Notes from Our Pastor

Greetings!
One of my favorite shots in golf is called the "mulligan." Basically it's a do over on the 1st tee. If you hit a bad tee shot, you tell everyone you're going to take a mulligan and hit another one. It's as if the 1st shot didn't even exist! It's not counted.

I look at the beginning of a new year as a mulligan. It's an opportunity for you to take another swing. All the failures, missed opportunities and stupid things you did in 2008 are erased. 2009 is an opportunity for you to do things differently this time around. I hope you'll take advantage of your mulligan this year by involving yourself in one of our small group ministries, in serving, in praying, consistently reading Scripture, being involved in worship just to name a few. I intend to do some thing differently this year as well.

Happy New Year,

Erik Estep

Village Student Ministries

Happy New Year,

I have enjoyed my part of 2008 with everyone at VillageChurch, but I am more excited to get started in 2009. Starting in February we will begin our mid-week program. It will be called Ignite and will be held once a month at the Blythewood High School Auditorium. The format will be similar to our Christmas party and will end with a message each week. I believe that it is our duty to bring the church to the community and we are doing just that. I hope that this will get students excited about a relationship with Christ and will get them involved in VillageChurch. We will be going over this and many other activities in our parents meeting following the 10:45 am service on Sunday January 11. We will have youth this Sunday at 4:30 so you do not want to miss out. Have a safe and happy new year and I will see you on Sunday.

Im out,
Matthew Phillips

Notes from Our Pastor

A number of years ago I received a Christmas card that had Hitler, Buddha, Harry Krishna, Alexander the Great and others on the front. The caption said, "Many men would be god." But when you opened the card there was a picture of Christ. The caption on the inside said, "But only one God who would be man." As you celebrate Christmas take time to remember that God entered into our broken world to give us hope.

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone. Let me share with you some of our experiences in 2008. We started off this year going through our capital campaign "Building on Faith, Giving in Joy." So far we've collected half our pledges for the new building and have paid off the land. We had 2 new staff members come on board. James Ballew began working with VillageChurch in June as our worship leader. Matthew Phillips came on staff as our Student and Small Groups Pastor in the fall. Jeana Reidl, our children's coordinator, had her yearly baby, DJ! One of my most trusted advisors and one of our church's greatest supporters, Troy Carpenter, passed away in August. But his legacy lives on. Troy is the one who found the property our church will be building on.

I'm looking forward to seeing what 2009 brings our way. I pray it will be the most powerful year in our church's history!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Erik Estep
VillageChurch

Notes from Our Pastor

I'm sitting in my office during these winter months SWEATING! Another Columbia Christmas on its way, but I'm not complaining. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be.

Let me share with you some of the happenings around VillageChurch. This past Sunday our church approved the 2009 budget. Our Advisory Team and staff did a great job of staying within (and even under) our budget this past year which will be a great help to us as we move forward in our building program. On Tuesday we signed the papers with our bank (SCB&T) for the loan on our building! We're marching forward!

Have a great week! Invite a neighbor to come worship with you Sunday!

Erik Estep
Pastor

Village Student Ministries

Merry Christmas,
I cannot speak for everyone, but I sure had a great time last night at the Christmas party. If you can find me a better one in town then I will find you and elephant who can recite "The Night Before Christmas." We had close to 50 people including students and volunteers. I just want to thank all the parents who spent time getting snacks for us, all the volunteers who came to help set up and clean up, the band for doing a great job and the cast of Sunday Night Alive for coming to supply our entertainment. Congratulations to the girls team and Hannah Austin for her magnificent performance in "Don't Forget the Lyrics." Do not forget that we do not have any youth activities for the next two weeks, but we still have church on Sunday morning so I will be looking for you at the 9:15 service or the 10:45 service. It is important that you are there! Have a Merry Christmas and if you are bored and want something to do next week then just stop by my office and we can hang out.

Buhumbug,

Matthew Phillips

Notes from Our Pastor

Greetings!
Several weeks ago our Building Team met with our contractors. We were going through some plans and they began to talk about where outlets were going to be placed in the building. It was then I turned to one of our building team members and said, "This thing's getting ready to really happen!" I just wanted to share that with you to let you know where we are in the whole process! We're talking about the nuts and bolts stuff. It's no longer just talking. It looks like some dirt's going to start getting moved within the next several weeks!

The development of our church property has got me dreaming! I'm dreaming of a music program being developed. I'm dreaming of a cool facility where we'll be able to minister to youth. I'm dreaming of a space designed for specifically for our children for their teaching hour. I'm dreaming of a building that will house hundreds and hundreds of people to be able to hear a message of hope. I'm dreaming of a facility that will be used to touch our community with good news. Call me crazy, but I'm also dreaming of our next facility! Lot's of fun in the days ahead!

I look forward to sharing this Christmas season with you. I'll see you Sunday!

Sincerely,


Erik Estep
VillageChurch

Village Student Ministries

Hello to All,


I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving and has already started working off the pounds to make room for Christmas. We will be on our regular Sunday schedule for the next two weeks before we are off again before Christmas. I am encouraging everyone to attend the student ministry Christmas party. It will be Wednesday December 17th from 6:00 pm-9:00 pm. The cast of Sunday Night Alive will be performing various Christmas skits. We will also have a live band and will be finishing the evening by watching a recent Christmas classic, Elf. Invite everyone you can and if you have to come late then that is ok too. We just want you to be there because this is a party you will not want to miss.

Cya soon,

Matthew Phillips