Celebrating All That God Did
We are celebrating all that God did in and through The Village Christian Church in 2023. It was an incredible year of growth in so many ways, and we are praising God for all of it. The Lord HAS DONE THIS, and it is marvelous in our eyes. – Psalm 118:23 The Village Christian Church currently has four campuses in northern Illinois, as well as an Online Campus that is accessible across the world. Minooka, Seneca, and Coal City are the locations of the current in-person campuses, with a new one coming soon in Shorewood. The mission at The Village Christian Church is the same across all campuses – we are one church with multiple locations. MISSION: To help people experience life change, life growth, and life purpose. We are committed to this mission, and staying focused on our core values is key. CORE VALUES: The Bible is our guide Everybody grows Everybody serves No boring here Decisions For Christ We are celebrating baptisms – a public commitment to say yes to Jesus! 79 people made the life-changing decision in 2023 to take this important next step. That brings the total number of baptisms up to 541 since The Village opened in October 2004! Baptisms are happening across ALL campuses as people are introduced to Jesus and grow in their faith. Here is one of the powerful testimonies of life change that you will find in the 2023 Annual Report: My journey has not always been righteous. I struggle with anger, anxiety, and self-control. I know the devil is real and tries to steal away our trust from God, providing easy-way outs, thus isolating us farther from His goodness. The great news I’ve come to realize is the power of God’s grace, mercy, and never-ending love. I know that God has a plan for my life and with Him all things are possible. Today is the day I say thank you God and accept your Son Jesus as my Lord and Savior. – Justin / Coal City Campus In the full report you can read more of the incredible testimonies and join us in celebrating all that God did. Life Growth Through Community God did incredible things through groups and community. Lifegroups are a place of connection outside of Sunday service – a place to love Jesus, each other, and help others find and follow Jesus. In 2023, there were 395 people across ALL campuses connecting in 41 groups! Remember that core value – everybody grows – groups are the place for that to happen. We want every person, we want YOU to be connected in a group. There are different type of groups – couples, singles, young adults, ladies, men, family, and more. Each campus has a variety of groups to choose from so you can get connected and experience life growth. Life Purpose Through Service Helping people discover their life purpose is a key point to the mission of The Village Christian Church. Everybody serves is one of the core values at the church, and you can see how this is a priority as you review the 2023 Annual Report. There are local, regional and global opportunities to serve. In 2023, 1549 people served outside the church walls. Locally, the church hosted 11 mobile food pantries, providing 110,000 lbs. of free food to families in the communities of Minooka, Seneca, and Braidwood. One of the big global outreach events we hosted in partnership with Lifeline Christian Mission was a meal pack. The goal of the meal pack was for volunteers to pack 100,000 meals that would be sent overseas. The day resulted in 450 volunteers packing 104,544 meals! And it was fun! What an amazing experience bringing all of the campuses together to serve and pack meals for the hungry! $606,131 was given to missions in 2023. The giving dollars flow through Reclaimed, which exists to reclaim bad circumstances into something beautiful locally, regionally and globally. Learn more about that at reclaimedcharity.org. 2023 was an incredible year and as we look back and see all that God did we are just so THANKFUL. We are celebrating all that God did because it was an incredible year of growth in so many ways. We are praising God for all of it. God is doing great things! These opportunities for life growth are possible because of your generosity! Thank you for partnering with us!
It’s Time To Get Rooted In Your Faith
“This is the first time I’ve been honest with another person about my struggles.” “Before I felt like there were a lot of toxins in my life. I am feeling loved by the Lord and am happier after working through Rooted.” “I used to want to control everything in my life. Rooted has helped me to lean on my faith and surrender it all to God.” These are huge, life changing statements! In Rooted there were people who weren’t sure what they thought about God and hadn’t accepted Jesus when they started. There were also people that were long time Christians who needed to be refocused and recommitted to following Jesus. We had people that were lonely and looking to find community. Rooted changed all of that. It provided a new perspective. What Is Rooted It is hard to explain the journey called Rooted, but here are the key points of what it is: 10 weeks of intentionally serving with, praying with, and growing your relationship with God and the people in your group. Asking questions and receiving answers to BIG questions. Learning how to do the thing that many Christians are afraid or unsure of, which is sharing Jesus with other people. Share what Jesus has done in your life and practice telling your story in a safe environment. “I loved the camaraderie I experienced in Rooted. I loved the diversity of backgrounds, thoughts and opinions, arriving at the same common place and goal.” – Rooted Graduate Some people came to Rooted because they were signed up without their knowledge, some came ready to learn, some, unsure of what it would be and if it would hold any benefit for them. There were even a few people that came because they heard the announcement wrong and thought it was something else entirely! 10 % of the room dropped out over the 10-week period for various reasons. 90% collectively arrived at a place of thanksgiving, gratitude and joy. They had a stronger knowledge of God, who He is and how He speaks to them. This group was able to explore their purpose, why He allows suffering, how and why we pray, serve, and most of all, how very loved we are by our Father in Heaven. Take the plunge, make the commitment. If you are willing to follow the experience for 10 weeks, you will receive a maximum impact in your life. It is the best odds ever! Now is the time to experience real Life Change, Life Growth and Life Purpose! Learn more about Rooted…
