VOUS Church

Rich Wilkerson Jr — Book Of Esther: Timing Is Everything

Time is a valuable commodity that is shared by individuals of all walks of life. If you stop and talk to different people, most will say something similar - they’re busy. Everyone gets 168 hours a week to divide among their priorities, so what does your “busy” really consist of? Two non-negotiables are sleep and work, both consuming an average of 56 hours a week. But there’s another 56 hours that remain - are you spending that time or wasting it? It’s the perfect opportunity to spend that remaining time working on your passions. 

In the second week of a collection of talks titled, “For Such a Time as This”, Pastor Rich Wilkerson, Jr. preaches on the subject “Timing is Everything.”

When your capacity is shrinking and calling is expanding, it reflects you being challenged and feeling some discomfort with where you are. Your calling will never allow you to stay complacent. But it’s your fear that demonstrated the task at hand is bigger than you and requires help from God. Putting your faith in God’s ability will allow his peace to assure you that now is the right time to press forward to the path he’s called you.

Rich Wilkerson Jr. - When Opportunity Knocks

God has opportunities for us in 2019, and when he knocks at our door, it’s best we answer. 

 

In this collection titled, ”For Such a Time as This,” Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. introduces the book of Esther in his talk, “When Opportunity Knocks.” The book tells a true Cinderella story of a woman who followed a God opportunity, going from orphan in exile to queen in the world’s most powerful kingdom.

 

Sometimes we can miss God opportunities because they often present themselves as obstacles. Rather than taking the challenges on, we get stuck complaining. Or we may suffer from a lack of preparation. In either case we lose sight of the opportunity. Yet, if we patiently prepare for our purpose, living like God’s already doing what we’ve been waiting on, we are better positioned to recognize and act on opportunities. 

 

Although problems come our way, God’s providence makes it possible for his perfect will to happen. Esther may have started off with little but her faithfulness made way for God to bestow her the honor of saving so many. Her opportunity prepared her for greater. And it is the same with us. Though we may not understand it, God uses our struggle to propel us into opportunities bigger than ourselves.

Rich & DawnCherè Wilkerson — 2018 Year In Review

Happy VOUS year! Nearing 2018's end, we mark the lessons learned, challenges faced, and blessings received. Pastors Rich and DawnCheré Wilkerson reflect on this past year, with the "2018 Year in Review" video, to show us how far we’ve come as a church community.

2018 was a year of expansion for the VOUS Church family. We all celebrated as Pastor DawnCheré preached with "a baby in one hand and a Bible in the other"—our pastors' first child,  Wyatt Wesley Wilkerson, was born. Also, we grew as our Sunday services spread across two locations, JDD and iTech. With space made, more people were able to hear the word of God and apply practical lessons to their lives. 

The year contained many impactful talks, from the "God Dream," "VOUS Values," "Love Lies,” "Are You OK?", "Worth Dying For" collections and more, that will stay with us forever.  Viewing the talk highlights here, we're able to remember how they made us feel and see how much we've matured since putting the lesson into practice. There's no doubt the messages to come will be life-changing.

As we welcome 2019, remember God is on the move and is ready to help us achieve more than we’ve dreamed. Let’s aim high and never stop working towards our goals. The best is yet to come!

Rich & DawnCheré Wilkerson - Scared, But Gifted

Christmas is a time of joy and coming together with the people we love. The wonder of this season is reflected in the carols that fill the air sharing the Christmas story of a father’s love that he gave his only son, in the form of a baby. These carols bring comfort to those who hear them but the irony of the Christmas story is that the first one was anything but comfort.  

Imagine a teenage girl bringing the Son of God in a less-than-ideal environment—a stable’s manger. And, next to her, was her husband, who despite the culture’s custom, married her because of a promise that whom she carried was God’s gift of salvation. Many of the characters surrounding this Christmas story had to move beyond being scared from the appearance of an angel telling them of an out-of-the-norm promise of how they play a part in God’s mission for humanity with one assurance: To not be afraid.

