The Village Church

Send us a textNotes coming soon.The Grief and Gratitude series is based on a podcast series on the Allender Center's podcastSupport the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com

Send us a textNotes coming soon.The Grief and Gratitude series is based on a podcast series on the Allender podcast.Support the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com

Send us a textMark Crawford3-27-22 The Grief and Gratitude series is based on a podcast series on the Allender podcast.Holding the Tension: You should also watch Corey and Colleen’s sermon from this morning!  Today we will talk about holding the tension between grief and gratitude: last week we talked about these two disciplines. How do we hold the tension? What does that look like? We’re going to look at a few of my stories and expand on how we understand grief and then we will read Psalm 77 together and talk about why it’s my favorite psalm. Continue ReadingSupport the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com

Send us a textGrief and Gratitude: Our Story  Colleen & Corey Gilchrist 3-27-22 Prayer: Use us as instruments of your peace and that our words would be heard with kindness and mercy. Prevent the enemy from deceiving and distracting us.  Our background: We’ve been Villagers for a long time, me since 2007, Colleen longer than I. We’ve both been on the leadership team and our experiences with grief and gratitude. We will not be talking about new content but reviewing what has been discussed and our testimony of grief and gratitude in our marriage. I work as a hospice chaplain professional. So, when I have helped people feel their grief and express this…this is normal to feel heaviness during loss. Loss of life or anything: even a miscommunication with a friend or feeling unheard or unseen by your partner; Grief all comes out no matter what. When people say “I’m fine” this is not the case: it must find its way out. I’ve been studying grief for a long time in school, etc. I found it’s not that helpful to analyze it. It is helpful to use this info to affirm my experience and to feel this in a community, helping ID what you’re feeling. Continue ReadingSupport the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com

Send us a textGrief and Gratitude: The Grief and Gratitude series is based on a podcast series on the Allender podcast.Engaging Eric Cepin 3-20-22We are in this series, and this is the third week. There is a movie star named Keanu Reeves who is supposed to be a nice guy. When asked where people go when they die, he responded, “What I do know is that the people they leave behind will miss them.” Heb. 10:24,25: A sense of sadness and grief: Dr. Larry Crabb passed away last year, and I spent time with him before he died. This is his passage. And this is the Village’s passage, too. I remember moments that I had with him and I’m sad that I will not do that in this life. But I’m grateful about how he helped me understand this passage. Continue ReadingSupport the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com

Send us a textThe Grief and Gratitude series is based on a podcast series on the Allender podcast.Eric: Grief and Gratitude are always about loss…you are actually always losing because you are moving forward. Ie: Babies don’t stay babies: this can be a loss and maybe even grief. And more intense losses of spouses, countries, friends, etc. In the world of psychology there are many processes of grief. We've studied it to death! Aren’t grief and gratitude hard to put together? Gratitude will emerge as we move closer to the resurrection (Easter). Support the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com

Send us a textThe Cross Series (Lent, 2022)The Grief and Gratitude series is based on a podcast series on the Allender podcast.Grief and Gratitude3-5-22Rod HugenIn high school bible class, I was invited to pick out a life verse. I had difficulty memorizing things, so I told the teacher I was picking John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept.” I could memorize that! My teacher laughed and was a good sport but then he assigned me a long verse and gave me after-school detention. I do not remember the long verse but I do remember “Jesus wept, “a powerful and transformative verse.Consider this: Jesus, God-made flesh, wept. The God of the universe cried and shed tears and sobbed! The interesting meaning of the word “wept,” however, kind of messed me up. It means Jesus snorted (like a horse). That is a strange word to describe weeping. I wanted to believe Jesus was crying out because Lazarus died and along with the crowds felt helpless. But this was not why he wept. Jesus was loved and known by Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. They believed He could have healed Lazarus if he had come on time…but because he had delayed coming, now Lazarus was dead. People were mourning and trying to minister to Mary and Martha, not knowing what to say. “Just get over it?” “Move on?” (When someone experiences loss and grieves, just go sit with them and say nothing. You give them the greatest gift of Jesus’s presence.) Read MoreSupport the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com