Ain’t No People Like My People
I have a t-shirt that says “Ain’t no people like my people.” SO TRUE! My people, my friends, my sounding boards, at times my guardrail. They love and support me well. They know I have a hard time asking for help so instead, they offer it and sometimes, they just tell me they are helping me, even if I say no. They know me well. That wasn’t always the case. I didn’t always have these people in my life. I had to step out of my comfort zone and into the “uncomfortable” world of Lifegroups to get there. These relationships were built as we got to hang out, learn, laugh, open up our lives, serve alongside each other, study, and chase Jesus together. I can call my people when I need prayer, good advice, or a checkpoint for my thoughts or actions. This is so necessary to have in our Christian walk. James 5:16 says “therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” I have experienced and I have witnessed followers go “off-roading” in our journey with Jesus and I have wondered, where are their friends? How did it get this bad or go so far, so fast and unchecked? They must not have had “my people”. Because they call me out left and right if I get off track. They have permission to do so because they know and love the Lord and me and want what is best for me. Find a Lifegroup. Find your people. Invest in relationships that will invest in you. Check out Village Lifegroups…
A Cheering Section Just For You
Have you ever had someone cheer for you? Have you ever wanted someone to cheer for you, but it just didn’t happen? Here at The Village we feel it’s very important to encourage and love everyone. When it comes to baptism especially, everyone should have a cheering section. Every Thursday The Village has a church service. Something special happened on July 25th, 2019. Mackenzie Eber was baptized! In our worship room we have 4 sections of chairs and the section in front of the baptistry (the tub where baptisms happen) seats about 60 people. Mackenzie’s many friends came to celebrate her life-changing decision to be baptized and filled this entire section! It was so great to see the love and support of her friends and family. On this day, I actually cut my sermon a little short because I could see the excitement in the faces of these students for their friend. They wanted to share in this moment of her committing her life to Jesus. You could not only see their excitement, but you could feel it. Everyone should have their own cheering section for when we make big decisions for Christ. It is definitely a time to celebrate! You Can Have The Opportunity We all get the opportunity to encourage and support others and we are all encouraged ourselves to see God’s work in others. This Bible verse from Hebrews sums it up perfectly, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1) We have lots more baptisms scheduled in the coming weeks. If you’ve been thinking about taking this next step, I encourage you to talk to one of the Pastors at The Village. You can also learn more about baptism here, https://www.thevillagechristianchurch.com/about-us/baptism The section in front of the baptistry is now designated for friends and family, but the other 3 sections are also for cheering as well! ?
Invest In Your Marriage
One of the very best things you can do for your marriage is to go a marriage retreat once a year. In fact, studies show that couples who take time for a marriage retreat each year are 70% more likely to stay together than those who don’t. It’s that “checkup” that re-centers your focus and your priorities, and makes all the difference in the world! This year we are honored to have my friends, Justin and Tricia Davis, lead a Marriage Retreat here at The Village. I went to school with Justin and Tricia and have been friends for over 20 years. Going through some struggles in your marriage? They have gone through the ultimate struggle and found God’s grace and will share ways to overcome! Their story can help YOU! Going through financial hardship or family stress? They are church planters (which means you are perpetually broke) and just adopted 2 kids (in addition to their three biological kids). They can relate and help us as we all struggle with these things. Need someone real to talk to and relate to, not some couple with a canned message? They are as real as it gets, and actually really funny! They will have you laughing one minute and close to tears the next. What else could you be doing on a Friday night that would not only help your marriage right now but also give you a boost for a better relationship in the future? I can’t think of anything and oh by the way…..IT’S FREE! Get a babysitter and make this event a priority. Invite friends from church and outside of church to come with you. Make it fun and head out for a movie or something fun afterward on Friday night. See you March 9 – 10th for an incredible boost to your marriage!
