Water Valley Country Church

12/04/2023

Good evening Water Valley! Water Valley Church has resumed morning services and will be meeting Sunday mornings at 10:00 moving forward. If you don’t have a church home we would love to see you here!

10/01/2023

Engaged Couples!

I am needing to complete a pre-marital evaluation on one couple for one of my certifications. If you are soon to be married and would like a free Prepare/Enrich evaluation please reach out to me! Completing this exercise as a couple increases your marriages chance of success by nearly a third! Read more below and reach out if you would be willing to help me out!

Prepare/Enrich is the #1 premarital and marriage assessment tool, using evidence-based skills and insights to foster healthy relationships.

09/24/2023

A heartfelt “thank you” to the volunteers who took time off to help put the new roof on Water Valley Church! A few finishing touches left but it looks great!

09/23/2023

“…for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” Galatians 2:16b.

Imagine going to a church picnic with a friend only to discover that they are too emabaraassed to associate with you in front of their church friends because of some religious rule you do not follow perfectly.

Maybe some of you have actually experienced something similar to this in real life and it is the reason you no longer attend church?

Would you be surprised to learn that Peter, one of Jesus’ original disciples, was guilty of this?

Thankfully, the Apostle Paul quickly and publicly set him right.

Guess what? It does not matter how bad things are in your life right now, there is a God who desperately wants to save you and help you walk out of that darkness.

The Church is called to join him in that by loving and serving you, not be gossiping behind your back and dismissing you.

While the church is indeed scripturally called to judge those within itself, it is called to do it gently, with love and humility, and with the full and constant focus being to help the person struggling.

Join us at 5:30 tomorrow to learn more!

09/22/2023

New roof is coming along great! Prayers appreciated for a successful and safe completion tomorrow!

09/03/2023

***Small Group Discussion Tonight at 5:30***

Have you ever wondered why Jesus spent so much time with prostitutes, criminals, and unclean people instead of shunning and avoiding them?

Do you think it's weird that a lot of people who claim to be his followers today do the exact opposite of what he did?

Join us tonight at 5:30 as we continue our journey through Galatians. You will learn why it is so tempting to compete with God for the glory of our salvation by embracing legalism and why that will always lead to a Pharisee like mentality where we harshly condemn and drive away the very people God calls us to love.

The below quote from Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians was eye opening for me in my study this week. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below and, if you are able, please join us tonight in person!

-DW

"We also are come at this day to the knowledge of grace by the self-same merits. I crucified Christ daily in my monkish life, and blasphemed God through my false faith, wherein I then continually lived. Outwardly I was not as other men, extortioners, unjust, whoremongers; but I kept chastity, poverty and obedience. Moreover, I was free from the cares of this present life. I was only given to fasting, watching, praying, saying of masses, and such like. Notwithstanding, in the meantime, I fostered under this cloaked holiness and trust in mine own righteousness, continual mistrust, doubtfulness, fear, hatred and blasphemy against God. And this my righteousness was nothing else but a filthy puddle, and the very kingdom of the devil. For Satan loveth such saints, and accounteth them for his dear darlings, who destroy their own bodies and souls, and deprive themselves of all the blessings of God’s gifts.

Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 80–81.

08/24/2023

Good Morning Water Valley!

I wanted to post an important update concerning Water Valley Church.

For those of you who do not know, Water Valley Church recently entered a new stage of its nearly 200 year history as an officially endorsed SEND Network church plant with the SBC.

For the past six years, I have been working my way through seminary at the Liberty University Rawlings School of Divinity. While my main ministry work is done as a Chaplain Candidate in the Illinois National Guard, I believe God has also called me and my family to serve the people of this Valley.

With that in mind. We will begin to host an evening gathering at Water Valley Church beginning this Sunday 8/27. We will have a time to visit and catch up beginning at 5:30 with an interactive study of the Bible beginning around 6:00. The goal of this is to build community in our neighborhood and to provide a safe place to explore and even ask hard/challenging questions about God and the Bible. I would hope to see the day come when the topic studies are derived from questions people have asked me the week before. Note, this is open to members of other church groups as well as those who do not attend church. If you want to come visit during the social time and leave once service starts, there will be no judgement!

Please allow me to be blunt: We don’t care if you are struggling, sober, clean, dirty, nice, obnoxious, rich, poor, liberal, conservative, or any other adjective, positive or negative. You are welcome, you have a place and we want to get to know you better and do life together. Secondly, those of you who have experienced judgement, shame, and other mistreatment by Church groups in the past will find that we find that behavior just as disturbing as you do!

Please reach out with questions and share with neighbors not in this group. We hope to see you Sunday!

Best, DW

04/23/2023

Reminder that there is no service today. Look forward to seeing everyone next week!