| | | | | | This week's Encourager is all about... TRUE WORSHIP! | |
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| | The Amazon River is the biggest river in the world. Its volume is greater than the Yangtze, Mississippi and Nile combined!
In the early days of European exploration, ships would sometimes be caught in the doldrums for days in the Amazon’s ninety-mile-wide mouth, thinking they were still far out to sea. Supplies would run low, water would be gone, and sailors would die of thirst.
When South American natives canoed out to their ships, the frantic sailors would ask where to find fresh water. The natives would laugh and point to the water beneath them. The sailors had no idea of the vast quantities of refreshment all around them. |
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| | The same is true of us!
What condition do you find yourself in today?
Perhaps, like the sailors, you have become frantic, and filled with fear and anxiety. You’re not sure where you are, or what you can do. You are exhausted and ready to give it all up.
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| | There is good news, my friend! Our God is an ever present help in time of need! He has promised that He will never leave you nor forsake you!
You need struggle no more – your help is as close as your next breath. Call on the Lord Jesus today, for He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother! |
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| | Many folks spend their time seeking God. I have a better idea! Why not do things that will have God seeking you!? | |
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| | Jesus told us exactly how to do that in John 4:23-24 when He said “a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
Thirsty? Be a true worshiper! Yours for HIM, |
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| | | | | This Sunday... God's Principles for Living - Part 2... WORSHIP GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH | |
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| | | | For some it’s a place, while for others it’s a passion. For some it’s a position, while for others it’s a Person. For some it’s an object, but for others it’s a direct connect! What are we talking about, you may be asking? Why, worship, of course!
Created within the inner fiber of every human being ever to walk this planet, there is a longing, a desire, an insatiable need to worship. It is an itch that just must be scratched! But unfortunately, since the fall of man, he has had a continual urge to replace the One who is worthy and deserving of our worship, with one who has been self-created, and often created in man’s own image. |
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| | Some have chosen to worship trees, rocks, planets and stars. Some have worshipped cows, dogs, poles and cars! Some have created their own “god” to worship, while others have chosen to worship some nebulous unreal and unseen force of a new age. In spite of all these attempts – and perhaps because of them – our God has given us His second great principle for living – “you shall not make for yourself an idol.” Found in Exodus 20:4-6, this great command is actually re-stated from a positive perspective in John 4:24, in which Jesus says “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The question is whether we worship idols, or worship the Ideal! Be sure to join us this Sunday at Valley Chapel, as we continue our series of messages on “God’s Principles for Living” with the second principle – “Worship God in Spirit and in Truth!” Don’t miss it! | |
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| | | | LIVE CHURCHES VS. DEAD CHURCHES | |
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| | - Live churches constantly change; dead churches resist and refuse change...
- Live churches love to try; dead churches feel they don’t have to...
- Live churches have youth that are noisy and can’t be still; dead churches are very quiet...
- Live churches have people problems; dead churches float with the current...
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| | - Live churches need money and take many special offerings; dead churches focus on their savings...
- Live churches have dirt and garbage; dead churches seem to just fight dust...
- Live churches are never satisfied and dream of improvement; dead churches tell it like it used to be...
- Live churches worship and praise today; dead churches praise praise ...
- Live churches move in faith; dead churches have to see it first...
- Live churches are filled with givers and doers; dead churches have tippers and dippers...
- Live churches make mistakes and learn; dead churches have clean stalls...
- Live churches have a vision and a dream, short term and long term; dead churches are asleep...
- Live churches have love ventilation systems; dead churches bicker of dead bones...
- Live churches are passing the dead churches that say it can’t be done...
- Live churches try and try again; dead churches say we never did it that way before...
- Live churches reach out to sinners and backsliders with personal evangelization; dead churches are paralyzed and fossilized.
- Live churches are better; dead churches are BITTER.
- Live churches are light houses in their community; dead churches are 20 watt lightbulbs in a refrigerator.
