The Village Church

09/07/2026

09/06/2026

Join us at 10am on sunday for worship! 🎶 ⛪️ 🤍

🚨 NEW Service COMING to Saturdays at 6pm. See details below.

09/06/2026

Amos 5 – Seek Me and Live

Newsletter

4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

“Seek me and live;

5 but do not seek Bethel,

and do not enter into Gilgal

or cross over to Beersheba;

for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,

and Bethel shall come to nothing.”

After warning the Israelites not to continue their hypocritical worship and giving

warnings of the judgement to come for the Israelites chasing after false God, Amos

gives a poetic warning in Chapter 5 (and following).

A key line is in verse 4: “Seek me (God) and live…”

While accurate and appropriate for the Israelites facing severe judgement (defeat,

captivity, and exile at the hands of the Assyrian Empire), it rings true today.

With the exception of those that may live to see Christ’s return, we will all die at some

point. But death is not the final word – Christ’s resurrection was the promise of our own eternal life with Him if we’ve accepted his gift of forgiveness and adoption as sons and daughters of God.

But this scripture is also true within our lives on earth!

Not a promise of delivery from physical death (although God does protect us from

dangers!!), but a promise that – in Him – we will truly find what it means to live!

While the world see’s Christianity as a list of rules that keeps people from enjoying life;

They think Christians are handcuffed by rules and “religion” from being who we really are.

The reality is that we are never more “us” than when we are living in right relationship

with God and man – relationships we were created to live in. When we live within our

purpose, we finally find out what it means to LIVE.

“Seek me and live…”

See you Sunday!

Ken

08/30/2026

Join us for worship!! 🎶🤍 ⛪️

08/29/2026

🚨 Help us get the word out! Kids Crew starts Wednesday, Sept 9th after school until 4:30pm. K-5th grade, All are welcome! 😃 📚 🎶

Scan QR Code to Register!
We look forward to seeing you soon!

08/29/2026

Join us Thursday Sept 3rd at 630pm for an ICE CREAM PARTY! A Celebration of the Shower Our Kids Event! Come enjoy delicious ice cream sunday, see the new items that have been donated to our kids and fellowship with us!

08/29/2026

Amos 4 – Worship from the Heart

4 “Come to Bethel, and transgress;

to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;

bring your sacrifices every morning,

your tithes every three days;

5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,

and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;

for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”

declares the Lord God.

On first reading, this seems like God approving of what the people of Israel were doing.

Sacrifices every morning? Regular tithes? Thanksgiving? Offerings?

Those all sound like good and Godly things!

However…The people of Israel were not worshiping God with those things. In Bethel

and Gilgal the altar of God was one of many altars and idols and gods being worshiped.

Although the “practices” of worship were being observed and those from the outside

might see the Israelites “doing the right things”, the reality was that their hearts were far from God. They did the rituals and said the words, but if their hearts were not in tune with Gods – if they were going through the motions of worshiping, but in their hearts were following idols or the image of godliness, God was being mocked in the worship.

Amos was addressing the northern kingdom (Israel), but they didn’t listen to the warning and were conquered, enslaved, and exiled.

50 years later Isaiah warned the southern kingdom (Judah) of the same sin in Isaiah 29:

And the Lord said:

“Because this people draw near with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men…

Sadly, Judah didn’t listen to the warning either and were conquered, enslaved, and exiled.

400 years later, Jesus would warn the pharisees (and us!!) – quoting this verse from

Isaiah 29.

God isn’t honored by the things we do or the outward appearance of holiness:

For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. – 1 Samuel 16:7b

True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth – John 4:23-24

See you Sunday!

Ken

08/21/2026

Amos 1-2 – If You Know Better, Do Better

The book of Amos is nine chapters, the first two include prophetic words about the nations surrounding Israel and then about Israel itself. Amos identifies himself as a shepherd – a farmer – in Judah who was used by God to warn Israel and its neighbors about the coming judgement due to repeated egregious sins against God.

God judges the non-Jewish nations for their sinful acts – atrocities of genocide and slavery against the Jewish people and their neighbors.

Damascus “…have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron.” Amos 1:3

Gaza “…carried into exile a whole people.” Amos 1:6

Tyre “…delivered up a whole people to Edom” Amos 1:9

Ammonites “…ripped open pregnant women in Gilead” Amos 1:13

Moab “…burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.” Amos 2:1

But Judah and Israel – God’s people – He judges regarding their relationship with Him, and to the poor and the prophets in their own country.

Judah “…have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray” – Amos 2:4

Israel “….sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted;” Amos 2:6-7 and “…made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the
prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’” - Amos 2:12

While these offenses seem smaller than genocide, infanticide, or selling people into slavery, God expects those to whom he revealed himself to respond to him and to be in relationship with him.

In Luke 12, Jesus tells his disciple that those who know the master’s will and ignore it will be treated more harshly than those who didn’t know their master’s will in the first place:

“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” – Luke 12:48b

It’s a reminder for us to draw close to God and yield ourselves to Him rather than stubbornly walking our own way – when we know better.

See you sunday!
Ken

08/16/2026

Join us for good food and fellowship! 😊