VOUS Church

VOUS Values: Let's Not Make It Difficult

Have you ever had the desire to do something, but because of your perception of a situation, you felt defeated before you began?

Oftentimes, people desire to connect with a church and have a relationship with God but believe they don’t belong or deserve to have that experience.

In the second week of the collection of talks “VOUS Values”, Pastor Rich Wilkerson, Jr. explores the message of people are our heart through a sermon titled “Let’s Not Make It Difficult.”

We as believers of Christ have to do a better job of spreading the true message of Jesus and show that we are FOR people. None of us are perfect, we all have problems and Jesus is the ultimate answer.

Jesus died for all of our sins so that we could have a relationship with Him. With that as the foundation, we can get planted into a church community, not just on Sunday but all throughout the week and truly walk out our faith walk.

VOUS Values: It's Not Complicated

The purpose of VOUS Church is to share the hope of Jesus. Jesus is our message. We are Jesus people, not religious people. Methods will come and go, yet our message will remain the same.

Our relationship with Jesus has to be the foundation of our lives and we must choose to accept his truth by first accepting the grace he freely gives and not basing our perception of the truth on our feelings, friends or fantasies.

Pastor Earl McClellan: What Did You Call Me?

How many of us get turned down and give up at the first try? We want to be first in line or we won’t go for it at all. We want the blessing, but we’re unwilling to wait our turn. In this message, Pastor Earl McClellan shared a story that challenged him, and should challenge all of us.  It’s the story of Mark 4 and of the woman from Syrian Phoenicia who begs Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter. When Jesus rejects her, instead of walking away, she insists and it is her faith that eventually moves Jesus to act in her favor. Do you believe that even a crumb of his blessing, his glory, his mercy, his grace is enough to fill our every need?

Friend of Sinners: Welcome to the Neighborhood

Chances are, most of us have heard someone in church talk about “loving thy neighbor.” But what constitutes a neighbor? Is it the ones who offer up a spare cup of sugar, or are quick to invite us over for dinner? Does it include the neighbors we don’t like as much, that maybe compete with us for the most manicured lawn, or are the first ones to put an end to a good party? As we conclude our collection of talks, “Friend of Sinners,” Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. teaches us Jesus’ definition of a neighbor in a sermon titled, “Welcome to the Neighborhood.” By studying the parable of the good Samaritan, we can take a look at our own lives in comparison to the Priest, Levite, and the Samaritan, and determine whether we’re actually being the “good neighbors” that Jesus calls us to be. 

Friend of Sinners: Lost and Found

In the continued collection of talks "Friend of Sinners", Pastor Rich Wilkerson dives in the parable of the lost son outlined in Luke 15 in a sermon titled "Lost and Found."

 

At the start of our faith walk, we are all Jesus' lost children that he welcomes home with open arms. No matter how broken, beat down or confused we are, God only concerns himself with building a relationship with us more than what people would say about Him.

 

Through building that relationship with God, we have to be intentional with letting Him use us, otherwise, what good is it to be valuable and not used? It is because of this encounter, we learn that when we find something that matters to us, we celebrate it. When we're lost, God pursues us and celebrates our homecoming.

Friend of Sinners: More Than Pants

Have you ever over-estimated someone? Many times in life, people fall short of our expectations, leaving us disappointed, and even jaded. When people let us down, our natural tendency is to start under-estimating people, and expecting less from them. As we continue our collection of talks on “Friend of Sinners,” Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr. teaches us how to perceive Jesus in a sermon titled, “More Than Pants.” Our perception of people tends to dictate how we receive from them, and if we don’t perceive Jesus as Lord, we don’t experience the fullness of our relationship with Him. The gospel message is one of grace, and it’s important to remember that Jesus is not just a supplement to our daily lives, He’s our savior. Whatever need we have, Jesus is the answer.

Friend of Sinners: Missed Message

Have you ever missed the message? Like, maybe you misread the date of an event, or misunderstood what someone meant over text message? Sometimes when we miss the message, it’s not big deal. But when it comes to the message of Jesus, it’s imperative that we understand the full picture. As we continue our collection of talks on “Friend of Sinners: Missed Message,” Pastor DawnCheré Wilkerson reminds us that when we miss the message of Jesus, we can end up somewhere we never intended to go. When we realize that the gospel message is simple and profound, we learn that grace is for everyone, and we start to include others, even those we might consider the worst, along on the journey to life with Jesus.

Friend of Sinners: Fast Pass

Have you ever felt like someone received something they didn't deserve? Maybe high praise, a gift or promotion and you think "that's not fair." Sometimes it feels like those who aren't believers get a shortcut or "fast pass" to God's blessings in life while we try to live Christ-like and get nothing in return.

Oftentimes, God will bless the most unlikely of people and favor isn't always FAIR. But it is the people we tend to overlook who has God's full attention. And as believers, we are called to fulfill the mission of helping bring the lost to Him. In a new series of talks titled Friend of Sinners, Pastor Rich dives into the story of Zaccheus whose curiosity leads to a life-changing encounter with Jesus.

Love that Lasts: The Relationship Formula

We all love a good story. Our childhoods are filled with fairytales and fables that fuel our imaginations, and give us a sense of wonder. But when we expect those fairytales to become our reality as adults, we can run into some major disappointments. As we continue with our collection of talks, “Love That Lasts,” Pastors Rich and DawnCheré Wilkerson team up to deliver a sermon called The Relationship Formula and show us how we can build lasting relationships with faith in God, hope for the future, and love for one another.

Love that Lasts: How To Be Complete

Love - it’s a topic that carries a lot of weight in our culture, especially around holidays like Valentine’s Day. Everyone wants to be loved, and rightfully so; it’s how we were created by a loving God. Love is part of who we are, and there’s nothing wrong with desiring to love and be loved, but before we can fully give ourselves to someone else in a loving way, we have to consider the first step - being complete in Christ. This Sunday, Pastors Rich and DawnCheré Wilkerson started a two-week series on love called “Love that Lasts: How To Be Complete.” They remind us that if we don’t allow God to fix the holes in our life, we’ll never be able to give anything to anyone else. No matter how hard we try, no one else will ever be able to fix those holes for us; it has to come from completion in Christ. Before we project unrealistic standards onto someone else, we have to take time to allow God to remove certain things from our lives, repair the brokenness we may have, and refill us daily with Himself. These are the steps that prepare us for relationship, and help us to become secure, healthy individuals that create secure, healthy relationships.