Grace Vineyard Purley: Recent Episodes
Grace Vineyard Purley
Grace Vineyard is a vibrant and welcoming church in Purley, south Croydon. Listen to our weekly talks here.
Mark Stoneham continues the series on Galatians, looking at Chapter 5, where his bible, like most bibles, gives a heading of Freedom in Christ. In this chapter Paul delivers the knockout punch and shows that by adhering to the Jewish customs these Judaizers were in fact perverting and invalidating the victory that Jesus had won on the cross.
Gill continues to encourage us as she teaches in the weeks between our Galatians series. She poses this point of our walk with God - There are thirsts in life that nothing in this world can satisfy, often appearing during quiet moments in the day. There is a longing for God, for His presence, something deeper than we have ever known.
Jonny Rose continues the Galatians series looking at the first part of Chapter 4 where Paul confronts the churches about listening to the false apostles and wanting to incorporate the Law into their practices and ceremonies, taking them back into slavery to the Law instead of being sons and daughters of the living God.
As we prepare to close Grace Vineyard in September Gill Visser continues to encourage and prepare the congregation for this time. While we are waiting for our last service, God still has things for us to do, we need to be active in our waiting. Gill looks at the untold story behind the song Waymaker by Sinach.
Mark Visser continues the Galatians series looking at Chapter 3, which is the beginning of the discussion section of Paul's letter to t he Galatian churches. He challenges them as to why they are being led astray by these false apostles, giving scriptural evidence for his claims. This is a message that needs to be viewed more than once as there is a lot to it.
Gill Visser continues to encourage the church as we prepare to close Grace Vineyard at the end of September, looking at how we go through different seasons in our lives, but God is always with us. The people of Grace are coming to the end of a chapter, not the end of the book, God is taking each and every one of them into the next chapter of their life.
Mark Visser continues with the Galatians series looking at Chapter 2. Paul continues establishing his credentials with the Galatian church, speaking of his meeting with James, Peter and John, the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, clarifying that the gospel he is preaching is the same as the gospel they are preaching. Paul also speaks of how he called Peter out for his behaviour amongst the gentiles when Jews from Jerusalem came down to where Paul and Peter were ministering.
After the announcement at the beginning of the month that Grace Vineyard is to close at the end of September, Gill poses the question, How Are You Feeling? and tries to answer the question by looking at Scripture to help us navigate this difficult time.
Mark Visser introduces the book of Galatians, as we begin an 8 week series looking at Paul's letter or epistle, to the churches in Galatia. Galatians is not really a book, but was actually only a letter from Paul the apostle, to the church in Galatia. Mark helps us to understand the setting and context of this letter from Paul.
Gill Visser builds on what Mark Visser spoke of last week on Pentecost Sunday, by going back to the original Pentecost and seeing the similarities, contrasts and prophetic fulfilments that occurred with the two Pentecost's.
On Pentecost Sunday Mark Visser picks up from Gill's message last week of how we are to Live Beyond the Cross. To live Beyond the Cross we need to Live in the Holy Spirit. We cannot do things in our own strength, but need to wait on and be filled by the Holy Spirit. The first disciples had to wait in Jerusalem after Jesus ascended to heaven until they were baptised in the Holy Spirit. On the feast of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon them and the church as we know it today was birthed.
Gill Visser looks at how we are invited to leave our sins and burdens at the foot of the cross, but then so often we pick them up again and find ourselves in the same place we were before. Gill invites us to to go through the cross and live on the other side of the cross, where we are free from sin and condemnation. We were then invited to walk through a wooden-framed cross.
Mark Visser concludes the series on Romans based on Andrew Ollerton's book, Romans - A Letter that makes Sense of Life. Mark looks at last chapter of the book, The Onward Mission. Having climbed through the various stages to the summit, and then descended back down the other side, what are the next steps moving forward. Take what has been learnt of the Gospel Paul is proclaiming and share it others, using three questions. Watch the sermon and find out what those questions are.
Mark and Gill Visser ended their Sabbatical attending the Vineyard Leaders Gathering at Trent Vineyard along with Mark and Christine Stoneham. Mark and Chris give a report back from the VLG while Mark and Gill report back from their Sabbatical as well as the VLG. Jonny Rose then spoke about his time in Purley with Mark Visser giving away free bibles on the Saturday.
This week Andy Belsey takes us to the nineth stage of our climb on the mountain of Romans, based on Andrew Ollerton's book 'Romans - A Letter That Makes Sense of Life', and looks at ‘The Return of Community’.
This week Julian Arnold takes us to the Eighth stage of our climb on the mountain of Romans, based on Andrew Ollerton's book 'Romans - A Letter That Makes Sense of Life', and looks at ‘The Descent of Devotion’.
This week Jonny Rose takes us to the seventh stage of our climb on the mountain of Romans, based on Andrew Ollerton's book 'Romans - A Letter That Makes Sense of Life', and looks at ‘The Cloud of Mystery’.
This week Mark Stoneham talked about Jesus’ crucifixion and the certainty of His resurrection. In it he explains that, because Jesus is alive, we have Hope in the Resurrection as we no longer need to fear death; we have Hope in the Resurrection now through a life changed by faith in Christ and that we have Hope in the Resurrection because our life in eternity is assured.
This week Jonny Rose talked about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, subtitled ‘Hosanna to the King!’ In it he talks about ‘The Unexpected King’ and ‘The Excited Crowd’ and poses ‘The Essential Question’ – Who is Jesus?
This week Mark Stoneham takes us to the sixth stage of our climb up the mountain of Romans, based on Andrew Ollerton's book 'Romans - A Letter That Makes Sense of Life', and looks at ‘The Summit of Hope’.
See' and that sharing our faith is more about who we are than what we say. as the quote goes “Preach The Gospel At All Times And If Necessary Use Words.”
This week Jonny Rose takes us to the fifth stage of our climb up the mountain of Romans, based on Andrew Ollerton's book 'Romans - A Letter That Makes Sense of Life' and looks at ‘The Ridge of Freedom'.
This week Hannah Miles takes us to the fourth stage of our climb up the mountain of Romans, based on Andrew Ollerton's book 'Romans - A Letter That Makes Sense of Life' and looks at ‘The Place of Peace'.
This week Jonny Rose takes us to the third stage of our climb up the mountain of Romans, based on Andrew Ollerton's book 'Romans - A Letter That Makes Sense of Life' and looks at 'The Crux of Salvation'.
Duncan Owen gives a vision for gathering new people and distils this into three stages of 'INVITE' 'BELONG' 'BECCOME'.
This week Mark Stoneham takes us to the second stage of our climb up the mountain of Romans, based on the book 'Romans - a Letter That Makes Sense of Life' by Andrew Ollerton, where we first need to go down into the 'Valley of Sin'.
Mark Stoneham introduces our new teaching series based on Andrew Ollerton's book 'Romans - A Letter That Makes Sense of Life' and Andrew's talk 'Route of the Gospel'.
Mark Stoneham, our chair of trustees and treasurer presented the annual financial update of the church. Rosie Deale spoke about safeguarding then Mark gave a talk on giving.
Jonny Rose looks at three parables in Luke chapter 15, the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son and parallels them to how God deals with the lost people in this world. God notices when someone is lost. God actively seeks those that are lost. God celebrates when the lost are found. Jonny then asks, where are you in these stories? Lost? Feeling far from God? Thinking of returning but don't know how?
Andy Belsey shares from what he has learnt from Tim Keller's book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness about how we are to see ourselves. We are to be humble, not egotistical as our egos can be very fickle and dangerous.
Mark Visser begins the New Year by looking at Matthew 22:15-22 talking about what we are called to give to Caesar and to give to God. What do we have that belongs to us, or does it belong to God and He has given it to us to steward?
At our Carol Service Mark Visser speaks about the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Christ, but to understand the full meaning of the birth of Jesus you need to look at His whole life. Jesus was born to die so that we could live. That is the Good News
Mark Stoneham concludes the Advent mini-series looking at the last of the Advent topics - Love. What is Love, what do we consider it to be? What does scripture tell us about Love? How do we show Love? These are some of the things that Mark looks in this talk.
Gill continues the Advent mini-series looking at Joy, looking back to the arrival of Joy in Jesus Christ, and looking forward the eternal arrival of Joy in His coming again. That leaves us in a place of waiting today, perhaps even a place of longing, or expectation and yearning, perhaps for something better, and it can be easy to lose heart in our waiting and longing. How do we find the presence of Joy in our hearts? This is what Gill looks at in this message.
Jonny Rose continues the Advent mini-series looking at Peace. Peace is a person, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. We have Peace in God, through our faith in Jesus Christ. We have Peace in Life, despite the troubles we will face, because Jesus Christ has overcome the world. Those around us can experience Peace through Us because we are called to be peacemakers
Andy Belsey launces the new Advent mini-series as we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ the child destined to be the Messiah. When we speak of Hope what are we speaking about? The world defines it as a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen, in other words, wishful thinking. As a Christian we define Hope as a feeling of trust, Andy expands on this theme.
Mark Visser wraps up The Vineyard Person series by preaching, with permission, Andy Chapman's teaching from the recent London and South East Vineyard Gathering in Stratford on sayings that are commonly heard in the Vineyard Movement. They are also known as Wimberisms, so called as they are saying that John Wimber used regularly
Walter Pretorius tells us about the amazing work the Mercy Ships does in providing medical care for the most vulnerable people in sub-Saharan Africa as well as training and equipping medical personal from the countries that they work in.
Mark Visser concludes The Vineyard Person series explaining what it means for Jesus to be the head of the church, and how men are to behave likewise. He looks at what it takes to make disciples and to equip the saints.
Mark Visser continues The Vineyard Person series looking at the arms of Church Planting and Church Development. Who does it, why do we do it and why is it necessary? Mark shares some of his personal journey in church planting and in developing church planters in Grace Vineyard.
Jonny Rose takes us back to one of the legs of the Vineyard Person, Compassion and looks at what compassion looks like. It is not sympathy or empathy, which are good, but compassion means doing something to help those who are experiencing difficulties. Jesus demonstrated compassion many, many times and set the example for us, his church, to follow.
Andy Belsey continues from where Lesley Thompson finished off last week, looking at the body of the Vineyard Person and how as a Vineyard church we are both a hospital - caring for those who need it, and a community - we are not just about Sunday meetings, but being involved in one another's lives as friends.
Lesley Thompson from Croydon Vineyard was our guest speaker and she continues the Vineyard Person series looking at two of the four attributes that make up the body of the Vineyard Person. These are not four individual attributes that function independent of each other, but rather they function alongside each other and often overlap with one another. Listen to what Lesley has to say.
Mark Stoneham continues the Vineyard Person series looking at one of the pillars of Vineyard churches, Worship. Worship is more than just singing songs, it an act of freely giving love to God, submitting ourselves fully to God.
Mark Stoneham begins the new series, The Vineyard Person - a look at what it means to be a Vineyard Church, - the distinctions that make us a Vineyard church. Mark looks at the foundations that everything else is built upon.
Our Combined Summer Service with Christ Church Purley at Christ Church Primary School where the teachers, support staff and governors were invited to join the service. The focus was on the school, the children, the staff and teachers that are beginning the new school year. To speak hope and pray in and around the school.
