Woohoo - What a year this is going to be!!!

Wow - Much has happened over the last few months... Church is growing like crazy and God has blessed us! As Always - Even when he says "NO" it's a blessing to us! He works all things out for our good.

Many new people have come to the kingdom over the last few months...

Daniel began to talk to Alana - They began to "churchy" and before long she was being baptized in Jesus name and filled with the Holy Ghost...

Nicky was out of church for several years - came back to church and brought Louis with him. Nicky prayed back through and has been on FIRE ever since.

Louis - Louis was doing and dealing drugs - Nicky brought him to church and all he could do was cry. Louis was baptized in Jesus name and filled with the Holy Ghost and is ON FIRE!!! Louis is on Fire for Jesus Christ!!!

This is Louis having his 20th Birthday at C & J's Bar-B-Q... We had just had an amazing service...
This is our church - during a service - Nicky is wearing the purplish shirt - Louis is behind him in the Orange. I see Lindsey in the black blouse...
Another young man (Michael) was baptized at our church last weekend and this weekend he went home to Brownwood fro Mothers Day, recieved the Holy Ghost and is now on Fire, he'll be coming back here in a week. Then this last weekend Tony Ochoa (Och) moved here from the same hometown and has been realy praying and seeking God. Just a matter of time and this thing will explode!

We are ready! - I have a meeting this week with a contractor to look at building another sanctuary. We are looking to buy some land from the guy next door to the church. Pray Pray

Pray... God can make a way where there seems to be no way!!!

Easter - Man what a cool day for the church - We had a great crowd, packed house of course, a great play and a fantastic time of fellowship afterwards.

This is the Aisabohke Family from Nigeria - They are here to go to school and he is in the Military. They just had a baby and we dedicated her this Sunday Morning on Mothers Day.

Yes - that is horse shoes we are playing in the church... It was wet and nasty outside. We had to make a decision - Play inside and have a good time or don't play. We chose to play:)...

Great Things

All right... Here are some pictures of our new classrooms. We are all very proud of them and excited about what God is doing. We built them and already they are full. Lord work it out!!! Please?... :)

I know that this is a test of our faith that we will not fail.
That reminds me; we are experiencing another miracle right now. Be in prayer for Amanda Upchurch. She was diagnosed with cancer and told that there was nothing the doctors could do. I wonder which doctor they were talking about. The doctor I went to said "Oh my, I remember Amanda Upchurch; I created Amanda, I fed Amanda all her life, I took care of Amanda... I will continue doing so. And while I take care of her, those involved in her life will see my will. Maybe that will turn their hearts to me?"...
God has taken over in the darkest hour and Amanda improves everyday. A blue tumor that was about 12" X 8" that stuck out about an inch and a half has totally gone away. She is down to two pills from 17 before and her lungs and bowel system is all back to normal. In your darkest hour, look to Jesus in Faith. The fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much! Let's continue to pray for Amanda and her family.

This was a hard week for me and the Victory Church family...
We had to let Erin Ploch and Audry Hicks go. They both moved back home and we are angry... Not at them of course. We will miss these wonderful girls. We saw Audry born again and we baptized her in Jesus name back in August. Erin came for school and she has grown up tremendously. Both of them are awesome.

Audry Hicks

Erin Ploch

You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet...

Okay... all of that was a blast. The Christmas Party, I mean Banquet, and the Thanksgiving Party was great.!!! But - "You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet"! This next year promises to be a great one, even better than the last. We have finally gotten most (95%) of our education wing completed. All we have to do is hang three light fixtures and move a few tables into the youth room and we will be 100% complete. I will get some pictures up here shortly of all of that. I keep forgetting to take the camera to the church. Arghhh! But once that is complete, we will immediately begin to increase our parking lot size and try to get our new sanctuary design. Two things for sure about our next sanctuary, 1) It won't be expensive... Hahaha and 2) You will know that God did it:).
We are all very excited about what God is doing at Victory Church. We baptized 11 year old Dustin Buckbee this last Sunday night and are expecting this coming year to be full of NEW BIRTHS! God is great and if we will trust him, he will do anything in our lives.



