On Sunday, September 1, 2024, VLC gathered in person and also broadcasted online via YouTube. Pastor Stuart Nice shared a message about when Jesus was teaching his disciples, with the crowds listening in, about why he came, what his ministry would produce, and how to interpret the signs of the times. From this teaching, Pastor Stuart shared seven questions that we could use to discern our spiritual seasons.

What is the Lord judging or purifying in you?
Where do you feel constrained until you commit?
Where is there unrest and lack of peace?
Where is there division with others?
Where are you aware of the Holy Spirit?
Where are you holding God back?
Where are you withholding from God?

“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Interpreting the Times
He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?
“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Luke 12:49-59 (NIV)