Mark Stoneham introduces Part 2 of John Wimber's teaching on Holiness. This is a message that is 35 years old, but is as relevant for today as it was when it was preached.
Gill Visser introduces Wendy Sullivan from Sutton Vineyard who was invited to bring a message from God to Grace Vineyard. Wendy is a woman of prayer and especially loves intercessory prayer. Here she teaches on prayer and what different types of prayers we can pray. At the end Mark shares briefly on the power of intercessory prayer and Gill shares about the monthly prayer meetings.
During the Summer we give our teaching team a break and either invite visiting speakers or use videos of teachings from well known preachers. This week we listen to Part 1 of John Wimber from the Holiness unto the Lord conference in the UK in 1990.
Gill shares what happened at the July Prayer Meeting, what God spoke to us about and how what came through in the prayer meeting tied in with her daily reading and the Prayer Stations that she had prepared for the meeting.
Mark Stoneham finishes off the New Beginnings series by looking at the scandalous account and interactions of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar after Tamar's husband Er was put to death by God because of his wicked behaviour. Judah fails to keep his promise and so Tamar resorts to underhand tactics.
Gill Visser continues the New Beginning series looking in more detail at The Woman with the Issue of Blood that Mark Visser had mentioned a number of weeks ago. As a social outcast because of her condition this unnamed woman pushed through the crowd to reach out and touch the tassel on the cloak Jesus was wearing. Gill explains the significance of this tassel, the Tzit Tzit that she touched.
Mark Visser continues the New Beginning series by reading a Bible Dictionary description of the person he is going to speak about, the man who most probably had the greatest impact on the world after Jesus Christ. Saul, the persecutor becomes Paul the proclaimer. Saul set out to destroy the followers of The Way, as they were known until he encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus, and his live is transformed by this New Beginning.
Jonny Rose continues the New Beginnings series where he takes us through the account of Job and looks at three New Beginnings that Job has and that we too can have.
We had some technical issues, so not all of Andy Belsey's message is captured in this message as he continues the New Beginnings series, looking at Gideon. God speaks to all of us in different ways and we need to learn how God speaks to us. More importantly you will hear that Andy starts off with a very rough and gravelly voice, he had nearly no voice when he arrived at the service because of a throat infection, but as he speaks, God performs a miracle and heals Andy's voice.
Mark Visser continues the New Beginnings series, on Father's Day, looking at the heart of the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son and how it reflects the heart of our heavenly Father. No matter how far we stray from Father God, like the father of the prodigal son, He is always looking for us to come back to Him and become a son or daughter of the Living God.
On Pentecost Sunday Mark Stoneham continues the New Beginnings series looking at the authority Jesus gave to His disciples as they declared that the Kingdom of Heaven had come. Jesus empowered them to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleans the lepers and drive out demons. After the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, this same power has been given to all who are disciples of Jesus, so that we can do them same as the original apostles.
Gill carries on with the New Beginnings series looking at the Prayer of Jabez. In the midst of verses of genealogy this prayer pops up and in it Jabez asks God for five things, Gill looks at four of these requests and how we can pray and ask God to do the same for us.
Mark Visser continues the New Beginnings series looking at three unnamed people whose lives are transformed by Jesus. One was touched by Jesus, one reached out and touched Jesus' garment and the third one was placed before Jesus by his friends, Jesus only spoke to him and his life, like the previous two people was transformed.
Mark Visser continues the New Beginnings series looking at the life of Joseph. Joseph was hated by his brothers because he was their father's favourite child , when he had two dreams of his brothers bowing before him and then his parents and brothers bowing before him things went from bad to worse. He was sold into slavery, then wrongfully imprisoned. The New Beginnings he experienced did not look like they were placing him where his dreams would become a reality, but through all of his troubles God had a plan.
The leadership team of Gill and Mark Visser and Mark and Christine Stoneman share what spoke to them while at the Vineyard UK&I National Leaders Gathering at Trent Vineyard in Nottingham. Each share on something that touched their heart and that they felt would be beneficial to the family of Grace Vineyard.
Andy Belsey picks up again on the New Beginnings series, showing us a way that we can speak up for Jesus. He has based his talk on the book The Art of Neighbouring. There’s lots of training about how to do evangelism but evangelism is something that scares many of us! Very few of us actually like doing Evangelism. Even when we want to share our faith, many people don’t want to hear about God anyway! Talking about Jesus to other Christians in church might seem easy, but when you try to with those who are doubtful and sceptical, it is often a recipe for disaster. Doing it on your own can be very intimidating and frustrating.
Mark Visser looks at the events from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, from Jesus causing chaos in the Temple by chasing out the merchants selling their livestock, to Him being anointed with oil, washing his disciples feet during the Passover meal, His time of prayer in the garden to his betrayal, trial, punishment and execution. This all in preparation to Resurrection Sunday and what that means to you and to the rest of the world.
Gill helps us to have a better understanding of Palm Sunday, celebrating the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey with his disciples and people of the city laying down their cloaks and palm branches on the road for Jesus to ride over. Why did the disciples and crowd behave like this? What is the significance of them doing it? Had it been done before, if so, who for? Gill gives answers to these questions.
Mark Stoneham finishes off our mini-series on Who is Jesus? looking at the question. Why Did He Have To Die? The only way for sin to be atoned for was by the shedding of blood. The Jews brought sacrifices to the Temple to atone for their sin. Jesus came as the Lamb of God to be the atoning sacrifice once and for all.
Gill speaks about mothers and how we are commanded in scripture to honour our mothers. She looks at the attributes of a godly mother and how Jesus honoured his mother right up to the time of his death on the cross.
Mark Visser carries on with the second teaching in the mini-series, Who is Jesus? Mark looks at the Parable of the Lost Son, often called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The younger son asks his father for his inheritance before his father is dead, he then goes to a foreign land and squanders his wealth on hedonistic living and ends up in a field feed pigs. He decides to return to his father and ask to be one of his servants, because he knew they lived better lives than he was currently living. How does his father react when he returns? This is what Mark focuses on in revealing the Jesus is Grace.
In the build up to Easter Mark Visser begins a mini series asking the question, "Who is Jesus?" When you are asked, "Who are you?" how do you answer? The disciples never asked Jesus who he is, but Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" How would you answer this question? Mark looks at once aspect of who Jesus is to his disciples, those of us who have received Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
Mark Stoneham carries on with the New Beginnings series looking at the interaction between Jesus and Peter on the shore of Lake Galilee after Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times before Jesus was crucified. This is the first encounter Jesus has with Peter after his resurrection. Jesus restores Peter in such a beautiful way.
Mark Visser goes back to the New Beginnings series, looking at The Priesthood of All Believers. All the Israelites were supposed be priests of the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But when the Lord called them to come up to Mount Sinai they were afraid of the thunder and lightning and asked Moses to talk to God on their behalf. When the Tabernacle was established Aaron and his sons were chosen to be the priests serving in the Tabernacle. Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place, once a year on the Day of Atonement. Jesus came and fulfilled the Law and is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He made the way for all His followers to be priests to minister to God and to the people in the world because of what happened on the day He was crucified.
Mark Stoneham, as treasurer of Grace Vineyard Church gives his annual report on the finances of the church as well as a message about being generous people. We are generous because God is generous, God sets the example and expects us to be like Him.
Gill and Mark Visser, but mainly Gill, bring a Valentines Day Family message, looking at where Valentines Day came from and what it means for us today. How big is God's love for us? How can we show the love that St Valentine did? What can we do to love others? These are things that Gill looks at and then we finish off with a craft.
Mark Visser continues the New Beginnings series looking at how the Tabernacle was set up as the place of worship for the Israelites when the were in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. Marl looks at how the Tabernacle is an image of Jesus Christ, with God needing to be the centre of our worship today.
Mark Visser continues the New Beginnings sermon series looking at Moses who experienced a number of New Beginnings in his life that Mark could have looked at but he chose to look at the job changes that Moses experienced in his life.
Mark Visser continues the New Beginnings sermon series looking at two families that had to relocate homes. Moving homes is one of the top five most stressful events one can experience alongside death of a loved one, divorce or separation, long-term illness and job loss. Mark looks at the two scenarios of these families having to relocate their homes, what led up to it and what was the effect of it.
Gill Visser continues with our new series on New Beginnings, looking at how we need to commit ourselves to God's hands. He is the creator and He wants to shape us and mould us, just like a potter shapes and moulds clay in the process of creating things. This is can be an ongoing process in our lives if we allow God to be the potter and we remain as pliable clay.
Gill Visser kicks off the New Year looking at New Beginnings, 2024 is behind us and 2025 lies ahead of us. What are your expectations and hope for this coming year. New beginnings can come at any time and in many ways. Some are joyfully anticipated, like the birth of a new baby, and some can seem daunting, like starting a new job. And some can hit us suddenly with sadness like the death of a loved one, losing your job, or the end of a relationship. These seem like endings rather than beginnings, but we need to move forward to discover what life will be like in this new season.
Mark Visser concludes the Christmas Service with the final reading and then a short message from Max Lucado's book, One Incredible Moment - Celebrating the Majesty of the Manger.
Mark Visser continues the early start to the Advent mini-series in the build up to Christmas. The second message of Advent is Peace. We live in a world in turmoil where there hasn't been peace for hundreds of years, but despite this we, as believers in Jesus Christ can live in peace. How do we do that? That is what Mark looks at in his message.
Mark Visser kicks off the Advent mini-series in the build up to Christmas. It is early, but because of what else is happening in December we are starting this mini-series now. Mark looks at the first of the four themes, Hope. The Jews were waiting in Hope for their promised Messiah, and are still waiting because they missed the signs pointing to the baby born in Bethlehem during the time of the census.
Gill picks up on the Unlikely Heroes series after our Heroes Family Service. Gill take a look at Jesus as her Unlikely Hero. He was never acknowledged in His lifetime as even being of any importance – in fact He was despised and mocked, tried and unfairly convicted and His punishment was death, death on a cross. Even His closest friends denied Him and betrayed Him.
For the past number of months we have been looking at Unlikely Heroes in our preaching. This Sunday we did things a little differently, reaching out to parents and friends to come and have a Family Service that was all age focused, with short talks and some very interactive games and challenges. What we have here is the short talks focused on the story of The Good Samaritan.
Andy Belsey continues the Unlikely Heroes series looking at Gideon, a man called mighty by God, while he was hiding from the enemy threshing wheat in a wine press. Despite his protestations of being the least of the least, God raised him up to be a might man of God.
Mark Visser carries on with the Unlikely Heroes sermon series, looking at someone who on the surface might not look like an Unlikely Hero, his actions and his attitude are not great, but what he does do, in the end, makes him an Unlikely Hero. His story is sometimes hard to swallow, our Unlikely Hero is Jonah.
Mark Visser continues the Unlikely Heroes series looking at the early life of Moses. He should have been murdered at birth, then he was given away to a princess and raised as a prince of Egypt until he murdered an Egyptian slave master. Moses then fled for his life and lived as a refugee until God grabbed his attention.
