In 1978, Lakeland Baptist Church helped found the First Baptist Church at Highland Village. In 2002, Matt Chandler became the minister of that Church and it soon became known as The Village Church. The Village Church is governed by a group of male elders. The main Pastor is still Matt Chandler, but other pastors do sermons when he is unavailable.The Village has campuses all over the Dallas Metro Area - Plano, Flower Mound, Denton, North Dallas, and Fort Worth. Every Campus has a local Pastor, but the same weekly sermon is videobroadcasted to all 5 campuses.
I visited The Village Church Dallas Northway's 5pm Service. The sanctuary filled up almost completely with young and vibrant groups of ladies and gentlemen. I was by far one of the more 'seasoned' attendees. A congregation member made announcements and then led the group in a prayer. There was energetic amplified musical worship intermingled with prayers. Then there was a video sermon entitled, A Beautiful Design, by head Pastor Matt Chandler. It was a sermon about men and women. He first discussed how Biology may make you male or female, but it is character that makes a man or woman.
He spoke of couples in Marriages. How the first few years the Lord cuts back the thorns and thistles as on a rose bush to get the flowers to bloom. He encouraged those in marriages to roll up your sleeves and do the work to reap the rewards. He furthered stated that work is not a one time event, it is ongoing in a relationship destined for or part of a marriage. In this particular sermon, he spoke of the role of Men in Marriage. Subsequent sermons would cover Women's roles. He charged Men with setting the Spiritual Climate of the home. He challenged the men to step up and step into God's design for them. When they do, they will flourish, the family will flourish, and in turn the entire community will benefit.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ~ Genesis 2:15
He told the singles in the crowd to not be discontent during your time as single and that it gives you the opportunity to be undivided in your service to the Lord.
As we have been deemed perfect by God, it gives us the freedom to keep striving for perfection even when we continue to stumble, fall, and fail.
What God has called all of us to do will be near impossible he said, but the rewards will be well worth it. In the end, success belongs to the Lord.
After the sermon, young men passed out the communion sacraments to congregants in their seats. The communion is an open one available to anyone who has been transformed by Jesus. After everyone had theirs in hand, we all said a prayer over it and took communion.
I found The Village to be Very Similar to Mars Hill in atmosphere and structure, except not all sermons are taught by the same minister. So I was not surprised to find in my research, that in August Pastor Chandler became president of Acts 29 - a church planting organization that was founded by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill.
THANK YOU Village Church of Dallas Northway for offering a great place of Worship for Young People!
There are hundreds of Baptist Conventions in the World and even several dozen in the United States. Some Baptist churches however are not associated with any specific Convention or Association and are purely Independent. Mountain Springs Fellowship Baptist Church is one of those Independent, Bible-believing churches and are committed to spreading the Word of God. I visited Mountain Springs last Sunday for their 11am service. 
sermon about the Sons of Thunder, James and John. In the beginning, the two were difficult, would not back away from a confrontation, were aggressive and prideful. God, however, drew them close to him. They were sent to the Mount of Transfiguration and witnessed other miracles - by the end of their lives, they became known for something very different. James was the first apostle to be martyred and John became known as the apostle of love. The preacher's lesson was how God turned James and John into very different people through a relationship with Christ and you can find transformation through the same. The minister shared with us that Intimacy with Christ brings a revelation of self. The minister also spoke of ways to better represent Christ in your worldly relationships. He spoke of Reacting versus Responding. He defined Reacting as doing or saying something without thought. Response, he said, requires thought and you should ask counsel of The Lord for the right spirit in your response. Responding will be more in line with God's Will as counsel has been sought first. This will make all of your relationships more genuine and true to your Christian values. 
After the sermon there was a child dedication ceremony. Sandra Burch performed a beautiful solo, "A Mother's Prayer." Baptists do not baptize their babies, children are baptized when they are old enough to comprehend the commitment and take the Christian faith as their own - usually no earlier than 10. The dedication ceremony was basically a blessing of the child by the family and the whole church community. The family took the baby to the front of the congregation, and each member laid their hands on the child's foot, head, etc. And the family and whole congregation said a prayer over him. All of those a part of this young child's life made the commitment to help raise the child with Christian and biblical principles and support him on his Christian path. 
