Pleasant Valley Assembly of God

God called and Abraham replied, “Here I Am.” God then proceeded to tell him to take his son, Isaac, and offer him in worship to Him. Abraham began a journey he really didn’t want to take but took it anyhow. A journey that would end in the paradoxes of worship with pain, worship with loss and worship in the midst of grief. Yet, he said…”Here I Am” (to worship) This message uses the biblical illustration of Abraham’s walk to worship and the personal testimony of the pastor and his family in the loss of their son.

Naomi encountered the wounds of losing a husband and two sons. Out of that wound she spoke words that reflected the condition of her heart and set the course for the lives of others. However, there was joy at the end of the journey because of the presence of the redeemer - Boaz. We, like Naomi, may at times undergo the wounds that can come from life. Yet, like Naomi, we can experience joy at the end of the journey because of the Redeemer - Jesus. Don’t allow the wound to dictate your words and your walk but look for the joy that can only come from the Redeemer

Jehoshaphat faced an enemy that he and his armies could not defeat on their own. In seeking the Lord they were given a word from Him that the battle didn’t belong to them but to Him, and they should not fear and be dismayed. What was his response? Praise and worship. He set the singers at the front of the army to give thanks to God for the impending victory against the enemy. We, like Jehoshaphat, have a victory that is guaranteed. This message will encourage you to use praise and worship as you engage and silence the enemy of your soul.

The psalmist of Psalm 42 was separated from fellow worshipers and leading them to the house of God. Being separated for that season caused a longing and thirsting of their soul that couldn’t be satisfied in any other fashion. The psalmist encountered the depths of despair and discouragement but the God of the deep called to the depth of their distress. The depth of God called to the depths of man’s despair. In a deep place today? This message will cause you to listen for the One who is calling from the roaring from the depths of His cascading waterfalls of love.

The last message in a series entitled “God is For Me” focuses upon the reason why God gave His Spirit to His believers. Many people point to the work of the Holy Spirit when asked about the reason God gave His Spirit to us, but can there be one reason that encompasses why God did that? This message attempts to bring out that one reason. Through this word you will be encouraged and challenged to see the overarching reason God gives His Spirit to natural men and women. And, you will be reminded - God is indeed for me.

This is a brief message as part of a unique service as Pastor Troy discusses the difference of being overwhelmed by the issues of life verses God's blessings using the story of Peter and crew fishing all night catching nothing until Jesus instructs them to try something different.

This is the fourth message in a series entitled: God is For Me. Scripture is full of examples of God going before His people in order to lead them to a place of His choosing. Simply put: He goes before you so you can possess the promises He places before you. This message, preached on Easter Sunday, parallels the people of God going into the promised land as God went before them and the promises that lay before us that are only obtained through a resurrected Savior that goes before us. God is for you. Because He is for you, He goes before you.

This message is the second part of a series of messages entitled: God is For Me. The first message in this series focused on the aspect of God being WITH me and this, the second, deals with the aspect of God being our rear guard through life. The bible shows us several instances of when God moved to the behind of His people because He indeed was for them. The same is true in our lives. He indeed is our rear guard or perhaps better said: “He has our back.” God is for you, and because He is for you He goes behind you.

Have you ever journeyed long and hard to finally reach a destination and then ask yourself, Now What? That question is the premise for today’s message. We look at the long journey of the Israelites possessing the promised land as well as what is necessary to continue once you’ve reached God’s promises.

Our good friend Pastor Keith Deal shares his powerful testimony of how God delivered him from a severe addiction to heroin.

The simple truth is God is For You. This message centers on the principle that God is indeed for us, and because He is for us He is with us. Think about your life and the times when God has been with you even in those moments when you didn’t know it. The truth found in this message will be a vivid reminder and encouragement that He has been with you, is with you and will always be with you - because He is for you.

