VOUS Church

We often think of miraculous events occurring with a flash and a poof of smoke— something tangible, or visible. Yet as friend of the house and guest speaker, Pastor Tim Ross, reminds us: one of the most notable miracles you can experience is leaving your old path for the path God is calling you to.

Generosity is about giving more than what is required. We see generosity as a privilege. Pastor Rich reminds us that nothing great has ever been built out of a spirit of obligation. As God has given richly towards us, it's our honor to give back to Him.

The word honor is to esteem greatly or to put weight on something. The culture of honor is about putting weight on people, things, and on God. Pastor Rich reminds us that you cannot receive from that which you do not honor. It’s important to keep in mind that we need to be constantly honoring those above us, those under us, and those around us.

Pastor Rich encourages us in what it means to live a life in pursuit of passion. Everything we do, we do it with passion. From our worship to our service we do it with Holy Ghost energy. Passion drives us. Passion for Jesus. Passion for people. Passion for His church.

If we're honest sometimes we just want to be first, but as Pastor Rich Wilkerson, Jr. reminds us, in order to be first you must first be considered the least. If serving is beneath you, leadership is beyond you!

Excellence, is not a destination (perfection), but more of a journey, a journey of digging deeper, a journey that we must be ready for, once we seek it. Pastor DawnCheré Wilkerson reminds us that often, we set our own goals and standards not realizing the limits we place on our destiny. The goal should not be to achieve our own standards but to have a spirit of excellence, excellence that showcases who we are in Christ.

Our goal in life should be to love people and use things. But often times, it seems easier to do the opposite - love things, use people to meet our objective. Jesus’ purpose on earth was to show His love for all people. We are called to have a sense of compassion in seeing people from Jesus’ perspective. Such perspective has nothing to do with who they are or what they can do for us - our job, is simply to serve people.

Everyone has their values. Your values are what you focus your time and energy on. In this collection of talks, Pastor Rich walks us through the seven core values of VOUS Church and we were reminded of the first and most important value: Jesus is our Message. Sometimes we think we know the true message of things yet when we slightly misunderstand it, real tangible consequences arise.

What do you do when your hope fails? We enter the familiar story of Easter at the moment that Jesus has just been laid in the tomb. How many people at that moment believed that their faith had failed? Yet as Pastor Rich reminds us, even in the aftermath of our darkest moments, God is still at work. We can rejoice in victory knowing now that Jesus voluntarily conquered death on our behalf. Jesus is alive!

How often do we have an expectation of God that he fails to meet? When God doesn't behave the way we want him to, often we allow ourselves to react in doubt and even anger. Yet, instead of turning our hearts away from God, we should rejoice. Pastor Rich Wilkerson, Jr. reminds us that God’s ways are not like ours. He operates in the supernatural, and sees the end from the beginning.