Send us a textThis is the last in the series Encounters with Jesus.  In my PG, we meditated on the feeding of the 4000 and I wondered what kind of fish they were. Ron Layman said they were Tilapia because at Christmas he wanted to have Jesus’s favorite food so he looked this up. To know this got me into the story.  My invitation is during Lent, continue to come back and read through these encounters with Jesus. We are going to talk about Christ on the cross today. We know he’s no longer on the cross and we are going to talk about him on the cross to meld grief and gratitude until Easter when we will talk about the resurrection.  Last week, Michael talked about the rich young ruler and meditated on this passage. Today we will do the same. If you feel comfortable, close your eyes. Imagine a seed in your hand and you put it in the dirt and cover up. You have some water. The seed sprouts over time and makes a plant and there is a branch coming toward you and there is a fruit. You take a bit and taste the fruit. What kind of fruit did you eat? Apple, apricot, orange, peach….The Cross ContinuedSupport the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com

Send us a textMark 10:17-31 Michael Cousineau2-20-22The Rich Young RulerIf you want to talk about this passage in the usual way, listen to the podcast from 2019 evening. I think it was a good sermon! I listened to and I said, “this guy is really on point!”However, today we will do things differently. Let’s go back to kindergarten…put on your imagination hat. Pick our someone you know well, the way the move and talk. Imagine them walking through the door right over there and wave happily and walk over to you and they sit down next to you and say hello. Could you accomplish this? Good. Encounters with Jesus. Rather than talk about an encounter with Jesus, I want to provoke one that happens to you this morning. There are two ways to read the Bible (at least two). Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster: a book about 12 disciplines (information and application). He kicks off the book with meditation. Another one is study. This not bad and it’s what I usually do. I’m not trying to bad-mouth this: you SHOUILD study scripture often! But another way of looking at the Bible is meditation. “...Whereas the study of scripture is exegesis by contrast the meditation centers on…Bonhoeffer says to spend a week on one text…taste the salt in the air…. touch the hem…rather than dissecting it, we are gathered into his peace…the self is forgotten…. we are attending to the impartation of peace within our heartsRead MoreSupport the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com

Send us a textWhat does it mean to be with Jesus? What are the implications of Jesus’s compassion? Eric’s Story: 9th grade at Rincon HS Physical Science class. There were mostly other students who were not headed to college in this class. Sam had stolen the workbook answer key. He offered it to me, but I declined. A couple of days later, the teacher found out someone had stolen the answer key and asked who had done it. Eric (full of wisdom) raised his hand and told the whole class that Sam had taken it. Sam was smaller and couldn't beat me up. Keep in mind that Rincon HS was a violent school in the mid-80s…my senior year, I was in the locker room and my friend was buying drugs from Sam. Sam said he didn’t trust me; my friend told me “he’s with me; he’s ok.” Notice what my friend said: HE IS WITH ME: his reputation is my reputation. This is what it means to be with Jesus.  https://www.villagersonline.com/6533-2/Support the showThe Village Church’s sermon podcast is more than just a weekly message. It is an invitation into the great and ongoing story of God’s work in the world. Pastors Eric, Mark, Susan, Daniel, and other leaders open the Scriptures not as a collection of abstract ideas but as the living, breathing witness to God’s kingdom breaking into our midst. Each episode is a call—not merely to listen, but to take part, to step forward into the life of faith with renewed vision and purpose. Week by week, the pastors and leaders explore the deep rhythms of Christian discipleship—prayer, fasting, generosity—not as isolated duties but as part of a larger, richer, and more beautiful whole. They unpack these ancient practices in light of Jesus himself, the one in whom heaven and earth have come together. But they also turn their attention to the realities of everyday life—relationships, finances, the struggles and joys of being human—demonstrating how the gospel is not merely about what we believe but about how we live as God's renewed people in the present age. The Village Churchvillagersonline@gmail.comMore information at www.villagersonline.com