Vineyard Groningen Sermons: Recent Episodes
Vineyard Groningen
Scripture Genesis 1:1-8 Summary What does it mean to be “patterned after Christ” — and what does artificial intelligence have to do with it? In this message, Alex draws a surprising and illuminating parallel between how large language models work and how God’s Word shapes our lives as followers of Jesus. At the heart of…
Scripture 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Summary The Big Idea: The Bible calls us to become people of love, as Paul so beautifully describes it in 1 Corinthians 13. But our use of technology can have a profound deforming effect in our lives. In this message, we explore the tension this causes and look at some ways…
Scripture John 10:7-15 Summary The Big Idea: AI has been developed and used in such a way that it is slowly making its way into the social fabric of our lives and society. Technology has a way of slowly isolating us, but we were created for intimate connection. Bible text: I am the good shepherd.…
Scripture Genesis 11:1-9 Summary In this sermon series we are going to talk about how technology, especially Artificial Intelligence, is changing our world.AI is already impacting the way that we live, and is changing the way people see the world, ourselves, others and the future. AI will impact every area of society, and holds a…
Key verses: Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to…
Passage Romans 8:16-30 Summary How can you believe in an all-powerful and loving God, when there is so much suffering and injustice in our world? This question is easier to answer on some days than other days. When you are actually staring suffering in the face, or you are experiencing suffering in your own body…
Scripture Summary Freedom in Christ is a different freedom than the freedom that is valued and celebrated in our Western society, and seen as essential for human flourishing. Yet, this is an incomplete freedom. It is a freedom from external regimes, regulations or ideologies – external factors that might limit the freedom of the individual…
Scripture Romans 6:1-14 Identity → Experience Baptism → Ultimate realities Embodiment → Here & now Identity → Experience
ScriptureRomans 4United in FaithContext of RomansJews and Gentiles - Divided by History, United in FaithSocial QuestionsTheological QuestionsAbraham as an Example of FaithHe had nothing to boast about before GodHis faith was recognised prior to his circumcisionNature of FaithGod is the focus of faithFaith de-centers us.Faith credits Righteousness to us.
ScriptureRomans 3:9-311 John 4:10Romans 2:12-3:8Acts 1:8Main Points1. All humans, apart from Christ, are enslaved to sin (3:9-20)10b-12 - our hearts are under sin13-14 - our mouths are under sin15-17 - our actions are under sin18 - our understanding is under sin2. God’s ultimate solution is God’s redeeming and rescuing work in Jesus Christ (3:21-26)Righteousness (dikaiosynē)Redemption (apolytrōsis)Justified (dikaioō)Propitiation (hilastērion)A person is declared right by faith alone in Jesus’ faithfulness, not anything they’ve done. Thus…Is God only for the Jews? Doesn’t he belong to the nations as well? Yes, the story has shown that He is God of all.Is there anything left for us to boast in? A status as God’s chosen people or doing well in obeying God’s rules? No. God has ruled this out. Faith alone is our boast.So if we have faith, it doesn’t matter how we live? No way – our lives live out what we believe!3. Faith is our means of living God’s gift of new life (3:27-31)
ScriptureRomans 2:28-3:1Genesis 12:3Romans 2:12-3:8Acts 1:8Jewish identityCovenant peopleCarrying revelationModel nationChrist & IsraelChrist fulfilled the story of IsraelChrist redeemed the story of Israel
ScriptureRomans 1:18-32Romans 2:1-112 Corinthians 5:21We are ALL equally lostGod’s wrath is justifiedGod’s wrath is justGod’s wrath is impartialGod’s wrath is both future and present
ScriptureLuke 12:13-21Luke 12:481 Timothy 6:17-19Start the JourneyBudget - Make roomCap - What is enough?Start - Experience the joy
ScripturePhilippians 4:10-13Philippians 3:10-11Deuteronomy 8:10-14Matthew 6:25-27Matthew 6:33-34Philippians 4:18-19Three habits of contentmentGratitude vs. greedSimplicity vs. indulgenceTrust vs. grasp
Scripture:Matthew 6:19-24Jesus asks us:What does your heart truly value?What do your eyes look to?Who is your master?
ScriptureMatthew 5:14-16Revelation 22:5Romans 1:16Church is sent out withThe message of the KingdomThe mission of the KingdomThe ministry of the Kingdom
God’s vision for the Church is that they are united together in worship and devotion to King Jesus. This is a vision we are invited to model as a church community.The renewed people of God that Jesus has ransomed by His blood is a multi-cultured, multi-colored, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-everything people. Together, they now form a new Kingdom in allegiance to King Jesus.
The Throne Room is a place where both Isaiah and John received their prophetic revelation about how God would move redemptively in the future. In this message we are talking about how God still invites us to the Throne Room to receive prophetic words. In the Vineyard, all are invited to operate in the prophetic, but we use careful guidelines. In this message we explore the call, a pattern and the purpose of the prophetic.
In this series we discuss our invitation to the Throne Room of God and the impact of this invitation in our everyday lives. In this message, we discuss that the Throne Room is a place of grace. We walk through how it became a place of grace, how the accuser was thrown out and replaced by the Advocate. We also discuss the impact of the invitation to the throne of grace on our prayer lives, praying to and from the Throne Room.
This is the opening message in a 6-week series on Revelation 4-5 where we are invited to the Throne Room of God. In this introduction message we explore the meaning of the Throne Room, how this was represented in the Most Holy Place and how Jesus gave us access to God's Throne Room.
Scripture Acts 2:17-18 Intergenerational Community Questions Younger asks older Older asks younger
Scripture Summary Sin distorted our relationship with God and with each other. This happened on a personal, societal and global level. As Jesus has reconciled us back to the Father, He is also reconciling us back to each other. In this message, Koen shows how the Church is called to a work of reconciliation on…
Scripture Graphic: © 2023 Practicing the Way. Used with permission. Source: www.practicingtheway.org
What we believe about the future shapes our lives today. Therefore, it is essential to get a good perspective on eschatology; how we believe God will draw history to an end, so that we can respond accordingly. In this message, which corresponds with Koen’s book on the Revelation, he discusses how Revelation is giving us a purpose, a promise and a prayer.
Every healing story in the Gospels is put in there for a reason. There is something unique that we need to understand. In this message Koen talks through the healing story of the blind beggar and uncovers why it is there and how it is relevant for us today.
Reading Luke 10:38-42 Summary Martha opened the door of her home to Jesus and His disciples in anticipation of what could happen. She recognized the opportunity and went for it. Yet, her sister, Mary, seemed to understand the unique moment even better and sat at Jesus feet listening, resting, while Martha was distracted and hurried…
Scripture John 17:20-23Luke 17:3-5Matthew 18:21-22Psalm 133 Quote “A sense of the nearness of Christ bestowed, in a single moment, upon all the members present; and it was so unanimous that two members at work twenty miles away, unaware that the meeting was being held, became at the same time deeply conscious of the same blessing……
Scripture Matthew 11:25-30 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Mark 3:13-15 Luke 6:12-16 Questions Practices Make a plan Quotes Full participation in the life of God’s Kingdom and in the vivid companionship of Christ comes to us only through appropriate exercise in the disciplines for life in the spirit. (Dallas Willard) Matthew 11: 25-30 from the Message:Jesus said:…
Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 14:1-15, 23Which one of these questions is most challenging for you now?What do I see? Where is my heart? How is my faith?
