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What You Can Expect When
You Visit Victory Temple
We understand what it is like
when you walk into a church for the first time. Most people have
good intentions but procrastinate for fear of the unknown. Let us
help set your mind at ease by giving you some history on the church and
telling you what you will see, hear and experience when you visit.
Background
Our church originated around
1941 as one of two churches in Houston affiliated with the Church of God
out of Cleveland, Tennessee. The first building was on Texarkana
Street in what is known as the Denver Harbor area of Houston, which is
inside the West Loop. The church eventually moved to Harbor Street
in the same area, where it remained for several years, and later relocated
to its current location in Channelview.
When Pastors Kevin
and Diana Taylor came to Victory Temple over 17 years ago, it was a small
church made up of several families. The Lord gave Pastor Taylor a powerful
vision for the church and the community and now this church is a
constantly growing house of victory! Along with the physical additions of
a large Victory Center, the cultural diversity at Victory Temple is
apparent from the leadership to the smallest child. We currently represent
nations and cities from all over the U.S., the Caribbean and Latin
America.
Victory Temple
caters to "every age and every stage" of spiritual development. With our
nurturing nursery, exciting children's services, Christian Education
department, boys' and girls' clubs, youth ministry, coffee house, dance
and drama, women's and men's groups, young adult groups, missions, music,
evangelism and OWLS...there's always a place to fit in!
Victory Temple is
founded on the principles of God's Holy Word, and we believe in the
anointing of the Holy Spirit. You will hear the truth, not motivational
speeches adjusted to make you feel good, but the unadulterated truth of
the Word of God ...after all...it is this truth that sets us free!
The People
We are a
diverse group of people who come from varied backgrounds, and are at
different stages of knowledge and spiritual growth. We're not
perfect. We haven’t arrived – we are still on the journey
recognizing that we are sinners saved by grace.
The Setting
When you walk into the church
foyer, you will be greeted by hosts and hostesses who will greet you with
a genuine smile and a handshake. They will have a copy of the weekly
bulletin that will have a welcome letter in it from our Senior Pastors, as
well as announcements of events and activities. If your first visit
is on a Sunday morning, your host or hostess can help you find the
appropriate Sunday School class for you and your children. Once
Sunday School is over, you can proceed to the sanctuary where one of our
ushers will welcome you and offer their assistance in helping you find a
comfortable place to sit and enjoy the service. Again, if you have
children, the host or hostess can direct you to the Victory Center where
they can attend Explorer's Children's Church if they are within the age
limit. We also have a nursery where we have attendants who love the
opportunity to care for infants and toddlers.
The Opening
Generally, our Associate
Pastor, Mike Isham, will open the service with prayer, followed by
announcements of upcoming events. Most of the events are also
projected on the screen prior to the beginning of the service.
The
Worship Service
We have an awesome
Praise & Worship service. The words are projected on
a screen over the platform so you can be free to clap your hands and
praise the Lord while you are singing. We have guitarists, keyboard,
piano, drums and various percussion instruments.
The
Offering
At Victory
Temple, we prefer to place the offering plates on the altar in front of
the sanctuary. At a designated time, Pastor Taylor will invite
everyone to bring their offerings and God's tithes and place them in the
offering plates. There are envelopes in the pew racks or in the rack on
the wall by the sound booth.
During the Service
You may never see what all
goes on behind the scenes during the service. However, there are men
and women who volunteer in various areas. Whether it's someone
running the computer that projects the words to the songs during Praise &
Worship, or scriptures during the sermon, to the sound technicians fine
tuning all the microphones, monitors, speakers, and lighting, to the Media
Department videotaping the sermon, to the Ushers assisting people coming
in late, we are here to serve you. While you are enjoying the
service, we have teachers and volunteers who are teaching your children,
feeding them spiritual food to help them grow up into the man and woman of
God that you pray they will become.
The Sermon
Your Bible will get a good
work out when Pastor Taylor brings the Word. He spends untold hours
studying and praying for God's direction. You will literally be
amazed when you see and hear him quote scripture after scripture.
Feel free to take notes. You will find his style to be refreshing as
he preaches the whole gospel without watering it down. Although he
preaches on various topics, he's one of the few men of God who still
preaches on sin, the blood of Jesus Christ and the cross. If it's
written in the Bible and he starts stepping on your toes, don't expect an
apology. As a former bouncer in a night club, he's as determined to
do battle for God as he was to pick a good fight before God saved him.
If you want a Pastor who will love you and pray for you, you'll appreciate
having him for your Pastor.
The
Invitation
At the end
of the sermon, Pastor Taylor will invite anyone to come to the front if
they would like someone pray for them. Sometimes people just need
encouragement and to know that God hasn't forgotten them. This is a good
time to let him know how you are doing and to receive prayer and some
encouraging words from people who genuinely care about you.
Communion
Periodically,
we share in the Lord’s Supper. You are welcome to share in this with
us. As the ushers pass around trays of bread and grape juice, Pastor
Taylor will give everyone time to search their hearts, pray, and make sure
they have an opportunity to make things right between them and our Lord
Jesus Christ. We take a little piece of bread, generally a wafer, and a
little cup of grape juice because those represent Jesus’ body and blood.
His body hung on a cross where He died so that we could be forgiven of our
sins. His blood (symbolically) covers over us and makes us clean and new.
When we partake of the bread and juice, we remember how much Jesus loves
us and we celebrate the fact that He has risen from the dead.
Our hearts
desire is to love God with all our heart and serve people just like you
who will be visiting Victory Temple for the first time.
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