No man can serve two masters... SERVE THE LORD! He will bless you! And even when he isn't blessing you, guess what, He is blessing you.
All For Jesus
Pastor C

Victory Church Christmas Banquet!

Richard (in front), Earnie, Faith, Emily, Tara, Erin and Ethan.

A highlight of the banquet was the orchestra performance by this very talented group of young men and women of Victory Church.

In addition, the youth group of Victory Church hosted by Youth Leader Chad did an outstanding job of making everyone laugh. Cheers to all of them that were involved in the skits.

Great fellowship, good food and lots of fun and laughter by all those attending.

We missed those of you who did not attend.

The Lord is good!

I Love this Church

I love this church. Ever since I was 12 it has been my life, which is not at all a bad thing. I love every single person who goes here. Yall are all very awesome.

Lacie Castleberry
Musician and Praise Team Director

Thoughts to ponder and wonder:)

A lot has taken place over the last year... It almost seems a blur to look back on the events of the last year. On the major side of things, since last year we added on to the sanctuary (it will presently seat about 140 MAX), we have added a whole bunch of great new people to the church (we run about 130 if we could get everyone there), we are adding on new classrooms as we speak... God has blessed us in many ways over the last year BUT new faces are always the biggest blessing!
It is hard to believe that Victory Church has actually been here over 5 years now. I remember a few years ago (2001/2002) we didn't know hardly anyone in this wonderful town of ours. But sitting in the car at the red light at Texas and 2818, I told the kids that within a few years we will pull up to any intersection at any time and be able to wave at people that go to our church. This is beginning to be the case. The other day we saw Sis Myers and the kids at one red light, went to the next one and saw someone else... (I can't remember who :O)!

Isn't God good...
I realized a recipe for Spiritual Success the other day and did a very poor job of telling our church the recipe but in essence it goes something like this:

1 part Promise (the word) + 1 part Power (God) (so far this is His part, but it changes...) + 1 part Faith (Us) + 1 part Work (Us) = Spiritual Success!

If you think about it and you look over the Word of God, this recipe applies in every instance of God's blessing of mankind.
Gideon, Moses, Abraham, David, Peter, Paul and now US!
Praise God, we have a promise, but it takes more than a promise!
I am ready, willing and able to do ALL things through Christ that strengthens ME!

Step out! If God has given you a promise, He has the power to fulfill it, if we have the faith to DO IT!

cRaZy!!!!!!!!

I have determined that our church is full of crazy people :^); but that IS good!

This is the best group of people in the entire world! They love Jesus with all their hearts and they love to live life to it's fullest. That is what it is all about!
I wish that I had more pictures, I was too busy laughing to take pictures...

Life in it's greatest form is living a full life for Jesus!

This is the floor this morning after one coat of stain, he has one more coat and a clear finish to put on top of this. He said he will be able to finish all of that today. :^) They do a very professional job; before they leave today, they will have a reinforced plastic sheeting on top of the entire floor, stapled to the toe plates and sealed with tape and glue. Then after everything is done, you take up the sheeting and install your base boards or trim. Waaalaaa - Floor is complete.

This is after Trusses, Electrical and Air Conditioning are installed... this is the concrete "artist" :) staining the floor. We can't move around in the building until after tonight (Tuesday) as if any sawdust or dirt is knocked loose onto the floor, it will mess up the great work he has done.

Finally

I was finally able to get the camera, the computer and myself in the same place at the same time... Here are some pictures of our new classroom addition. Oh yeah, here in a few months we have three mothers to be that will be giving us a few new additions:). We can't wait for that.

This is about a week ago... Before the trusses were put up.

Foundation Set!

WOW - You should see what has taken place this past week. We poured the slab on Monday, removed the forms on Wednesday, framed up the walls on Friday and today (Tuesday) they set the trusses and are decking it tomorrow.


















This last Sunday night we had our fifth Sunday fellowship with singing, food, fellowship and fun... We heard several good new singers and the men served the ladies their coveted dinner. In August we had a "Penny War" raising money for Sheaves For Christ and the ladies won by coming in at the last moment with a couple checks. IT was supposed to be a PENNY war... BUT - We raised a lot of money:^)!




