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| | | CHURCHIANITY VS. CHRISTIANITY | |
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| | As Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions.” (John 4:24) | |
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| | Francis McNutt, author of the classic book, "Healing," and director of Christian Healing Ministries points out how God’s answer to the church in one generation can become a problem in the next or in following generations. McNutt, in one of his monthly news reports, The Healing Line, gave the following example: “In the Old Testament God instructed Moses to set up a bronze serpent on a stick, so that whoever might look at it was healed of a snake-bite during their wanderings in the desert. But then, centuries later, the good, reforming King Hezekiah ‘broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made’ because the Israelites had started to worship it!” |
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| | If we knew how Peter “gave the invitation for people to come to Christ” on the Day of Pentecost when 3,000 people were converted, we would cling to this method religiously and tenaciously. We would even fight over it and allow it to split churches. Fortunately, the New Testament is almost totally silent on methodology. What God is concerned about is our heart - not our methods! As E.M. Bounds said, “Men are looking for better methods. God is looking for better men [and women].” One of the biggest battles in the church today is over the music and manner of worship. The reality is that God isn’t concerned with our method of worship be it contemporary, traditional, or whatever, but with the spirit of our worship - the attitude of our hearts. As Jesus said to the woman at the well when she mentioned the “proper” place to worship, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (Mark 7:9) Like the brass serpent, when “old traditions or modern methods of worship” become the focus of our worship, we may be going through the motions, but totally missing the point - and missing out on God! | |
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| | | | | | FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF
GOD-PLEASING WORSHIP | |
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| | God doesn’t want just a part of your life - he wants all of you. He asks for all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. God is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, or the leftovers of your time and money. He desires your full devotion, not little bits of your life.
A Samaritan woman once tried to debate Jesus on the best time, place, and style for worship. Jesus replied that these external issues are irrelevant. Where you worship is not as important as why you worship and how much of yourself you offer to God when you worship.
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| | There is a right and wrong way to worship. The Bible says, “Let us be grateful and worship God in a way that will please him ...” (Hebrews 12:28, TEV). The kind of worship that pleases God has four characteristics: God is pleased when our worship is accurate People often say, “I like to think of God as...”and then they share their idea of the kind of God they’d like to worship. But we cannot just create our own comfortable or politically correct image of God and worship it. That is idolatry.
Worship must not be based on our opinions about God but on the truth of Scripture. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:23, NIV). To “worship in truth” means to worship God as he is truly revealed in the Bible.
God is pleased when our worship is authentic When Jesus said you must “worship in spirit” he wasn’t referring to the Holy Spirit, but to your spirit! Made in God’s image, you are a spirit that resides in a body, and God designed your spirit to communicate with him. Worship is our spirit responding to God’s Spirit.
When Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart and soul” he meant that worship must be genuine and heartfelt. It is not just a matter of saying the right words; you must mean what you say. Heartless praise is not praise at all! It is an insult to God.
When we worship, God looks past our words to our hearts. The Bible says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7b, NIV).
Since worship involves delighting in God, it engages your emotions. God gave you emotions so you could worship him with deep feeling - but those emotions must be genuine, not faked. God hates hypocrisy. He doesn’t want showmanship or pretense or phoniness in worship. He wants your honest, real love. We can worship God imperfectly, but we cannot worship him insincerely.
Of course, sincerity alone is not enough; you can be sincerely wrong. That’s why both spirit and truth are required. Worship must be both accurate and authentic. God-pleasing worship is deeply emotional and deeply doctrinal. We use both our hearts and our heads.
Today many equate being emotionally moved by music as being moved by the Spirit, but these are not the same. Real worship happens when your spirit responds to God, not to some musical tone. In fact, some sentimental, introspective songs hinder worship because they take the spotlight off God and focus on our feelings. Your biggest distraction in worship is yourself - your interests and your worries over what others think about you.
Christians often differ on the most appropriate or authentic way to express praise to God but these arguments are usually just personality and background differences. Many forms of praise are mentioned in the Bible, among them confessing, singing, shouting, standing in honor, kneeling, dancing, making a joyful noise, testifying, playing musical instruments, and raising hands.
The best style of worship is the one that most authentically represents your love for God, based on the background and personality God gave you.
