roger Valci, Cities…God's Ultimate Aim, Weird!?*, Acts 9 - 11, This morning Pastor Roger uses the intriguing story of the conversion of Cornelius to challenge our sensibilities to the supernatural or "weird" aspects of the Christian walk. He urges us to consider whether our level of 21st Century sophistication keeps us from fully exploring or accepting the ongoing supernatural workings of the Lord. Through this message he leads us to ask ourselves whether our discomfort with the supernatural has led us to sanitize our faith.

Roger Valci, Cities…God's Ultimate Aim, How Not to Read the Bible, Acts 9:32-45, This morning, Pastor Roger draws our attention to two important stories in the Book of Acts: the healing of Aeneas and the raising of Tabitha from the dead. Using these verses, Pastor Roger gives us an important lesson in reading deeper into the text as a way to better discern the work of the Holy Spirit and to recognize that we must constantly be contending for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and situations.

Roger Valci, Sunday Nights With Isaiah Saldivar 6/08/14, Another incredible night with Isaiah, his message puts you on your knees!!!

Roger Valci, Cities…God's Ultimate Aim, Leading from the Second Chair, Paul was the leader and Barnabas the subordinate during this time of ministry. Barnabas took, "Saul, later known as Paul" to the Apostles. He shared with the Apostles Saul's journey and his encounter with the lord. Barnabus was promoting Saul and putting himself in the second chair. Many times after that Barnabas continued in the same manner. Barnabus was a willing subordinate always putting Paul first. Yet, many people were brought to the Lord through Barnabas and his second chair leadership since Barnabas was full of the Holy Spirit.

Roger Valci, Cities…God's Ultimate Aim, The Rise of the Nones, Acts 9, This week, Pastor Dwight Davis delivered a stirring message that challenged us to look at the Acts 9 and find in our lives the boldness that was shown by Saul (Paul) and Ananais who boldly stepped out beyond their fears. Pastor Dwight shared statistics showing that most Christians believe that evangelism is a good thing but most of them don't share the Gospel with others. Following the examples from Acts, Pastor Dwight challenged us to value evangelism as much as we believe in it.

Roger Valci, Cities…God's Ultimate Plan, The Values Collision, Acts 8:26-40, This morning, Youth Pastor Anthony McLeod continued our series on the Book of Acts by looking at the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. The text shows Philip following God's prompting to go on a journey. On the way he meets an important official from Ethiopia who is reading the Bible but not fully understanding it. As they travel together, Philip shares the Gospel and baptizes him. Pastor Anthony's message shows us that Philip's faithfulness led to the Word of God being introduced to Ethiopia, a nation in which even now, centuries later, 62% of the population are believers.