Gill Visser choses to speak about the little known character Phoebe as her Unlikely Hero. Phoebe was entrusted to take Paul's letter to Rome, and as the carrier of the letter it was expected that she would also read the letter to the various church gatherings happening in Rome. Paul put his trust in Phoebe to carry out this important task.
Mark Stoneham continues the Unlikely Heroes series looking at Caleb, one of the 12 spies sent into spy out the Promised Land before the Israelites were to go in. He was one of two spies that gave a positive report while the other 10 spies all feared the inhabitants they saw. Forty-five years later, at the age of 85, Caleb is ready to take on the giants to claim the land promised to him. Mark speaks about how age should not prevent us from doing what God has called us to do, citing a number of older people who served or are still serving.
Mark and Gill Visser share the pulpit as they speak about Matthew, who until Jesus called him to follow him, was a despised tax collector. Matthew followed Jesus without hesitation, throwing a banquet to celebrate his new life. Not much is known about the life of Matthew apart from the Gospel he wrote and other anecdotal stories of his later life. He is one of our Unlikely Heroes.
Mark Visser begins the new series on Unlikely Heroes, looking at various people found in Scripture, some named, some unnamed, who do something unusual or extraordinary but receive very little recognition in the wider scheme of things. Today Mark looks at a woman, shunned by her peers, encountering Jesus while collecting water, who then, despite being an outcast, tells her city about the man who told her everything about her life.
As we transitions from The Prayer Course to our next preaching series starting next week, Andy Belsey brings a unique message, asking can we question God and how does God speak to us. He uses the music of Drakeford to help us to hear God's voice in Christian music. Andy is a musician and a song writer, although he will say he is not a good one, who loves to connect with God through Christian music, and today he helps us to do the same.
Today is the final session of The Prayer Course, a series created by 24-7 Prayer in which Pete Greig teaches us how to pray. He does this by using The Lord's Prayer as the basis for his teaching. This is session 8. Today Pete looks at Spiritual Warfare.
We continue The Prayer Course series created by 24-7 Prayer in which Pete Greig teaches us how to pray. He does this by using The Lord's Prayer as the basis for his teaching. This is session 7. Today Pete looks at how we hear God's voice.
We continue The Prayer Course series created by 24-7 Prayer in which Pete Greig teaches us how to pray. He does this by using The Lord's Prayer as the basis for his teaching. This is session 6. Today Pete looks at meditation and contemplation.
We continue The Prayer Course series created by 24-7 Prayer in which Pete Greig teaches us how to pray. He does this by using The Lord's Prayer as the basis for his teaching. This is session 5. Today Pete looks at what we do when our prayers are not answered in the way we want them answered.
We continue The Prayer Course series created by 24-7 Prayer in which Pete Greig teaches us how to pray. He does this by using The Lord's Prayer as the basis for his teaching. This is session 4.www.prayercourse.org www.24-7prayer.com
We continue The Prayer Course series created by 24-7 Prayer in which Pete Greig teaches us how to pray. He does this by using The Lord's Prayer as the basis for his teaching. This is session 3.www.prayercourse.org www.24-7prayer.com
We continue The Prayer Course series created by 24-7 Prayer in which Pete Greig teaches us how to pray. He does this by using The Lord's Prayer as the basis for his teaching. This is session 2. www.prayercourse.org www.24-7prayer.com
Over the next eight weeks we are doing The Prayer Course created by 24-7 Prayer in which Pete Greig teaches us how to pray. He does this by using The Lord's Prayer as the basis for his teaching. This is session 1.www.prayercourse.orgwww.24-7prayer.com
Mark Visser concludes the series of Lessons from the Life of Jesus looking at how David provided financially and spiritually for Solomon, his son who becomes the next king if Israel, to be able to build the Tabernacle of God in Jerusalem. David was prevented from building it, but he provided nearly all the materials need to build it. Mark speaks of ways that we too can provide for our next generation.
Gill speaks to the men and the fathers as we celebrate Fathers' Day. She also addresses the ladies. She encourages and challenges the men to develop three types of relationships.
Mark Visser continues the the series looking at the final stages of David's life and how prepares the transition of kingship from himself to his chosen son and how he deals with a son who tries to proclaim himself as the next king.
Gill continues the series on Lessons from the Life of David, where she looks at the type of Father Davis was to his children. David was a great military leader and a good king, but he could not see fault with his children and when they did do wrong he never disciplined the, leading to disastrous results.
Mark Visser picks up again on the Lessons from the Life of David series looking at David as The Repentant King. When David is told a parable by Nathan the prophet about a rich man taking a poor mans only lamb to eat it, David becomes angry until Nathan tells David he is the rich man and Uriah is the poor man. David's response to Nathan's revelation is why God calls David "a man after my own heart". There is more to the story than just this.
How important is the Day of Pentecost in the life of the church? What is the significance of it and how has it impacted the church? Mark Visser looks at these questions and shares his thoughts on the importance of Pentecost.
Forty days after Jesus rose from the grave, he ascended to heaven, leaving his disciples to carry on the work that he had begun. Gill Visser looks at 5 reasons why Jesus' ascension is important.
Mark Visser continues the series looking at how the sins that David committed when seducing and raping Bathsheba and then murdering her husband Uriah are repeated by two of David's sons. One son rapes his half-sister and then he is murdered by her brother. Children learn by by watching their parents and copying their parents. Training a child in the ways of the Lord is so important.
Gill and Mark Visser give feedback from the Vineyard Leaders Gathering that took place that week. Part of what Gill shares is how Peter was able to walk on water because of the presence and power of Jesus. Part of what Mark shares is about the Christian Atheists that Justin Brierley spoke about.
Jan Heffer shares how God revealed things her and how she was reluctant to share it, until Mark Visser said something that prompted her to realise it was for more than just her, so she shares her message as she leads us in Communion and shares about the Banqueting Table.
Mark Visser looks at the next lesson from the Life of David. It is Spring and the kings were to go to battle, but David stays in Jerusalem. While in Jerusalem, and not on the battlefield, David sees a very beautiful women bathing, which leads to inappropriate behaviour which leads to devastating consequences.
Easter is over and so Mark Visser picks up once more on the series Lessons from the Life of David where he looks at how David seeks for someone from Saul or Jonathan's family so that he can bless them and provide for them. Mephibosheth is found and invited to feast at the King's table.
On this Easter Sunday, the day that defined time and dates, Mark Visser asks the questions, "Why was the Stone Rolled Away?" and then takes us through a number of possible reasons.
Gill set up 7 Prayer Stations covering different aspects of Jesus' life from his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his death on the cross on Good Friday.It is best to watch the video to see the Prayer Stations
Using the book, The Miracle of the Scarlet Thread by Dr Richard Booker, as the basis for her message, Gill looks at the flow of The Blood Covenant from the time of Adam and Eve through to Jesus.
The fourth Sunday of Lent is Mother's Day in the UK, so Mark Visser deviates from the Lessons from the Life of David series to look at two ladies whose lives had an impact on the lives of many people, including our own. Hannah, the mother of Samuel the prophet, and Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Mark Visser looks briefly at what happens to Michal for judging David celebrating bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem before looking at the covenant God made with David. The Davidic Covenant is about there always being a king from the lineage of David on the throne of Israel.
Mark Visser continues the series on Lessons from the Life of David looking at how the Ark of the Covenant was lost by the Israelites to the Philistines but was eventually returned to the Israelites. David brings the Ark to Jerusalem, from this we learn who can carry the presence of God and how to do it.
Andy picks up from where he left off last week and looks at how so many people that are connected to David were rejected in one way or another, how people today are still experiencing rejection, how God does not reject us, but has mad the way for us to be accepted by Him
Andy continues the series on Lessons from the Life of David, looking at the various families that feature in 1 and 2 Samuel, and how there was often a lack of discipline by the fathers of their wayward sons.
Mark Stoneham wears two hats in this talk. Firstly as a church trustee, and the church treasurer, he gives a report on the financial status of Grace Vineyard, thanking the generous givers who are part of the family of Grace, then he goes on to teach about what biblical giving entails, why we give and how we should give.
Mark Visser returns to the series on Lessons from the Life of David when he looks how David, who is now King of Israel, defeats the Philistines, not once, but twice, and both battles happen in the same place. David seeks God's face before each battle and is directed by God how to fight against the Philistines. The same enemy in the same place but God gives David different tactics.
Gill deviates slightly for the Lessons from the Life of David series, looking back at words, pictures and prophetic dreams that God has given to people in Grace Vineyard in the last year and then poses some questions to us.
Mark Visser continues the series, Lessons from the Life of David. Saul is killed in battle, but David does not celebrate the death of King Saul, rather he mourns, weeps and fasts until evening, and then he writes a lament about Saul and Jonathan. David honours Saul to the very end, despite Saul's desire to kill David. He then enquires of the Lord as to what to do next.
Mark Visser starts the new year continuing the series, Lessons from the Life of David, looking at 1 Samuel 30 where in challenging times David trust God, listens to His voice only and shows love to those who were too exhausted to pursue the enemy to set their families free from capture.
Mark Visser does week two of Advent, looking at the wise men who followed a star to find the baby that was born as the king of the Jews. There are many stars in the world today, but do they guide us to Jesus? We are called to be stars that guid people to Jesus.
As we prepare for Christmas, and as we have entered the time of Advent, Gill begins this short season by looking at waiting. How good are we at waiting? We live in an instant society where everything must happen immediately, but we can't hurry the birth of a child, especially a child of Promise. Jesus came as the promised child and He will come again.
Oliver continues the series on Lessons from the Life of David, looking at 1 Samuel 24 where David has the opportunity to kill Saul but chooses not to, despite the encouragement from the soldiers with David.
Mark Visser continues the Lessons from the Life of David series, looking at the time David was in the cave at Adullam, and how people came to him, people who were in debt, distressed or discontented. What do we, the church, do when we encounter people who are like this? Can we help them?
Mark Visser moves away from the Lessons from the Life of David series as we commemorate Remembrance Sunday. We live in a fallen world, where man has chosen to disregard the teachings and love of God, for the fleeting pleasures and treasures of this world, rejecting God in the process and therefore we live in a world of violence and wars. This means we end up with days like today, Remembrance Sunday, where we set apart a special day to remember those who have lost their lives in wars and conflicts.
Mark Visser continues the Lessons from the Life of David series looking at how David flees from Saul, who then pursues him and ends up in the company of prophets, strips off his kingly cloak and prophesies. Mark looks at how we deal with spiritual attacks and then asks the question, "What cloaks are we wearing that we should not be wearing?"
Andy continues the series on Lessons from the Life of David, looking at why David was forgiven by God for his sins and indiscretions while Saul was rejected for his disobedience.
Mark Visser continues the series on Lessons from the Life of David exploring the relationship between David and King Saul, how Saul was jealous of David. Why was he jealous, what does this jealousy tell us about Saul? How does Saul react while he is jealous?
Mark Visser continues the Lessons from the Life of David series touches on the armour of God before looking at the special bond and relationship between David and Jonathan, and how it is a picture of the bond God wants with us through Jesus Christ.
Gill continues the series of Lessons from the Life of David and today she looks at David and Goliath. Are you facing any Goliath in your life right now? Learn how David overcame Goliath and do the same thing as you face your Goliaths
Continuing the series on David, Mark Visser introduces us to David in this message. David is anointed to be the next king of Israel but does not ascend to the throne, but rather serves the king as he is tormented by an evil spirit.
