Pleasant Valley Assembly of God

This message uses the lives of Jacob, Moses, Joshua & Caleb and Peter as examples of men who came full circle in their lives. The God of the 360 is the God of transformation, fulfilled promises and restoration. When God brings a man or woman full circle they never return the same person, and God accomplishes His purpose and plan in their lives for the lives of others.

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but this message takes a look at one of the reasons why Jesus came to the earth. One of the things Jesus said He would do was “build His church”. As He provided salvation for the lost He was indeed building His church. We are part of that church. This message makes a hard challenge for the church to look like Jesus. Often times it looks, acts and sounds like anything but Jesus. He’s the founder of the church, the builder of the church and the head of the church so the church better be like Him. That church becomes a witness to the world and the heavenly realm.

God sent Jesus to be God in flesh through a lowly manger. But in that manger came the One who was to walk with the mandate of God to take away the sins of the world. Without the mandate the manger was meaningless. Without the cross the manger meant nothing. Jesus, the second Adam, came to fulfill the mandate the first Adam couldn’t. And, He passed it on to believers of every generation. The Christmas season is the time we celebrate the One born in a manger to live out a mandate.

The story of Christmas is the birth of Jesus into the world as Immanuel - God with Us. It is the moment in time when God chose to bend himself low so that He could elevate humanity from its sinful state. It’s the time when God took on the limitations of human flesh so that human flesh could overcome its limitations. Jesus was the revelation of God to the world. This message will look at how He was the revelation of God and how it impacts our lives today.

Allowing God to use adversity to promote us in His kingdom

Loving Like Jesus Loved

After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness the people of God had come to that moment in time when they would once again have to make a decision to go into the promised land or not. It would be a defining moment. Once they stepped across the Jordan River it would be the first step to the rest of the journey God had for them. Likewise, as believers, there are Jordan River moments that are defining moments. This message is a message of corporate vision casting for PVAG as well as a personal challenge to seize that Jordan River moment for you life.

Years ago the book The Prayer of Jabez took the church world by storm. This message seeks to look at the spirit, the mission and the mandate from which Jabez made his famous prayer. The prayer was made from the revealed plan of God not just a personal quest for blessing. The pathway to blessing and enlargement is attaching yourself to the plan of God.

John 5 speaks of an angel of the Lord stirring the waters at the pool of Bethesda at “certain seasons.” When the water was stirred a new season could come upon those that would make an act of faith into what God was doing. Using that account as a backdrop this message causes us to look at how we respond to the seasons that God wants to bring into our lives. Responding to what God is doing in the NOW season takes us beyond the past and launches us into the future.

Long time friend Andre van Zyl delivers a profound message that deals with the difficult times of our life by comparing to them as dirt. We may spend a season in dirt but that is exactly the place that God wills incredible fruit to our lives and for His glory. This message will inspire you to allow God to bring you through difficult times because you know that God can bring beauty from dirt.

Following a message that was entitled Cousin ITT that dealt with the issues of our lives that become bigger than relationships and the work of God, this message highlights the atmosphere that enables an IT spirit to grow. The absence of grace is the rejection of Jesus and the rejection of the grace that he brought. When we find ourselves without His grace we will often be in opposition to Jesus. This message will cause you to ask yourself the following: Have I received His grace? Am I giving HIs grace?

Using a bit of comedy this message simply asks the question: Does IT really matter?” So many times in our christian lives as individuals as well as the corporate body there is an IT that takes on a life of its own. IT becomes bigger than relationships. IT becomes bigger than the church body as a whole. And because of IT we destroy one another. Using Paul’s letter to the Galatians this message will cause you to examine the ITs in your life that may have indeed become larger than life.

The bible tells the story of a young man named Eutychus who fell out of a window as Paul preached until midnight. This message uses this story as a backdrop for a picture of a spirit of slumber that tries to worm it’s way into the lives of individuals and churches. Spiritual sleep is one step from spiritual death. The spirit of Paul however came upon the spirit of Eutychus and brought back to life that which was dead. This message will cause you to examine your own life as to whether you might be in a spiritual sleep.

How much of God are you experiencing? Within Ezekiel 47:1-5, we see that we can be at four basic different levels in our walk with God…four varying depths of relationship with Him. These differing depths are our choice, not God’s. We decide how far we are willing to go; we decide the depth of our relationship with God.

This sermon is a message centered on the Elijah and Elisha relationship. Just as Elijah, the man of God, passed his mantle to God’s chosen successor Elisha, we should be raising up the next generation of prophets, kings and priests. The mandate on every generation is to pave the way for the next one as well as preparing them to run with the mandate.

Guest Speaker

The bible tells us that the Levites were a God-chosen group of people who God gave as a gift to His people to minister for Him and to serve the people. Chosen by God and purified for service they were to be His servants on earth. As believers we have been made priests of God through the work of Jesus on the Cross. We too, should live as a gift as we serve God and humanity. This message will challenge you to view your life as a gift of God to your family, church, and city.

Luke 5 tells the story of three men with the faith to lay their friend before Jesus. The house was filled with the teaching, character, presence and power of Jesus therefore a crowd had gathered. Three undeterred men carried their paralyzed man to be touched by Jesus but couldn't get in because of the crowd. Driven by faith they ripped the roof off in order to expose their friend to Jesus. This message is to challenge your house to be filled with teaching, character, presence and power of Jesus. But it is also a call to become passionate pursuers of Jesus to the point of tearing the roof off and revealing an open heaven.

This sermon follows up the previous week's message on going beyond the storm. This message centers on the second storm the disciples encountered on the sea after the miracle of the loaves and fish. Absent Jesus who was praying on the mountain, they battled the contrary wind that was in their face. After a struggle Jesus appears to them on the water. The wind, waves and adversity of the storm became another moment to bring divine revelation to the disciples. Through this message you too can find revelation of the One who will take you beyond the storm.

Everybody faces a storm in life at one time or another. The disciples encountered a storm on the sea after Jesus told them they were going to the other side of where they had been. God-directed transition seems to be a time when storms quickly arise in our lives as did the disciples. It was during that storm they questioned Jesus' concern for them but also came to a greater revelation of Him. If you are facing a storm in you life this message will help you get to the other side.