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Pastor Aaron on Partnership & Pastoring

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Village Church,

I am blessed and honored to be called alongside the fellow elders at the Village Church to partner in shepherding you. It has been my family’s joy to be a member of the Village Church for the last 9 years. When God called us to the Village shortly after Kristin and I got married, it was an easy decision to make the Village Church our home because of the love demonstrated through Gospel centered theology working itself out in the lives of each of you. You have been a faithful church and it’s an honor to serve alongside all of you.

When God called me to serve as an elder in an official capacity a few years ago, the verse God pressed on me was 2 Corinthians 12:15 where Paul is speaking of his desire of personal sacrifice for the church in Corinth, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls". One of my joys at The Village early on was to see so many people serving in so many ways. It soon became my joy to serve alongside many of you. God has called my family to continue to do this, to spend our energy working, serving and laboring in love TOWARD each of you as well as WITH each of you. If that means we are spent and exhausted at the end of a day, week, month, or even a year, we have Jesus to give life to our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11) so we can do it all over again. Serving you and serving with you is such a joy!

What we did not realize when God called me to shepherd as an elder was that God was going to use so many of you to spend and be spent to serve my own family in the last few years too. When my wife was on bed rest, we had men and women serve us in some very significant ways that we would have never thought would have even been possible. When we had scares of cancer, we had men and women serve our family in prayer, encouragement and even a shoulder to cry on. I cannot forget to mention all the help we’ve had through the years through our countless moves from men and women coming alongside to bear a burden (literally heavy loads of books). God has called us to spend and be spent for the sake of the Gospel here at the Village. We’ve been blessed by men and women who have spent and been spent themselves for our family. To wake up each morning knowing I have the privilege to spend and be spent for the sake of the Gospel with so many of you is energy to continue to do it myself.

In the Village Church Partnership Covenant, there is an admonition for the elders to “work hard in our role as pastors and elders” using 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work”. Village Church, you have MY respect! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve, lead and shepherd you. It is an honor my family and I take very seriously and I’m excited to see what God does through each of you in the days ahead, as we labor together in the fields ripe for harvest (Matthew 9:37)!

My prayer is that God would continue to use the individuals of the Village Church for his Kingdom to grow us to become more like Jesus as we build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11), to grow us to be more like Jesus as we serve each other so the world may see and believe in Jesus (John 13:35), and to become more like Jesus in our serving and giving up of our life (John 15:13), treasures, and talents so the world may come to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Village Church, thank you for the opportunity to shepherd you and serve alongside you all!

Thanks,
Aaron Sellars

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