Valley Life Church

On Sunday, October 13, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem and was invited to eat at a Pharisee’s house. During the meal, as Jesus was being watched, he healed a man who was with them. Jesus used this situation to express that God values people over rules. From this, Pastor Stuart encouraged us to examine our lives to see what we are letting into our lives that can become obstacles to our faith. He listed desiring the approval of others, making religion an end in itself, and protecting a calloused or broken heart.

Luke 14:1-6 (NIV)

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.

Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say.

https://bit.ly/Luke14_1-6NIV

On Sunday, October 6, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem, and some Pharisees warned him that Herod wanted to kill him. Jesus replied by reiterating his purpose and his necessity to go to Jerusalem. From this, Pastor Stuart exhorted us to get bold about living, focusing our faith on our calling, and reconnecting with the Lord’s longing through us.

Luke 13:31-35 (NIV)

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”

He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

https://bit.ly/Luke13_31-35NIV

On Sunday, September 29, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem. His disciples asked about who would be saved. Jesus answered, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.” From this, Pastor Stuart shares that our hearts need to be connected to what Jesus cares about, identifying when we are outside of God’s plan, and evaluating if our focus is to know Jesus in the present.

Luke 13:22-27 (NIV)

Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

https://bit.ly/Luke13_22-27NIV

On Sunday, September 22, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was teaching on the Sabbath and asked, “What is the kingdom of God like?” He then shared the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast. From this, Pastor Stuart led us in a discussion on “What is the Holy Spirit Up To?” He reminded us that God’s kingdom is counterintuitive and that small things have a great impact. The Holy Spirit uses what little we have, our prayers, talents, and resources, and makes them great in God’s kingdom, all the while leading us into new ways of transformation.

As a benediction, Pastor Stuart shared a song – Come Jesus Come by Stephen McWhirter

https://youtu.be/UViC6DllCeA

Luke 13:18-21 (NIV) Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

https://bit.ly/Luke13_18-21NIV

On Sunday, September 15, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was teaching on the Sabbath and healed a woman who had been physically afflicted for eighteen years. He then taught the people about compassion. From this Pastor Stuart encourages us to have compassion for people and see them as God does, understanding that compassion reveals God’s kingdom and sets people free.

Luke 13:10-17 (NIV)

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

https://bit.ly/Luke13_10-17NIV

On Sunday, September 8, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was teaching his disciples, with the crowds listening in, about current events and how to make sense of them and walk through them. From this Pastor Stuart encouraged us to not get lost in theology (figuring it out), but rather to adopt an eternal perspective of life and use the bad to cultivate the good.

Luke 13:1-8 (NIV)

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.

https://bit.ly/Luke13_1-8NIV

On Sunday, September 1, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was teaching his disciples, with the crowds listening in, about why he came, what his ministry would produce, and how to interpret the signs of the times. From this teaching, Pastor Stuart shared seven questions that we could use to discern our spiritual seasons.

1. What is the Lord judging or purifying in you?

2. Where do you feel constrained until you commit?

3. Where is there unrest and lack of peace?

4. Where is there division with others?

5. Where are you aware of the Holy Spirit?

6. Where are you holding God back?

7. Where are you withholding from God?

Luke 12:49-59 (NIV)

“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Times

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

https://bit.ly/Luke12_49-59NIV

On Sunday, August 25, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was teaching his disciples with the crowds listening in about how to be faithful in service, understanding the consequences and blessings of obedience. From this passage, Pastor Stuart encourages us to develop a faithful and wise stewardship, living with an urgency to bless, and taking stock of what the Lord has entrusted to us.

Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12:41-48 (NIV)

On Sunday, August 18, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus teaches his disciples about not fearing the future or worrying about provision, but rather receiving God’s kingdom, being prepared to serve, and knowing that God will provide all things. From this, Pastor Stuart encourages us to trust in the Lord for our future, making time for devotion by reducing our interaction with the world and embracing the future that Jesus is revealing for us.

Luke 12:32-40 (NIV)

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

https://bit.ly/Luke12_32-40NIV

On Sunday, August 11, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus teaches his disciples about worry, anxiety, faith, and the treasure of the heart. From this, Pastor Stuart shares that worry comes from believing that we don’t have enough security and resources. Instead, we are encouraged to discover the pleasure of God’s heart which is to give us the kingdom. Lastly, we must examine our hearts. What do we hold as treasure there?

At the end of the message, Pastor Stuart shared a song – Daily Bread, by Pat Barrett & Kari Jobe.

https://youtu.be/zWt4-_UKM5U

Luke 12:22-34 (NIV)

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

https://bit.ly/Luke12_22-34NIV