Pastor’s Blog

Many of us are so busy that it is hard for us to remember what we ate two days ago or what we are going to do a week from now.  Most of us live from day to day in our focus.  But I want to challenge us to remember an important thing this Summer.  We have been called by God to rescue this next generation.  Let me share with you an important concern that the Mayor of San Jose shared with a group of pastors.  I have the previlege of being a part of a group of pastors who have been given the opportunity to pray with the Mayor of San Jose, Mayor Chuch Reed, every other month.  During our prayer time with the Mayor three weeks ago, we asked the Mayor what he would have us to pray for in regards to our City.  The Mayor simply asked us to pray for the youth of our City.  He was deeply concerned for them this Summer because their was no Summer School for them, no jobs and little parental supervision during the day times.  He felt this could be a serious Summer of youth getting into trouble.   When a top elected official expresses such a concern, I try to take this very seriously because I believe many times God is speaking through them as a God ordained leader. 

Please understand that God has given to NVCF a clear call… as a church family we are to go after the youth and children of our community.  Yes, we all have jobs, and families and things God has assigned us to do.  We are truly busy people.  But let’s keep the MAIN THING THE MAIN THING!!!!   As a Church please be aware of this…..(1)  Your spiritual leadership have heard God speak clearly to them about this vision and focus  of going after the next generation,  (2)  God had given a variety of our people dreams of the future of our church and I would say 50% of them are filled with crowds of young people and children coming to NVCF (3) When we went to our City Leaders three years ago,  God spoke through them to focus our efforts to help our city by beginning with the children of our city.   God is speaking to us, we must hear him and join him where he is working and not ask him to join us where we want him to be working.  So, I am asking you to do several important things this Summer:

1.   Please Pray for our Churches youth and children and those of our community.  Pray protection over them, for parents to pay closer attention to their children this Summer and specifically for neighbor children you know and see during the week.   This Sunday I am going to recommend we start praying for youth in our church and community each Sunday up through Sam Camp.

2.  Pray specifically for our coming SAM CAMP (Science,  Art and Math Camp).  We have almost 220 children already registered for this Camp with an average of 5 registrations a day coming in.  Praise the Lord for this but at the same time we are falling way behind in finding teachers and class helpers to work with this many youth and children.  We are finanically off target with ony about 35% of the money raised that we will need. Please pray every day for teachers and for the money to come in.   WHAT A GIFT GOD IS GIVING US!  Everytime we aim and step in this direction…  GOD BLESSES US!  We are being held responsible by God for this opportunity.

3.  The last thing is please understand the war going on for this Sam Camp and our children.  I can not possibly tell you in this blog all the spiritual attacks that the enemy is brought against the Sam Camp leaders, teachers and helpers.   There are job changes trying to happen, sickness, family issues coming up and emotional upheavels.  Why would we think we could simply go out and gather in 200 to 300 children with 80% of them unchurched and not be challenged by Satan?   Please, pray specifically for our Sam Camp team to be covered and have God heal them, work out their schedules and cover their emotions with his peace. Also pray for many many of these children to come to faith in Jesus Christ during the camp and that we will reach their parents through our follow up efforts after the Camp is over.

Also, please don’t forget, we have two youth church camps (Sr. and Jr. High) in July and a youth missions trip in August.  Pray for our youth director, Albert Alcorn jr. and his team and the children going to these camps and the mission.  Pray for safety, for the leaders schedules to stay available to help and for God to move on the hearts of the youth to be responsive to God as he works in their lives.

As you can see, we are making a concerted effort to reach out to the youth in our community as a church family.  We are reaching out according to God’s leading and in a time in which our youth need us the most. Please commit to pray and where you can volunteer to help, please do!  If you can give, please do!  let us find ways, creative ways,  in all we are doing to become God’s hands, feet and mouth to the next generation.  Again, Keep the Main point the Main Point this Summer!

Blessings;

Pas.Dan

I’m going to be writing occasionally on worship in the weeks and months ahead – what is worship, how to worship, when to worship, etc.  But first I’d like to lay a foundation for this entire subject by discussing God’s overall purpose. 

Many of you have heard of, or have read, Rick Warren’s book entitled The Purpose Driven Life.   In this book he explains the five purposes that should drive our lives.   But have you ever wondered what God’s main purpose is?   Well here it is: God’s ultimate purpose is to bring glory to Himself. 

How did that strike you?  At first it almost sounds conceited doesn’t it?  That’s because if you or I would say something like that it indeed would be self-serving.  Many philosophers (most notably Kant) and theologians, seeing through the prism of their own sinful nature, have rebelled against this idea, as though God made the world out of vanity or pride.  This would be divine egotism and unworthy of the Deity.  They then suggest that the world was made for the happiness of man, or that God’s main purpose is to seek man’s salvation.  

