Sermon Series
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New Creation
The early missionary/apostle, Paul, said that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. In saying this, Paul was telling anyone listening that, in Jesus, something long hoped for had finally arrived. The presence of Jesus in the world meant that the old ways of the world were coming to an end and the ways of God were emerging once again. No longer would hardship, sickness and death be in charge… but a new day had dawned and a new way to fullness of life was made possible… not by eliminating what was there, but by renewing what was there. In this series, we’ll explore what it means to live and experience “new creation life.”
Invitation into New Creation
One way to look at Easter is that when Jesus came the world was in dire need of a reset! On Easter Sunday, we discuss the new creation brought about by Jesus.
Leap of Faith: Made for Community
“Above all,” says both Paul and Peter in their letters to the followers of Jesus… Above all, love one another. Peter heard those exact words from Jesus himself. Very likely, Paul’s unorthodox encounter with Jesus would have included that same admonishment. The apostle John records some of Jesus’s last moments with his disciples in John 13, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus clearly believed and taught that the best life for all humans was a life surrounded by people we love. In this series, we’ll explore the theme of community through the scriptures and discover just how essential it is to the life of all who follow Jesus.
Our Thread in God’s Tapestry
Imagine the global Church as a beautiful tapestry, with each local church serving as a row in that tapestry. Jesus modeled for the world what His church is meant to look like… a pattern for God’s tapestry. As he did so, he invited his people to shape their lives after his own, which continues to be His call for the Church. In this series, we’re going to look at four attributes of Jesus that we, at Vineyard Church, sense God calling us to reflect in our community. In other words, what is our particular thread in the wider tapestry pattern of God’s Church? Beyond the fundamentals of faith, we’ll explore what it means to be emotionally healthy, empowered, contemplative activists.
Of the four gospel letters, John is the most artfully crafted narrative, full of rich symbolism and echoes from well known stories of creation and the exodus from Egypt. Within the gospel, John gives us a series of 7’s… 7 signs (miracles) of Jesus, 7 times Jesus self identifies as “I am,” and 7 self-descriptions about who Jesus truly is and what needs He came to fulfill. As we near the end of 2023, we’re turning our attention to those 7 self-descriptions of Jesus, intending to learn more about Jesus’s unique role in history and what that means for us today. We’ll discover at each, a need being met… an invitation into a deeper life of knowing, trusting and following the only one who can fully care for and supply all our needs.
Habits for Life
Habits for Life are practices we can engage in collectively, and encourage one another in, that intentionally form us to be the men & women we hope to be. Every other month, we’ll focus on one spiritual practice intended to shape and form us in God’s image.
Building Healthy Relationships
The God of creation is a God of relationship - Father, Son & Spirit - a rich and life-altering relationship into which all are invited. Realizing the fullness of this relationship with Him is dependent on fruitful connection with others. Imagine what it would be like to live relationally full and satisfied… being and feeling supported and cared for through the big days and mundane alike. In this series, we’re tackling the building block of the church… relationships. We’re asking questions about how God intends his people to live in unity despite the polarizing and divisive influences all around us.
Good Shepherd
Sometimes in life, we think we’re going after the right thing. Only to be surprised some time later that what we thought was good or the right thing really wasn’t. In this sermon, we’re looking at the options Jesus lays out and talk through what it looks like to jump in with Jesus.
Making Room
God is inviting all people into richer, more fulfilling and impactful lives… lives of constant invitation and renewal. Sounds great, right? But, every invitation of God comes with a need to make room. Making room for the new work, the new thing God is engaging… or bringing into our lives. To make room, we have to let go of some things we value. From small and meaningful to big and ultimate things. In this series, we’re delving into some of the gifts God has for us and the ways we’ll need to make room.
The Exodus
We all have stories from earlier in life that have shaped us into the people we are today. The same is true of entire nations. Few events in Israel’s history are as momentous as the exodus from Egypt. It is the story of exile, oppression, hope, deliverance and renewal that God told his people to always remember. This summer, we’re traveling alongside ancient Israel through their big exodus story, pausing each Sunday to take notice of what God was doing and what it says about Him and His purposes. We’ll see that the exodus, in so many ways, was building on a blueprint for the eventual person and work of Jesus.