Pastors Rich and DawnCheré Wilkerson, in their message "Scared but Gifted," reflect how that Christmas story of 2,000 years ago from Luke 2 impacts our lives today. That God has given each of us gifts, but we might see them as insignificant because they come in the form of seeds requiring us to steward even when we are scared.  Not only that, those gifts are wrapped in unexpected covers – packaging deemed problematic that will take a process to unwrap for the gifts to manifest. But those gifts, as with any harvest, manifest in time. Our part in the process of managing God’s gifts, and working out the packaging they come in, is to trust in God’s timing for them being fully fleshed out. 

Sadie Robertson - Keep Running

Have you ever felt as though you are running alone through the journey of life, as people watch from the sidelines? We often worry the race may be over and we’ve somehow been disqualified, with our reputation ruined. In this message titled “Keep Running,” Sadie Robertson reminds us we were chosen by God to keep pushing forward because our reputation has nothing on our redemption.

With the weight of life on our shoulders, it may be easier said than done to “keep running” but Sadie tells us to remove anything that hinders us from the race, to take our eyes off the crowd and fix our eyes on God. Furthermore, if we put our trust in the Lord, he will sustain us through the race. By following this guidance, we can persevere and become an amazing testimony, not because we’re qualified but because we’re willing to allow God’s love to be our fuel and firm foundation. 

We see this clearly in Mark 4:14-20 with the story of a demon-possessed man who was delivered by Jesus and kept pushing forward. People who were once afraid of the possessed man became amazed by Jesus’s ability to transform him from the inside out so that he could just “keep running” and become a living testimony.

Yet, why should we keep running when it feels like we’ve no energy left to keep fighting? We must keep running because, in the midst of all our trials and hardships, God can meet us right where are to remind us the best is yet to come and we never run alone.

DawnCheré Wilkerson — Walk This Way / VOUS Girl

Rich Wilkerson Jr. - Worth Dying For: No Regrets

Rich Wilkerson Jr. - Worth Dying For: Get Your Confidence Back

When we aren't living out our purpose, it's usually because we are lacking confidence. We make excuses about why we’re not doing what you should be doing. Our inner voice says, “I can’t do that, I’m way too old” or “Wow, they’re great at that. I could never do it the way they do, so I’m just going to step away.” Whatever the excuse may be, lost confidence is evident. What’s left in its place is insecurity, cynicism or arrogance, traits that will hinder our progress and growth. 

In the “Get Your Confidence Back” talk, from the "Worth Dying For" collection, Pastor Rich shares on the importance of confidence in the life of Christians. He helps us understand that when confidence is lost, it isn't hiding, but it does take us doing something to find it again. So, we ought to stop talking and start doing. Just as faith requires action and not simply feelings, so does confidence. And it's built stronger through repetitive action.

God has a purpose for all of us. It is bigger than we can imagine. To fulfill our purpose, we must be confident in God's promise that what he has started in our lives, he will finish. Reaching our goal means to persevere, and we do so by confiding – putting our confidence – in Jesus every step of the way. We can continue to put our hope and trust in him to carry us through because when all others let us down, Jesus never will. 

Rich Wilkerson Jr. - Worth Dying For: Never Retire

Many of us are so wrapped up in work giving us validation that if we were to stop working, we’d lose a sense of we are. It’s the reason why some who retire find themselves at a loss for motivation and are more often depressed, bored and uninspired-even though retirement promised excitement and freedom. But what if we viewed work differently, the way God intended? Our understanding of work would be placed within the larger context of our purpose and retirement would be the last thing on our minds. 

In “Never Retire,” part two of the “Worth Dying For” collection, Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. reminds us we are more than “what we do” for a living, we are children of God. And because of that, we are free to truly live out our calling through work secure in our identity. We needn’t separate our work life from our spiritual life. Rather, our work would be a part of the whole life we offer up as a living sacrifice to God. 

When we commit to our work being both an act of worship and obedience we will find more opportunities to restore our coworkers, managers, business partners back to Christ. They’ll find our commitment to excellence at what we do attractive. Our creativity will inspire them. And our passion will encourage them to find out more about what keeps us going despite challenges or the surrounding culture of apathy. 

Christians are not to be retirement-minded, but mission-minded. Our work is key to bringing people who are far away from God closer to him. Work gives us access to spheres and people that would be hard to reach if we remained within the four church walls. People are waiting to be reached, we need to focus on carrying the message to them and get to work. 

Rich Wilkerson Jr. with Mike Todd - The Whole Story

Mike Todd shares his story with Rich Wilkerson Jr.