Mark Visser continues the new series on Lessons from the Life of David, building towards the introduction of David. Samuel is tasked anoint the first king of Israel and it seems God chose the tallest and most handsome young man to be the first king. Was this the right decision? How does David become king when he is not the son of Saul?
Mark Visser begins the new series, looking at the life of David. When I say the name David, what comes to mind? Shepherd boy. Goliath slayer. Worshipper. Psalm writer. Dancer. Warrior. King. What about that wonderful accolade declared about him? A man after God’s own heart! there are two others, that we tend to overlook. Today is the introduction to the series looking at what transpired to enable David to become king of Israel.
After the Summer Series and before we begin our series on David, Gill brings this proposition to us. Jesus said, “You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 So what does it mean to be perfect? First of all, being perfect is not the same as the pursuit of excellence. When we pursue excellence, we are determined to do our best with our given talents, resources and time. Perfectionism, or being perfect, on the other hand, is a PRIDE or FEAR- based compulsion that either fuels our obsessive fixation on doing something perfectly, or paralyses us from doing anything at all.
During August we are giving the preaching team a break and doing different things each week. Today we watched Dr Ed Stetzer present at the Vineyard Leader's Gathering at Trent Vineyard in April this year. “The moment we’re in doesn’t pause the mission that we’re on.” Ed Stetzer speaks to us about what the current state of culture tells us about the future of the church. He shares how the turbulent times we’re facing can actually give opportunities for Kingdom advancement and how crises can often lead people to look to Jesus.
As part of our Summer series the church was invited to share their favourite verse or verses and explain why. We didn't have time to have everyone share , so this is just some of the people who did get to share.
During August we are giving the preaching team a break and doing different things each week. Today we watched the first talk given by Dr Charles Montgomery at the Vineyard Leader's Gathering at Trent Vineyard in April this year. He speaks about The Dangers of Sloth taken from the parable of the talents.
Mark Visser concludes the mini-series on the Gifts of the Spirit by looking at the Motivation Gifts. These are the gifts that God has given to everyone whether we love and serve Him of not. These are the things that we do quite naturally and for many people they don't even realise that they are gifts from God. See id you recognise the Motivation gifts that you have.
Mark Visser continues the series on the Gifts of the Spirit looking at the third set of Manifestation gifts, the Power Gifts. The Gift of Faith, the Working of Miracles and the Gifts of Healings.
Mark Visser continues the mini-series on the Gifts of The Spirit, continuing to look at the Manifestation Gifts, today looking at the Inspiration of Vocal Gifts which are the gift of tongues, both personal and corporate, the interpretation of tongues and prophecy.
Mark Visser continues the mini-series on the Gifts of the Spirit, looking at the first three Manifestation Gifts, known as Revelation Gifts. When we are ministering to someone the Spirit gives us words that bring revelation to the person that will help them understand or deal with an issue or issues in their lives. These are things that the person has not told you about, but God gives you the words or picture or feeling that brings revelation to that person, to help them in their situation.
Mark Visser begins a mini-series on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, giving an overview of the various gifts and then looking at who they are for, who gives them and why are they given?
Bob Dover takes us through some of the deliverance miracles recorded in the gospels. revealing the need for faith to be active for deliverance to take place. He points out the difference between being demon possessed and demon oppressed, who can be possessed and who can be oppressed.
Mark Visser concludes the series on the Kingdom of God by answering the second question he asked in the first sermon of this series, when Satan offered all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus if he would bow down and worship Satan "Why would it be a tempting offer for Jesus to even consider?"
Andy Belsey takes us back to The Kingdom series looking at how we deal with doubt. What happens when God does not answer our prayers in the way we want Him to answer? Why do some people die from diseases when we have been faithfully praying for their healing? These are not always easy questions to answer. Andy gives his understanding on this subject.
A few weeks ago Marti approached Gill and shared a dream God had given her that she felt was for the Grace Vineyard, and when she shared it with Gill, Gill wept and agreed that the church needed to hear it, weigh it up and see what God is saying to us. Gill shares an introduction before Marti shares her dream and her perspective on the dream.
Mark Visser breaks away from The Kingdom series to speak about Fasting, to encourage the congregation to prepare and participate in eleven days of fasting between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday in conjunction with participating in Thy Kingdom Come
Mark Visser continues the series on The Kingdom looking at how, while living in the Now and Not Yet of the Kingdom, do we bring the Kingdom to earth, to those around us. The three components are expectation, prayer, and announcement. The kingdom announcement must be made after the prayer of the kingdom. The prayer of the kingdom must take place within the framework of kingdom expectation.
Mark and Gill Visser say thank you to Grace Vineyard for their time away in South Africa and then share what they felt God said to them at the Senior Pastor's Day of the Vineyard UK& I Leaders Gathering. They sat under the teachings of the National Director John Wright, and also Steve Nicholson, from the USA.
Mark Stoneham continues the series on The Kingdom and explores the significance of the empty tomb and Jesus' resurrection. He notes that this is the pivotal and most important event if the whole of human history and that the events of Easter are the defining moments of the Christian faith.Mark Stoneham continues the series on The Kingdom and explores the significance of the empty tomb and Jesus' resurrection. He notes that this is the pivotal and most important event if the whole of human history and that the events of Easter are the defining moments of the Christian faith.
Robert Dover preaches on how/why Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem on a donkey for Palm Sunday.
Mark Visser continues the series on The Kingdom. As we look at Scripture, we can see Four Phases that the Kingdom of God has gone or is going through here on earth. The four phases are: the Kingdom is, the Kingdom is coming, the Kingdom is come, the Kingdom is coming again,
Gill Visser continues the series on The Kingdom, encouraging us to do what Jesus tells - Seek First the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is currently centred in heaven. The Bible also calls it the Kingdom of heaven. Jesus started teaching about the Kingdom the moment He began His ministry.
Mark Visser continues the series on The Kingdom. God has called us to be a Kingdom of Priests, and it has been the call on the people of God since the beginning of time, but we have not always got it right. The role of a priest is to come into the presence of God, to be in the presence of God, to hear from God and to speak to God.
Andy Belsey continues the sermon series on The Kingdom. Andy looks at the culture of the modern world where so much is changing and it is happening so fast, where technology dominates our lives and has such an influence on our every day life. The Kingdom of God is different, as disciples of Christ we are called to live a Counter Cultural lifestyle.
Having celebrated the dedication of Isaac, Mark Visser teaches on why we do dedications and not infant baptisms or christenings. He draws from Scripture, both Old and New Testaments to show where we see a precedent for dedicating our children to the Lord.
Mark Visser continues the series on The Kingdom. When God tells Moses to go back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let God's people, the Israelites, go so they can worship God outside of Egypt. Moses said to God, “When I say to the people of Israel, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” He is effectively saying to God what is your nature, or character, when asking God for His name. This is what Mark explores in this message.
Mark Visser continues the series on The Kingdom, looking at how we see The Kingdom is revealed in the Old Testament. The Exodus story is the account of Israel, the nation that God chose out of all the nations of the world to be His people, and their release from slavery in Egypt. In the Exodus story we see a clash of two kingdoms, the Israelites and the Egyptians. The power of God against the power of darkness. The God of all creation against the gods of Egypt.
Mark Visser continues the series on The Kingdom, sharing a personal testimony, and then he speaks about the three kingdoms over which God rules and reigns, the kingdom of power, the kingdom of grace, and the kingdom of glory.
Mark Visser continues the series on The Kingdom. There are two kingdoms at war with one another, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are involved in spiritual warfare, and in any warfare, one of the most important things to know is to know your enemy. Ask any military commander about this, and he or she will tell you, it is true. The more you know about your enemy, the better you can prepare yourself against the attacks of the enemy, and, the better prepared you can be to go on the attack against the enemy.
Last Friday and Saturday 14 people from Grace Vineyard were part of Team Jackie, a team of 40 people working alongside Jackie Pullinger at a conference for the CofE diocese of Guildford. The conference was called, Everyone Has, Everyone Can, based on 1 Corinthians 14:26. The 25 vicars of the diocese were invited to bring their worship leader and 10 more people from their church to be trained and equipped in how to recognise and operate in the gifts of the Spirt. It was a very busy but wonderful 2 days serving on this team and seeing God do amazing things with these people who were eager to learn and be equipped. This is the report back that we did to those in the church who were unable to be part of the team.
Mark Visser begins the new series on The Kingdom. When Satan offered Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour”, in exchange for Jesus bowing before him and worshipping him, Jesus never challenged the devil on his authority to make that offer, because He knew the offer was valid, rather He quoted scripture telling the devil who we are to worship. How did Satan come to have this authority, to make this offer to Jesus, and why would it be a tempting offer for Jesus to even consider?
Mark Visser kicks off the New Year with a message of where God is taking us. He says, "I believe God is taking us into A New Season, building on the foundations that have been laid in the life of Grace Vineyard these past years, God is taking us into a new season as a church. I believe God is a God of seasons, not just months and years. We might be at the beginning of a new year, 2023, but we are also heading into a new season, we have past the winter solstice, and we are heading to spring, a season of hope and new growth in the natural world and I believe it is also going to be in the life of Grace Vineyard."
Gill delivers the final Advent message at our Christmas Carols service speaking on Hope. We hope for love, joy and peace because this is what Christmas is all about. We can get so distracted with all the preparations and parties and presents but, underneath all that, some people are struggling with how to afford it all, worrying about the energy crisis, or dealing with ill health, loneliness and loss. When all the festivities are over, reality comes crashing in and it can feel hopeless. But we are not hopeless, despite the difficulties we may be facing. We have hope.
Mark Stoneham speaks on Love for this third week of Advent. What are the things that we love, and what are the things that God loves? God loves us so much that He sent His son Jesus to this world, Jesus came as a baby, and that is the focus of Christmas, and so often that is the only way that people see Jesus, the baby in the manger, but Jesus came to show what love is, He lives a sinless life, suffered and died on the cross, rose from the dead and is alive today. Jesus did this for us, He demonstrated love and asks us to do the same.
Mark Visser speaks on the second Sunday of Advent, looking at Joy. The angel came declaring he had good news of great joy for all people. The good news of Jesus Christ is to bring great joy to all people. Jesus came into the world to bring liberty from sin and death and eternal life to all people. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Gill brings the message on this first Sunday of Advent looking at Peace. Advent means coming and we remember the coming of Jesus into this world; 3 meanings of coming that we, as Christians, celebrate at Advent1st – coming of Jesus about 2000 years ago – he came as a babe to live as a man and die for us.2nd – Jesus comes into our lives when we are born again – accept Him as Lord and Saviour. Can happen to you right here, right now if you would like to accept His gift of everlasting life. If you’re not sure….3rd – coming will happen in the future when Jesus comes again, not as a baby this time, but as King and Judge of the whole world. Advent is a time of waiting as we wait in hope for His second coming. Advent is a journey towards Jesus. As we get closer to him, we experience his peace in our lives.
