Theological Partnership - Luke Kim

On my first Sunday at The Village, Cyndi Weeks said something to the congregation that seemed a little strange to me at the time. In between songs she said something about God’s sovereignty. Something about how big and glorious he was and how we weren’t those things and how amazing it was that this big, sovereign God saved us. I grew up going to church but had never heard a worship leader say something like that. Worship leaders are usually, well, corny. They usually try to make you feel nice on the inside, not lower your self-esteem.

Then Pastor Matt got up to preach, and I noticed two things about him: 1) he liked alliteration, and 2) he loved the Bible. He preached out of Galatians, I think, and he talked a lot about Jesus and his church, constantly referencing the Bible. The people I talked to after service convinced me that Matt and Cyndi weren’t alone in their own world. The whole church, I thought, loved Jesus and loved the Bible.

A few months later I joined the Apprentice Academy. Several times Matt and the other leaders unpacked in detail what they envisioned the Village to be: a church submitted to Jesus, our God and Senior Pastor, and to the Bible, his divine revelation. I found out one of the requirements of the program was to read a 1,200-page book about some of the biblical positions to which The Village held. It covered topics like what God was like, what Jesus did, and what it all meant for the church today. If I wasn’t convinced The Village was committed to the Bible by this point, well��"being told to buy a three-pound book about the Bible cleared it up.

In all seriousness, then and now, my partnership with The Village begins at the theological level. When God saved me, I encountered a great wealth of theological truths that I have been trying to work out ever since. The Village is filled with people who have been saved by the same God and are trying to know him better. Together we affirm the same foundational truths about God, and together we recognize that we find these truths primarily in the Bible. The Village and I are theological partners as we join together in hearing about, submitting to, celebrating, rejoicing in, and attempting to live out the truths about God and the world.

Partnered With You,

Luke Kim