Romans 8:18-25 In the last couple of decades, the world has woken up to the reality that the Bible has talked about all this time; that creation is not doing so well as the result of humanities fall into sin. All scientific studies are showing that the effect of humanity on the planet is far…
Exodus 6:2-9 & Exodus 15:12-13 What does redemption mean? And what does it look like? Redemption touches every aspect of our lives. It is about God restoring every thing that is distorted and giving new life and purpose. And the mission of the Kingdom is to live as the redeemed people of God and parter…
The prophetic book of Isaiah anticipated the coming of a Servant of the LORD. Someone who would give salvation and comfort, but would also suffer great tribulation. For a long time, the identity of this Servant remained hidden. Until Jesus came. In this message we talk through the Isaiah prophecy and look at how this…
Luke 9:28-36 & Matthew 17:1-13 There are some striking similarities between the lives and ministry of Elijah, Elisha and Jesus. One only has to take a look at their miracles or the symbolism behind their names. Ultimately Jesus’s life, ministry, death and resurrection is the fulfillment of Elijah and Elisha’s struggle for the identity of…
Daniel 7:9-10 & 13-14 In this message, we investigate yet another piece of the Old Testament’s mosaic of the Messiah. This time, we look at a prophecy from the book of Daniel about the Son of Man that was very important to the 1st Century Jews, and is very prominent in Jesus own vocabulary. 80…
Psalm 2 The Kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon was the kingdom at its zenith – a sign unto the whole world that life under the rule and reign of Yahweh was good. Yet, the kingdom fell apart, and one bad king after another led the people astray. The prophet Isaiah begins to look…
Hebrews 10:1-7 To the Jewish mind, the Temple was the center of the universe. It was the connection point between heaven and earth, the place of God’s throne and His dwelling. In this message, we are going to trace down the functions of the Temple from Genesis to Revelation, understanding how everything the Temple represented…
1 Cor 2:6-16 Engaging with Scripture means reading the Bible as an apprentice of Jesus, knowing that the Author is in the room with you. This sermon gives a framework for thinking about how reading Scripture should change the way you live your life. It also gives some practical methods and pointers to help you…
Scripture is a unified story that leads to Jesus. In this message, Koen reflects on the overarching story of Scripture, the connections between the Old and New Testament and on how the story of Scripture is still unfolding and we as followers of Jesus are playing a part in that. Colossians 1:15-20
Ecclesiastes chapter 3 talks about the different seasons of life. Not so much in good and bad times, but in different times with different purposes.As we go through the seasons of the year and the seasons of life, we tend to dread the Winter seasons and look forward to the Spring. But what if God actually had a special purpose for those Winter seasons in life? Are we ready to receive what He has for us in the Winter season?
In this message, we continue our learning journey about generosity that is rooted in the Gospel. We’re going to walk through 2 Corinthians 9 passage, reflecting on three important characteristics of Gospel Generosity. HOW are we invited to give?We give sacrificiallyWe give cheerfullyWe give faithfully
All disciples of Jesus are professing Christians, but not all professing Christians are disciples of Jesus. In the teaching of Jesus, especially in the Sermon on the Mount, it becomes clear that there is no such thing as half-hearted discipleship or a part-time follower. It’s either all-in or nothing. Discipleship means that we commit to…
In this message, we discuss every not-Christian's favourite Bible verse: do not judge. And the fact that this is quoted back to us so often is because the Church is infamous for its judgmental attitude. Somehow, the Church has the manage the tension of being both wildly inclusive in the way of Jesus, and persuade people to join the journey on the narrow path. How can we do this? According to Jesus, this means dying to our self-justification, hypocrisy and judgmental attitude, putting on humility and integrity instead so that we can walk in the way of loving correction.
In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins to speak about our relationship to money, speaking in profound terms. His words apply equally to those who have a lot and those who have a little, because money can be or become an idol for anyone. Jesus addresses us from the perspective that money is no neutral subject. He is making clear that there is an inherent power that money holds that will always make us desire more. We invite you to let Jesus radically reshape your approach to possessions, and consider how you assign value, what you look to for a sense of identity and security and who you serve.
In today’s passage, Jesus both gives the strongest possible confirmation that the law of Torah, and also says that there are sure limitations to it and we need to look beneath the surface of the law as we seek to live a life that glorifies God. After this introduction, Jesus goes through several hot topics…
In this opening statement to His great sermon, Jesus turns our whole understanding about His Kingdom upside down. From the get go, His listeners know that there is something very different about this man’s teaching, and they’d better pay attention. Interestingly, commentators wildly differ on how to take these blessing statements. Is Jesus describing good…
This message is an intro message to a 10-part series on the Sermon on the Mount. This one sermon from Jesus has been called: Jesus great Manifesto, a description of a life under the rule of God, a vision for individual and communal flourishing, the best TED-talk ever and many other things. Jesus intention was for His followers to live these words. But how can we? It is so radical, so counter-cultural, and perhaps unattainable? In this message, Koen is giving you a framework for approaching the Sermon on the Mount, which will serve us as a guide for the coming weeks as we work through its themes.
The pattern of the presence of God The presence of God in the OT The presence of God in this time
There is a war going on all around us, and we are not civilians, but soldiers. Paul describes the average Christian as a Roman soldier with a full armour always ready for combat. What is this fight about? Who is our enemy? And how should we prepare for battle?
In Ephesians 5, Paul encourages us to confidently and boldly live life differently from the world around us. Paul specifically highlights three areas where he is inviting Christians to stand out to the world, as children of the light, to be radically different; sex, language and our relationship to possessions. But instead of pointing us to bad behaviour to avoid, Paul is helping us to focus on the life God has for us and points us to three counter practices of the Way of Jesus.
There is something that needs to ‘sink in’ to the heart of every Christian.If this doesn’t happen – we continue to feel powerless to the struggles we face.If this doesn’t happen – we continue to feel shame over what we’ve doneIf this doesn’t happen – we continue to feel guilt over that habits we just can’t shake.If this doesn’t happen – we will always continue to feel unworthy, unloved and unwanted in the family of God.What needs to sink in is simply that what the Bible says about us is actually true.How God sees us – needs to become how we see ourselves.What is theologically true about us, needs to become our experienced reality.What we know needs to make that 10-inch drop from the head to the heart.When this sinks in, a whole new world is in front of us.If that never really sinks in, we will get stuck.
In the letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul is working out the implications of grace. He wants us to understand what grace means and how we can live in response to to grace. In today’s message, we will talk about how grace reforms us to live as the renewed people of God. And this works out on two levels; the individual level and at a communal level of the church. This message will have one theme, but be in two parts. We are first going to work out how grace reforms you and me to live as the new humanity. And then, we will look at how that same grace reforms us at a communal level into the renewed people of God.
In the letter to the Ephesians, one of Paul's purposes is to help the readers understand the huge implications of grace. You are saved by grace, not by works, but then, what are you saved for? In this first message, we are unpacking two big words: election and inheritance, and see how they relate to the purpose of our salvation.
In this message, we see in the stories of the prodigal son and the Ethiopian eunuch, God’s two-fold calling: to come to Him first because He is our loving Father, then to go out and preach Jesus as Philip did.
We often talk about the importance of God’s love, but what does it mean to walkin His unconditional and steadfast love on a daily basis? This sermon looks to thebooks of Jeremiah and Lamentations to uncover the character of God and hisundying love for His people. We see that this love is not a currency to be given orwithdrawn based on behavior or belief. God doesn’t use it that way. He doesn’tuse HIMSELF that way. Because God gave Himself fully, because Jesus died forour sins, freely we have received love and freely we can give love without fear ofaligning ourselves with sin. We don’t need to have all of the answers before weare allowed to love.
Zechariah 3 – Jesus’ love satisfies our soul. Invite our neighbor to sit under our vine and fig tree
What is it God gave you in your hands? This Sunday we looked at the story of Moses and the feeding of the multitude and what we can learn from what they did with what was in their hands.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that, if Jesus did not really resurrect from the dead, our faith is futile. What effect did the Resurrection of Jesus have? How did it change history? And how is it changing our lives today?
When the New Testament talks about us being ‘in Christ’ it is talking about that full new reality after grace – a new position, a new function, a new purpose, a new qualification. Being ‘in Christ’ is our new identity. And that identity is something that we are learning to live out as we are growing in discipleship.
In this message Koen explores further what it means to be 'in Christ' and how we in Vineyard Groningen are focussing on discipleship in this coming year.
