Why Attend a Church Plant?

Some Reasons to Forsake the Bells and Whistles

People pack into large congregations, enjoying the many programs and people of a large church. It almost automatically feels like you are a part of something bigger than yourself because of the sheer size of it all. In addition, they have all the luxuries and comforts of modern day living. So why would you go to a small, budding church plant that has little or none of the things you have come to expect from a church? Whether you are a Christian, or non-Christian, there are good reasons to come.

For the Non-Christian

Special Care Will Be Given to You. You may be the only new person there; but don’t feel like you have interrupt our secret society! We exist for people like you. We want to minister to you in every way: physically, emotionally, spiritual. For you, Jesus said:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30)

We want to help you find that rest for your soul and learn from Jesus, together, with us. It is easy to be lost in the shuffle of a large church. At Veritas, it is almost impossible for us to overlook you. You will find a casual, intimate, but godwardly focused group of people who are passionate about seeing people like you find rest for their soul and enjoyment in God.

You can focus on God here. Silicon Valley life is full of distractions and large mega-churches can easily be a place that adds to that. There is little here to distract you from coming closer to God.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6:33).

Do not think that you will be missing anything by coming here. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the important things will be added to you. Trust that God knows what’s important for you and will add it to your life in due time. Your first focus is to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. We will help you do that here.

We will tell you the truth. The reason that many of the large churches attract many people is by telling you what you want to hear and tailoring the message to be easy on your ears. 

We believe that the writers of the Bible, under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, wrote God’s truth in the Bible. God has preserved His truth throughout the generations and He wants us to hear it now. We believe that God speaks the truth and it is the whole truth that God wants you to hear. We will not hold back those difficult passages in the Bible. We will explain them in a way that is glorifying to God so that you can enjoy the fullness of His character and be ministered to in a way that God intended His Word to minister to you.

We believe that there is power in the Word of God even if it is not easy on our ears—it has power to transform your life in ways that man-made methods will never achieve.

“my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor 2:4-5).

We want you to come in contact, not with man-made methods of wisdom and healing, but with the power of God.

For the Young or Wayward Christian

Be discipled here. One of the tragedies of Christiandom is that people come on Sunday, hear a message and leave; but the teachings of the Scripture are not applied to their individual lives and so they do not experience the life transformation that is part of the Christian life.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2)

We want you to not only come on Sunday, but come to one of our community groups and be encouraged towards spiritual growth with other like-minded Christians. We desire to apply the powerful truths of Scripture to your individual circumstance and struggles. We desire for your to become fruitful, like the seed that fell on good soil.

“Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matt 13:8)

Gain a solid foundation. Life is full of those things which cause men to stumble and loose hope. Come here to gain a solid foundation on the teachings and the disciplines of the Christian life. We exist for the following reason:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph 4:11-15)

Avoid being a consumer. Many Americans fall into the trap of evaluating a church in the same way they would evaluate a consumer service. The evaluation of the church is based on the standards that are set by the business world. This is a dangerous starting point. If you seek superficial consumer qualities in your church, you are at the risk of gaining superficial worldly qualities in your spiritual character. 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16).

By our nature, as a church plant, we have little that the world has to offer, but we are abundant in what God has to offer. Consider the latter as immensely more important in making your decision.

For the Mature Christian

Answer our “Help Wanted” sign. Okay, we don’t actually have such a sign or ad; but the reality is that church plants need mature Christians to help disciple and gather in those who Jesus Christ is calling to himself. Feel secure in knowing there are other like-minded Christian here that are willing to work side-by-side with you in this labor of love for Jesus Christ and to glory of God:

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Luk 10:2).

Perhaps you are the answer to our prayers. Go into the harvest, be a laborer. Consider whether your current church already has plenty of help. Perhaps they could get along just fine without you. A small church plant like ours needs people like you.

Be poured out for the souls of others. The good news of the Gospel did not come to you for simply the well being of your own soul. Paul recognized that for him to die would be gain and be with Christ. Yet, he recognized the necessity and fruitfulness of ministry to other if he stays.

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me… to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith” (Phil 1:24-25).

God desires to use you as a vessel of grace, love and mercy towards other people. Do not let your service towards others be hidden away among the masses.

See your faith grow. Perhaps, if you were to come and join our efforts, you will see people come to Christ, lives transformed and God’s Church grow right before your eyes. What food for your soul and reason to rejoice!

Or perhaps it will be a time of great trial and difficulties. Remember, your suffering is not in vain. It has the result of building your faith and building your character.

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jas 1:2-4)

We cannot guarantee the outcome, but know that Jesus spoke to this type of situation with some great words of encouragement.