God is pleased when our worship is thoughtful Jesus’ command to “love God with all your mind” is repeated four times in the New Testament. God is not pleased with thoughtless singing of hymns, perfunctory praying of cliches, or careless exclamations of “Praise the Lord” uttered because we can’t think of anything else to say at that moment. If worship is mindless, is it meaningless. You must engage your mind.
Jesus called thoughtless worship “vain repetitions” (Matthew 6:7, KJV). Even biblical terms can become tired cliches from overuse and we stop thinking about the meaning. It is so much easier to offer platitudes in worship instead of making the effort to honor God with fresh words and ways. This is why I encourage you to read Scripture in different translations and paraphrases. It will expand your expressions of worship.
Try praising God without using the words praise, hallelujah, thanks, or amen. Instead of saying, “We just want to praise you,” make a list of synonyms and use fresh words like admire, respect, value, revere, honor, and appreciate.
Also, be specific. If someone approached you and repeated, “I praise you!” ten times, you would probably think, For what? You would rather receive two specific compliments than twenty vague generalities. So would God.
God is pleased when our worship is practical The Bible says, “... offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1, NIV).
Why does God want your body? Why doesn’t he say “Offer your spirit”?
Because without your body you can’t do anything on this planet. In eternity, you’re going to get a new, improved, upgraded body but while you’re here on earth God says, “Give me what you’ve got!” He’s just being practical about worship.
You’ve heard people say, “I can’t make it to the meeting tonight but I’ll be with you in spirit.”Do you know what that means? Nothing. It’s worthless! As long as you’re on earth your spirit can only be where your body is! If your body isn’t there, neither are you!
In worship we are to “Offer our bodies as living sacrifices.”Now, we usually associate the concept of “sacrifice” with something dead, but God wants you to be a living sacrifice. He wants you to live for him! However, the problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar, and we often do that. We sing “Onward Christian soldiers on Sunday then go AWOL on Monday.”
In the Old Testament, God took pleasure in the many sacrifices of worship because they foretold of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross. Now God is pleased with different sacrifices of worship: thanksgiving, praise, humility, repentance, offerings of money, prayer, serving others and sharing with those in need.
Real worship costs. David knew this and said, “I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24, TEV). One thing worship costs us is our self-centeredness. You cannot exalt God and yourself at the same time. You don’t worship to be seen by others. You deliberately shift the focus off yourself.
When Jesus said, “Love God with all your strength,” he was pointing out that worship takes effort and energy. It is not always convenient or comfortable, and sometimes worship is a sheer act of the will - a willing sacrifice. | |
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| | | TEN WAYS TO WORSHIP WITHOUT MUSIC | |
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| | Worship isn’t just a part of your life – it’s everything you do! Worship through music is only a small portion of what true, biblical worship is all about. Worship is the process of surrendering your entire life into God’s hands. Everything you do can – and should -- be an act of worship. God designed us to worship Him with our whole lives, and there are actually spiritual habits that we can build into our lives that help us worship God more deeply? Here are ten habits than will build worship into your life on a daily basis. |
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| | 1. Worship through prayer. We often miss this important component of our prayer life. Think about the issues you usually pray about. How much of your prayer life is about you and how much of it is about God? Without a doubt God wants us to be able to share everything that is going on in our life. But he also wants us to get to know Him better. When we affirm who God is through our prayers, we put our prayer life in proper perspective. That’s exactly how Jesus taught us to pray. Look at the Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Mathew (6: 9-13); Jesus starts the prayer off by saying “Our Father who is in Heaven, May Your name be honored.” (NLT) Jesus teaches us an important lesson with this prayer. Prayer starts with God. Consider including in your prayers a time of focused attention on who God is. 2. Get in a regular habit of reading the Bible. The Bible says that we worship God in “spirit and in truth.” How can we ever worship God without a clear understanding of who He is? The truth about God is essential to worship. Pay special attention to the book of Psalms. No book in the Bible spends as much time carefully describing who God is. 3. Obey God. Rick Warren mentions in The Purpose Driven Life that we worship God when we obey Him. We all need to build the habit of obedience into our lives. Take practical steps to see that this is a part of your life. Whenever you sense God is speaking to you, make it a regular practice to respond immediately. Don’t let procrastination weigh you down. If you can’t do it immediately, write down whatever God has been putting on your heart, so that you can do it SOON! 4. Tithe. If you want to know what in your life you worship, look at your checkbook register. The Bible teaches us this important lesson: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mathew 6:21 NIV) God wants us to surrender our entire being to Him. One way to show that is by making Him Lord of our pocketbook. If you are already a committed tither, consider raising the percentage you are willing to give. 5. Build deep relationships with other Christians. The Bible teaches that God designed us to live in community with other Christians. We bring God pleasure by getting to know others and being known by them. At Saddleback, the primary way we do this is through small groups. 