GivingTuesday – Give in Gratitude
Have you heard of #givingtuesday? Here’s a challenge for you, and it starts like this… Yesterday was a fun day a church. A friend told me that he was able to sell his house and move into another. He was so grateful that he decided to give a special gift. In gratitude to God, he gave a special gift of $2000 to Destiny Rescue, a mission that rescues girls from human trafficking in Cambodia and Thailand. On #GivingTuesday I can’t think of a better cause to give towards. In 2016, Destiny Rescue rescued 485 girls out of human trafficking. In 2017, they are well past this number of rescues and anticipate being close to 600 girls rescued! Take a moment to think about that. 600 young girls being rescued from human trafficking! Incredible! The key part to the rescue is the after care. After care includes a home to live in, food for each day, emotional and physical counseling, an opportunity to learn a new trade, and then a transition back into society. The goal is to get the girls to a point where they will not return to trafficking. While the increasing number of rescues is outstanding, the funds for after care are not enough to handle the amount of rescues. So…will you consider making a $20 gift to The Village that will go directly to Destiny Rescue? Here’s the challenge: If we can get 100 people to donate $20 each, that will be $2000 going to provide after care for these young girls rescued from human trafficking! We add that to my friend’s generous $2000 gift and we have a total of $4000 to donate to this life changing mission! This is a challenge for #GivingTuesday only so act now! You can give at The Village Christian Church. All gifts are 100% tax deductible. Share this with your friends so we can hit our goal! Give Now
Speak Faith Into Fear
My facebook post on August 11, 2016 was this….. I’m surrounded by great leaders. While sharing with a leader that we are a little short in our offerings this year, he responded by saying “It won’t matter when we are reaching 1000 people and we need to expand parking”. I really needed to hear that because the finances were not very strong at that point in time. In fact, we were approximately $40,000 behind in our budget. Although the finances weren’t strong, God was bringing the people and attendance continued to grow. It was clear that we would have to take a step of faith and add a service to make room for more people. What if we had focused on the finances, circled the wagons and not stepped out in faith? What if we had let the fears overcome our faith? Thankfully, a trusted leader lined me out! He said what I needed to hear, and He spoke truth in love. He spoke faith into my fear. Now it’s August 15th, 2017 as I write this, a whole year later…. We’re working on expanding the parking! In fact, we’re getting pricing to add 104 parking spaces in 2018! We’re restructuring our staff and our systems to set the church up to reach 1,000 people every week! That’s 1000 people coming to know Christ! That’s 1000 people reading the Bible and applying it to their lives! We’re making plans to add a new service in the future! Stay tuned for more details coming in the Fall on that. We’re in the process of turning over 2 rooms in the church for more kids space because we are running out of room! Oh yeah, God provided the finances. We concluded 2016 above budget. Literally an extra $50,000 came in the last days of December that brought us to where we needed to be. We are very thankful to God for always providing. At this point, we’re currently just above our budget with great opportunities to end the year strong and set up for hundreds of more people’s lives to be changed! Surround yourself with good people! Listen to people of faith, not fear!
Memorial Day Thank You
On this Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those that have given their lives for our country. We think about those that will give their lives in the future as we defend freedom. Thank you to Congressman Adam Kinzinger for summing it up so well!
Celebrate Easter At The Village
Easter is a great time for family, friends, traditions, and celebration. Our hope is that you would stop by, connect, celebrate and have a great experience with your family and friends! We invite you to The Village Easter Egg Hunts! We like to have fun here at The Village. Watch this to see 2 of our Pastors… https://vimeo.com/208663740 2 Egg Hunts To Choose From! Come to service Saturday, 4/8 @ 5 pm, or Sunday, 4/9 @ 11 am, then immediately following will be the egg hunts. Both egg hunts will be exactly the same – airplane flyover (weather permitting), the Easter Bunny, Minooka police and fire departments will be there with a police car and fire truck, an inflatable obstacle course, $1 hot dog meals, and loads of candy! All Kid Village rooms will be open Saturday and Sunday for the 9:30 and 11 am services. Infants – preschool only will be open for the 8:30 am service. Note: There will also be Sunday services at 8:30 and 9:30 am on Sunday, April 9th. We invite you to Easter Services at The Village! You have four service choices: Saturday, April 15 @ 5pm Sunday, April 16 @ 8:30, 9:30, 11am Nate will be teaching about “How Good Is Good Enough?” We’ll look at the Bible to answer the questions, How do we know who is good enough? How do you become good enough? Kid Village will be closed Saturday, but will be open Sunday during all services for infants – 4th grade. Our services are open to all. If you don’t have a church home, please come and visit. If you’ve never been to church, please come and visit. You’ll find that The Village is a little different type of church! If you’re new, click here to find out a few things about us. We usually dress casual, but feel free to dress in your Easter best on this special day! We’re excited to see you, your family, and your friends! Come early to get your seat!
God Doesn’t Just Work On Sunday
It was a Monday afternoon and I got a text message and the picture above from one of our Lifegroup leaders. This is what the text message said, “Just wanted you to know Barb is being baptized by our Lifegroup and her granddaughter today.” My first thought was, “Wow! So amazing!!!” Then I got to thinking more about it…How many great things, God things, happen in peoples lives Monday thru Saturday? We see many great things God does “At Church” on Sundays and it’s important to celebrate these, but sometimes we forget all of the incredible “WINS” in peoples lives happening every day! God doesn’t just work on Sundays! There are 168 hours in a week and church is just 1 hour of that. What about the other 167 hours? Here are a few more examples of some of those “WINS” that are happening during the week: The dad who came home to spend time with his kids instead of spending time at the bar. As result, his marriage is being restored and his kids will grow up with a godly parent. The teenager who is reading her Bible throughout the week every night before she goes to bed. The salesman who when traveling is committed to stay away from pornography. The list can go on and on if I spend some time thinking about it. Life is about choices. Every hour brings more choices and you have to stop and make that important decision. There are “WINS” EVERY DAY as God works in and through our lives! This is an important thing to remember as you are in the trenches during the week. Be aware, celebrate, and thank God for those “WINS”!