For fallen and natural man the welfare, happiness, and salvation of the creation becomes more important that the glory and praise of God.   How interesting that we humans, rebelling against what we see as God’s self-centeredness, revert to exactly that in putting ourselves forth as the main purpose of God and of his creation.

Behind this thinking is the implicit concept that God is not infinite and absolutely perfect. Only in a finite and imperfect deity can the idea of selfishness in the Creator occur.   For if He is infinite and perfect, then, however hard it is for us to conceive, no other ultimate purpose is possible for God.  An infinite and perfect being cannot have anything finite and imperfect as his ultimate goal.

Additionally if God’s overall purpose was something other than His own glory, then his overall purpose would exist outside of Himself, which is a contradiction against His self-sufficiency.  If God’s ultimate purpose was salvation then wouldn’t it be astonishing that His highest purpose is centered on man rather than being God-centered?   We see that his ultimate purpose should be centered upon Himself, for He is the one who has created us and loved us and saved us, even while we were still sinners?   

Look at what it says in Ephesians 1:5-6, 12, and 14 where our salvation is only part of a higher purpose: the glory of God.

·        ⁵He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ⁶to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us … ¹²to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory… ¹⁴who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

In other verses we see that God is not only the beginning but the end of creation:

·        “From Him and through Him and unto Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever, amen” (Romans 11:36).

·        “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Rev.22:13)

·        All things were created “for thy pleasure” (Rev.4:11).

Also the creation is to show forth God’s glory by divine intention:

·        “The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the sky shows forth the work of His hands. Day unto day pours forth speech and night unto night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes forth through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 18:2-5).

·        For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it … I will not give my glory unto another. (Isa. 48:11)

To close this important foundational truth: God’s purpose in all that He does is to bring glory to Himself.   As Rick Warren says:

“It’s all for God.  Not only were you created by God; you were created for him, too. The ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God. It is the reason for everything that exists, including you. God made it all for his glory. Without God’s glory, there would be nothing.”

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Blessings, Kerry.

.

Hey all!

here’s what’s going o this week…

DINE ‘N DASH

Well, our Dine ‘N Dash is this week… For those who think this is an event where we all go to a fancy restaurant, eat, and not pay the bill…YOU ARE WRONG! Dine ‘N Dash is where we load up into cars, competition style, and race around (following the traffic laws of course!) to different parents houses, where THEY COOK the food, and we eat and run! First car/team back to the church wins the ultra awesome prize!!! WE STILL NEED SOME HELP! Right now, We have two host homes (salad and dessert) which means we still need at least two more homes to cook and host a stop, one for bread (dinner rolls of some kind) and the main course (cooked is ok, or simply a bunch of pizzas… be creative!) If any of you are able to help drive, that would be AWESOME! As of today, we have room for only 30 students (we typically run 40-50 on wednesdays) and need some more seats! if you have a big car/van/suv you would let us use, or if you are willing to drive, please email me back (albert at nvcf dot com) as soon as you can! this always proves to be a GREAT night, not just for our regular students, but visitors as well to get connected! any help would be appreciated!

THE CHURCH IS OUT OF THE BUILDING

June 30-July 1 we will be doing some service projects around Milpitas, including Russell Middle School! We will be meeting at Mt Olive Church on the corner of Calaveras Blvd. and Piedmont Rd. at 10am June 30 and ending at NVCF with our WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE gathering. Cost is $10 plus money for 2 fast food meals.

SR. HIGH SUMMER CAMP

SIGN UP TODAY!!! Space is extremely limited! http://summer.morethanpirates.com

JR. HIGH SUMMER CAMP

We’re back at camp Oakhurst with our 6th-8th Graders! Grab a registration form and sign up today! http://summer.morethanpirates.com

MEXICO MISSION TRIP 2009

Head to http://mexico.morethanpirates.com to get more up to date info and to download the application!

ONLINE RESOURCES

Web: http://morethanpirates.com
Summer: http://sumer.morethanpirates.com
TXT: http://tatango.com/profile/thehouse
Email: youth at nvcf dot com
Weekly Updates: http://thehousenews.org
Blog: http://thehouseblog.org
Albert’s Blog: http://sixminiutesofbanter.com
NVCF: http://nvcf.com

have a great week!