Colossians 1:15-23 boldly declares that Jesus is the first, and the last, the genesis and the telos, the origin and the purpose, the beginning and the end. He is before all things and above all things. He is at the center of everything and holds everything together.
In this series, as we are learning about what it means to be a Gospel Community from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, today we are going to talk about what it means to have Jesus at the center of it all. What does it mean that Jesus is the head of the church?
The Lord is shaping us into a Gospel community, breathing in and breathing out the Good News of the Kingdom.
Paul wrote a letter to the Colossians, a group of Christians he never met, but heard good reports about, with some solid advice on how to move forward to grow and bear fruit.
This is the opening message of a five-part series discovering from Colossians 1-3 how Vineyard Groningen can grow in being a Gospel Community.
Ephesians tells us to make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Matthijs den Dekker, today's speaker, has a hard time opening his eyes for the evil in this world. It means allowing anger and allow feeling powerless. This sermon explores these emotions and tries to find ways to not close off for the evil in our times.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do all kinds of 'cool' stuff. But as we are wrapping up this series, it is important to also talk about a less 'cool' but very real other quality that we receive through the Spirit; the power to endure.
Enduring is not something that we look forward to in our faith. In this sermon Jan Achterberg will discuss why this is necessary and what we can due to grow our spiritual endurance.
Our understanding of the Gospel is far too individualistic and far too narrow.
Through various developments in theology, sociology and culture, we have primarily come to understand the Gospel as a message about personal salvation; grace + faith = going to heaven when you die.
But the Gospel is much more than that. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news about the Kingdom is about transformation. The transformation of lives, of families, cities and generations.
In this message, we are going to talk about 1) where transformation starts, 2) what it requires and 3) how it continues. And these principles will apply to bigger and smaller settings; as small as a family or a group of friends, and as big as a country. It could apply to your small group, your neighbourhood, your work place or your school.
However big or small the setting is that you have in mind while listening, we believe that the Holy Spirit wants to partner with you to bring Kingdom transformation. And my prayer is that today’s message will inspire you for what this might look like for you.
At Vineyard, we believe that Jesus transferred His Kingdom ministry to His disciples and to the church. This means that we are called to do everything that Jesus did through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to partner with us to bring God’s Kingdom to people, and this includes miraculous healing of physical, emotional and spiritual illnesses.
In this message, we explore the four motivations Jesus had for His healing ministry and the five-step prayer model.
Why do we keep the best news in the world hidden like a dirty little secret?
In this message, we are going to take a master-class in personal evangelism from Philip the Evangelist. The story about how he led the Ethiopian official to a decision for Jesus will help us to become more confident in sharing the gospel, and open to the voice of the Spirit leading us to people that He has prepared to receive this good news.
The first church was an international church consisting of Jews and proselytes from every nation under heaven that temporarily resided in Jerusalem. Yet, they experienced an incredible sense of unity.
Meeting together around the table – where all are equal and united, where food was shared and stories were told, everyone had a place and a unique contribution. This is a result of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit among them.
What could unity look like? Why is it so important? And what is required from us to support and protect this unity?
In this series, we have talked about some very beautiful and important things. But there is an essential piece of the puzzle that's been missing; the Holy Spirit. In this series, there is also one essential puzzle piece that is still missing, but will be uncovered today; the Holy Spirit.
Without the work of the Holy Spirit, nothing of what is theologically true about you, will actually find its way into your heart, mind and practice. But through the work of the Holy Spirit, what is true about you will also become our experienced reality.
In this message Koen will explain how the disciples became the apostles after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, and how we need to be filled with the Spirit as well in order to walk in the new life Jesus has made available to us.
What we believe about our destiny greatly impacts our discipleship. To understand well how we should live today, we have to have a good understanding of where God is moving our world.
In theology, this is called eschatology. And eschatology is hotly debated within the Christian world. In this message, we explore the four different systems of interpretation based in Revelation 20:1-10 and understand this all in the light of what the rest of the Bible says about God's coming Kingdom. Finally, we will explore how our eschatology should shape our daily lives as disciples of Jesus.
In this message, we will trace back what it means to be the people of God with two terms: covenant and kingdom. We are going to discover how God purposed His people, Israel to be His covenant and kingdom people, how the covenant was broken and the kingdom lost, how it is restored and repurposed in Jesus and what that all means for us today.
In this message, we look at our relationship with God, relationship with others and relationship with the earth in four different realities described in the Bible; the original reality, the distorted reality, the new reality and the future.
Follow the storyline of Scripture and discover what the restoration of these relationships means for our mission today.
The modern understanding of self has become highly psychologized. No one else can tell you who you truly are and what you should do. As long as you don’t limit anyone else’s freedom, you ought to have complete freedom to do, say, feel, and be what you want.
What we see happening though in a world that holds these views on discovering your authentic self, is that many seem to be struggling to find a sense of identity. Part of the problem is that a sense of identity is often constructed by the self, instead of given by the Creator, and therefore fragile and incomplete.
In this message, we'll discover together how our sense of identity should be based in the fact that we are created in the image of God. We'll also consider how that identity was lost through sin and is restored through Jesus.
On Easter Sunday we launched a new sermon series that will continue until Pentecost Sunday. In this series we will study the Kingdom of God in light of the Resurrection. We will discover how Easter changed everything forever.
The Resurrection is the kick-start of His big renovation project. Through His Resurrection power He is renewing our lives, sending us out as agents of renewal and changing the course of human history towards a complete restoration when He says; see, I am making ALL THINGS NEW.
When Mary, sister of Lazarus, a week before Easter anointed the feet of Jesus, this was the most extravagant expression of love and honour she could think of. Could it be that the most valuable thing that we have to offer to our Lord today is actually our time and attention? And could it be that, giving that time and attention to our loving Father, is actually fulfilling the deepest craving of the soul?
In this message you will be inspired to consider what it would look like in your life to live in a constant sense of communion with God.
If everything you prayed for this last week would happen in this coming week, would anyone notice?
You and I, we are invited by the Living God to partner with Him in prayer, to see His Kingdom come to earth, and to let His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
A word that is often used for this type of prayer is “intercession” which gives this picture of standing in the gap between heaven and earth. Our feet planted firmly in the reality of a broken world, but our hands lifted high reaching to heaven and our spirits boldly appearing before God’s Throne of grace saying; Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Why is intercession so important in the Christian life, and how can we learn to make this part of our daily rhythm?
Any move of God in history, great or small, famous or not, was prepared through prayer, ignited by prayer, sustained by prayer and led to more prayer.
Prayer is the fuel for anything that God is doing in this world – on a personal, local, national or global level. Therefore it is impossible to overstate the importance of developing a strong prayer life.
In this message, we are learning from the prayer life of Jesus to find a time, a place and a plan to get started.
The Sabbath is the set-apart day for the set-apart people of God to cultivate their set-apartness in this world.
We are called to live a life of worship, to live as a people wholly devoted to God, living out the character of Christ. But it is that set-apart day that we use to cultivate that set-apartness through shifting our attention from all the things that demand our attention all week, and dedicate our time and focus to worship and devotion.
The Sabbath is meant to be the best day of the week, filled with joy and laughter, with good friends and great people. The Sabbath serves us as a weekly celebration of all that is good about God, the world and life itself.
Celebration, embracing joy, embracing all that is good in the world, enjoying the fellowship of believers, even if it is just for one day a week, is a powerful tool to resist cynicism and to become people of joy.
There are many things in our lives that can take our passion away. How can we resist these things and get our passion back? In this message Ricky Venter, pastor of Vineyard Brussels, takes us through Psalm 23 to give us some keys how to get our passion back.
Sabbath is a key-stone habit to resist a culture of restlessness. The combination of insatiable desires in our heart and a consumption-driven digital economy constantly drives us to want more, have more, be more. Sabbath invites us to leave the tyrannical system of more and experience a deep satisfaction in God, so that our soul can find rest in Him.