Mark Visser concludes the two-part mini-series on The Great Commandment, by looking at The Second Commandment. This Second Commandment is interesting, on initial reading it seems like a fairly simple thing, love your neighbour, and that is where most people tend to stop. Mark explains who Your Neighbour is and then speaks about Love Yourself, the part many people skip in this commandment or struggle with. Hear what Mark has to say about loving yourself.
Mark Visser begins a two-part mini-series looking at The Great Commandment. God has commissioned us to go into all the world and make disciples of all peoples, that is the Great Commission that Jesus has given to us, but why do we do it? That is the important questions to ask and answer. This is what Mark does by looking at The Great Commandment.
Following our time of going out on the streets last week, Andy comes back to the Parables of Jesus. Andy puts into context the parable of The Great Feast and explains how invitations to a feast worked at that time. He then digs into what Jesus was saying to the Pharisees through this parable. He then looks at the cost of following Jesus found in the short parables following The Great Feast
Being the 5th Sunday of the month and the day before Halloween we did something different. We went out on the streets of Purley with gift bags to bless the people we encountered on the streets. To prepare for this, on Saturday morning we did something different in our monthly prayer breakfast. We had breakfast together, had a brief time of prayer, and then we went Prayer Walking the streets of Purely, listening to the Holy Spirit and praying into what we felt Him saying. On Sunday, before going out, we had a time of feedback from the Saturday morning prayer walking, and this is it.
Two weeks ago Bob and Yvonne shared the pulpit and taught us on Spiritual Warfare and Spiritual Gifts, today they lead us in a Spiritual Gifts Workshop. There is a bit of teaching and grounding by Bob before emphasising the Gift of Tongues, then inviting people to begin to practice using Spiritual Gifts. Yvonne took a group who wanted the gift of tongues off to one side to help facilitate the release of this gift. There was a time for testimonies at the end, as well as one salvation.
Andy based this sermon on a message from Jay Pathak at the VCUKI Leaders Gathering a few years ago. Andy gives us the framework of how to speak about Jesus in our everyday lives without being weird or religious. 1. Focus On Jesus. 2. Listen To People And Connect With Them As Deeply As Possible. 3. Share Stories Helped By The Holy Spirit 4. Never Argue! 5. Demonstrate What It’s Like To Follow Jesus. 6. Be Patient And Trust God For The Process.
Yvonne & Robert (Bob) Dover spent many years in the Far East under the leadership of a very gifted leader who taught them much about Spiritual Warfare and how and when to use the Spiritual Gifts that we, as believers, have been given. They share this wisdom and understanding with us in this message.
Mark and Gill Visser share the platform as they look at the Vision and Mission statements that God gave them when they took on the leadership of the church. They speak about what God has been saying to Grace Vineyard for the past year and at the direction that God is leading them along, looking at the prophetic words and pictures that have come through during the monthly corporate prayer meetings as well as the Sunday morning meetings.
Mark Visser takes us through what is often considered the most difficult parable to understand. Once you understand the cultural context of the parable, it is easier to understand. On the surface, it looks like the master praises his manager, whom he has just fired, for cheating out of his wealth. Find out why the master praises the shrewd manager as you listen to this talk.
On the eve of the Queen's funeral, what do you speak on? Do you speak about her unwavering service and her being welcomed into heaven with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? That was the dilema Mark Visser faced in preparing this sermon. He chose to look at the Parable of the Lost Son, but focus on the father and his character traits and compare them to the characteristics of Father God.
After a minute of silence to honour Queen Elizabeth II Mark Visser reflects on how people are feeling lost at this time. He then looks at the two parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin and what we can learn from in order to be a comforter to those who ae mourning.
Andy Belsey returns to the series on The Parables of Jesus, looking at two of them today that follow one another in Luke's gospel. The persistant widow hounds the judge who eventually gives in to her demands - is this a reflection of how we are to approach God, is this how we are to pray? The Pharisee and the Tax collector is also about ways of praying. Which example should we be following? Hear what Andy has to say.
Over the summer, to give our preaching team a break we are watching talks the VCUK&I have made available. Today we have the joy to have Archie Coates speak to us about what amazes God and when God is amazed He does miracles.
During August, to give our preaching team a break, we make use of the wonderful resources VCUK&I makes available and listen to speakers from various parts of the world. Today's sermon is from the 2021 National Leaders Gathering in Nottingham. Jordan Seng is the pastor of Bluewater Mission Church in Honolulu, Hawaii. Jordan shares how their church has a culture of trying when it comes to bringing the Kingdom of God to earth. Some of the things they try succeed, but many fail. They celebrate both the successes and the failures.
Gill takes a look at the parables from a slightly different perspective, she says this in her introduction, "I find the parables fascinating in their simplicity and yet they are so full of incredible treasures if we will only take the time to study them. Today I want to look at what they teach us about the Kingdom." The Kingdom is not the same thing as the Church. While the concept of the Church is how we gather, the concept of the Kingdom is how God reigns on the earth, through His saints.
During August, to give our preaching team a break, we make use of the wonderful resources VCUK&I make available and listen to speakers from various parts of the world. Today's sermon is from the 2022 National Leaders Gathering in Nottingham. “You don’t have to be big to have an impact, you just have to be faithful.” In this talk, Steve Nicholson speaks about the importance of the local church and how we need to keep faithfully loving and serving where we are.
Gill continues the series on The Parables of Jesus, taking us through today’s parable about two builders, a wise and a foolish one. In some ways this has been reduced to a children’s song which you would have learnt in Sunday School, but there much more to this parable, as Gill explains.
Mark Stoneham continues The Parables of Jesus series looking at The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, a servant who was forgiven much by his master but failed to forgive a fellow servant a minor amount. What can we learn about God and ourselves from this parable. Listen to what Mark has to say.
Before the sermon, we celebrated Communion, and what Janet had to say so touched me that I had to include it with the sermon, I trust that it connects with you as much as it did me. Mark Visser continues the sermon series on The Parables of Jesus, looking at The Parable of the Rich Fool. God is not against rich or wealthy people, He loves them just the same as everyone else, He is not against people working hard and making lots of money, He is more concerned about why they do it, and what they do with their wealth. Money is not evil, as some people sometimes think, it is the love of money that is the problem.
Andy continues the series on the Parables of Jesus by looking at this parable. As Andy points out, it is about money, not abilities, and what we do with the gifts that God gives to us. Do we go out and use these gifts from God and gain more, or are we risk-averse and hide them and do nothing with them?
Gill looks at the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus often spoke in parables because each had a deeper meaning, understood only by those who have “ears to hear” (Matthew 13:9). Knowing this principle invites us to reflect on the symbolic message of the good Samaritan. In light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this masterful story brilliantly encapsulates the plan of salvation in ways we might not have noticed. It testifies of Christ, teaches the plan of salvation, the Saviour’s atoning love, and our journey towards inheriting eternal life.
Jesus normally only spoke in parables to the crowds, but on one occasion Jesus speaks to His disciples using parables. Mark continues the series by looking at these three parables and asking what they mean to us today.
Mark Visser continues the series on The Parables of Jesus, looking at two parables that are 3 verses long. Jesus uses everyday imagery that the people listening to him would be familiar with, things that they either did themselves or saw people doing them.
Gill takes us through this parable where Jesus teaches of the necessity of being prepared for his return. He compares his Second Coming to a joyful wedding procession in which the unprepared cannot participate.
In celebration of the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, Gill takes a look at the coronation service's words, symbols, and rituals, sharing her memories of listening to the coronation on the radio in South Africa. Ray leads us in communion as part of the message.
We had an extended time of worship, which is not shown in this video, and asking the Holy Spirit to speak to us and through us. These are the words that we received from the Lord.
Mark Visser continues the series on The Parables of Jesus, looking at The Parable of the Weeds where Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven like a field where a farmer sows his good seeds and then an adversary comes at night and sows weed seeds in the field too. What does this all mean? Mark gives his take on this parable
Mark Visser begins the new series of The Parables of Jesus by looking at the first parable that is found in all three of the synoptic gospels, The Parable of the Sower. Jesus explains the parable to his disciples but not to the crowd. This parable raises some questions for us as believers. Are we as generous with the Word of God as the farmer is with his seed?
Mark and Gill Visser share some of the main words that have come through the monthly Prayer Breakfasts from the past 6 months. We have learned to wait on God and not be afraid of the silence in our prayer meetings, and then God has spoken powerfully through those participating through words, pictures, and scripture. These are three of the most significant points that God has given to us, that we are highlighting in this message.
The team that went to the Vineyard Leaders Gathering at Trent Vineyard in Nottingham feed back to the church some of what they received from being at the VLG.
Mark Visser looks at the significance of the five encounters that Jesus has with His disciples after his resurrection as found in the Gospel of John. Jesus encounters Mary outside the tomb, the disciples without Thomas in the locked room, and then the Thomas and disciples in the locked room. He then appears to the seven disciples who go fishing and the last account is of Jesus and Peter.
In our Easter Sunday sermon, Mark Stoneham looks at some of the traditions that occur in different parts of the world at Easter. He then takes us back to the events leading up to the death and burial of Jesus before leading us through the account of that wonderful Resurrection morning. Jesus conquered death and walked out of the tomb and into the lives of millions of believers.
Oliver carries on with the theme of The Character of God, with a slight twist on this theme. God is our source, He is the one who provides everything we need. Why can we trust Him to provide all we need or does He need our help?
Mark Visser continues the series on The Character of God. We live in an everchanging world, and the only thing that is unchanging, is actually not a thing but a person, a spirit, and that is God. God is the only Constant, Consistent and Unchangeable one that exists.
Gill continues the series on The Character of God, looking at, The Self-Sacrificing God. As part of the message Mark leads us in Communion. The cross of Jesus is front and centre of our Christian theology, yet so many of us fail to grasp its significance. God freely and willingly entered our world as a vulnerable child and, in the greatest act of self-sacrificing love, was insulted, tortured and crucified so we could be saved to eternal life with Him.
Mark continues the series on the Character of God looking at God is Love. Many people who do not know God struggle with this concept that God is love, because of events they have experienced or world events that they have witnessed or read about, clouding their understanding of a loving God. Love is who God is, it is His identity. It always has been and always will be. Even when nothing existed that we could recognise, God was, and God was love.
Following on from Mark Stoneham's message last week about God 'The Speaking One', Mark and Gill tag-team teach on Hearing From God, teaching 4 different ways that God speaks to us, and then the congregation get to workshop and practice what they have just been taught. The audio has been edited to remove the times when the congregation was workshopping what they had just been taught. Some of the church give feedback at the end of the teaching time.
Continuing the series, The Character of God, Mark Stoneham shares that the Bible clearly teaches that God delights to speak to and communicate with His people. Therefore we should expect Him to speak to us in a variety of ways and to learn to hear His voice.
Gill acknowledges James Jackson for his input into this message. Gill continues the series, The Character of God, looking at Psalm 103 as the frame for the reasons why and how we are to worship God.
Mark continues the series on The Character of God, looking at another two aspects of God. God is Spirit, he has no bodily form in the way that we have a bodily form in which our spirits are contained, while we are alive on the earth. God is not constrained by a bodily form, this is why He can be everywhere at the same time, and it is why the Israelites were told not to make idols. Darkness cannot overcome light; it is impossible for darkness to overcome light. Darkness is not the opposite of light it is the absence of light. The darkness of night happens when there is the absence of the light of the son, but as soon as the sun appears the darkness disappears, it cannot remain and overcome the light.