Empowered
The life of following Jesus is so much more than “right thinking,” knowing and reciting all the right things about God and life. In this Empowered series, we’re centering our focus on the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. Who is the Holy Spirit and how does the Spirit aid us in a life of thinking well and living well?
Father’s Heart
Our Easter mini-sermon series on the Father’s Heart.
Leap of Faith: Prayers of Jesus
Leap of Faith is a 6-week faith-building experience (coinciding with Lent) intended to help the entire church family take a collective step forward in faith. At the heart of LOF are prayer practices that we do as a family, collectively digging deeper for a short-season, with the benefit of long-term growth. Our theme this year is: The prayers of Jesus.
Parable of the Great Feast
Worship Director Jed Metge speaks on the parable of the great feast.
“Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 14.15)
Nearly all of our church family members come from different church backgrounds. The landscape of the church is beautifully diverse. Yet, an overwhelming majority of Christian churches share common core convictions about our shared faith. What distinguishes one from another is typically about what they feel led to emphasize. In this series, we’re going to dial in on the areas of emphasis that distinguish Vineyard churches. The emphasis will be less on Vineyard as a community of churches and more on the shared emphasis… the aspects of our shared faith that this group has felt led to bring special focus to.
Hope Foretold
At the time Jesus was born, the Jewish world was full of expectation and speculation about who God’s anointed one would be, when he would come and what he would accomplish. In this advent series, we are exploring some of those expectations through the prophetic insights of Isaiah, the prophet. We’ll see how many of Israel’s hopes were met in the arrival of Jesus and many are yet to be met in a time to come.
Everyone Gets to Play
Guest speaker John Elmer, Vineyard Super Regional Leader, talks about creating opportunities for normal people to do extraordinary things.
The Way
The world we live in can often be confusing… It's challenging to live out one’s faith when there are so many diversions pushing and pulling us in different directions. Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi is an encouragement to live faithfully to God in the midst of the struggle and confusion of life among a society that, sometimes forcefully, pushes them toward a different target with conflicting values. Join us as we walk through this letter and learn what it looks like to move closer to God through the diversions of life and the world.
House of Power
Guest Pastor Steve Nicholson has a gift for helping people connect with and operate out of the presence of God (Holy Spirit). Steve joined us to discuss how Jesus wants his church to exhibit a life beyond human explanation.
Quench That Thirst
All throughout scripture, there are references to living water as a metaphor for God and his ways. As we quench our thirst with the living water of God, we’re even better off than we are when we quench literal thirst with literal water. In this series, we’re unpacking this invitation with questions like: How do I consistently drink that living water? What stands in the way of God’s living water? What happens to me and others around me when I drink deeply?
Sabbatical Reflections
Lead Pastor Jim Bleakley shares reflections from his sabbatical.
Jesus: The Path of Shalom
Pastor Megan Bleakley shares some reflections on her family's recent visit to Israel.
There’s an old saying, “We stand on broad shoulders.” Nowhere is that more true than with the ancient women and men of God found in the Old Testament. The foundations of faith and faithfulness, of struggle and victory, of exile and exodus are broad and sturdy, even if the stories themselves are often unsteady. In this summer series, we’ll peer into the lives of God’s Old Testament people and discover just how relatable and relevant they are to our lives today.
Trusting God
In this sermon series, we’re going to look at what it means to trust God… to trust that He will live up to the promises He’s made.
Resurrection Life
More than any other event in human history, the resurrection of Jesus changed everything! On Easter Sunday and in subsequent weeks, we’ll explore some of the major implications of the resurrection… how our lives and the lives of millions of people throughout world history have been affected by Jesus rising from the dead. We invite you to join us on Easter and in the weeks that follow, for this dive into a life that flows from the resurrection.
Leap of Faith: Cross the Moat
As we round the corner into year 3 of Covid, it’s important that we look at the shifts many of us have experienced these past two years. The impact has been pervasive. Our spiritual, emotional, physical, social health and more has been affected. Of course, this has wide-ranging impacts on more than just our social well-being. In this series, we take a look at what it means for us to cross our moats and find Jesus at work among our neighbors. We’ll see that Jesus is indeed already over there and he’s inviting us to take a leap with him.