In this message we take a closer look at how Sabbath comes to us in the Law, with the intention to make sure that the people of God would not treat themselves, or anyone or anything else as goods to be consumed or commodities to be dispatched for endless production, but to trust in God, be satisfied with enough and ensure justice for all.
This is a highly relevant message for us today as well, as we are living under a system that looks a lot like Egypt, always driven to more and more. But there is another, more painful side to this as well. Failing to keep the Sabbath and a drivenness to more also takes away Sabbath-rest from the most vulnerable, and turns us into slave-drivers.
But our God is a Sabbath-keeping and a Sabbath-giving God.
Sabbath answers a deep need in our soul that is wasting away under the constant demand and activity and the inner and outer expectations to always be busy. In this message, we do a quick run through Scripture to discover the purpose of Sabbath. In the coming three weeks, we'll take a deeper dive into Sabbath as a way to Stop, Rest, Delight and Worship.
This message is part of a four week series on Sabbath. This series is part of a three year long journey that our church will take with Practicing The Way, exploring nine practices from the way of Jesus to help us reorient our lives around following Him.
What is the single most important quality of any team, band, group, community or political party, that will ensure success? Unity.
Any united effort needs a deep sense of unity around a common vision and goal in order to flourish. And the book of Nehemiah is jam-packed with lessons for what it means to operate in unity.
In this message, Koen will run through Nehemiah 2-6 and unpack some lessons about the importance of unity, and apply this to the life of the church.
The report about the state of the city of Jerusalem broke Nehemiah's heart. For days he could do nothing but weep and pray. This became his calling experience. He understood that God was sending him to Jerusalem to lead the rebuilding project.
What is your heart breaking for? As we set out on a new year, what is the Spirit's invitation to you?
Is your life pointing people to Jesus? The first chapter of John's Gospel frequently talks about John the Baptist as the prophet that bears witness to Jesus, the Messiah. As we close off our Advent series we are going to learn from John’s life, how our lives can point people to Jesus.
Through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God radically intervened in human history. He responded to what He thought was the biggest need of planet earth. He sent His one and only Son down from heaven to live life as a human being – the creative word of God became flesh and bones and blood – to live among us. And what did He come to bring? Grace and Truth.
The opening of John's Gospel is very different from the others. Instead of starting at Jesus' birth, John starts even further back: creation. When John opens his Gospel story, the Good News of Jesus Christ, he introduces Jesus to us as a light that is breaking in and breaking through the darkness of our world. It is an act of re-creation by God. There is a new hope, there is new life and a new chance through Jesus Christ.
John’s language is grand and abstract, even metaphysical. Yet, this news has very personal implications. And the big question is; How will you respond? How will you respond to the light of God shining into the darkness of our world?
John is giving us three ways to respond. Put very simply: 1) receive the light, 2) live in the light, and 3) witness to the light.
The main mission strategy of Jesus was hospitality.
In this message we explore the fascinating story of how Jesus sat down with a traitor and his promiscuous friends for a meal, and in doing so expressed God's grace and generous welcome to all. How can hospitality become our mission strategy as well?
The main mission strategy of Jesus was hospitality.
In this message we explore the fascinating story of how Jesus sat down with a traitor and his promiscuous friends for a meal, and in doing so expressed God's grace and generous welcome to all. How can hospitality become our mission strategy as well?
Our communal God has called us into a relationship with Himself that is then strengthened by our relationships with one another so that our collective witness shows Jesus to a watching world. Community is a key-practice in the life of Jesus not only for this reason but also, because it is the frame from which many other Way of Jesus practices are lived out.
A heart posture of generosity means that you make room in your budget, calendar and priorities for the benefit of others; not just other people that we know and like, but other people in general.
In this message, Koen discusses three principles of generosity based on Luke 6:27-38
A heart posture of generosity means that you make room in your budget, calendar and priorities for the benefit of others; not just other people that we know and like, but other people in general.
In this message, Koen discusses three principles of generosity based on Luke 6:27-38
Simplicity is a key-practice in the way of Jesus. The inward reality that forms the basis for a lifestyle of simplicity is a heart that is simply set on God’s Kingdom alone, or as Jesus put it: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Practicing simplicity is a baseline practice for all the practices that we are teaching on, helping us to keep our focus on God and His Kingdom, setting that as our priority, and then reorient our life around it.
Simplicity is a key-practice in the way of Jesus. The inward reality that forms the basis for a lifestyle of simplicity is a heart that is simply set on God’s Kingdom alone, or as Jesus put it: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Practicing simplicity is a baseline practice for all the practices that we are teaching on, helping us to keep our focus on God and His Kingdom, setting that as our priority, and then reorient our life around it.
Solitude is the spiritual discipline of giving undivided attention to your formation as a follower of Jesus. It can take place in private as you immerse yourself in prayer and face your temptations and fears, or it can take the shape of ‘being alone with God among people’ as you receive ministry prayer.
Solitude is the spiritual discipline of giving undivided attention to your formation as a follower of Jesus. It can take place in private as you immerse yourself in prayer and face your temptations and fears, or it can take the shape of ‘being alone with God among people’ as you receive ministry prayer.
On an average day, you and I have to digest a vast amount of information and messages. What we need to realise, is that every bit of information has an agenda for formation. What we take in has a deep impact on how we view ourselves and the world. Yet, not all the information we have to process in a day aligns with what our loving Creator is saying. This is why it is important for every Christian to develop a daily practice of reading Scripture.
Fasting is the spiritual discipline of abstaining from food for a certain period of time in order to engage the whole self in drawing near to God in prayer. It’s a way to express your hunger for God, and to let go of some lesser things in order to reach out to more important things.
Prayer is foundational to our relationship with God. Jesus invites us to pray without ceasing as a way to constantly remind us of His Fatherhood to us, and because of this, He asks us to begin our prayers by addressing Him as Our Father. Although He is our King, Friend, Almighty God, he wants us to approach Him as a Father. He is a Father who longs for an intimate relationship with us as His children. A Father who is so generous and willing to give us even more than what we ask of Him.
The first, and cornerstone practice in following the way of Jesus, is the practice of Sabbath.
In this message, Matthijs explains more about the theological background, and practice of this day of worship and prayer.
This is part 1 of a 10-week series about organising your life around being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus and doing what Jesus did. In this series, we are going to get very practical, because we believe that being a disciple of Jesus is about much more than holding certain beliefs, it's about adopting the lifestyle of Jesus.
This series is the start of a two year journey deeper into the practices of Jesus with the organisation Practicing The Way. www.practicingtheway.org
This is part 1 of a 10-week series about organising your life around being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus and doing what Jesus did. In this series, we are going to get very practical, because we believe that being a disciple of Jesus is about much more than holding certain beliefs, it's about adopting the lifestyle of Jesus.
This series is the start of a two year journey deeper into the practices of Jesus with the organisation Practicing The Way. www.practicingtheway.org
For years, Jan tried to combine sports and faith, but it didn't work out. People in the world of sports didn't understand his faith, and people in church didn't understand his commitment to his sport. Until he discovered that line in Romans 12 where it says that we are supposed to dedicate our whole body as living sacrifices for the glory of God.
This message was given on our first Sports Sunday, and is the last in a three part series on Identity, answering the questions: Who Am I? Where Do I Belong? and What Is My Purpose?
For years, Jan tried to combine sports and faith, but it didn't work out. People in the world of sports didn't understand his faith, and people in church didn't understand his commitment to his sport. Until he discovered that line in Romans 12 where it says that we are supposed to dedicate our whole body as living sacrifices for the glory of God.
This message was given on our first Sports Sunday, and is the last in a three part series on Identity, answering the questions: Who Am I? Where Do I Belong? and What Is My Purpose?
We all have a deep inner need to know others and be known by others. Whether you trace this back to a pre-historic context where exclusion meant immanent death or early childhood development and attachment theory and oxytocin – it all points to the same thing: we are wired for community.