Mark continues the series on The Character of God by looking at two topics of God being Incomparable, and God being Unknowable yet Knowable. How do you normally describe something to someone, by comparing it to something that they would be familiar with or something that is similar to what you are describing, but you can't do that with God. Likewise, we cannot know God in his fullness because He is beyond our understanding, yet there is so much that we can know about God.
Ray Cross continues the series on The Character of God as he takes through three truths about God: 1. God Exists; 2. "In the Beginning, God" and 3. God the Creator. God existed before creation and He exists outside of time and space and He is the one who created the heavens and the earth.
Gill begins her message with this statement, "Many of us believe that God’s love is conditional and, depending on our behaviour, God either loves us or doesn’t. He loves us when we’re good and doesn’t love us when we sin. That is a false narrative." She takes us through the Parable of the Prodigal Son, showing us just how false this narrative is.
When you hear the word, Father, what comes to mind? We all have different pictures in our minds, different thoughts in our heads, each one influenced by what our fathers were or are like. For some of us, it would be a happy thought or picture, a special time of you and your dad together, or even of your dad together with you and your siblings. Happy times, happy thoughts.
But not everybody was fortunate to grow up like that, to many, when they hear the word, Father, words like angry, abusive, distant, threatening, intimidating, silent, preoccupied, mean or absent, come to mind, because that is what your father was like, and unfortunately, it so often affects our thoughts and understanding of God, because We Call Him Father!
Mark begins the new series on The Character of God, by looking at God as Father.
Christmas might be over, but the Christmas story is not, it never is. Mark looks at the rest of the Christmas story where the Magi come looking for Jesus and when they find him they give him gifts. This is one of the reasons we give gifts at Christmas. God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit, who, when we invite him into our lives gives us gifts that we are to give away. What gifts do you have, that God has given to you? This is what Mark looks at in this sermon.
The National Directors of the Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland invited the senior pastors to join them in 21 days of prayer and fasting in the month of January, fasting Mondays to Fridays. We have extended the invitation to the whole church. Mark teaches on fasting, looking at 1. Are we still called to fast? 2. Who is called to fast? 3. When do we fast? 4. How do we fast? 5. Why do we fast? He then looks at 3 types of prayer, Petition, Devotion and Intercession.
Our Carols service should have been in person in the building, but due to the current situation, it was decided to do it on Zoom. Mark Visser looks at the 4th week of Advent looking at Joy. The shepherds were chosen to find the Christ child, why?
Mark Stoneham looks at the third topic of Advent - Love. He poses the question, "What is Love?" and then shows us who is Love and how we are to love.
Ray takes us along the journey that God had planned out centuries before the birth of Christ. He shows us how God had it all prepared for the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem.
Gill begins the Advent series posing a question and then leading us into it.
This time of the year shapes our lives as hope is often a part of our lives as we look forward to something. What do we hope for? Sometimes there’s a chance element to our hope; I hope I get that job, I hope I pass my exams, I hope I get that Christmas present I’ve been wanting, even, I hope I win the lottery!
The Bible looks at hope differently.
Gill transitions us from Transformation to Advent. The picture of the first Christmas has a lot of pieces that have to come together to fulfill the prophecies of Christ, but there is a missing piece, what is it. or who is it?
Mark concludes the series on Transformation by proposing that love is a choice, it is not a feeling. Falling in love means we can also fall out of love. Choosing to love is what God did for man and what He expects of us. Mark shares how he did not fall in love with his wife but that he chose to love his wife, and chooses every day to love her.
Mark Stoneham presents the financial review of Grace Vineyard to the church and then speaks about giving that pleases God looking at how we are to give, why do we give and what our attitude to giving should be.
Gill continues the series on Transformation and likens our lives to a jigsaw puzzle where we do not have the picture of the finished product. Do we need it, or do we trust God to put our lives together in the way He has planned?
Oliver continues the Transformation series. Transformation is at the core of the Church's mission - we are called to be witnesses to who Jesus is and one of the ways for us to do this is to share with people who we were before, who we are now and what a difference Jesus has made to our lives.
Mark Visser continues the Transformation series. Too many people expect instant transformation when they meet Jesus Christ and invite Him to become their Lord and Saviour. Transformation takes time, we live in an instant society where we expect everything to do instantly available or ready, but spiritual transformation takes time especially as God is transforming us for significance.
Gill poses the question and then leads us into an understanding of God's goal for your life. Do you long to hear Jesus’ voice? Do you want to really know Him, to experience His love so profoundly that He transforms your life? If we truly want to follow Jesus, we must follow Him the way He follows the Father. God has a goal for your life! Do you know what it is?
God is at work in our lives all the time. He wants to transform us into the person He intended us to be. He wants His church to be the church He intended it to be and He has been busy transforming it since the early years of the church.
Gill continues the Transformation series looking at Martha and Mary encountering Jesus after Lazarus had died. She shares a story about the painting, The Tears of Christ by Makoto Fujimura
Mark Stoneham takes us through what worshipping God is all about. It is not just about the songs we sing. There is a whole lot more to Worship than what most of us think. We had some technology issues on Sunday, so the message is a hybrid one.
Mark continues the Transformation series by looking at what transformation takes place in our lives when we surrender our lives to God and invite Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Saviour.
Mark begins the first in the series on Transformation. What happens when we are saved? When we are saved our lives are transformed by the grace and power of God. When we are saved there is an instant transformation that happens in our lives, our spirit and soul is reborn, is reconnected to God, who is spirit. We become new creations in Christ Jesus.
Gill continues the summer series by looking at the way scripture uses the picture of a river, in the first and last books of the bible, as well as elsewhere.
Gill continues with the summer series, today she looks at Communication. There’s a real art to communicating well, so here’s a really great question to start us off this morning – how do we communicate? How well do we pay attention to communications we receive? How does God communicate with us? Do we recognise God's communication with us?
Gill continues the Summer series. It is impossible to respond to the hard things of God with tenderness not hardness when we are relying on our own strength and ability.
Gill begins our Summer program looking at how important it is for each one of us to be ourselves, to be the person God created us to be.
Mark Visser concludes the series of Sermon on the Mount looking at the last six verses of Matthew chapter seven, where Jesus tells the parable of the wise and foolish builders and which one he expects his disciples - you and me - to be like.
Andy takes a look at Matthew 7:13-23 looking at how our lives as Christians are counter-culture to the culture of the world. We swim upstream, we don't follow the patterns of the world around us. If we want to bear fruit we need to stay attached to the vine.
Oliver brings us to the last chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, helping us to see clearly the way Jesus wants us to behave as followers of Christ.
Jonny takes us into the next portion of the Sermon on the Mount looking at Matthew 6:19-34. What are our priorities and who do we look to for our provision.
Mark Stoneham continues the Sermon on the Mount series looking at what our heart attitude should be as we look at Giving, Prayer, and Fasting
Mark Visser continues to dig deeper into the body of the sermon, looking at three more areas of the Law that Jesus gives his perspective on how we, the disciples of Christ, are to live out these aspects of the Law
Mark Visser takes us further into the meat of the message, looking at how Jesus came to fulfil the Law, not do away with it and what it means for his disciples to live according to His view of the Old Testament Law. Jesus addresses Murder and Lust
We have finished the Beatitudes which are the text of the sermon, now we begin to get into the body of the sermon, with Gill looking at what it means for disciples of Jesus Christ to be Salt and Light in the world.
Mark Stoneham concludes The Beatitudes section of the Sermon on the Mount as he looks the those that are persecuted for righteousness sake. How and where is it happening in the world today?
It is Pentecost Sunday, the day the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the early church, despite this, we continue with our series on The Sermon on the Mount. This week Mark Visser looks at the penultimate Beatitude where Jesus declares, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." What are peacemakers, why and when do we need them?
Jonny Rose takes us through the next Beatitude, looking at the Pure in Heart. What does it mean and how do we see God?
In week five of the series on the Sermon on the Mount, Mark Visser looks at the fifth beatitude on mercy and being merciful. As sinners we deserve punishment, but God in his mercy does not give us the punishment we deserve, instead He extends his mercy and grace to us by offering us new life in Jesus Christ without having to experience the punishment for our sins that we deserve.
Continuing the Sermon on the Mount series Mark Stoneham looks at the next Beatitude - Blessed are those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, for they will Be Filled. Hear what he has to say as he takes us through this Beatitude
Andy continues the Sermon on the Mount series looking at the third Beatitude - Blessed are the Meek for they will Inherit the Earth. What does it mean to be meek? Do we need all the things that the world has to offer us? these are some of the things Andy looks at.
The Beatitudes describe the character of one who is truly righteous, and who will experience kingdom life. It is a list of blessings the righteous person receives, because these are the characteristics he or she displays. Today Gill looks at the second beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Resurrection Sunday is the most significant day in the Christian calendar, for without what happened today nearly 2000 years ago, we would have nothing to celebrate, and we would not be able to call ourselves Christians, disciples or apprentices of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is so special about today? Listen and find out.
Gill takes us through the pain and disappointment that many of the Jews felt with Jesus who arrived in Jerusalem as the King of the Jews, the Messiah, but a week later those who welcomed him into Jerusalem were calling for his crucifixion.
Mark concludes the mini-series looking at the signposts along the way while walking with Jesus as he makes his way to Jerusalem for the Passover and his crucifixion. Today we look at the last four signposts.
Gill looks at the storm that Paul went through on his way to Rome and helps us to navigate the storms that we face in life at present
Mark takes us on the second leg of the journey of Jesus heading to Jerusalem and looks at 3 more signposts along the way.
Gill helps to take us on a Journey to the Hidden Place in God where we connect with Him
Mark takes us on a journey looking at the signpost along the way as Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem. We hear about child-like trust, belief, faith, and total surrender.
This week Gill reflects on schooling during the lockdown and how it has put stress on teachers, pupils, and parents especially around the pressure of exams. She then takes us through the five points of a Daily Examen.
Mark Stoneham concludes the series on the Book of Acts by taking us through the last two chapters. When we are facing storms, fear can rob us of our faith. We need to be like Paul and put Jesus first at all times, He is our hope. Although we come to the end of Acts, the Kingdom of God continues.
A Journey Through Tears - Gill looks at what it means to hand over tears we have shed during the deep pain that we have experienced during lockdown.
Mark Visser looks at Paul's trials in Caesarea and how his response is different in each of the trials. Why is this? What does this teach us today?
Mark takes us back to the series on the Book of Acts looking at chapters 22 and 23 where Paul finds himself in Jerusalem, once again being attacked by a mob of Jews. He is rescued by the Roman Tribune and is about to be whipped when Paul discloses his citizenship, which changes things. God also gives Paul a new mission - Rome!
Normally the during the last week of January the Vineyard UK & Ireland hold the National Leaders Conference at Trent Vineyard in Nottingham. Due to Covid-19 the NLC became the Vineyard National Gathering an online event. Today the leadership team share their feedback from the VNG.
