As we look forward to welcoming Matt & Joanna Black to Pleasant View Community Church on Sunday, September 13 at 6:00 PM, we want to continue introducing you to some of their music.
Today, take a few minutes to listen to “In Spirit and Truth.” 🙏
Matt and Joanna write and share songs to help people find hope, healing, and purpose through Jesus in the midst of a broken world. Some of their songs are like a friend sharing life over coffee, while others—like this one—draw our hearts toward worship.
🎵 Watch “In Spirit and Truth”
❤️ If the song encourages you, please share this post and invite someone to join you for our Evening of Worship!
📅 Sunday, September 13 • 6:00 PM
📍 Pleasant View Community Church
2471 Pleasant View Rd.
Pleasant View, TN 37146
✅ Free Admission • Everyone Welcome • A Love Offering Will Be Received for Matt & Joanna Black
🌐 Learn more about Matt & Joanna at www.mjblack.com
This Sunday, Pastor Joe continued the Striving for Holiness series with a message on generosity.
Over the past several weeks, we have considered humility and compassion. Pastor Joe reminded us that these qualities are connected—“like links in a chain”—as God works in our lives to make us look more like Jesus.
This week’s focus was generosity.
We live in a world that continually encourages us to want more. Newer is better. More possessions are better. More security is better. But from the beginning, God has called His people to live by a different standard.
God calls His people to be generous because He is generous toward us.
And generosity is about far more than money. It includes our possessions, our skills and abilities, and perhaps one of the things we guard most closely—our time.
Pastor Joe’s central text was Luke 12:21–34. After telling the parable of the rich fool, Jesus warned against storing up treasure for ourselves while failing to be “rich toward God.” He then reminded His disciples that their heavenly Father knows what they need and can be trusted to provide for them.
Jesus said:
“Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
— Luke 12:32–34
Generosity requires trust.
When we believe that everything depends upon what we can accumulate, save, protect, or control, we naturally hold tightly to what we have. But when we recognize God as our provider, we become freer to give.
As Pastor Joe said:
“Generosity comes from the idea that there is enough.”
That does not mean every believer will have abundance or never experience financial difficulty. Jesus spoke these words to people who often lived day to day. Yet God still taught His people to live generously and to trust Him.
Why is generosity so important?
First, generosity reflects the nature of God.
God Himself is generous. The greatest demonstration of that generosity is found in the gift of His Son:
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
— John 3:16
Pastor Joe summarized the principle this way:
“God expects His people to show generosity due to the generosity He has shown us.”
This pattern appears throughout Scripture.
God reminded Israel that they had once been slaves in Egypt and that He had redeemed them. Because they had received mercy and provision from Him, they were to remember the poor and show generosity toward others.
“Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.”
— Deuteronomy 15:15
The New Testament gives us the same principle. First John 3:16 teaches that we know what love is because Christ laid down His life for us, and therefore we should be willing to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
Generosity, then, is not merely an act involving money.
Generosity is a definitive act of love.
Pastor Joe pointed out that giving grudgingly or merely giving what costs us nothing misses something important about true generosity. As we learn to give, our attention moves away from ourselves and toward others.
He expressed it this way:
“In acting generously toward others, we lose our love of self and begin to show true love toward others.”
Generosity also reveals something happening within us.
Generosity shows outwardly that we have had an inward change in our life.
One of the earliest characteristics of the church after Pentecost was an extraordinary willingness to share:
“Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need.”
— Acts 2:44–45
They were not giving to be noticed. Their generosity flowed from their new life in Christ and their love for one another.
Paul likewise remembered the instruction he received from the leaders of the Jerusalem church:
“They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.”
— Galatians 2:10
Pastor Joe connected this week’s sermon directly with last week’s message on compassion: see people and respond to their needs.
Sometimes that may mean giving money. Sometimes it may mean providing food, clothing, or another practical need. At other times, generosity may simply mean giving our time, our abilities, or our willingness to serve.
That leads to another important truth:
Generosity is an act of learned obedience gained through the practice of letting go and trusting God.
Most of us do not naturally want to let go of the things we possess. Generosity teaches us to loosen our grip and recognize that ultimately God—not our possessions—is our supply.
