Please take note, January 8th and 22nd, we will not be meeting
at Imagine Bell Canyon for Sunday Worship. Stay tuned for details of where we will be worshiping on these two days.

Come as worship with us,
we meet Sunday's at 10:30am in
Imagine Bell Canyon

You can also follow along with Pastor at his blog here

Questions or for directions call
602-293-7823

What Should you expect at a worship service?
First take a big breath, we understand that coming to a new place can be intimidating and even scary. So relax, we truly understand your reluctancy. The atmosphere at VRM is comfortably refreshing and everyone is approachable.

We begin worship as a whole (complete) community which includes our children. Since we encourage family worship all children stay in the sanctuary with their families. We do however offer a nursery time for infants and toddlers after opening music and prior to celebrating communion all children are reunited with their families. We encourage worship and communion as a family.

While our babies are discovering God's word we big kids are doing the same. We share relevant messages that do appliy to daily living.

How must I dress?
God looks upon our heart, not our hair or even shoe style. Just come as you are (SO RELAX). I was once told that I should dress for church as though I was going to meet the President of the United States. I retorted, the President is not my savior nor my father and I doubt the Secret Service would allow me to run up and give him a big O’bear hug. I’m also confident that the President has no interest in receiving one from me either. So yes, I would dress differently for him for he does not even know me. But God, my Father, who anxiously welcomes me with open arms to embrace me with love? My Father doesn’t care about the outside; it’s the condition of my heart that will reveal our true outward appearance.

Friends, there is no need to pretend or play Christian. We are all broken and God longs to minister to each of us where we are in our life. If this is good enough for God it is certainly good enough for us at VRM.

Jesus reprimanded the religious teachers for looking religious while their hearts remained deceitful. So come and worship with us and allow your heart through conviction of the Holy Spirit reveal His desire for you.

Matthew 23:25-27 NLT
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish,[a] and then the outside will become clean, too.

Do you read from the bible on Sunday?
Because of the varying levels of spiritual maturity we commonly read publicly from the New Living Translation Bible. We realize that the Word of God must be spoken and taught in a way that it is comprehendible. We also highly encourage everyone to bring their bibles that they may read along and make scriptural notes as desired.

Another question commonly asked is what translation Pastor Larry prefers. This becomes a rather complicated question. For his personal devotions Pastor Larry enjoys the New King James. As he puts it, "It's language is like comfort food to me and reminds me of my childhood". But for study he references the King James, New King James, New American Standard Bible, and Amplified with the New Living Translation. If you ever catch him while he's studying you'll see a room that looks like it has had a book grenade explosion.

Why so many? Not everyone you come into contact with reads from the same translation. So he's found it is best to try to be prepared for such question.

Larry recommends everyone to read the New Living Translation with the New American Standard Bible, New King James or Standard English Version for reference and spiritual maturity.

 

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. 1 Corinthians 12:12

Definitions
Unity: A whole or totality as combining all its parts into one; the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole.

Uniformity: The state or quality of being uniform; overall sameness; something uniform (in other words duplicated, boring,
predictable, unoriginal)

Is the desire of the church to make people uniform or to be unified?

–Pause-Ponder-Process–

It is startling to hear how many people see the church as a place of uniformity, a big-brother process plant conforming people to their liking. Does this really surprise you? Is the church sending a clear message? I have visited more churches with worship standards far exceeding the “friendly–come and discover God” platform that they profess.

Too often the church turns its nose up at those that walk through their hallowed doors. They are quick to make assumptions based on the outer appearance and mannerism: Levi’s, flip flops, tattoos, hair styles & colors or piercings. Are we saying we do not want them or that they wont want to be a part of our fellowship?

If we are all using the bible to establish clear definitive guidelines, why are there so many clearly different guidelines, guidelines that go in so many clear directions? When we are told not to conform to the world we live, is that emphasis on our personal thoughts, deeds and actions or on our appearance. It appears to me that we have placed the cart before the horse. We commonly assume that because one is hip in their appearance they have conformed to this world. Does this really make any sense? Don’t dress like you live in 2008, that would be conformity. Instead take a stand and dress from 1978 or better yet 1948! Did Jesus conform to the world because he wore the clothing and sandals of his days?

Am I saying anything goes, that there shouldn’t be any standard? Some would say I am, but No. My personal thought is this. The standard should be Jesus Christ! In other words, the personal traits of Jesus Christ alone. The way he lived, spoke, walked, taught and cared for people. I don’t see anywhere in the bible where Jesus said or implied that you must first clean the outside of the glass to be his disciple. This outside cleaning is what the world sees. They are not seeing the transforming process of becoming a new person because we’ve taken things into our own hands.

If we allow the Holy Spirit to work the outside becomes clean from what’s inside of it. It’s an inside-out process and not the reverse. We’ve taken the power and glory from God when we manipulate, yes manipulate people to change according to our desire and timing. This is hypocritical teaching and thinking. Clean a drunk up and all you have is a clean drunk for a few hours. And we wonder why the back door is larger than the front door.

I’ll close with this thought, when you walk into worship service what should you see? I certainly hope it isn’t mini-me’s (pastor clones)! There must be diversity. Unity is best expressed through diversity; unique, original and colorful people coming together for one reason. That one reason must be Christ Jesus alone. So let us embrace each other’s diversity so that we and the world will see that it is God that we all have centrally in common and not a set of conforming rules.

Unity Rocks!

---

Father God,
Let me reflect on my day that I may see where I failed to allow you to shine. Where my motives and desires diminished your glory. Lord I pray, that we as the body may see what unites us all together is far greater and more important than what divides us.

I submit myself to you Lord, may you find me acceptable to serve in whatever capacity serves you best.

Thank you…….

I pray in confidence of my Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. Amen

Pastor Larry

 

Great question. In the world we live many words have lost much of their orginal meanings. So lets start off by defining a few words.

Missional: Our belief is that God intends Christianity be a way of life which sends us into the world to serve God and our neighbors, so that God's will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. The church is never to be the withdrawn or isolated end user of the gospel of Jesus; rather, we receive it so that we may be equipped and sent into the world to love our neighbors and serve "the least of these." In this sense, Vertical Response Ministry doesn't have a mission; it is mission.

Christian: As Christians we see ourselves as a growing people who are learning to live life with God in the way of Jesus. We represent a generous orthodoxy, rooted in the Scriptures and consistent with the ancient creeds of the church.

Community: Desiring to share life with one another in a way that we become a living, breathing, local expression of the global, historical body of Christ. In other words Christian faith is a call to community, not individualism.

A Missional Christian Community is one that lives its faith out within the community it lives. Church was never intended to be an inward selfish action. It always has and will continue to be an outward expression of peace, joy, hope and love.