This is why we find it important to 'fit in' and connect to others with similar values or hobbies. And this is also why the deepest hurt we can experience comes from relationships - a parent that didn't hear you, classmates that excluded you, a boss that bullied you or a relationship that ended in tears.
God invites us to know Him and experience being known by Him. And He invites us into His family, the community of believers, where we can belong through knowing others and being known by others.
We all have a deep inner need to know others and be known by others. Whether you trace this back to a pre-historic context where exclusion meant immanent death or early childhood development and attachment theory and oxytocin – it all points to the same thing: we are wired for community.
This is why we find it important to 'fit in' and connect to others with similar values or hobbies. And this is also why the deepest hurt we can experience comes from relationships - a parent that didn't hear you, classmates that excluded you, a boss that bullied you or a relationship that ended in tears.
God invites us to know Him and experience being known by Him. And He invites us into His family, the community of believers, where we can belong through knowing others and being known by others.
As a child, the answer to the 'Who Am I?' question was simply saying your first name. Later in life, this answer no longer satisfies. In the ages of hyper individualism, placing high value on choice, autonomy and independence, this simple answer actually became harder to give a satisfying answer to. People tend to look two different ways for identity questions; outward and inward. As Christians though, we have another way to look to find an answer that truly satisfies.
We're going on an adventure! Sunday's message is now online. Alex preaches on the story of Joseph, which is actually the story of the house of Jacob. Joseph's life was quite a journey, but very different from the typical 'hero saga'. Are you ready for the Holy Spirit to take you on an adventure?
We're going on an adventure! Sunday's message is now online. Alex preaches on the story of Joseph, which is actually the story of the house of Jacob. Joseph's life was quite a journey, but very different from the typical 'hero saga'. Are you ready for the Holy Spirit to take you on an adventure?
In this message we look at the life story of Jacob. In the story of Jacob, we find God working beauty in brokenness. In Jacob’s story, we find a lot of brokenness. Yet, God is working amidst of all of it.
We will walk through three tendencies in Jacob’s life, deception, dysfunction and struggle, and seek to apply some of his life lessons to our lives.
In this message we look at the life story of Jacob. In the story of Jacob, we find God working beauty in brokenness. In Jacob’s story, we find a lot of brokenness. Yet, God is working amidst of all of it.
We will walk through three tendencies in Jacob’s life, deception, dysfunction and struggle, and seek to apply some of his life lessons to our lives.
In this message, we are going to look at the life story of Abraham. His story in Scripture covers a period of 100 years, starting when he was 75, to his death at 175. Abraham’s life story is foundational, because so much of it speaks to how God is going to write the story of His people and how He wants to interact with His people. It sets up the story of Israel and the plan of salvation God has for this world. We are going to pick up on some threads in this story that are key to understanding how this all plays into the story God is unfolding in Scripture.
In this message, we are going to look at the life story of Abraham. His story in Scripture covers a period of 100 years, starting when he was 75, to his death at 175. Abraham’s life story is foundational, because so much of it speaks to how God is going to write the story of His people and how He wants to interact with His people. It sets up the story of Israel and the plan of salvation God has for this world. We are going to pick up on some threads in this story that are key to understanding how this all plays into the story God is unfolding in Scripture.
In the Summer, we are going to zoom in on some Bible characters from the Old Testament, looking at their stories, understanding how they relate to God's big story, and learning what that means for the unfolding story of our lives.
Our world is a world of stories. We engage with stories almost every day through TV, books and other media. These stories are far more than entertainment. They shape our view of the world, and they give us a reference point for our unfolding story.
As people of the Word, we have such a rich resource of ancient life stories that play a significant part in God's story. As they say: "history is His-story". Understanding this will help us to understand our own lives in the context of God's unfolding story and will also help us to more freely share our story with others, believing they can meet Christ in it.
In this message, we look at the full story of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation.
The final chapters of the Bible paint a picture of heaven coming down to earth in the form of the New Jerusalem; a garden-city in which those who belong to God can live with Him forever, completely restored, completely renewed. This future is not something we can accomplish through human willpower or progress. It is a future that can only come through Christ’s return. Yet, as ambassadors of this coming Kingdom, we get to build for the Kingdom. We can actively announce it, and live in anticipation of its arrival.
In Revelation 21-22 we see three themes jumping out: Presence, Restoration and Flourishing. We’ll discuss all three in the text and then seek to apply how we live as a people belonging to that future reality, announcing it in the here and now, as God’s church in this city and as God’s people in our neighborhoods.
In this message, we discuss an unpopular and uncomfortable topic: Hell.
What are we supposed to say about it, think about it, do about it? And what if you are a Bible believing Christian that loves God, but is highly uncomfortable with the idea that your best friend who happens not to be a Christian is going to be thrown in a lake of fire where he will be tormented forever and ever without any hope or perspective?
Let's dig in to what the Bible has to say about all this.
One of the major themes in Revelation is Babylon. The book sharply points out what it is, where its power comes from, what it does and what its fate is. Babylon is the demonic infused human empire that aspires God's throne and hates God's people. It is the antithesis to the Kingdom of God. In this message, Koen looks at Revelation 13, 17 and 18 to unpack the truth about Babylon, focusing on its call to those who belong to God's Kingdom to 'come out of her'. What does this mean and how is this all relevant for our lives today?
The visions in Revelation of the three series of judgment set the tone for how people respond to the book as a whole. Some protest, some are puzzled, some take it literal and some try to spiritualise it away.
In this message, Koen Prinzen gives 7 keys to give you a better framework for understanding of the judgment scenes in Revelation, perhaps taking away some of that discomfort, and understanding what it means for us today so that we can respond with faith, rather than with fear.
Revelation 4-5 is the centering vision of the whole book. From this vision of the Throne Room, the rest of the book will unfold. In this message, we explore the concentric circles op beings around the throne involved in worship, and the meaning of the Lamb that is worthy to open the scroll.
We end by looking forward to the next three parts in this series in Revelation, understanding what we are taking with us when we journey through the rest of the book and talk about Judgment, Babylon and the Conquering Saints.
This message is part of a 7-week series on Revelation. In this series we are uncovering the relevance of this incredible book for our daily lives. We will cover topics like; judgment, Babylon, heaven and hell. What does this mysterious and book teach us about how to follow Jesus in the 21st Century? Let's dig in.
The book of Revelation is receiving mixed reviews from Christians and non-Christians. You either love it or hate it. Some treat it as the main body of a biblical puzzle to create a timeline for the end times. Some are just freaked out by it and treat it as if it is not in the Bible at all. In this message, we talk about how the book of Revelation presents itself to us; as an apocalypse, a prophecy and a letter, and we talk about why this is the most satisfying end to the biblical canon possible.
When we fail to embrace the message of the Resurrection we will continue to live in defeat. The grace of God does not only change our ultimate destiny, but also our everyday reality. In this message, Koen Prinzen discusses 1 Corinthians 15 to understand that through the resurrection of Jesus, we share in His victory over sin, death and meaninglessness.
In times of crisis, how do we keep sane and prevent being overwhelmed? It’s by walking in the way of humility, after Jesus’ example. When we walk in the way of humility, we will be bold when God’s justice calls us to, merciful for people even to the point of loving our enemies, and we will live within the limitations of the Holy Spirit’s leading for us, personally.
The life and death of Jesus is calling us to a type of hospitality that goes a layer deeper than hospitality shown to friends. Embracing the Gospel of the Kingdom means laying aside your fear of the other, in order to embrace them in unconditional love.
The opposite of the way of mercy, is the way of apathy – simply not caring about the other. But mercy is shown when we have the power or availability to bless someone in need or show grace, and do so. Jesus calls us to be merciful, the way He was merciful.
Jesus calls us to do something very counter-intuitive; ‘love your enemies’? How far should this go? Is this even realistic? Jesus taught, modeled and multiplied enemy love. His enemy love led to our salvation, and through radically loving their enemies, the first Christians spread the Gospel through the world. But how can we practice it today?
