Welcome to the Village Green Newsletter for the month of April. This is the month of Easter Celebrations so we have some interresting and exciting updates to share. The services promise to be a blessing and a reminder of Jesus, his life, and most importantly, his resurrection. He is risen indeed!
APRIL SCHEDULE
April 6, 13, 18, 20 – A 4-Part Series entitled, Once for All Time is our Easter messages for this year. Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection and much more. It is also a vivid reminder that what Jesus accomplished is not a fixture of the past or a promise that is no longer applicable. His life, sacrifice, and Resurrection are a once and for all reality with no expiry date for all who believe. I hope you plan on joining us for this inspiring series.
April 6 – Communion Sunday and the start of our Easter Series. This week also signals the beginning of the next 10-week session of Life Groups.
April 13 – Palm Sunday. The youth will be presenting a drama.
April 18 – Good Friday. This service will start at our regular time of 10 am. We will be participating in a special presentation of Communion during this service. It is also a candlelight service.
April 20 – Easter Sunday. Join us as we celebrate the Resurrection and the hope it brings to all who claim faith in Christ. We will have a special music presentation on this day.
April 27 – We begin a new 7-Part series entitled, The Script: Embracing a New Story. Jesus’ teachings flipped the script on what was considered social, cultural, and religious norms. Even his lifestyle conflicted with everything society held dear. No one lived more counterculturally than Jesus, but no one ever has shown more care and compassion than Jesus.
SOUP SUNDAY
There will be no Soup Sunday for the months of April and May. Due to the many events and schedules in the next couple of months, the next time we gather together for soup will be in the Fall. Stay tuned.
SUMMER CAMPS
This summer Village Green will host two camps:
Forest Cliff Camps July 7-11 and Adullam Camps Aug 4-8. The church has scholarships available for families needing financial assistance for students to attend. If interested, please pick up a form in the foyer or contact the office at office@villagegreenchurch.com for a digital version.
To register a camp please see the camp’s respective website. Click on the button below.
BASEBALL
We are gearing up for another season of church baseball. If you are interested in playing slow-pitch baseball this summer, you can contact the church at office@villagegreenchurch.com.
We are looking forward to another great season and another year of cheering the team on!
THEOLOGY JAM
A reminder to check out our podcast with Jon Korkidakis and Matthew Burkholder. Recently, we released a podcast with Derek Ross from Christian legal Fellowship, Fay Johnson from BCM International, and even an inside look with the staff of Village Green.
Coming soon is an interview with the team at RC Media, who produce Sunday School material for Ukranian speaking churches in Europe, Canada, and the United States. You can also look for a special edition of the podcast where Matthew and I give an update on the personal theological projects we are working on.
You can find us on your favourite podcast platform by simply searching Theology Jam, and if you want to contact us or comment on the program, you can reach us at theologyjam@gmail.com.
CONNECT WITH US
If there is an area where you would like to serve or would like more information, contact the church at office@villagegreenchurch.com or fill out a Connection Card. Simply click the button below and complete the Connection Card to start the process. There is also room for prayer requests if there is something you would like us to pray about.
ROUND UP
April signals the start of our financial year, and last month saw the approval of the budget for 2025-2026. We have a lot to be thankful for here at Village Green. We have experienced God’s faithfulness in so many of our ministries, and we have also experienced the faithfulness of so many of you.
Our financial strength is a testament to the many who support the values and ministries of Village Green as we seek to share the hope of Christ with all. We are incredibly grateful and humbled by your comittment and love for this church.
We are also in the throes of our nominations process and we look forward to introducing you to the slate of new and continuing leaders at our June meeting.
Our Celebration Service that was held on the last Sunday in March was a beautiful and inspirational service. It was a timely reminder how much God is working and touching lives in our community. Our next Celebration Service is scheduled for June so look for further details coming soon. If you are wanting to be a part of the service, simply contact the church at office@villagegreenchurch.com or fill in a contact card with your request. (A link to a contact card is in the previous section).
A SIMPLE REQUEST
I am beginning to plan for my Spiritual Retreat weeks, which are coming in June. This is the time the church allows me to get away and plan the preaching calendar for the upcoming year.
I have a simple request as I prepare for this time away. If there is a series or a topic you would like to see on the schedule, please send me your ideas and requests to leadpastor@villagegreenchurch.com
I can’t make any promises, but I will do my best to accommodate the request. I have already received some very good suggestions which has me excited for the upcoming sermon year.
THE HOPE OF EASTER
As we conclude this month’s newsletter and look forward to the Easter celebrations, I want to present an excerpt from Philip Yancey’s book, The Jesus I Never Knew. I hope it encourages you as much as it did me.
There are two ways to look at human history, I have concluded. One way is to focus on the wars and violence, the squalor, the pain and tragedy and death. From such a point of view, Easter seems a fairy-tale exception, a stunning contradiction in the name of God. That gives some solace, although I confess that when my friends died, grief was so overpowering that any hope in an after-life seemed somehow thin and insubstantial.
There is another way to look at the world. If I take Easter as the starting point, the one incontrovertible fact about how God treats those whom he loves, then human history becomes the contradiction and Easter a preview of ultimate reality. Hope then flows like lava beneath the crust of daily life. (The Jesus I Never Knew, 219-220).
Thanks again for taking time to be with us.
Praying you and your family have a most blessed Easter.
Jon Korkidakis