6. Share your faith. John Piper made many of us re-look at why we share our faith when he wrote a few years ago: “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” God wants every person on the planet to worship him, not because He is an egomaniac who needs our praise, but because worship is how we are designed by God. He wants the best for us. Take time this week to share your spiritual journey with someone else. Tell them how you came to faith in Christ. Don’t worry about their response. Relax in the knowledge that you are playing a part in expanding God’s world-wide worship. 7. Serve others. Jesus tells us that “when you did it to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did to me!” (Matt. 25:40 NLT) When we serve one another, Jesus tells us we are really serving Him. If you don’t think you have any gifts that are useful to serve, you are wrong. God made you with talents and gifts that He specifically gave you to serve others. 8. Build into your life the attitude of thankfulness. This requires looking at the world through a different set of eyes. When we look through the lens of thankfulness, we see our lives – and everything in it – as all gifts from God. Develop your own spiritual exercise each morning that demonstrates that you are putting on your lens of thankfulness. Then begin to thank God for all of the good things in your life. 9. Begin turning over to God areas of your life that you have never committed to Him. This is the heart of worship – surrender. God won’t settle for 90 percent of your life; He wants all of it. You might have been a follower of Jesus for years, but you still have areas of your life that you are holding back from Him. What are those areas? Only you know that. Two good places to look are your checkbook and your planner. Look at the areas of your life where you spend the most money and the most time. Do they honor God? If you are human, you have sin in your life that you need to surrender. Think back over the past month and write down all of the times you remember disobeying clear teaching from God. Then look for patterns. If you find patterns of sin in your life, these are areas of your life you need to surrender to God. Right at the moment, start praying for God to help you overcome that sin. Ask your small group to pray for you. 10. Live a life of purpose. God has a reason for your existence. In fact, He has five: fellowship, discipleship, ministry, evangelism and worship. You please God when you live in step with His purposes. God doesn’t want you to waste your life. You were designed for God’s pleasure. The purpose of worship is the foundation of the other four purposes. Fellowship without the spirit of worship is just “hanging out.” Discipleship without worship is nothing but a fruitless mental exercise. Ministry without worship is called “spinning your wheels.” Evangelism without worship is a misplaced sales pitch. Worship isn’t simply one area of your life; it is your life. Start right this moment by surrendering your life to God. Then spend the rest of your life learning to worship Him more fully. | |
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| | | | Whenever you find yourself in a position of making an important choice, here are some suggestions to help you… | |
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| | 1. Always be led by The Spirit of God. He can speak to us every day if we are listening for His voice. If we get too busy or distracted we can miss that still small voice that tells us to stop or go and that could save our lives. John 4.24 (Contemporary English Version) “But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshippers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him.” |
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| | Romans 8.14 (New Living Translation) “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” 2. Don’t ask God to bless your plans, ask Him to plan your blessings. His plan for you is already blessed! And remember, God will never tell you to do anything that doesn’t line up with what His Word. People through the ages have turned away from God during times of great distress, when actually they need Him most, and consulted those who offered false hope. The Lord strictly forbids any kind of divination, fortunetelling or astrology. Isaiah 8:20 (New Century Version) “You should follow the teachings and the agreement with the LORD. The mediums and fortune-tellers do not speak the word of the LORD, so their words are worth nothing.” 