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life” (Matt 19:29)

Finally, do what Jesus commanded. The great commission calls Christians to go out and make disciples. At small churches, the opportunity is tangible and the need is palpable. Come to Veritas and help is fulfill this great commission.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20).

 

Women’s Retreat 2010

Women are encouraged to attend the women’s conference at the Koinonia conference center. Women from West Hills Morgan Hill and West Hills Downtown (a.k.a Veritas) are among those that will be attending.

Women’s Retreat 2010 - Great is Thy Faithfulness: A Study in Lamentations
March 5-7
Koinonia Conference Center
Watsonville, CA

Visit the Conference Website to learn more.

Overview

Life sometimes has its challenges. These challenges cause us to question what we believe about God…His sovereignty (or control) over our lives, His goodness in the midst of trials, whether He hears our cries and whether He will come through in His promises, to name a few.

The good news? In the midst of the slightest of difficulties or even in the darkest of nights, God is there.  He is there not only to provide us with comfort but to reveal new things about His character, grace and faithfulness.

2010 Theme: Great is Thy Faithfulness: A Study in Lamentations

Judy Achilles has had her share of difficulties and “dark nights.”  And the resounding conclusion of her testimony – and the testimony of God’s Word – is that God’s faithfulness is the proven beacon of our hope.  Join us for this year’s women’s retreat as Judy shares from Scripture and from her own personal testimony about the faithfulness of God.

Retreat Objectives:

  * To magnify the glory and delight of Christ.
  * To understand more about God’s faithfulness.
  * To give women proper Biblical principals in order to know Christ in a deeper way.
  * To give support and encouragement to fellow women as they grow in Christ.
  * To have fun and enjoy fellowship with other women.

Men’s Retreat

The Men’s Retreat is fast approaching. The dates are Friday, January 29th to Sunday Evening, January 30th. We will be leaving San Jose at 7:30 pm on Friday and will be back in the evening on Sunday.

The Cabin has 3 floors, 3 bathrooms and 17 beds. We currently have 12 people committed to going and three maybes.

What to bring?

  • Warm Clothing
  • Sleeping Bag
  • Towels
  • Laptop (Comcast Internet available for free)
  • XBOX 360’s with extra controllers
  • Cameras
  • Cash (To pay for food and gas) $40 would be good. We are expecting the shared price to be $20-30 dollars. (Very Cheap!)

What is there to do?

  • Fellowship
  • Hike
  • Go to the Lake
  • Snowball fight
  • Play XBOX (If someone brings one)
  • Read
  • Pray
  • Go Sledding
  • Go Skiing/Snowboarding (You would need do this at your own expense.)

What to expect?

  • The cabin is warm and has central heating
  • We have three showers (Showers are mandatory including deodorant)
  • Cell Phone’s work there
  • There should be snow on the ground
  • We will all have to share in doing dishes

We are planning this to be fairly unstructured to facilitate lots of fellowship. The only planned event will be Sunday where we have some worship, teaching, and prayer.

Transportation?

The best way would be for us all to meet at Josh Keller’s House prior to departure.  If you won’t be able to do that we can probably make accommodations.
Lets plan on meeting at Josh’s House at 7pm on Friday(741 W. Latimer Ave. Campbell, CA 95008). Right now we have two cars driving up with room for 10 people.  If we get more people, we will borrow a 15-passenger van from my in-laws or something.

Please call me or email if you have questions.

The following people are confirmed as going.

  • Brad K
  • Josh K
  • Josh C.
  • Kyle
  • Rick
  • Tim
  • Jason Trapp
  • Chris
  • Darryl Lane
  • Nathan Pops

The following people might be going

  • Ajit Ninan
  • Rob Lombardi
  • Robin
  • David Snider
  • Joe Kochen

 

A New Day has Dawned!

“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it” (Micah 4:1).

A new day has dawned in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Micah tells us that in the days of Messiah, which is what he means by the latter days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established.  We are in that day, and we get the awesome privilege of looking back at what Christ has done, and forward to what He continues to do in our lives.  When Jesus died in Jerusalem and was raised on the third day, the Lord established Him higher than all the mountains. 

    Today Jesus reigns in His spiritual kingdom and we who believe in Jesus are part of that kingdom.

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col 1:16-17).

Jesus is now firmly in control of all things.  He is the ruler and sustainer of all things. Seeing this day would come, Micah pointed to our exalted Lord Jesus.

    In the last part of the verse Micah says people shall flow to the mountain. Since the ascension of Jesus Christ people have been coming to Him. People to this very day continue to flow to Him as water to the sea.