Blog

In February, Venture held a retreat with pastors, elders, ministry leaders, and spouses. A conversation began concerning our mission and priorities. What has God called us to do? Who has he called us to be? What does spiritual growth at Venture look like? We probably left the retreat with more questions than answers, but we were all excited about the direction we were heading.

Eventually, these conversations led to 5 Values that we embrace as a church family:

• We value WORSHIP: developing a view of God that’s worthy of God.
• We value the BIBLE: we should believe it, trust it, and obey it.
• We value COMMUNITY: WE is better than ME.
• We value SERVING: believing that everyone is gifted to serve.
• We value MISSION: a desire to help people love Jesus.

And these Values formed a strategic vision for Venture Church:

At the center of our strategy is the love of God. We long to grow in our love for God and worship of God, and our mission is to help people love Jesus. It reflects the conviction that God places 5-10 in each of lives that we can help love Jesus. So we pray for them, we initiate conversations, we invite them, and look for opportunities to share the gospel.

And our strategy is this: as people hear the Word of God (either at church or in a conversation with a friend), live in community – sharing life with Christ followers, and serve in ministry, we believe they will learn to love Jesus. And we continue to grow in Christ as we continue circling around the strategy — hearing the Word, sharing life in community, using our spiritual gifts through serving, and engaging the mission of reaching out to the 5-10 people God places in our lives. This is not a sequence (Step 1, Step 2….), it’s a continual cycle of transformation. And it all spins around the love God displayed for us on the cross of Christ and our desire to help people in our lives to experience that love. It’s helping people love Jesus. It’s learning to worship God with a view of him that is worthy of him. It involves equipping Christ followers to know the Word (so others can hear the Word), to grow in ministry skills (so others can be shepherded in community), and to empower leaders in ministry (so that others can serve in ministry).

This is our mission. This is our passion. It’s the Big Picture of what we believe God is calling us to be as his church.

Our new sermon series, “All In,” is a journey through Luke and Acts to see what it means to meet Jesus and follow Jesus. We will see the power of the gospel as it is uniquely described in Luke’s writings. The series will supplement our all-church focus of Gospel Shaped Outreach and provide a place to introduce friends to the gospel message.

We are also adding several emphases to the series. Plug in with a Life Group, invite your friends to join you, and get ready for an unforgettable fall at Venture Church. Here are some highlights of what’s ahead:

• All In Sunday, September 25. Wear your All In T-shirt, grab your Life Group Guides, and go All In as follow Jesus together. We will also have a Selfie Contest, using the hashtag All In Venture (#allinventure) – winners will get a gift card for snacks for your Life Group.
• Venture Prayer Sunday, October 9. We will gather Sunday evening for a time of Prayer and Worship, especially praying for people we want to help love Jesus.
• Bilingual Baptism Service, October 23. We will join with our Hispanic Ministry for an exciting time of worship, and celebrate together as people follow Jesus in believer’s baptism.
• Bring a Friend Sunday, November 6. We’re challenging everyone to invite a friend for this Sunday. We all get an extra hour on November 6, so let’s spend it together in church! We will have lunch together after the service.
• Ice Cream Sunday, November 20. This will be our final Sunday of “All In,” so we’ll celebrate with ice cream sundaes after church.

What an opportunity to be “All In” this fall, as we gather in Life Groups, celebrate the gospel on Sunday mornings, and watch God at work in Venture Church!

The goal this fall is for everyone at Venture to be part of a Life Group. We will ask everyone to make a 9 week commitment to study the Word in the context of community. It will all revolve around “Gospel Shaped Outreach,” which helps us see how important it is that we share the gospel with others, and equips to share the Word with others. This will be great training, and it takes place in a small community that meets in a home each week. Important content, deeper friendships, and a growing passion for our mission — great things are coming this fall!

Get more information on the Life Group leaders and schedule.

We will begin a three week teaching series this September that will help us see “The BIG Picture” of how God is at work in Venture Church. We will talk about a vision and strategy, and at the heart of it all is a passion to make disciples. This series flows out of conversations the pastors, elders, ministry leaders, and spouses started in February, and we are looking forward to sharing a vision for Venture with the church body. Make plans to attend each Sunday in September for this encouraging series.