It was actually fun and we did get our fair share of the food when it was all said and done. I was at the church all day today working in the office, helping the framers, pulling weeds and poisoning weeds but I didn't take the camera. I am going to the church tomorrow with the camera so I will post some progress pictures shortly.
All For Jesus
Pastor C

Could this be the place in the sky where the Lord returns?

When I saw this in the sky one evening I could not help but think - "X marks the spot" where the Lord could return in the sky. I was blessed to have my camera to record this for a reminder of what is recorded in His Word.

I Thessalonians 3:16-18 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. NKJV

He is coming; and it just may be sooner than many of us think.

An important question for you and I to ponder;

Are we really rapture ready?

Concrete ready on Second Addition!

Monday 10/23/2006, forms are ready and concrete should be poured today or Tuesday.

This is the second add on since the main building was built in ONE DAY (March 18, 2005) by

the Church in a Day program. The first addition was adding the two wing additions to the sanctuary at the end of 2005.

God is Great!

Here we go again...

Well, this Thursday the concrete contractor is supposed to be back at the church building forms to add on another 1020 square feet of classroom space... Last time it was wings on the sanctuary. Then we added to the church in the belief that God would help us to fill it up, now we are adding on with the knowledge that God is going to help us fill it up:)! Things are rolling along pretty good. It is still all about souls.
This weekend we are having our Hallelujah Party then next weekend it is the 5th Sunday Fellowship (the guys have to serve the girls) and then in a few weeks it is Thanksgiving and then Christmas, it just goes on and on, within a few weeks 2007. What have we done with 2006?
We have now decided to give up the Fireworks Warehouse as a fund raiser. Most of us that have been working it for the last three and a half years are ready to give it up and Trust God - It's time to practice what we preach - He will make a way!
So we are stepping out.
Adding on to the building, giving up our biggest fundraiser and reaching into areas we have never gone before. Also; we are recognized on campus now; that happened about a month ago, so now we can work the campus the way we are supposed to. 50,000 college students in Brazos county alone!
I long for the day when every service someone is being filled with the Holy Ghost and someone is being Baptized in Jesus name! Faith, Trust, Work, Prayer, Fasting; all of these and more play a role in getting us to where God wants us to be!
The Brazos Valley is our world - We MUST reach the souls here within our midst. I read the other night where over 34% of CS is single and the average age is less than 24. Then another article stated that less than 50% of American households (families) are composed of a married man and woman... What a different world we live in compared to 30, 40 or 50 years ago. How can we reach them any other way, than letting them feel the love of Christ through us??? We must do all we can to reach that soul, the one that is dying for someone to love them! We must reach them and let God work on them! We must trust God with the work of the Spirit! We must do the work of the evangelist. Reach Souls!
At times through out the year we tend to back off of our effort to reach souls, back off of our desire... we are so busy, that is our excuse! But this year must be different! This year we must press on! Through the trouble - Press On! Through the Trial - Press ON! Through the Holidays - Press On!
Here we go AGAIN!

How Complicated is Your Life?

Those of you in school and college sometime feel overwhelmed by life. It also happens to the older set too. No one is excluded.

I was going through a field just after sunrise last Saturday morning and found this little net had been constructed Friday night. Actually there where "many" of these little bug catchers all around. An industrious spider had built this one magnificent structure over night. What a great piece of work by a creature of God.

The Lord impressed me that my life is actually pretty simple - and can be a lot more complete if I'll but trust in the Lord and His Word and leave the big issues to Him. If nothing else, I am thankful to the Lord that I don't have to build one of these nets over one night just to survive.

Join us at Victory; We won't teach you how to build a spider's net, but we will help you learn more of His Word - and you can meet great friends too!

Ben Hille

Ohh ain't life grand?!!!

Howdy all! I am just sitting here on the futon, thinking about life. God is so good. Our church has grown so much recently. I look around and there are new faces everywhere. I really enjoy that. I think that God has called us to a higher place here in College Station. I just wanted you all to know how happy I am to be apart of this AWESOME church family!! I love you all dearly!!