We continue our 12-week series called “The Way of Jesus”. In this series we will spend a lot of time exploring the life of Jesus as a model or a blueprint for our own lives, contrasting it with the way of the world.
This time Andre van Zyl speaks about "The Way of Self Denial" and what is means to pick up your cross and follow Jesus.
We continue our 12-week series called “The Way of Jesus”. In this series we will spend a lot of time exploring the life of Jesus as a model or a blueprint for our own lives, contrasting it with the way of the world.
This time Koen speaks about "The Way of the Lonely Place" and the importance of taking time regularly just to be with God and listen to His voice.
We continue our 12-week series called “The Way of Jesus”. In this series we will spend a lot of time exploring the life of Jesus as a model or a blueprint for our own lives, contrasting it with the way of the world.
This time Frank speaks about "The Way of Community" and the importance of sharing your faith in the context of a Christian community.
Many of us are very concerned with the question: 'What is God's plan for my life?'. What does He want me to do? Where does He want me to go? Whom does He want me to be with? These are all good and important questions. But the question that precedes all these question is: 'What is God's way for my life'?
This is the opening message of a 12-week series called “The Way of Jesus”. In this series we will spend a lot of time exploring the life of Jesus as a model or a blueprint for our own lives, contrasting it with the way of the world.
Between Easter and Pentecost, we make an audio file available to you weekly to help you to pray for our city. We encourage you to find a moment this week to prayer walk. This week's topic is 'Bless the City - what is God stirring in me?'
Between Easter and Pentecost, we make an audio file available to you weekly to help you to pray for our city. We encourage you to find a moment this week to prayer walk. This week's topic is 'The Government & Local Authorities'
Between Easter and Pentecost, we make an audio file available to you weekly to help you to pray for our city. We encourage you to find a moment this week to prayer walk. This week's topic is 'The International Student Community in Groningen'
Between Easter and Pentecost, we make an audio file available to you weekly to help you to pray for our city. We encourage you to find a moment this week to prayer walk. This week's topic is 'Immigrants, Expats an Refugees'.
Between Easter and Pentecost 2021, we will make a weekly Guided Prayer Walk available to help you to intercede for the city.
Between Easter and Pentecost 2021, we will make a weekly Guided Prayer Walk available to help you to intercede for the city.
Between Easter and Pentecost 2021, we will make a weekly Guided Prayer Walk available to help you to intercede for the city.
Every single Christian is called to be an intercessor. God has given us the privilege to participate in seeing His plans for this world and for individuals come to pass through intercession prayer. In this message, Koen gives you a model to approach intercession based on the functioning of the priests in the Old Testament.
God is inviting us into an intimate, honest and uncensored conversation with Him. Jesus challenges us to approach God with the faith of a child. When we drop our pretence, we open up space for God to also do a deep work within us.
The words of the Bible hold an incredible transformative power. But most of us don't have a daily practice of reading the Bible in such a way that it actually changes us. In this message I'm going to say a bit more about how we can adopt a habit of meditating on Scripture.
A big questions that I've been considering from the beginning of this crisis is: "What is God doing in the midst of this?" I don't believe that a virus like this comes from God, but a crisis like this will surely be used by God to do something significant in our society and in our personal lives. Could it be that God is using this time to draw us closer to Himself? In the coming weeks, we'll be exploring some spiritual practices that can help you to flourish in your relationship with God.
One fact about the Resurrection of Jesus, that is often overlooked, is that it takes place in a garden. And this has tremendous significance. Through Jesus Resurrection, a new season has set in, God is redeeming the world and has reversed the curse of Eden.
Just before Jesus would go into the most difficult 24 hours of His life, He turned to the Father to pray for His disciples. The things Jesus prays for there, directly apply to the turbulent times we live in today. We need to keep the right focus and not get distracted. Jesus prays that we would focus on 1) our relationship with God, 2) our unity with each other and 3) our presence in the world.
Frank shares with us from John 13:1-7 as part of the Road to Easter sermon series. In a time like this we do need to remind ourselves about the story of Easter and how God identifies with the situation we are in right now with the covid-19 disease.
We continue our sermon series ‘Road to Easter’ at Vineyard Groningen online due to restrictions caused by the Covid-19 (Corona) virus outbreak in The Netherlands. We’ll be looking at some of the events in the life of Jesus in the week before His crucifixion and resurrection. Alex ten Cate takes us through to story of John 12:20-33 where Jesus’ makes his speech in the week leading up to his crucifixion.
We are in a series Road to Easter where we are following the last weeks of Jesus' life. This week we read from the passage about His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We look at what it means that Jesus is the Messiah and how this was not the Messiah they were looking for.
Today we are starting off a new sermon series which is going to lead us right to Easter. In fact, it is called: Road to Easter. We’ll be looking at some of the events in the life of Jesus in the week before His crucifixion and resurrection We kick-off with the story of Mary anointing Jesus' feet with a very expensive perfume and based on that we will look at five characteristics and effects of true worship.
Simple answers to complex questions are not a sign of a mature faith. The most brilliant mind in Christian history said that as his faith matured, he understood that his understanding was partial and incomplete. In dealing with all the tensions and complex questions in the Kingdom, we are left with three tools: faith, hope and love.
This week we look at our relationship with the world. How Christians are supposed to be in the world but not of the world.This is something many of us struggle with daily because it has so many dimensions. Based on the prayer of Jesus for his disciples from John 17 we look at the tension between what it means to be in the world but not of the world.
What is your go to strategy to deal with a challenge or an issue in your life? Do you spur into action? Or do you devote to prayer? Here’s the thing. This is not an either-or thing. Our prayers and our actions are supposed to be intertwined. We fully rely on God, yet we understand that He is calling us to usher in His Kingdom.
Ever heard of the Dutch word “eenheidsworst”? Literally translated, this would be sausage-unity. It’s a type of unity where you have to lose your uniqueness in. This is not the type of unity the Bible calls us to. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares the church to a body, where all the unique parts contribute in a uniquely valuable way to form a well-functioning unity. In this message, I want to talk about a tension we may experience sometimes in a church. It is a tension of uniqueness and unity. God has created all of us uniquely – with our own personality, strengths, weaknesses and some of us with a special manual. God has also created us to live intimately connected to others.
In the Kingdom of God, we experience a certain tension that is constantly stretching us, challenging us and puzzling us. We experience this tension because of two opposing realities that we experience simultaneously – the already and the not yet. This is a tension that is constantly stretching us. How can we deal with this? And what does the Bible have to say about it?
The new year provides us with a natural moment for a fresh start. Many of us make new year's resolutions, yet, many of those resolutions don't turn into new habits. How can we do resolutions in a better way, setting us up to experience God's blessing and direction for in the new year?
This last Sunday of the year Matthijs shares with us on the topic of rest. Maybe sometimes finding rest is something we struggle with, it feels like rest is constantly under attack. You may feel there is not enough time for everything you would like to do. In creeps anxiety, worry and restlessness. We need to try to find rest, because The Bible commands us to rest.
The whole Christmas story is one big culture clash. Heaven and earth collide with a loud: BANG! What did the God of heaven and earth, who arranged for three men to come from a far away land following a star, but didn't arrange proper lodging for Joseph and Mary on the night of Jesus' birth, want to communicate to us?
Ernst shares with us based on the scriptures about the announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ and Mary and Elizabeth responses to it an encouraging message on how the Word of God will never fail. And, how in the same way in our lives when we take the Word of God and read it, take it in, there will come a moment when it will make sense when the Holy Spirit comes and empowers it.
Are you ready for what God wants to do through you? In this post, we will look at two different people; Zachariah and Mary. Both receive a special visit from an angel with the announcement of the greatest assignment of their lifetime. One responds in doubt, the other one in faith. Are you currently in tune with what God is doing in you and what He wants to do through you? Is He speaking? Are you listening?