-Albert Alcorn, Youth Pastor

hello all!

thanks to all who came out this sunday to our parents lunch! it was an awesome time talking about summer and talking about your students! heres whats coming up…

NEW TEACHING SERIES

We are starting a new series titled “Magnetism” where we will be talking about one of our five purposes: REACH or evangelism. We will be talking about what it means to LIVE a life following Christ in a very real way.

DINE ‘N DASH

June 24th will be our Dine ‘n Dash. We will meet at church NO LATER than 630pm. If you are not familiar with a Dine ‘n Dash, its where students all pile in a leaders car and race (safely and of course following the traffic laws) from house to house, following clues, for their dinner. we will have multiple houses hosted by PARENTS serving one dinner item (for example, one house will have salad, another will have bread, so and yada yada). the first car to return to church, having completed all dinner stops, wins! Soooo, we would like to ask three things from you, the parents. We need volunteers to host dinner stops and have enough food for approx. 50 people. We are also needed students to be dropped off BY 6:30pm so we can start on time. all teams will be back at the church at 9pm. Dinner stop options are: salad, bread (rolls, etc.), appetizer, main course, and dessert! and finally, we will need some extra drivers for this event! if you are able to hang out with us that wednesday evening, that would be great! Please let me know if you can help with this awesome event!

CAMP REGISTRATIONS

Registration is officially open for Jr. and Sr. High summer camp. as mentioned at the parents lunch, we are limited, for camps, on spaces. please get your registration and non-refundable deposit in ASAP. info about summer camp can be found online at http://summer.morethanpirates.com

BOOMERS CANCELLED

Our Boomers go kart event on June 13th has been cancelled due to graduations and scheduling conflicts. thanks for your understanding.

ONLINE RESOURCES

Web: http://morethanpirates.com
Summer: http://sumer.morethanpirates.com
TXT: http://tatango.com/profile/thehouse
Email: youth at nvcf dot com
Weekly Updates: http://thehousenews.org
Blog: http://thehouseblog.org
Albert’s Blog: http://sixminiutesofbanter.com
NVCF: http://nvcf.com

have a great week!

-Albert Alcor, Youth Pastor

the day after is one of the roughest days pastors can have, says a friend of mine. i trust this friend. he has been doing was i attempt to do for many years. and he claims, rightfully so, that when there is a “big” day for pastors; Christmas, Easter, etc…, the “day after” tends to be less than jubilant.

many were saved. many were baptized. service went well. new folks were reached for Jesus. but for some reason, i feel like crap. why?

why does this phenomenon occur?

in my limited experience i have but a few thoughts to offer on the subject.

you see, when we have had a tiring day, most of us come home, plop on the couch and flip on the tv. some may take a nap, stuff our face with burger king, or just sit there staring at the wall like a cat, but so few of us come home, especially us pastors, and find our rest in God. we associate “God” with our jobs or work and when we come home, we just “want a break from all that.”

the scriptures tell us over and over that we find our rest in God. not tv, naps, food or friends. those are all great, as a matter of fact i experienced each one of those yesterday. But, when those become our replacement, in rest, for God, we come to a problem.

a large problem.

one so large in fact, it not only shakes our lives up, but our relationship with Jesus. when we think we can only experience the grace, mercy, and peace God has on “work days” or “when i go to church” or “when i go to my small group” we’re really not experiencing Jesus.

which is quite unfortunate.

because when we seek Jesus for rest, we are fully rested. we not only find rest, relaxation and comfort, but he gives us strength. strength for our job, school and ministry. strength we cannot find on our own. we can only go so long on our own strength.

think of it like this…

our own strength = a battery. we can power ourselves for a while, but eventually we need to be recharged. some of us may have a long battery life, others may run out very quickly. whatever the scenario, we all run out of juice at some time.

Gods strength in us = plugging into the socket. God has an infinite supply of power for us, but we need to make the choice to plug in to God’s power. and yes, it will charge our battery, and we will be able to operate away from the wall, but always for a finite time.

john 15 chapter 5 says: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

my encouragement to all, in light of this, is to plug in to God. plug in to his power, his strength. and to all, don’t let the “day after syndrome” hit you and fall back on whatever “comfort” things we have in our life, but fall back on Jesus, and his everlasting life.

it takes 21 days to form a habit. create a habit of leaning on Jesus for rest.

it’s the only rest that gets us through the day.