Mike Pilavachi from Soul Survivor, Watford is a special friend of the Vineyard church, and this morning he speaks to us about being the church that God wants us to be.
The Kingdom of God has been unveiled for all to see. The kingdom of heaven is all about knowing the King. It is about Jesus and how you respond to him. Gill explores this topic for us today.
Andy continues the series on Acts looking at Acts chapters 20 & 21 looking at Paul's total surrender to God's will for his life by journeying to Jerusalem despite the prophetic warnings that he receives.
Mark Visser picks up again on the series on the Book of Acts, looking at chapter 19, where we find Paul the apostle on this third missionary trip in Ephesus.
At the start of this new year we have been invited to participate in a time of Prayer and Fasting for 21 days. Most people know how to pray, but what do you know about fasting? Mark takes us through five questions on fasting: 1. Are we still called to fast? 2. Who is called to fast? 3. When do we fast? 4. How do we fast? 5. Why do we fast?
Mark concludes our short Advent series looking at Joy. He looks at Mary & Joseph’s joy, the joy of the shepherds and angels, the Magi’s joy, and then how do we find real joy. Next Sunday we have our Carol Service.
This is the second week of Advent and Andy shares a message of Hope, speaking from experience and digging into the scripture he shares how we can have hope in our lives and encourage others to hope in Christ Jesus.
Advent begins the season of waiting. It’s the start of the Christian calendar as we await the coming of Christ, and ends on Christmas Eve with the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the promised Messiah. It is a season of waiting for the greatest gift ever – the arrival of Christ in our hearts and our lives and in the world. Advent marks the beginning of a new Christian year and a time of reflection remembering the coming of Christ and learning how to wait for God and with God
Gill looks at how to establish a Rule of Life, to help us go deeper with God and to develop our spiritual practices so that we have a rhythm to our life with God
Mark takes us on the next leg of the journey of Paul and his companions as he looks at three things - Fear, Faith & Following Christ
Mark continues the series on The Book of Acts looking at chapter 17. Peter and Silas find success in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the new towns they go to, but they also encounter opposition to their message causing them to move on and Paul ends up in Athens on his own.
Mike looks at Acts 16 and does a comparison with The Lord Of The Rings as well as speaking from his own journey with the Lord. Who does God use to take the gospel to the world? Who wins in the end?
Mark continues the series on the Book of Acts, looking at chapter 15. Paul & Barnabas are back in Antioch when some visitors from Jerusalem try to impose the Law onto the new Gentile converts. This brings about a dispute. How do Paul & Barnabas deal with this dispute? This is what Mark looks at in this message
Jonny continues the series on the Book of Acts looking at chapter 14 at the second part of the first missionary journey of Paul & Barnabas where they experience persecution and hardships, but are not discouraged as they faithfully proclaim the Gospel. What can we learn from Paul and Barnabas as we live out our lives of mission?
Gill takes us on another journey of spiritual practices as she leads us in Visio Divina, Lectio Divina and Worship
As we continue the series in the Book of Acts, Mark Visser looks at the sending out of Barnabas and Saul. It is a pivotal chapter with a number of pivotal moments. We see Paul demonstrating the power that God gives us over evil. we see the shift of focus from Jerusalem to the nations of the world, and from the 12 apostles to Paul and his travels.
After our combined service with Montpelier Church last week, Oliver continues the series on The Book of Acts, looking at chapter 12 where we learn about Peter's miraculous escape from prison.
Mark speaks about unity at the combined service of Grace Vineyard and Montpelier Church. Why is unity so important to God and the church? What are the benefits of being in unity? Growbaby in ministry of Grace Vineyard, but is hosted by Montpelier Church, such a wonderful example of unity.
Who has been given the responsibility of making disciples? This is what Mark looks at as he explores Acts 11:19-30 where we see the Good News being taken beyond the borders of the Holy Land for the first time.
When people speak to you, do you really listen to them, or are you already thinking about your reply to them? When God speaks, can you hear him and do you listen to him? Andy shares from his own experiences and others about really listening to people and God
What is grace and what does it mean to live a grace-filled life? The two major causes of most emotional problems among Christians are these: The failure to understand, receive and live out God’s unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness and grace to other people……….. We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that’s not the way we live. The good news of the Gospel of grace has not penetrated the level of our emotions.
Are you feeling broken, sick, or oppressed or are you grieving during these times we are living in? What do you need at this time? Perhaps a balm to bring relief to your situation. Steve Nicholson explains who the balm is and how you can receive the balm into your life.
Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit living in us, and Galatians encourages us to live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit. So what is joy and how do we bear this fruit in our lives when we are going through a difficult season?
What is the foundation of your faith? Is your faith built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ or is it built on shifting sand? Mark Stoneham looks at Matthew chapter 7 verses 24-27, where Jesus speaks about the wise and foolish builders and shares some stories from his life and how this is relevant to us in the times that we are now living.
Have you ever felt disappointed or discouraged? I know I have, many times, and I’m sure you’ve felt the same. Most of the times it’s not that serious, and can be overcome with encouragement from a friend over a cup of tea. That’s what friends are for.
Looking at Matthew chapter 6, Jo Sutton continues our look at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and challenges us to consider whether we are keeping up an appearance of religious self-righteousness, or whether we are genuinely cultivating and investing into a deep relationship with Jesus. She looks at Jesus' teaching in this chapter to explore some spiritual practices and disciplines which can help us to deepen our relationship with our Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
What do you do when someone who claims to be a friend but then hurts you? How do you behave? Do you react and attack or do you behave like Jesus did when he was betrayed? Gill looks at how to behave in these times.
Mark begins our Summer mini-series on The Sermon on the Mount as found in Matthew chapters 5,6 & 7. Today Mark looks at Matthew 5: 13-16 where Jesus speaks about his disciples, you and me, being salt and light in the world. Mark looks at what this means to us today.
Has this time in lockdown felt like being in the wilderness? Has it felt empty and desolate? Are you missing all that was familiar and comfortable and known, and are you struggling to see how, or when, you will ever come out of it? Today I’d like to bring you some hope by sharing that the wilderness can actually be a place of bringing your true self into the presence of a loving God
Barry and Julia Funnell work for The Word For The World, which is a Bible translation organization. They share what they do, there is then a short information clip from TWFTW and then Barry brings a message for Grace Vineyard - Facing Your Giant - How we can overcome the giants we face in our lives
Does your prayer life feel cramped, dry, in need of more nourishing? Do you long for something more? Are you ready for more spacious, deeper ways to pray, ways that provide more room for the mystery of intimacy with God, more depth for the roots to sink into? Do the prayers you pray no longer contain the depth of meaning and relationship with God that you long for?
Jonny looks at Acts 9:1-31 at the change in Saul when he encounters Jesus on his way to Damascus and becomes one of the most influential men in the life of the early church as well as the church today because of his writings.
Do we try to control the Holy Spirit in our lives, in ou meetings? The Holy Spirit has been given to us to comfort, empower and lead us as we go forth into all the God has for us.
Mark continues the Book of Acts series, looking at Chapter 8. The church in Jerusalem comes under persecution and is scattered. Is this the work of the devil, or does God use this persecution to see the beginning of The Great Commission come about? Mark asks the question, "Is the Covid-19 pandemic from the devil trying to kill and destroy the church?" With the church no longer in the building, how is that affecting the church? What can we learn from parallels between Acts 8 and today?
If you’ve accepted Jesus’ invitation to follow Him, you’ve embraced a risky, strange and beautiful life, enriched by its depth of relationships and encounters with God and with others. But there is so much more to His invitation
A short testimony about the presence and protection of God during a road traffic accident by Mucha and Lazarus
Do you long for God to talk to you? How does God communicate with us? Gill looks at ways God does this, and three of our members share how God communicates with them and how they communicate with Him. God longs to communicate with all of us, but do we know what language He uses to do that?
In this contemplative practice sit and renew your awareness that you’re sitting in the presence of God all about you and within you. To hear God’s voice, you have to know God’s love. God is love. God first loved us before we loved Him.
Mark and Gill speak about what happened at the prayer breakfast last Saturday where Ann Calver's message to Spring Harvest this year was played, and then we waited on the Lord to speak into the life of Grace Vineyard
Gill looks at how we are living at these present times. We are in a time of change and transition, we are living in the corridor between total lockdown and the lifting of lockdown. This is a liminal space.
Mark continues the series on the Book of Acts, looking at Acts 7. In order to understand chapter 7, we need to look back into chapter 6 to see why Stephen is brought before the Sanhedrin. Mark looks at Stephen's response and what it means for us today.
Gill looks at the story of Jonah in the belly of the fish and encourages us to people of praise, no matter our circumstances.
Mark Stoneham takes us through the first seven verses of Acts 6 as we continue our series on the Book of Acts. The choosing of the seven deacons, those who were to serve the Hellenistic widows. Why were they chosen and what role did they play and how does it relate to us today.
When we thought of masks before Covid 19, we probably thought of Spiderman or Cat Woman. Now we think differently
Today masks are for our protection and are now compulsory to wear if we are travelling on public transport or entering certain spaces. Luckily they only cover our mouth and nose, unlike those of Spiderman and Cat Woman, who used their masks to hide their identity.
But what about the masks we wear every day? Do we wear masks to hide our true identity?
A spiritual practice puts you in the place to partner with the Holy Spirit to have a deeper and more intimate relationship with Jesus. It gives the Holy Spirit space to brood over our souls and bring us into unique communion with God. Gill looks at the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts and sees how the Spirit moved in the lives of the disciples and those first believers in the early church.
Gill looks at what it means to be compassionate. If we are disciples of Jesus then we need to behave like Jesus. Jesus was compassionate.
Mark and Gill speak briefly about George Floyd, Black Lives Matter and racism before calling for prayer. Ray then continues the series on Acts looking at Chapter 5 where Ananias and Sapphira lie to the apostles and are struck dead. He also looks at the apostles being imprisoned awaiting a hearing by the Sanhedrin and their miraculous escape.
Gill leads us in her latest meditation focusing on how we can encounter Jesus as we read the Gospels. Not just reading them once, but taking time to go over a passage of scripture slowly, repeatedly and letting yourself soak in the words.
Today we celebrate Pentecost, the birth of the church, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples in the upper room. The disciples poured out onto the streets and took the Word of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit to the people who needed to hear it. This is how the church was birthed and how it should be today. We are blessed today to have Ellie Mumford bringing the Pentecost message.
In these times of uncertainty and lockdown, you can be as open and as honest with God as you want to. Let Him know of your highs & lows, your anger & frustrations. He can handle all of it, and it will make you feel a whole lot better too.
In times of isolation and uncertainty where do we find our peace? How do we live our lives at these times? Andy Belsey continues the Acts series looking at Acts Chapter 4. What or who are we listening to during these times?
You are somebody who is fearfully and wonderfully made. Your body was made to be a temple of the Living God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. When you honour and value yourself, you honour and value God
Gill continues her series on Spiritual Formation looking at the subject of Sabbath. Gill poses the question and then explores the subject looking at a number of sources. She also gives practical tips on how to Sabbath.
