West Valley Grace Fellowship

09/08/2026

In John 16:33 we read this well-known verse, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."”

While we know that this was spoke by Jesus to Jews regarding the coming Great Tribulation, we can still find application to us today.

While believers today, members of the Body of Christ will NOT go through the Tribulation (1 Thes. 5:9), we still experience troubles in this life. And while our tribulations (lower case "t") in life do not come close to what the world will experience during THE Tribulation, we can still take heart and be encouraged from the words of the Lord in this verse.

Note first that the Lord said this peace is found in Him ("in ME"). We will never find peace in anyone or anything else. So when we have trials and tribulations in life, we can "be of good cheer" because we have the peace of God--and we can have the peace of God only if we have peace with God. Paul wrote a similar thing in Phlippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the PEACE OF GOD, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”)

Second, we should remind ourselves that God has "overcome the world." This, like other future prophecies, is written in past tense as if it has already happened--that is how sure God's prophecies are! So when we are discouraged and start to feel and think that evil has won, we need to remind ourselves the God wins in the end. In the end, Satan is defeated. In the end, good triumphs over evil!

So, be encouraged in your faith. Be encouraged in knowing that in the midst of turmoil and trouble we can have God's peace ruling in our hearts as Paul wrote in Colossians 3:15.

09/08/2026

“"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” (Jhn 16:12, NKJV)

Do you ever wonder what it was the Lord wanted to tell His disciples but could not because they at that time could not handle it? Maybe they were the deeper things about the Kingdom of God, but the disciples were like the Corinthians in that they were not spiritually mature enough for "solid food" and could only handle the "milk--as Paul told them in 1 Corinthians 3:2, “I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able.”

Or as the writer of Hebrews said, "“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” (Heb 5:12, NKJV)

How about you? Are you spiritually mature enough for "solid food?" Or do you still need milk in a sippie cup?

09/07/2026

In John 16:2, the Lord said, “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”

Does it seem to you that the phrase "whoever kills you will think that he offers God service” perfectly describes Saul?

Saul embodied that mindset almost immediately. Look at what the Scripture says about him:

He consented to Stephen’s death and kept the coats of the men who stoned him (Acts 7:58; 8:1).

He “ravaged the church,” dragging men and women to prison (Acts 8:3).

And Saul (now Paul) himself later testified: “I myself thought I had to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth… I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme; and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities” (Acts 26:9–11).

Paul described his pre-conversion zeal as “persecuting the church” and “advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age… being extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Gal 1:13–14; Phil 3:6).

After his conversion he called himself a former blasphemer, persecutor, and violent man who acted “in ignorance and unbelief” (1 Tim 1:13).

That is precisely the attitude Jesus described: killing (or approving the killing of) Jesus’ followers while convinced one is offering God service.

Commentators from the early church onward have routinely pointed to Saul as the prime example of the verse’s fulfillment, alongside Stephen’s martyrdom and the later synagogue bans.

While the Lord's prophecy is certainly broader than one man (it covers the whole first-generation Jewish opposition and, by extension, any later religious violence done “for God”--especially in the Tribulation) Saul is the most vivid individual case in the New Testament itself.

09/06/2026

1 Corinthians 9:1-18
Sermon from Sept. 6, 2026, by Pastor David Havard

Link to sermon handout:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/12vz4n2v9w99ovvbtnax5/09-06-26-handout-1-Corinthians-Ch.-9a.pdf?rlkey=3kpkicswfunvb2b5aszow3le7&dl=0

Pastor David Havard Re Paul’s Rights As an Apostle 1 Corinthians 1:...

09/06/2026

09/04/2026

When people mention "the Lord's prayer," they almost always think of the "Our Father which art in heaven" one. But what is commonly called "the Lord's prayer" was only an example or pattern given to Israel on how they should pray during the Tribulation. It was never intended to be repeated verbatim--not by Israel and certainly not by us today in the body of Christ in this dispensation of grace.

But if you want to look at what was truly the Lord's prayer, you should go to John chapter 17. That entire chapter records the prayer of Jesus for His disciples--and it is actually longest recorded prayer of the Lord in the Bible.

This was a prayer that Jesus actually prayed to God the Father for His disciples, not just a template told to them. And this prayer of Jesus for His disciples, sometimes called the Lord's "High Priestly" prayer, shows us the Lord's deep love and care for them.

08/31/2026

1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Sermon from Aug. 30, 2026, by Pastor David Havard

Link to sermon handout:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ql98ym4dpeg6g4f28jbe9/08-30-26-handout-1-Corinthians-Ch.-8.pdf?rlkey=12lfgowg2blmsjuiz2v69p2iw&dl=0

Pastor David Havard Re. Principles of Christian Liberty 1 Corinthia...

08/31/2026

I previously wrote about how John 14:15 has had a big influence in my motivation to proper Christian living. And in case you forgot, that verse says, "If you love me, keep my commandments."

Continuing in the book of John, we see a similar statement at 15:14 (interestingly, the inverse of 14:15) which says, "You are my friends if you do whatever I command you."

Both of these verses show that the PROOF of our relationship to God is obedience.

We can say that we love God, but if we do not obey Him, it proves that we really do not love Him.

We can say that God like God (that He is our friend), but if we do not obey Him, it proves that we really do not.

A few verses later, John 15:16 says that the result of salvation (being called) should be the production of fruit.

The Apostle Paul said the same thing. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works."

What do our actions show?