-A

i would consider myself a techie, or basically someone who knows and wants to knows way too much about computers, computing, and all things electronic. for some reason there is a fascination deep inside me with how things work, how to take them apart and piece them pack together, sometimes for very different purposes in which they were intended. a quick example, i was hanging out with someone, particularly someone i was, for lack of better word, trying to impress. and for some reason, i started talking about new google product: google wave. now, most normal people, when trying to impress someone, don’t usually jump right to computers! but the teckie inside of me just couldn’t stay hidden!

but, i would also consider myself a trekkie. i was raised on captain kirk and captain picard, and whenever they happen to be on TV, chances are, I’m watching it. now, i have never been to a convention, but chances are i will end up at one in the future.

most people lump these two “personalities” into one group: “nerd”, which i will gladly claim. but as i thought more about it, they’re actually two very opposite mindsets. to be techie, you focus on the reality of things, and you don’t have your head all up in the clouds. instead your focused on the task at hand, you know what needs to be done, and you get it done!

to be a trekkie though, it’s more a fantasy, dreamworld situation. even though i thoroughly believe we will have transporters in my lifetime, i have accepted the reality that i will not be piloting a starship anytime soon. but to be more than entertained, but to buy into the star trek world, you have to remove yourself, ever so slightly (for some, not so slightly) out of our own reality and into the one created by gene roddenberry.

as my mind was processing these things, i started to make a connection to my own life, then to my walk with Jesus. there is a part of following God that is very practical: feeding the hungry, clothing the homeless, taking care of the widows, the orphans, the oppressed. but there is a “larger than life” attitude that accompanies Jesus and everything he is about. love your enemies? pray for the sick? miracles? these are all things beyond the comprehension of our mind, but very real for Jesus.

the merging of these two crazy ideas make up the kingdom of God. that’s what it is! not being conservative in our lives because we are conservative at the poles, but instead being liberal in our lives! Jesus was liberal in his giving of time and resources. living the “Christian” life is about serving, it’s about following Jesus and everything he taught, and the reality of that in our lives!

for me, to continue to live as a Christ follower, my human side needs constant proof that Jesus existed, or that he is God, or that God is even real. but my soul cries out for something bigger than this world, something bigger than what this world has to offer. and that’s where the “techie” and “trekkie” of my soul converge as the kingdom of God.

being a Christ follower cannot just be about serving, neither can it be just about praying or worshiping. our faith needs the good works, and our good works need the faith.

the book of James has something to say about this convergence:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. [James 2:14-17]

let the two collide in your life.

the seemingly impossible and the very practical, that you and i CAN do.

let them collide.

let the kingdom of God be ever present in your life in the very real way Jesus did.

may the reality of God, and the dreams, visions, and hopes you may have collide in a wreckless fashion to cause an outflow of pure, unadulterated love for our savior and the ones he loves…

…the rest of us.

-A

DID OUR CHURCH HAVE A GREAT PICNIC OR WHAT?

I wanted to thank everyone who helped make our church picnic last Sunday (May 31st) the success it was.  We had over 200 people drop by and hang out together.  We also had baseball, volleyball, balloon throwing along with lots of eating.  If you remember, a couple of months ago we introduced our church to our new church Paradigm of THE HOUSE!  Our church is a family that like most families live in a house (at 919 Hanson Ct.).    In light of that paradigm, we said our Sunday Morning Services would be our FRONT ROOM were we could invite new people to come and get to know us.  But our picnics are our what we consider our FAMILY ROOM.  Here is where we can hang out together and let our hair down so to speak and slow down and just visit and talk.  Last Sunday’s Picnic was a Family Room time and I really enjoyed it.  We truly have a wonderful church family, don’t we?!

Hey, while I have you on the read,  I want to report another great time we had as a church family.  We went and feed the homeless two weeks ago on Sunday afternoon (May 24th ) at the Oasis Ministry across the street from St. James Park in San Jose.  Again, what a great turn out.  I counted about 35 or 40 of our people who came to help cook, lead worship and just sit and talk with the homeless as they came in to eat. We had all ages and types who came.   I am so proud of our young adults who have pulled this whole ministry together.  If you do not know yet, NVCF is committing itself to be the provider of foods for this ministry the Last Sunday of each month…  June 28th is our next effort.  I hope you will come to our next one.

One last thing!  I wanted to thank our people for the sacrificial effort many of you have put forward in supporting our Hope and a Future Effort to raise money to replace our staff’s salaries cuts and move us forward in hiring a children’s director and part time worship director.  We see these positions as crucial to achieving our goal of reaching the emerging generation.  Every Sunday now, we are meeting at 10am before Sunday Service in the Sanctuary to pray for each of these needs plus personal needs so many have right now.  We hope to have a full report how we are doing with this effort at our Father’s Day Service June 21st.  Thank you again for your giving and praying.  Also, at this service I hope you come to share in a big suprise I believe God is going to give us that day in light of the Hope and Future Effort. 

Hope to see you then!

Pas. Dan