Gill draws from Scripture and the teachings of Dr. Caroline Leaf on how your thinking affects your brain. How we think affects more than just our mind, it affects our whole being
Mike Sutton continues the Acts series, looking at Acts 3:1-10 and picks out a number of points for us to ponder on, revealing the maturing of the disciples and the development of the disciples. Do we live our lives as crippled beggars or as disciples that do the stuff that Jesus commanded us to do?
Continuing our Acts & Spiritual Formation series, Eddie looks at Acts 2 37-41 and asks a number of questions as to how we see and respond to the Holy Spirit. He is God and is given to us as a gift, He is for today as much as He was when He first manifest His presence on the disciples on Pentecost.
Gill does her second mid-week meditation, picking up from a prophetic picture given for our prayer meeting on Saturday. Gill expands on this and encourages us.
This is not a question that we are hearing at these times. Why not? Do people no longer believe in God? How do we as the church respond at this time? These are some of the things that Mark looks at in this message. Mark Visser, Deuteronomy 31: 14-18, Matthew 27:46, 2Chronicles 7:14
Gill takes us through a meditation looking at John's narrative of Thomas interacting with the risen Christ John 20:24-29
Spiritual Transformation. During Lockdown do we feel like Jonah in the belly of the beast. How are we coping during this time? Gill looks at how we keep in touch with God during this time. She ends with an Imaginative Contemplation Exercise of Jesus Walks on the Water. Luke 11:29, James 14:13-15, Philippians 1:21, James 4:7-10
He is Alive! Jesus is risen from the dead. What happened on this day 2000 years ago has defined history. Mark looks at what the resurrection changed in the life of believers and what does it means to us today. Mark Visser, Matthew 28:1-10, Genesis 1:3-5, John 20:19, Acts 20:7, 1Corinthians 16:2, Revelation 1:10, Matthew 28: 9-10a, Matthew 28: 18-20, Romans 8:1
The start of Holy week in the Christian calander. Palm Sunday celebrates the day that Jesus rides into Jerusalem and is hailed as the Messiah by his disciples and followers. Jo takes us through the narrative and extracts 3 points from it. Jo Sutton, Luke 19:28-44, Zechariah 9:9-12, Hebrews 11:32-40
Marks looks at the similarities between the time between the end of Acts chapter 1 and the beginning of Acts chapter 2 and the situation that we find ourselves in with the Coronavirus social distancing. He brings a word from an impression God placed on his heart for this time, looking at the chrysalis of a silkworm. Mark Visser Acts 2:1, Acts 1:15, Acts 1:14, Acts 1:24, James 4:8a
A rerun of Mother's Day 2018. With the Corona virus pandemic, we were unable to meet together, and the person scheduled to speak was ill. Mark and Gill had cut their USA holiday short to get back before the flights were all cancelled and did not have time to prepare, so we dug up one from the past. I hope you enjoy it Genesis 1:26-28, Psalm 68:4-6,
Mike continues our series on Acts by looking at Acts 1:8 and speaking about our role as witnesses, what it means to be the Bride of Christ and what this means for us today. Acts 1:8, John 14:2, Ephesians 2:19-22
Mark begins the series of Acts by looking at chapter 1 in stages and comments on certain aspects of each section, asking questions and making comments. Acts 1: 1-26
One of the major problems we face in life today is HURRY SICKNESS. What does this mean? What can we do to avoid this? Jesus says, "Come Follow Me!" Gill looks at one of the ways that we can become better followers of Jesus, how we become more like him. Luke 10:41-42, Matthew 5:16, Matthew 11:28-30, John 14:6, Ephesians 5:15-16
Where are we gong this year with our teaching and preaching. Mark looks at the two areas that we want to focus on as we go forward into the year - looking at Acts and Spritual Formation. Today Mark does an introduction to the book of Acts.
Anxiety is something that we all live with, it is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good if it does not rule you but prompts you to react in a certain way. Bad if it controls you and prevents you from doing anything. Gill explores the issues of anxiety and encourage us to live Fear Less lives. Philippians 4:6-7, 2Timothy 2:2, Matthew 14:22-33, Acts 23:11, Matthew 17:20
Most of the leadership team was at the UK&I Vineyard National Leaders Conference in Nottingham. Last week we heard from four of them, today Mark, Andy, Ray, Eddie and Linda feed back to the church what God spoke to them about at the NLC.
Most of the leadership team has just returned from the UK&I Vineyard National Leaders Conference in Nottingham. Mike, Jo, Sue and Gill feed back to the church what God spoke to them about at the NLC.
We all want to see transfomation taking place in the areas that we live and worship. Mark looks at the very well know verse of 2Chronicles 7:14 and looks at 4 lessons that we can learn from this verse. 1Timothy 2:1-4, 2Chronicles 7:11-16, John 14:9
As we begin a new series on the Seven I Am's of Jesus as found in the Gospel of John. Mike opens with the first in the series, looking at Jesus as the Bread of Life. Mike take us through a number of times when Jesus uses bread to demonstrate who He is and what He has done for us. John 6:35, Exodus 3:14, John 6:9, John 6:44, John 6:68, Colossians 3:1-4
Gill and I met Mark & Laura a number of years ago at the Vineyard NLC, they were planning on moving to Malawi. We had church planted in Malawi in 1996 and spent nearly 14 years there. Their initial plan was to go to Lilongwe, but then God changed the plans and they ended up going to Blantyre and into the church that we had planted. They are now back in the U.K. and were visiting us for the weekend. Laura shares some of the things they were doing in Malawi and then Mark brings the message. Mark asks some questions of how do we judge the goodness of God and what does it look like. He then uses scripture to bring answers to these questions. Psalm 34:8-9, Psalm 23:6, Nahum 1:7, Psalm 31:19
Adrian is a friend of the house and he brings a message from God for us as a local church. We live in the New Testament presence of God where He lives in us and we live in him. He no longer comes to visit on special occasions, but is with us always. Prayer is the way we connect with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Eddie continues the series of the Seven I Am's of Jesus, looking at I Am the Gate. Eddie not only puts it into theological context but also gives insight into cultural context too. John 10:1-10
Oliver poses some questions that the world keeps asking - Why do bad things happen if God is loving, kind and all powerful. He shares from a very recent experience that he and his wife have gone through. When we know God as the Good Shepherd we know He care and loves us, and is watching over us, especially in difficult times John 18:18, Romans 8:26, Micah 7:18-20, Matthew 10:29, Isaiah 58:6-12, John 10:11, 1Peter 1:20
Mark looks at the 5th I Am declaration of Jesus. Lazarus a dear and loved friend of Jesus is sick, his sisters, Martha and Mary send a message to Jesus to come to Bethany where they are. Jesus deliberately delays his departure and in that time Lazarus dies. Jesus not only proclaims that he is the Resurrection and the Life, but he demonstrates it by calling Lazarus out of the grave back to life. Mark looks at how this relates to us today and the decisions that we have to make. John 11:1-45, John 5:19, Romans 10:9-10
Jo continues the I Am's series looking at the sixth I Am, it is one that could almost be broken into three messages. Jo shares from her own life experience and then digs into the word. John 14:1-31, John 8:44-47
Gill looks at the last of the Seven I Am's of Jesus - I Am the True Vine. Jesus is speaking to his disciples shortly before his betrayal and crucifixion. Gill goes through the scripture opening up what it means to us today. The grapevine is a theme that is found throughout the Bible and speaks about us as individuals as well as us corporately. John 15:1-8, Psalm 80:8-9, Isaiah 5:1-7, Galatians 5:22-23
History has a tendency of repeating itself if we do not learn from it. Mark relfects on Remembering as we commemorate Remembrance Sunday, thinking of those that paid the ultimate price for the freedom that we enjoy in this country. He looks at how the Israelites were told to remember what God had done for them and how they were to tell their children about it. Deuteronomy 6:1-7, Deuteronomy 11:1-8,18-19, Exodus 12:24-27, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Thanksgiving is a holiday that is celebrated in Canada and the USA, in the UK and many other nations a similar celebration is held, called Harvest Festival. Mark looks at thanksgiving and then invites members of the congregation share their reasons for thanksgiving. 1Thessalonians 5:16-22, Philippians 4:4-7, Psalm 69:30, Psalm 95:2, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 147:7, 1Timothy 2:1-2
Following on from the Lessons from the Wilderness, Mark looks at Blind Bartimaeus and seven lessons we can learn from his encounter with Jesus. Mark 10:46-51, Psalm 51:3-5, Matthew 18:20, 2 Corinthians 2:15, Jeremiah 33:1-3, James 1:2-4, Psalm 34:17, Hebrews 12:1, John 15:14-16,
When God intervenes in your preaching preparation, what do you do? Mark shares a message based on a short teaching that he heard at the Croydon Churches Forum Prayer meeting during the week. Pastor Freddie Roberson preached this message to his church and shared an outline of it at the prayer meeting. It touched Mark's heart who then found the transcript of the original preach and used it for the basis of this message.
Passage: Exodus 15:22-27
A New Year, so many people make New Year's Resolutions that seldom last a day, week or maybe a month. A better way is to ask God to give you a Word from Him to carry with you through the year. Gill reminds us to begin to ask for our One word from God for 2020. We hear two testimonies of how My One Word has helped in this past year. Gill shares the One Word for the church for 2020
Advent week 4: Jo looks at the Angels and Peace. Shalom has more to it than just peace. Before the fall there was perfect peace between God and man. Shalom is one of the key features of salvation. What do we know about the peace that Jesus has to offer? Jo asks and answers a number of questions in this message.
Advent week 3 - Carol Service. Mark looks at the role the shepherds play in the advent of Jesus. Why were they chosen to be the ones to find the Christ child and then be the first to go and proclaim the Good News of His birth? Jesus came as both the scrificial lamb as well as the Shepherd of His flock. Luke 2:8-20
Mark continues the series on Identity, still looking at the question Jesus asked his disciple, "Who do you say I am?" and what is the relevance of the answer to us today. Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God means so much to us. Mark looks into the implications of this.
Passage: Matthew 16:13-19, John 6:43, 1 Corinthians 12:3, John 15:16, Luke 22:31, James 4:7
Advent week 2: Ray looks at Bethlehem and Faith. We have been hearing a lot from the British politicians of their promises and manifestos in the run up to election day this Thursday. Ray likens this to Jesus' manifesto when he reads the prophecy in Isaiah. Ray then delves into the history, culture and customs of the day explaining the significance of Bethleham, the stables and manger and the lack of room at the inn and a whole lot more. Enjoy the message.
Passages: Luke 4:16-19, Psalm 146:3-10, Micah 5:2,4-5a, Luke 2:1-7
Oliver begins the Advent series looking at the Hope that we have through the Prophecies that are given. God tells us what He is going to do because He is confident in who He is. Prophecy restores our wonder of Him and demonstrates His love for us.
Passage: Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 29:11-14, Acts 27:24, Matthew 7:15, Isaiah 9:13-17, Isaiah 55:8-9, Isaiah 53:2-6, Luke 1:26-28, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:9-12
Oliver looks at the topic of Identity, speaking openly and honestly about his own life and his struggle with certain issues in his life, struggles that many others have to deal with as well. This is a wonderful testimony to the power and love of our Father in heaven. Passage: Romans 7:15, Judges 8:34, Proverbs 19:21, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20