MVH

Around here we have a saying: Making Victory Happen (or MVH).

When we volunteer, we're making victory happen.

When we tithe and give, we're making victory happen.

On the outside it seems like a nice little reminder that it takes people and money to keep Victory Church running week to week.

But it is so much more than that. 

It's not just a reminder of who we are as a church, but a profound statement of why we are here. 

It colors everything we do.

Every event.

Every service.

Every word.

We as a church understand that we exist to make victory happen corporately and individually.

For us, for others, and for the world.

Victory in execution.

It is true that it takes people to make the church run. But the church does not just exist to perpetuate itself. Every time we turn on a light switch or unlock a door we do it for one reason: to create and inspire victory in the lives of people. 

If we don't keep this in mind as we plan every detail, then the things we do can become a distraction, or worse yet, a deterrent. 

Personal Victory

Every Christian has a deep and profound need to be productive for the kingdom of God. Some have not realized it yet and some have learned to ignore it, but it was born in your spirit the moment you were born again. 

Each one of us was gifted specifically to draw people to Christ in a unique way. 

There is something indescribable about stepping into that place of power that God has prepared you for, and once you have tasted a life of serving in your place of purpose, you are ruined for a life of selfishness. 

You have caught the first glimpse of the life of victory and, from then on, nothing else will ever do.

Victory for others

The satisfaction that comes from a life of service is only part of making victory happen. The end reason for reaching out to serve people is for the people themselves. 

We give so people may receive. 
We serve so people may learn of God's nature.
We go last to give people the gift of going first.
We sacrifice to bring people hope.

As servants of people we have the unique privilege of watching God's work up close. 
We have a front row seat as lives are changed.
Bodies are healed.
Marriages are salvaged.
Addictions are beaten.
Broken people are reassembled.
Hope is kindled.
Darkness is overcome.

The truth is when you watch victory happen in the lives of people, the satisfaction it brings you really becomes a trivial thing. 

In fact, after a while, you tend to forget about yourself altogether.

-Colby

1 Peter 4:10
Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well.

Be More

“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever you would call me.”

Lyrics to one of my favorite worship songs. Every time I listen to that song I say “Yes, God! Lead me, call me wherever you want me to go!” But is that really the cry of our hearts? Are we really willing to let go of what we want to let God have his way completely and without conditions?

I, for one, struggle with that. I like control. I like things done a certain way. And I can be resistant to change, good or bad. But do you know where that gets us in our personal lives? In our church? Absolutely nowhere.

Isaiah 43:19(NLT) says” For I am about to do something new. See, I have
already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the
wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

I believe God is ready to do something new and amazing in our lives and in our church. Something that is so far beyond anything that we can dream for ourselves. But the thing is, God won’t force himself on us.
We have to not only be willing to say yes to Him, but to live it out in faith every single day.

I feel the stirring in my spirit, I feel it on our church. But we have to lay it all down, everything we want or think we need. We have to throw our arms open wide to the One who wants to revive us and to do more than we can ever imagine.

I want to let go and BE MORE.

I want to live out my faith in such a way that it cannot be contained. 

I want to trust without borders and to go wherever I am called.

-Holly

“O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and
made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further
grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want
to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more
thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee
indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, ‘Rise
up my love, my fair one, and come away.’ Then give me grace to rise and
follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.”
― A.W. Tozer