Valley Creek Church Weekend Messages

Slowing down to reflect on what we've been learning is a powerful way to respond to what God's been saying. It takes time to process new revelation, so we've created some space to go through our Season 4 notes from "A Different Way" and create a summary statement about everything we've been learning together.

In order to follow someone, you need to agree with the direction they're going and then move in that direction. When we follow Jesus, we do the same thing. In this message, Pastor John Stickl explores the last spiritual practice of confession (agreeing with God) and repentance (acting on that agreement) and how they are God's love expressed in our lives.

We would all say that we want to be generous people, but how does God's Word define generosity? In this message, Pastor John Stickl walks us through what Scripture says about generosity - how to define it, how to recognize it, and how to practice it in our daily lives.

Jesus' entire life was spent practicing service. If we want to follow Him, we will take on the nature of a servant, just like He did. In this message, Pastor John Stickl walks through how the life of Jesus was arranged around the practice of serving and how we can follow Him in expressing love through service.

By looking at Jesus, we can see the depth of what real community looks like. We see that Jesus intentionally pursued and invited people into a community that lived life together and wasn't transactional, but transformational. In this message, Pastor John Stickl breaks down the definition of community and how Jesus shows us how to practice community in a different way.

Throughout Season 3 of A Different Way, we learned about the practices of prayer, fasting, sabbath, silence & solitude, and simplicity. These practices aren't religious obligations; they're means of grace. In this experience, Pastor Jason Hillier walks us through taking some time to recap and review our Season 3 notes, reflect on what the Holy Spirit has been saying to us, and write out our summary statement for Season 3. May Jesus continue to be our one thing as we do what Jesus did so we can do what Jesus did and live a different way!

What if the things we spend our life seeking are the very things that rob us of the margin to enjoy those things? What if our lives are just too complicated to be disciples of Jesus? In this message, Pastor John Stickl breaks down the practice of simplicity and how it helps us arrange our lives in a way where we can seek God first. We learn that Jesus practiced simplicity which gave Him the margin to respond to what God was doing in Him and through Him – and we can too.

Our lives are arranged around constant noise, but our souls crave peace. Jesus invites us to live a different way by engaging in silence and solitude. But silence and solitude is so much more than “quiet time”! In this message, Pastor John Stickl reminds us that the practice of silence and solitude trains us to live with peace in the midst of chaos and positions us to hear God’s whisper.

Most of us believe that busyness is just part of life and that, the more busy we are, the more successful we are. But, what if we’ve gotten it backwards? What if we’re missing out on the life of freedom God has for us? In this message, Pastor John Stickl teaches us that the Sabbath is not just a spiritual practice, but a command designed for our good. It’s not a rule to follow, but a gift to receive. We learn that the Sabbath is designed to help us rest from work so that God can work in us. God has given us a Sabbath day each week to rest and enjoy the life He has given us.

Fasting is a practice that can feel so archaic in our modern day but is actually very strategic. It's the ancient path that has been practiced by the people of God for thousands of years. Fasting is one of the most relevant and necessary practices because it reminds us that we are not sustained by the world but by God alone. In this message, Pastor John Stickl walks through the practice of fasting. We learn that fasting is abstaining from food in order to seek God; we fast from food to feast on God. We see from the life of Jesus that He begins His ministry and finishes His life with the practice of fasting, and fasting didn't make Jesus weak, it made Him strong. We also learn that our reward for fasting is more of God, and sometimes we have to abstain from the things of the world in order to remind ourselves we are sustained by God. So, how is God inviting you to arrange and rearrange your life around the practice of fasting rather than our flesh or this world?