3. Make sure your goal is to glorify God. Sometimes that’s hard to know, for the worst pride often masquerades behind pretend humility. The human body is amazing - just pat a man on the back and his head begins to swell. When I was a child at Sunday School I was taught a Creed which said, Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Romans 15.6 (New King James Version) “That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” James 4:6 (New Century Version) “But God gives us even more grace, as the Scripture says, God is against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” 4. Use your brain. God’s guidance transcends human reasoning, but it doesn’t exclude it. When God saves you, He doesn’t remove your mind, He helps you to renew it. Then He gives you the mind of Christ. So pray and put it to work in your situation. Romans 12:2 (New Century Version) “Do not change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.” 1 Corinthians 2.16 (New King James Version) “For who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” 5. Don’t ignore the seasons. If it isn’t God’s timing, just wait! In the right season, the plan will be clear, the people you need be there and the funds will be provided. God has promised it, so trust Him. Blind fate would be a terrible consolation, but how comforting it is to know that the events of the universe are ordered by a compassionate, gracious, longsuffering, faithful God. He has ordered everything without any dependence upon man’s approval, at a divinely appointed time, according to His plan and providence. Ecclesiastes 3:1 (New Century Version) “There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season.” 6. Seek wise counsel. Only the foolish man depends entirely upon his own judgment. The wise man not only weighs a matter before God but also invites counsel from those who, spiritually and experientially, can offer assistance. But beware of those who patronize you for selfish reasons. Listen to those who value what you value and have been where you want to go. Proverbs 11.14 (Living Bible) “Without wise leadership, a nation is in trouble; but with good counselors there is safety.” Proverbs 27:17 (New Century Version) “As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other.” 7. Never act without all the facts. But also never limit God to those facts. When your knowledge won’t take you another step, faith will carry you through, for that’s what connects you to the power of God. James 1.6 (The Message Bible) “If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help.” Hebrews 11.6 (Amplified Bible) “But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].” Follow these SEVEN simple steps and you will successfully make the right choice every time. | |
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| | | | VALLEY CHAPEL IS NOW OPEN ON SUNDAYS!! | |
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| | | What a great day in the house of the Lord we had last week as we returned to worship in our building! YOU are welcome to join us for Celebration Worship THIS SUNDAY MORNING at 11 am! We have made all the necessary arrangements to assure a safe environment for everyone as we enter our facility. We are excited to see you this week! While we are back in our building, everyone needs to recognize that things are a bit different in many ways than before the pandemic. This will be a “new normal” for the foreseeable future! Specific details and instructions that everyone must read and be familiar with as they return are found on our website here – https://www.vcag.org/reopen-guidelines/ Looking forward to seeing you in person this Sunday! | |
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| | | | Sunday Mornings If you are not able to join us in our building this Sunday, you can still continue to worship with us online! At 11:00, just CLICK HERE! We will be LiveStreaming our services, as we have always done! You can also "replay" all 2020 services HERE! |
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| | Wednesday Nights You need to be a part of our midweek Bible Study and Prayer meeting on Zoom at 7:30 pm. Log-in information is provided by Pastor Tim. Please note that our mid-week meetings will continue to be exclusively online for the foreseeable future! |
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| | | | Thank You for Your Gift Thank you for your continued support to Valley Chapel! You can text to give at (973) 314-2700, CLICK HERE to give, or mail your check to the church. |
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| | EPrayer Ministry Send your special prayer requests to the EPrayer Ministry Team HERE. If you would like to join the EPrayer Ministry Team, click HERE. |
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| | Text Messages Are you receiving Pastor Tim's "encourager" text messages? If not, send your mobile number to Pastor Tim HERE! |
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| | | | A preacher dies, and when he gets to heaven, he sees a New York cab driver who has more crowns. He says to an angel, “I don’t get it. I devoted my whole life to my congregation.”
The angel says, “We reward results. Did your congregation always pay attention when you gave a sermon?” |
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| | The preacher says, “Once in a while someone fell asleep.” The angel says, “Right. And when people rode in this guy’s taxi, they not only stayed awake, but they usually prayed!” | |
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| | | Click on these links to take you directly to the information you need from Pastor Tim and about Valley Chapel Assembly of God! |
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| | | Follow Pastor Tim on social media | |
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