On Sunday, October 13, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem and was invited to eat at a Pharisee’s house. During the meal, as Jesus was being watched, he healed a man who was with them. Jesus used this situation to express that God values people over rules. From this, Pastor Stuart encouraged us to examine our lives to see what we are letting into our lives that can become obstacles to our faith. He listed desiring the approval of others, making religion an end in itself, and protecting a calloused or broken heart.

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say.
Luke 14:1-6 (NIV)