There is no other name like, “God with us.”

A drawing I did of my favorite ordainment that hangs on my tree.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. – Is 7:14

 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). – Mt 1:23

There is no other name like, “God with us.”

Our hearts should jump when we hear “God with us” and we should join in the heavenly choir and sing “God with us” for there is no other name like it.  We should rejoice for He who created the heavens and earth, walked beside us and leads us into a restored relationship with the Father in Heaven has the name, “God with us.”  Let His name, “God with us,” excite you and not be buried under shopping, parties and traditions. Remember the name “God with us” as you drive to work, study at school and pay your bills. For today, at this very moment, He who is “God with us” sits beside His Father in Heaven mediating on your behalf and protecting you.

Let the demons and those who oppose God tremble at the name, “God with us” as they have no part of the Father’s majesty. The world may try to remove His name from both signs and banners, but his name “God with us” will forever be. Manger scenes may be removed, but there is “God with us” and the truth of the manger story will spread. Do not despair in the sight of evil when it walks our campus and threatens our children, for we have “God with us.”

Let the Holy Spirit take those words, “God with us,” and make it a raging fire in your heart that you cannot keep to yourself. “God with us” who was born of a virgin as a child to take the sins of man reigns as the Christ, our messiah.  Let kings, politicians, leader, men, women and children hear the united voice of believers as they join in the heavenly choir singing, “God with us.” “God with us,” there is no other name like it.

Read More from Pastor Paul Luna at: YoubeginHere.com

Culture is Changed one Heart at a Time

The Election Does Not Dictate My Life’s Mission. Culture is Changed One Heart at a Time.

The election is over, but that does not mean my life’s mission is changed.  My commitment to Christ and God the father in Heaven supersedes this election and any that follow after it. It is easy to get caught up in politics and let who gets elected define my attitude, but the truth is my mission in life has not changed since yesterday.  As a follower of Christ, my mission in life is to lead people to a saving, restored relationship with God, the one who created us, and that can only be through Jesus Christ.

Early 1^st century Christians struggled as they were persecuted, unable to vote and even killed. None-the-less, they changed the world by fulfilling their mission and being the light Christ called them to be. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;” Matt 5:14.  Our mission is the same, to change the world one heart at a time.  I’m not advocating that we do not vote or not be involved in civil issues. Rather we must recognize that we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom, “²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,“ Philippians 3:20. Our Primary mission, as citizens of a heavenly kingdom, has always been and always will be, while here on earth, the active involvement of spreading the good news of Jesus to a world that is lost without him.  “¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.“ John 3:16.

Presidents, Senators, and Representatives come and go, but God’s Heavenly Kingdom will reign forever under His authority. “¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor 4:16-18.  Let’s not be caught up in the emotional fever of an individual’s political ambitions, but rather let’s be caught up in the mission of taking God’s Word to everyone who does not know Him.

If you want to change our government or how people vote, then the best way to do that is to be involved in the changing of their heart so that they would look to Christ in all things.  Let’s live as citizens of heaven as we fill our mission as witnesses here on earth.

Read More from Pastor Paul at www.YouBeginHere.com

Harvest Carnival Pictures

Check out the Harvest Carnival  Pictures at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.548192311864740.145731.184233804927261&type=3

Use Social Media to Help Valley Bible Church

Most people come to Valley Bible Church in Shafter because they have been invited or have heard good things about the church through a friend or family member.  We also recognize that in today’s world most of our friends know what is going on in our lives through social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.  Therefore we have made it a part of our integrated strategy to share the gospel  through these tools while developing relationships with other and we want you be a part of it.

Here are ten ways you can help Valley Bible Church anytime to build relationships and share the gospel.