Scripture warns us:
“Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.”
— 1 Timothy 6:17
Generosity also gives the world an opportunity to see the love of Christ through His people.
Pastor Joe pointed to ministries that feed and shelter people in need, care for children, assist women in crisis pregnancies, help those struggling with addiction, and provide food to families. Sometimes generosity comes through those who donate resources. Sometimes it comes through people who simply show up and say:
“We’ll be the hands and feet.”
That was illustrated by members of the church who recently volunteered to distribute food in the community. Some provided food, others transported it, a school provided a location, and volunteers gave their time and labor to serve those who came.
Generosity is not simply in what we can give—it is also in how we serve.
And finally, Pastor Joe reminded us that the generosity we give can outlive us.
Scripture says:
“Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and he will give a reward to the lender.”
— Proverbs 19:17
That reward should never become the reason we give. Jesus did not teach us to give in order to get something back from God. We give because God has already given so abundantly to us.
Jesus said:
“Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
— Luke 6:38
Pastor Joe cautioned against turning that promise into a system of giving in order to receive material wealth. Biblical generosity gives without seeking applause, recognition, repayment, or personal gain.
We give because God first gave to us.
So the challenge from this week’s message is both simple and searching:
Hold what God has given you with open hands.
Give when you see a need. Give your resources. Give your abilities. Give your time. Serve without needing recognition, and trust God as your provider.
May God make us a truly generous people—a church willing to see those in need and respond without hesitation, giving to others as God has so graciously given to us.
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” — Acts 20:35
We’re looking forward to welcoming Matt & Joanna Black to Pleasant View Community Church on Sunday, September 13 at 6:00 PM for An Evening of Worship.
Between now and then, we’d love to introduce you to some of their music.
Here’s “Seen God” — one of the songs Matt and Joanna have shared as they seek to help people find hope, healing, and purpose through Jesus in the midst of a broken world.
🎶 Take a few minutes to listen, and if it encourages you, share it with someone you’d like to invite to join us on September 13!
📍 Pleasant View Community Church
2471 Pleasant View Rd.
Pleasant View, TN 37146
✅ Free Admission • Everyone Welcome • A Love Offering Will Be Received for Matt & Joanna Black
This Sunday, Pastor Joe continued the Striving for Holiness series with a message on acting with compassion.
Last week’s message focused on humility—looking honestly at ourselves in light of God’s holiness. This week, Pastor Joe turned our attention outward:
Compassion calls us to see others through the eyes of God’s compassion toward us and then reflect that compassion through action.
His central text was Matthew 9:35–38. In this passage, Jesus traveled through the towns and villages, teaching, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. But Matthew then tells us something especially important:
“When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” — Matthew 9:36
Jesus did more than notice the crowd. He saw the people.
He recognized their physical needs, but He also saw something deeper—their spiritual condition. They were surrounded by religion, yet they were like sheep without a shepherd.
Pastor Joe challenged us to ask whether we truly see the people God has placed around us—not merely noticing them, but seeing them as Jesus sees them.
It is possible to pass someone every day without really seeing them. We can become so preoccupied, isolated, cautious, or busy that we learn to look away. But compassion requires us to look again—to see people as Jesus sees them.
And seeing is only the beginning.
Jesus told His disciples:
“The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” — Matthew 9:37–38
Pastor Joe emphasized that this prayer is not simply asking God to send someone else.
Sometimes, if God has placed a need on our heart, we may be the very person He intends to use.
True compassion compels us to act.
Compassion is more than pity. Pity may recognize that someone is hurting and feel sorry for them. Biblical compassion moves deeper.
As Pastor Joe described it:
“Compassion is a heartfelt empathy which drives us to action.”
Jesus demonstrated that kind of compassion again and again. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, comforted the grieving, and ministered to people because He was moved with compassion.
And because compassion reflects the very nature of God, it should increasingly become part of the life of every believer.
When God revealed Himself to Moses, He declared:
“The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth.” — Exodus 34:6
We show compassion because we have first received compassion from God.
