Sermons

What do you need from God? What if you asked him, believing that he is a good Father, and wants to give good gifts to his children.

“Does it even matter what you believe?” The Creed shapes and forms us into a certain kind of people. When you give your word to something, it calls you into being. It calls you into a way of life. This series will show how what we believe translates into a concrete way of life. It shapes who we are and who we are becoming.

‍

What does redemption feel like? We will look at how this small, simple story of Ruth is actually a part of the epic story of God. Redemption looks like us seeing out lives as a small part of that larger epic of God.

‍

What is a kinsman redeemer? What does redemption look like, and how does it reflect Christ?

Ruth and Boaz were two incredible models of character that show us how we ought to be as people of God in his kingdom.

How does Ruth go outside her obligations and demonstrate faithfulness to Naomi and start a new family? This is a picture to us of what it means for us to move into the beloved community - the new family of God.

How is God is with us in loss and lament?

How to find a treasure and realizing that you are a treasure.

Christmas Eve evening service.

Scripture tells us that all creation worships God, that worship has passed from generation to generation… sometimes as celebration, but more often as a sign of prophetic joy, of the discipline of praise, and of the generational practice of singing to God. Worship and joy are connected, they are both disciplines, and they are both found in anticipation as well as fulfillment.

The people of Israel had been praying and longing for the promised Messiah. The scriptures prophesied that he would be born as a child and would be named Immanuel (God with Us). Romans 8:24 says a hope that is seen is no hope at all, but if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Mary was told that what her people had hoped for was happening, but she still had to wait (pregnancy) to see that hope fulfilled and when that day came she rejoiced.  

To behold is to look deeply, to hold something in view and to be attentive to the depth and detail of what you might not, on the surface, see. Advent is a season for followers of Jesus to spend in a posture of deep attention: our focus is on the coming of Christ, and the coming of Christ’s Kingdom. As we explore the nature of who Jesus is this advent, we also become increasingly aware of the darkness that He broke into... a light that shines in the darkness, and that is not overwhelmed by it. We also become increasingly aware that this Jesus – seen truly for who He is – is surprising, unexpected, and revolutionary.

This message teaches us that the ancient’s expectation of warrior king was interrupted by the prince of peace. We will also see the Biblical picture of ‘shalom’ as the gift that Christ is bringing into the world.

To behold is to look deeply, to hold something in view and to be attentive to the depth and detail of what you might not, on the surface, see. Advent is a season for followers of Jesus to spend in a posture of deep attention: our focus is on the coming of Christ, and the coming of Christ’s Kingdom. This message will introduce advent and encourage our church to notice different demonstrations of God’s love including the most prominent demonstration of God’s love, Christ on the cross.

We want to ground us in correct understanding of the gifts of prophecy, tongues and interpretation. The spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12 are difficult to understand. Part of the problem is that Paul never bothered to define many of them. Because of that, there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the gifts. However, the gifts of prophecy and tongues are different. Paul gives a clear description of how tongues and prophecy function.

We will focus on our desire and need to not just know God, but experience God. We will talk about all the ways that Christian insiders and outsiders seek experiences outside of God because churches are often spiritually anemic and fail to lead people into God’s presence.

Leaders serve as a non-anxious presence... The real problem of leadership is a failure of nerve. Leaders fail not because they lack information, skill, or technique, but because they lack the nerve and presence to stand firm in the midst of other people’s emotional anxiety and reactivity... a leader’s job is to be “the strength in the system.”

Leadership is a journey from one challenge to the next one. How can you be the calm amidst the storms that will arise in your spheres of influence?

‍

Leadership is a team sport. Want to go fast – go alone; want to go far – go together...

“If you wait for guarantees, the only thing that will be guaranteed is that you will miss endless divine opportunities…We all want miracles and then spend our lives avoiding the context in which miracles happen.” - Erwin McManus

Leadership is less about our position and more about our commitment to Persevere when we feel we don’t have enough ‘power’, when it requires us to step out of our comfort zone, and when it may cost us.

Great leaders spend less time waiting for the right position and do the kinds of things for the sake and for the good of others.

Joshua was called to a task and a mission that was beyond his capabilities and experience. But God called him and commanded him to be courageous. What is courage and why is it so vital to leadership? One writer says this: “When we turn our hearts toward God, all of our fears are consumed by one fear. We are called to fear only God. There is an important reason for this. What we fear is what we’re subject to; our fears define our master. What you fear has mastery over your life. Your faith doesn’t make life easier, your faith makes you stronger. The world doesn’t need more great leaders, it needs more great people who lead.” Joshua and the men and women (Hebrews 11) who have gone before us stepped into the moments that God invited them into amidst uncertainty and full of courage that God would accomplish His purposes and His desires through them as they fixed their eyes upon what is unseen vs what is seen.

Leadership isn’t about always getting what you want... Leadership is about leveraging our lives for the good of others. Leadership is sacrificing our lives for the sake of others.

Leadership is servanthood. Leadership is about 10,000 obscure, unseen, and un-noticed moments for the sake of the people who have been entrusted to lead.

One writer says this: “You can’t say two different things at the same time and expect to be trusted. A person of integrity cannot say one thing and do another. Integrity is the context from which leaders worth following are formed. Integrity, like wholeness, is a byproduct of our spiritual integration. ‘Integrity’ comes from the root word ‘integer,’ which means to be complete, indivisible – in other words, to be whole.”

A lie we often believe is that all we need to be a good leader is to have power, position, and the ability to move the company, organization, or team towards “success”.

The truth is that God is looking for people who will not simply fixate on results, but lead from a place of consistency, honesty, vulnerability, and whole-life discipleship to Jesus

Doing the essentials (habits) does something in us over time. When we do small things like give, attend church, serve, we are changed in big ways.

We want people to understand HOW we do ministry in the Vineyard - which is the way of Jesus. Jesus has edges AND he crossed a lot of lines. We posture ourselves to pastor people in imperfect places.

Caring for someone when they are weak, vulnerable, sick, or dying is a way to demonstrate the sacrificial, humble love of Jesus. Christ gave up his rights and took on the nature of a servant.

The way of Jesus is a balancing act, a narrow gate that sits in the middle of how the world wants to pull us in one direction or another.

The way we deal with worry is to invest our heart in God’s kingdom. When our “treasures” are in heaven – we begin to trust God’s plan and provision for our lives in deep ways.

Whatever we fill our hearts and minds with is what will bear fruit. Darkness vs. light, desire for money vs God, worry vs trust.

Jesus teaches his disciples to pray in direct and simple ways – just asking for what we need. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus teaches us to start with the knowledge of who God is – and just as a good father would not deny his son bread if he asked for it, God will be faithful to give.

Prayer has everything to do with the posture of our heart. “Do to others what you would have them to do you” (7:12) is a frame for how we pray. Being caught up in how our prayers sound or look can hurt our prayers (6:5-7) or having unforgiveness in our hearts can hurt our prayers (6:14-15).

‍

Jesus is assuming we are serving, but when we serve, the posture of our heart matters. Instead of us changing our city, we want our city to change us. Doing the deeper work of caring is not about how we change others; it is about how we are being changed when we give or fast or serve.

Why is retributive justice not the way of the kingdom? Jesus embraces restorative justice as a pathway for the kingdom. Jesus loved all of us who were once enemies. Jesus resisted AND he did not resist.  We need to discern which position we take and feel this challenge to love others who we do not want to love while still setting appropriate boundaries in abusive relationships.