• “Like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Pinterest
• Click the sharing links on our news stories, message content, and various website pages, especially pages featuring our upcoming teaching series‘.
• “Check in” on Facebook every time you’re at Valley Bible Church, or an event we’re hosting.
• Click “like” on posts you see on Facebook by Valley Bible, which helps our content spread further to be seen by your friends.
• Re-tweet what Valley Bible posts on Twitter.
• Take photos and videos at church and church-related events, then post them to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. and use the hashtag #VBCShafter so we can spot them! You can also email them to Office@VBCShafter.com and we’ll use them here and there.
• Post, as a tweet or Facebook status update, a short quote from a sermon, or a lyric from a song we’re singing, and put #VBCShafter in your post.
• Invite people to Valley Bible Church events using your social networks.
• Help us to follow you on social networks! Email us links to your social profiles and we’ll follow you!
• Write your faith story, or let us do a video interview with you, to share your faith with all kinds of people. Send to Office@VBCShafter.com.

Are there other ways you can think of? Tell us in the comments below. And if you don’t mind your profiles being available to everyone on our site, feel free to post your social profile links below for us to follow!

Thank you to Brandon Cox for the list

Will You Be My Neighbor?

Today Pastor Paul Luna walked around the neighborhood and asked people if he could pray for them. If they where not home, he left a nice little note that said they can write down their prayer request and he would pick them up tomorrow and pray for them. Here is how it went.

Celebration of Grace!

The woman in the story came to the well at a time when no respectable woman would come. She came to the well to get water to sustain herself and her family for a time. She was met by Jesus at the well. She was an outsider; an outcast for the respectable people, she met the ultimate outsider the one who came from heaven to earth to make those who would come to Him become insiders.

John 4:7-26  Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

The hope of living water is available to all insiders and outsiders, those who are thirsty will come. That is the hope we have for this well at the Seminary in Chad. Estes seminary now has a well that the students can use to gain clean water, and those around can come and receive clean water.

Water is a problem for the people of Chad, it is becoming harder to get clean water. It is crucial that the water that is offered to the people of this small community be clean, refreshing and a symbol of God’s care. For me this is a celebration of Grace- something that only God can do. The fun part is we get to participate in the offering of a Grace gift to people in need. God is blessing the people around the seminary and us at the same time. What a powerful gifts to us.

John 7:37-39 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Now at Easter we know that Jesus has been glorified and the Spirit of God is given to those who believe. We know that the Spirit will flow from us as rivers of living water. Being a source of encouragement to others is a grace gift! Let’s celebrate God’s Grace!

 photo by Rocco Stecher

The Affection Due Her

Why do we understand that great success comes after hard work, but often fail to recognize that great marriages also come after hard work?  When working on any project we understand that it takes time to research, plan and build skills to successfully pull off that project. This includes everything from making a cake to building a sky scraper.   Not only is all this true for any project, this is also true in developing a healthy marriage.   Great marriages don’t just happen. They take time, effort, commitment, change, growth and knowledge.  In a marriage, this starts with the husband.

A vast majority of counselors and psychologists communicate that a good majority of wives appreciate touch, holding hands, hugs and a kiss.   “Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.” 1 Corinthians 7:3.  Logically, husbands understand that our wives need affection; however what we often think of as a showing of affection is not always what our wives are looking for. Affection does not mean sex or any activity that leads up to sex; rather it’s a simple act that says I love you and ask for nothing in return. Read more >>

Hope in Death

Death is sobering thought, but it does not need to drive us to hopelessness. For a follower of Christ who has lost a loved one that knew Christ as their savior, we can focused on a life lived with hope. “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.” 1 Thess 4:13-15 (NLT).  Here are three truths you should know when facing death. Read more >>

The One You Love

Do you realize that the Bible does have double standards? God gives husbands one set of standards and wives a completely different set of standards. It is easy to miss this double set of standards in a quick reading of scripture, but when one realizes the significance these two verses it can redefine ones marriage, particularly how husbands look at their marriage.

“To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.” 1 Corinthians 7:10,11 Read more >>

An Invitation to Celebrate the Birth of Christ

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:20b-23

Have you ever been in a position where you don’t know what to say or do? This is especially true when you want to talk to someone about Christ, but you don’t know where to start. Believe it or not, pastors are in the same boat more often than not. It’s true that witnessing gets easier with each attempt, but that does not mean is always easy. Read more >>