Scripture therefore tells believers to intentionally “put on” compassion:
“Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” — Colossians 3:12
Pastor Joe compared this to getting dressed. We intentionally choose what we put on each day. In the same way, as believers, we are called to intentionally clothe ourselves with compassion and make the decision to see the people around us.
Compassion is not something we display for recognition or applause. It should flow from the very nature of Christ at work within us.
One description Pastor Joe shared captures it simply:
“Compassion is your hurt in my heart.”
Ultimately, the greatest demonstration of compassion is found in Jesus Christ Himself. Christ bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, was pierced for our rebellion, and was crushed for our iniquities. We were the sheep who had gone astray, and yet God showed compassion toward us through His Son. (Isaiah 53:4–6)
Because we have received such great compassion, we are called to extend compassion to others.
So the challenge from this week’s message is simple, but searching:
See people. Pray for them. And act with compassion.
May God open our eyes to the people around us—not only those within our church or our immediate families, but those we encounter every day—and make us a people through whom others can see the love and compassion of Jesus.
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.” — Ephesians 4:32
Join us for An Evening of Worship with
Matt & Joanna Black on
Sunday, September 13, at 6:00 PM
at Pleasant View Community Church.
🎵 Matt and Joanna write and share songs to help people find hope,
healing, and purpose through Jesus in the midst of a broken world.
Their music is honest, approachable, and rooted in the timeless truths
found in the Bible.
❤️ Whether you're part of our church family or looking for an encouraging
evening of Christ-centered worship, we'd love to have you join us.
Invite your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers to join you!
📍 Pleasant View Community Church
2471 Pleasant View Rd.
Pleasant View, TN 37146
✅ Free Admission • Everyone Welcome
A Love Offering Will Be Received for Matt & Joanna Black
📣 Please help us spread the word by sharing this event with your family,
friends, neighbors, and coworkers. We'd love for as many people as
possible to join us for this special evening of worship.
Pastor Joe began a new sermon series this Sunday on Striving for Holiness, opening with a message on adopting an attitude of humility.
His central text was Philippians 2:5–11, where Paul writes:
“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus.”
Pastor Joe reminded us that humility is not simply an outward action—it begins with our attitude. The way we think shapes the way we act, and our actions reveal what is in our hearts.
As Proverbs tells us, we are to guard our hearts, because everything we do flows from them.
One of the recurring themes of the message was this simple but challenging truth:
Attitude is not accidental—it is intentional.
We often excuse our attitudes by saying, “That’s just the way I am,” but Scripture calls us to something much higher. Paul doesn’t simply admire Christ’s humility—he tells believers to adopt the same attitude.
Jesus, though fully God, did not cling to His rights or seek His own exaltation. Instead, He emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, humbled Himself, and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.
Pastor Joe challenged us not to be enslaved by our attitudes, but instead to enslave our attitudes to Christ through God’s Word, the work of the Holy Spirit, and honest self-examination.
He also warned that pride is a killer of righteousness. Pride continually turns our attention toward ourselves—what we deserve, how we’ve been treated, or whether we’ve been recognized. Humility, on the other hand, chooses a different way.
One memorable quote from the message was:
“Humility is not thinking less of ourselves. It is thinking of ourselves less.”
Jesus Himself demonstrated that kind of humility.
“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)
If we desire to be great in God’s kingdom, we must first become servants. As Pastor Joe said, one can never be a good leader until they have first learned to be a good follower.
He closed with the reminder that humility is a choice with a reward.
James 4:10 says:
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
James 4:6 also reminds us:
“God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
The call to holiness is not merely about changing our behavior. It is about allowing God to transform our hearts so that our attitudes increasingly reflect the attitude of Christ.
May we be people who willingly humble ourselves before the Lord, serve others with joy, and allow Christ’s humility to shape the way we think, speak, and live.
Make plans to join us for a Rootin-Tootin good time at VBS!
Scan the QR code to register.
Kickoff Picnic: Sunday, July 26 at 5:30 p.m. VBS: July 27–30 Dinner: 5:30–6:00 p.m. VBS: 6:00–7:30 p.m. Ages: Children entering kindergarten through completing 5th grade