Love demands an object to set its affection upon. That affection demands a demonstration as evidence of the love for the object. We are the object of God’s affection and He gives evidence to that through an array of demonstrations. His love for us is the foundation from which His many blessings flow and is the source of our confidence as we navigate through life. This message is a vivid reminder of the unchanging and everlasting love God has for His people.

Following the Refuge Winter Epic Weekend Randy Don Giovanni, speaker for the weekend, shared this powerful message from Ezekiel 37. The message is a call to allow the Spirit of the Living God to cause you and I as believers to Rise Up in His power.

In Judges 6 we find God’s people hiding in caves and dens in the mountains for fear of their enemies. We find Gideon hiding in a winepress sifting wheat for fear of them. The sinful decisions of Israel had brought them to a place where they were living well beneath God’s design for their lives. Their history had been shaped by their decisions, but God had a design for their destiny if they would just step into it. Many people today are doing the same - living well beneath the design God has for their lives. Choices and actions by themselves and even earlier generations have caused this. But God always provides a way out and a way to enter into His plan for their destiny. This message will give hope to those who have been outside of God’s design for their life. It will challenge you to run after what He has designed for you, your family and those around you.

The bible tells us that Jesus went through Samaria, which most of us know was against the Jewish culture of the day. However, His love for humanity caused him to defy the social, racial and religious prejudices of the day to bring salvation to the woman at the well. But, was his trip merely about the woman? He is always concerned about the one but there was a city to be won as well. The woman became the connecting point between Jesus and the city. Could it be He was looking for the city through the woman? When she encountered Jesus she invited a city to come see the One she had encountered? She connected the city to Jesus. This message will remind you of the love that Jesus has for you as an individual but challenge you to be the connecting point between Him and those around you.

Humanity was birthed in a paradise designed by God, but in their sin they forfeited that place. The longing for most human hearts is to live in a paradise that is beyond human capability. Abraham searched for such a city that’s architect and builder was God. Like Abraham, we as people of faith long for and search for a place of God’s design. Paul tells us as believers that we have come to Mt. Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; and we are citizen of that city now. This message does two things: 1. reveals the longing in our hearts for a lost paradise while whetting our appetites for a now but not yet paradise designed by God. 2. It challenges us, as a church, to live as reflection of His city so that others will be drawn to the very place they long for.

God has always desired for His people to live in the place of His rest. Adam and Eve encountered it in the garden. Israel was to enter it when they were to go into the Promised Land. Hebrews tells us the promise of entering His rest still stands today. Everything that a believer needs or desires is found in the rest that God has promised. Are you tired of striving? Weary of toiling and spinning? This message will encourage you to seek the place of His rest through the person of rest - Jesus Christ.

The upcoming year in America will reveal the continued ugliness of politics, racism, denominationalism and a number of other equally unattractive earthly dimensions. In the midst of this the temptation is to return ugly for ugly, anger for anger and hate for hate. Ugly births ugly. However, it is paramount that God’s people reveal the beauty of God’s kingdom in the midst of ugly times. In order to do that we must be like Isaiah who saw a vision of heaven, heard a song of heaven, received a touch of heaven, and ran with the heartbeat of heaven. In a year of transition when things may get ugly, it is the beauty of God’s kingdom that will attract.

The birth of Jesus is a pivotal point in time that separates two eras of history - B.C. (before the birth of Christ) and A.D. (after his birth or as it is better known, the year of our Lord). What does it mean to live in the year of our Lord? Jesus was born into this world as the perfect representation of God, and He even announced the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in announcing the favorable year of our Lord. This message will inspire you to live under the blessings of living in the A.D. period of history.

The story of Christmas involves all of the components we are used to hearing about. The baby in a manger, wise men, shepherds in a field, and a host of other things, but the story of Christmas is God’s scandalous and insatiable love for people. He loved so much that “he gave His only begotten.” God’s love caused him to take on human flesh and dwell among men - Immanuel. This message celebrates the incredible security that comes from the knowledge that I am indeed loved by Him.