Paid in Full

Paid in Full

Sunday, November 25th was a special day at Valley Harvest Church. An offering was received to make the final payment to retire the mortgage that began in 1987. Everyone participated-both young and old. The 25 years of faithful stewardship was marked by having a plaque made with the names of families that have been apart of stewarding the vision and property of Valley Harvest Church during its 25 year journey.John and Norma Farnsworth, Gene and Joann Martin, Stan and Jean Wells, Shane and Diane Hickey, Raymond and Peggy Douglas. 

Pastor Richard Jolliff was the pastor when the church body took a great step of faith to acquire the property. After Pastor Richard moved to Michigan in 1992, a short time later Pastor Stan Wells became Sr. Pastor and led the church until 2000 at which time I became Sr. Pastor. 


Pastor Rodney's Exhortation and Affirmation

1 Cor. 12: 12-14, 18 

(12) For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

(13) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

(14) For the body is not one member, but many.

(18) But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.

We share a common body....the Body of Christ. 

We share a common vision. This vision has both continuity and newness.

We have shared our resources in common to steward the vision of the house.

I Cor. 4:1-2

(1) Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

(2) In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

We are all servants of Christ who are called to steward the mysteries of God. The charge to stewards is that they “be found trustworthy.” We are celebrating today the trustworthy stewardship of this Body of Christ in maintaining the vision, the pastoral care, the tenants of faith, the assignments in the MOV, the raising up and equipping the generations, and the physical stewardship of the physical property entrusted to the saints. 

The physical property represents many years of worshipping together, walking together in covenant, and working together for the glory of God. 

All that we have is from God; it flows from His hand. We have genuine thanksgiving for all He has done. We are not here today to dedicate, that has been done. We are here to reaffirm and celebrate a milestone of ministry. 

Tomorrow out of this offering we will make the final payment on this property and have full stewardship/ownership. This is another chapter of the expanding vision and stewardship the Lord is entrusting to us. 

Nov. 25th, 2012 is a milestone worthy to be marked and celebrated! 

These families (listed above) are just a few of the families that represent the continuity of vision because they have been apart of some of the beginning chapters in this unfolding story....yet the reality is, we are all woven into this story as part of His body. The Martins and Farnsworths have both run the first leg of the race....and they are still running with the generations as our vision declares. At the end of the service we celebrated with a special cake made for the occasion. 

It was a special joy to go to the bank and present the final payment to the bank president Michael Iaderosa whom we have worked with, and I have known over the past 15 years. He was delighted and sends his personal congratulations to the Valley Harvest Church family. 

The strength of continuity of vision, and the work of building lasting covenant relationships over the years, allows us to expect and advance into the newness of the Spirit. New assignments, new models for effective ministry, new levels of kingdom authority, new believers, new generations, and new freedom...all of these are entrusted to “trustworthy stewards.” 
Let's Advance Together! 

Pastor Rodney