A pretty busy week...

We had the SALT Campus Connection last Friday and Saturday and all I hear is good reviews. Our students loved it and people from other areas must have really enjoyed it as well. We had folks from Alexandria, Hillsboro, Trinity, Huntsville, Beaumont... and I don't know where else. We had a great time with all of our guest and we had several from the local campuses!
Sunday we had good church (of course it could have been better) but I think everyone was really zapped from the previous days. We have a great team of leaders with good ideas constantly being fowarded. It really is amazing what difference a good team can make! I will write more on this later:).
We are getting ready to go into another phase of growth at the church. Not only in the physical building but also in our managment style. I am supposed to take our new plans by the bank today to get our loan approval for adding on a new Sunday School wing. It will add four more classrooms which is desperatley needed. We've been having to keep all of our 2 year olds all the way up to 11 year olds in the same class. Now I don't teach the class, but they tell me that this is a challenge; I can only imagine. Not only the group age difference, but we are also stuffing anywhere from 15 to 20 kids with two teachers in a small 12X20 room...
This new wing will allow is to divide that class into more age appropriate material, settings and lessons. It will also open up the old nursery to be used by the church secretary and the Sunday School superintendant, when we get one. That should be soon actually.
Looking forward, things look good... I believe that we should be able to get this addition built before Thanksgiving. Then we will probably have to build a new sanctuary around mid summer of next year. How? - I have no clue, God can make a way where there is no way. We have seen that done many times before, haven't we class!!! That building probably needs to seat about 250-275. Right now we can literally put about 140 people in our current church building. That is counting every seat in the house, even on the platform, etc... So in reality, we might can get 115 to 120 in there without having guest feel overwhelmed by a hot body sitting right next to them. We have been running around 100, but our regular people add up to about 125-130. I guess you can't get everyone there at once:). That may be a good thing for a little while... Just playing guys!
So - - - We continue to trust God! Our God can do ANYTHING!

Victory Church Life

This is the day that the Lord has made...
But we have the opportunity to make it what we want it to be:)! God created the day, we create the attitude of the day. When we realize that our attitude determines our success, we will maybe wake up to a whole new day.
Today is SALT Campus Connection, today we will attempt to reach out to some of the 50000 college students in our area. The actual enrollment is around 55,300... What an incredible opportunity for the church. What an incredible Obligation for the church. If we would ever realize the desire of our youth to learn, not just of technical or scientific matters, but of spiritual things as well. They are like walking sponges:). When we recognize that most people decide their spiritual direction in life before the age of 22, we also will recognize our need to be more productive and more faithful than ever before. The world we live in is changing, will be be the changers or the changees? IS that a word?

All For Jesus

Pastor Castleberry

Excitement Fills the Air...

We are just a few days away from one of the largest events that we have hosted prior to this point. Well, kind of... Church-in-a-Day was a pretty big deal to us as well.:) Three days from now we are going to host our first Campus Connection. So far we have Singers coming from Alexandria, La, a band coming from Hillsboro, Texas and our speaker is Andrew Cox also from Alexandria. We have a room that is legally limited to about 400, but we hope to pack it out. All of our SALT crew is working as hard as they can to host a great event. Kate and the SALT Campus leaders, Richard Hammer 3 and Emily Smikal are working like crazy to "git er done"... This last week at church we baptized two, the week before last we baptized one and two were filled with the Holy Spirit! The church is steadily growing and we are glad, it would seem that God's does everything in his time... Isn't that scriptural??? :)
All For Jesus
Pastor C

This is the Victory... In Jesus Christ!

The beginning of another all new adventure... The Victory Church Blog. The people of Victory Church is where it all starts. We are a very active and alive Jesus Name Church in College Station, Texas; full of wonderful people that really live what they believe. We can't wait to see more people begin living in VICTORY! We believe that after Jesus has changed your life you can live in Victory too! We have a great time in church as well as in fellowship.
I will stop here and add some more later - When I have more time of course. I really hope that our church people can fill in some of the big empty space of this blog and over time it will give all the world an insight into what living for Jesus is really supposed to be! All For Jesus
Pastor Keith Castleberry