Last week we looked at how Jesus sends us out and gives us authority to spread the Kingdom of God by being witnesses of the Good News and affirming our message with signs and wonders. Today we focus on how, as a church, we can fulfil our calling by impacting the city of Groningen. We call this: Bless The City.
Today we continue with the Kingdom Life message series. Last week I kicked off the final part of the journey, setting out the destiny story throughout all of Scripture. Today, we dive a bit deeper into how Jesus is sending us out to proclaim and demonstrate the rule and reign of God.
God has created us all for a purpose. He has put a destiny on our lives. In this message, we'll explore how destiny was given at creation, lost at the fall, restored in Jesus, fulfilled when Jesus comes again and how all of this translates into our everyday lives.
This week Alex shares with us about the importance of identity and purpose in our every day life and how it changes when our identity and purpose get wrapped up in understanding where Jesus came from, what He’s here to do and where He is going.
We are in a message series called The Kingdom Life to discover what it means to have a full life in Christ. In this series we’re trying to get a wider grasp of the impact of the Gospel through understanding how, in Jesus, our intimacy with God is restored. The Bible says that we are new creations; dead to sin and alive to God. We live in a new reality. But….. why does it not always feel like a new reality? Why do we still struggle with sin, if the Bible so clearly says we are dead to it? In this message called "Identity Crisis", we are going to look at some answers to these questions in Romans 6. We will also look at a completely new strategy to battle with sin.
We are in a message series called The Kingdom Life to discover what it means to have a full life in Christ. In this series we’re trying to get a wider grasp of the impact of the Gospel through understanding how, in Jesus, our intimacy with God is restored – we did that over the last three Sundays, how our identity is restored and in November we will talk about how we are restored to our destiny. Today we are kicking off the topic of ‘identity’. This time we will take you on a journey starting in Genesis to discover how God intended it, how we went astray and how Jesus restored us to our true identity.
We are in a message series called The Kingdom Life to discover what it means to have a full life in Christ. In this series we’re trying to get a wider grasp of the impact of the Gospel through understanding how, in Jesus, our intimacy with God is restored. Jesus revealed God to us as a Father. To truly embrace intimacy with God, it is essential that we understand the Father-heart of God. This sermon's focus is to help you to understand that God is a good and perfect Father. I will show from a well-known story of Jesus how a wrong view of God's Father-heart can have deep consequences in our lives, but also, how our Father longs to restore this.
What does intimacy with God look like? The Bible provides us with many detailed descriptions of how people interacted with God. We’ve got David’s very emotional prayer journal in the Psalms. We find many detailed stories of how the prophets interacted with God and of course we have the life of Jesus who modeled complete unity with the Father. Today we explore a chapter in the life of Moses with you in this blogpost and distill four powerful lessons for our lives and our relationship with God.
Today Frank Tsiwah shared with us on the topic of Spiritual Warfare - how to deal with temptations and how our battle is won one small thought at a time.
We all face challenges, disappointments, pain, sorrow, sickness, loss, grief and worries over what might happen. The one may have more problems than the other, but no one’s life is free of any of this. How can we still haves joy in times like this?
In this series I’ve been speaking about joy from the book of Philippians. But when I speak about Christian joy, we do not speak about the smile on the surface. Too many people have walked into too many churches with a big fake smile on their faces while dying on the inside. Too many churches have not been a safe environment to really share what is going on. But that’s not what church is supposed to be like. God wants the real you, and refuses to minister to your mask.
This is part 3/4 in the DNA of Joy series on the book of Philippians. Today we continued on how we can keep our joy. The joy we have received from God does not depend on circumstances. Nothing or no one can ever take it away from us because its foundation is Christ. Unless of course, we let in a robber to steal it. In chapter 3 of his letter to the Philippians, Paul warns us against legalism. This does not only steal our own joy, but also that of others.
Last week we started this series discussing Philippians chapter 1 and compared happiness with joy. Today we continue in the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, where he stresses the importance of being a healthy community of believers that truly reflects the life and character of Jesus. Joy increases and abounds in community. Where ‘happiness’ focuses on the self, the joy of the Lord moves us to live in community with others. In the passage that we discuss today, Paul gives some very important guidelines and instructions about how to live in healthy Christian community.
Today we start off a new message series called DNA of JOY. As we are at the beginning of a new church year, the holiday is officially over and we enjoy the sunshine not with that anticipation like in the Spring, but with a certain melancholic feeling of; “let’s enjoy it while it lasts” – it is probably a good idea to talk about what it means to have JOY. In this message series we will go through the book of Philippians.
We are the middle of a message series called Summer Psalms in which different speakers look at a message from the book of Psalms. This week Alex takes us through Psalm 115 by looking at the difference between serving idols and being image bearers of God The Father and how we can be free from hard religious work to 'let go and let God'.
We are starting a series on Summer Psalms. Frank kicks off this first message by looking at Psalm 1 with the topic 'The Happiness we so Desire'. He explains that happiness is not based on circumstances but on the basis of who you are.
Jonas continues our series on Hope as he speaks on the topic of ''When Hoping Hurts'. In this series we look at biblical hope as an attitude of expectation and desire for the fulfillment of the promises of God. This Sunday Jonas takes us through several verses in the Bible to show the real source of rooted hope. And he takes us through some very practical applications on how to continue living in hope.
In this last message of the series we talk about the difference the Holy Spirit makes in the life of a believer. When we talk about all the work the Holy Spirit does in the believer, do you feel like this also applies to you? Learning to live under the constant influence of the Spirit is a life-long journey. Allow yourself the time to discover how to do this and learn to listen to the voice of the Spirit.
In this message series Living Under Influence, we started exploring about how the Spirit sets us free and guides us to live a life that glorifies Jesus. Then we went on to discover how the Holy Spirit empowers us to continue the mission and ministry of the Kingdom of God. I want to take this one step further and discover what the Bible says about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
In this message series about the Holy Spirit called Living Under Influence we discussed how the Spirit is setting us free to live the life we were created for and how the Spirit is guiding us. In this blogpost we are going to discuss how the Holy Spirit is involved in the expansion of the Kingdom of God.
Today is the second Sunday in the series Living Under Influence – don’t be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. You and I are called to live life under the constant influence of the Holy Spirit. He plays an essential role in every single part of our lives as Christians, and we shouldn’t be uninformed about how He works. Last week we discovered that He is the Spirit of Freedom. He leads us to a life of freedom, the life we were meant to live, no longer bound to sin. Today we are going to take this a step further and talk about how He is guiding us in that new life of freedom.
We are starting a new message series called “Living Under Influence”. As Christians, we are called to live a life full of the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit enables us to live life differently. To live a life of freedom and impact. Too many Christians stay uninformed about the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. They understand God the Father. They understand that Jesus is the Son of God – but the person of the Holy Spirit is one big question mark, or a very boxed in view of what He does. Yet, the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is absolutely essential. We start today with discovering how, through the Holy Spirit, we live a life of freedom.
In this sermon we look at three stories of prominent disciples of Jesus. In the passion week, their faith in the Lord Jesus was tested intensely, and these three didn’t pass the test with flying colours. The three disciples are Judas, Peter and Thomas. Their names are closely associated with the scenes that we will look at today. In their stories we find disappointment, fear, shame and doubt. Yet, two of the three find restoration after the resurrection of Jesus.
We are closing off the series The Generous Life today. On the first Sunday, we laid out some general principles around generosity. Last week we talked about how to break the power of mammon over your life through generosity. We would like to finish with a final message about generous discipleship. As we are going to explore some Scriptures today, we will soon discover that the life Jesus is calling us to is a life of sacrifice for the King and for His Kingdom.
This is part 2/3 in the The Generous Life series. Last week we looked at Luke 6 where Jesus gives us this radical challenge. Today we will look at a different passage where He gives us a radical choice - you either serve God, or you serve mammon. You cannot divide your life up into little parts. You cannot just be a Christian in weekends and a secular person on weekdays. You cannot divide life up into material and spiritual, thinking that they aren’t connected. There is a clear choice, and you cannot do both.
We are starting a new message series that will run over three Sundays: The Generous Life. We are going to look at the life and teaching of Jesus around this topic. This Sunday we look at the topic of 'Understanding Generosity'. The level of generosity and love put into practice that Jesus is calling us to is baffling and will be a lifelong challenge for us.
Jonas takes us through the Bible on what living an Unreserved Christian Life means. Based on Luke 14:33 and Galatians 2:20 we look at what it means to hold nothing back and to give your all for the God's kingdom.
This is the fourth and final session in a series on the Church As A Vineyard. We have talked about the picture of a vineyard running through the Bible as a symbol of God’s blessing and favor, and it’s frequent use by Jesus in teaching about nourishment and fruitfulness in our lives and pointing to a harvest of souls and restored lives to be brought in. Finally we look at how there should also come a time of enjoyment and celebration – the joy of wine. As vineyards are symbolic for a place of blessing and favor, wine is a Biblical symbol for joy. It’s connected to celebration and gladness and received out of God’s hand.
In this series, we are exploring the biblical metaphor of the vineyard. It runs throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testament as a symbol of God’s people and God’s Kingdom. After looking at the conditions for fruitfulness and the process of growth, we are now moving on to the harvest.
We are in a message series called "The Church As A Vineyard", exploring the metaphor of the vineyard which is used throughout the Bible and applying it to the church and to our lives.
Last week we explored four conditions for fruitfulness – orientation to the son, fertile soil, the right climate and the slope of the hill. This week we are going to take a step further and look at the process of growth.
We are starting a new series called "The Church as a Vineyard". In this series we look at how throughout the whole Bible the illustration of a vineyard is used to symbolize the people of God, or the Kingdom of God. It is a place of abundance and blessing. And in the coming weeks this picture of the vineyard is going to serve us as a metaphor to discover more about what God is doing or wants to do in and through us. Today we are looking at the first topic: Conditions for fruitfulness.
We are in a series called "The 3D Gospel" in which we look at the effect of the gospel on the main cultural experiences through: guilt, shame and fear. This Sunday Frank finishes it off by talking about fear.
We are in a series called "The 3D Gospel" in which we look at the effect of the gospel on the main cultural experiences through: guilt, shame and fear. This Sunday Joanna looks at the topic of shame.
We are in a series called "The 3D Gospel" in which we look at the effect of the gospel on the main cultural experiences through: guilt, shame and fear. This Sunday Koen kicks off with the first one from the series - guilt.
Koen teaches on how through our AMEN, we say: "These are not just words that I prayed, I'm agreeing with it, and I want to see it reflected in my life as well!"
You and I are in a battle. We are constantly faced with two choices: are we going to choose the way of God, or the way of His opponent? The last part of the Lord’s Prayer, that most Christians know by heart, speaks into this everyday spiritual battle. This Sunday Koen looks at four strategies that will help you to win the war with sin.
Koen teaches on how right in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer we find this one phrase saying: "Give us today our daily bread". This seems like a simple request for providence, but it speaks deeply into how we see God, life, and the people around us.
We are starting a new message series on The Lord's Prayer called 'Lord Teach us to Pray' in this session Frank talks us through the first two verses of the Lord's prayer focussing on the aspects of adoration and petition in our prayers
In this message Alex takes us through the Bible in knowing what to expect when Jesus Christ is born in our lives. It doesn't mean that it is going to be all rosy and cosy suddenly but we should expect a fight! Because the kingdom of God uproots all the other rulers over our life. However, Alex encourages us to remember and believe the promises God spoke over our lives and to insist on our citizens rights to speak the Word of God with boldness.
In Koen's short message 'We didn't expect that!' we look at how different Jesus' coming and His approach to a broken world is to what we might be expecting!
In case you missed it in Koen's message 'Expecting Joy' we look at how the Bible gives us a message of hope restored in a time of difficult and non-selfie moment circumstances.
In case you missed it Koen's message 'Expecting Hope' marks the start of a new message series in three parts, anticipating the coming of Christmas. We look at how God is providing us with a message of Hope in the middle of a time where fear is prevalent.\
This week Hank Pott shared with us a special message on Matthew 1. Detailing how even the genealogy of Jesus contains some interesting surprised that provide us with a message of hope.
Today is the last Sunday in our Daniel Dilemma series. Daniel is giving us an example of how we can both stand firm for what we believe in (even through adversity), and still have a positive influence on the world around us!
This is the start of a 5-week series on Daniel 1-6. The purpose is to help you to stand strong in a world that is choosing a different path, yet approach others in love and grace, the way Jesus is teaching us to.
Last Sunday Alex shared with us on the topic of Effective Structures - Connected on Purpose. He looked at some key areas in which we can work towards being more connected such as: in mentoring and discipleship, in growing in the gifts and in the practice of inclusion.
Last Sunday Koen shared with us on the topic of Need-Oriented Evangelism. This is not an action plan on how to improve this area, just some Biblically founded ideas to provide a framework for how we can embrace Evangelism as a community. All of us are called to be living testimonies of the Good News of Jesus Christ. We are all called to be evangelists, preaching the Gospel words words and actions through personal relationships and structural activities
Having a well-functioning small group ministry has proved to be essential to any healthy, and growing church. It’s essential for both health and growth! Because, for one, churches that grow in numbers have discovered that as they are growing bigger, they need to grow smaller – facilitating intimate relationship in a large community. But also for spiritual growth, it is essential to be plugged into a small group of Christians that gather around the Bible and learn and pray together.
As part of the series Hallmarks of a Healthy Church we looked at the topic of Gift Based Ministry. God has created you uniquely, to make a unique contribution to the body of Christ, in line with how God has wired you, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in an area where you will find fulfillment. This is our vision for how we may serve here in Vineyard Groningen.
We're in a message series called: Hallmarks of a Healthy Church. This series is in the context of a church health survey that we’re doing with NCD. This Sunday we talked about 'passionate spirituality'. We looked at the topics: What does it look like when passion has left the church? What does it mean to be spirituality passionate as a Christian? And can you become spirituality passionate?
We're in a message series called: Hallmarks of a Healthy Church. This series is in the context of a church health survey that we’re doing with NCD. This Sunday we talked about 'inspiring worship services'. Our vision for what we do on Sunday morning, is that it will empower you to live a life of worship for God.
The finish line is within reach…it is a perfect fit with the passage from which I will preach today: Hebrews 12:1-3. The great encouragement of the final chapters is the one of ‘perseverance’. This is the practical consequence that you may draw from the systematic theology in Hebrews: because Jesus Christ is far, far greater than anything or anyone else; persevere, knowing that the time will come that all things will be set right.
I continue my series on ‘New Beginnings’ with the focus on ‘baptism’. From three different angles I look at the meaning of baptism in the life of a Christian. Last week I spoke about baptism as the introduction to discipleship of Jesus; serving, learning and following Christ. In this message, I look at baptism in relationship to the freedom from the power of sin in order to live UP to God.
It’s Pentecost and the Church celebrates the outpouring of the holy Spirit – the wonderful gift of the Father! And in today’s message I would like to look in particular at the holy Spirit as a gift ‘to the world’ – working in and through us as you witness Jesus.We’re going to read from Acts chapter 1:1-8. These verses contain the very last words of Jesus before Jesus ascended to the Father. Whereas the gospels ends with Jesus’ last words, Acts opens with it. And whenever you’ve been with someone dying; the very last words are the words that you remember; they’re usually the most important words; the final things that the person wants to say before he breathes his last.
When an unbeliever, a friend, or someone close to you listens to you when you pray, what conclusions would they make about God? This morning Frank Tsiwah took us through the topic of prayer based on the two words "Our Father" from the Lord's Prayer Matthew 6:9-15.
Celebration is at the heart of the practice of all the Spiritual disciplines. Without joy and celebration it will become a dead and dry thing to do. Joy creates energy. Joy makes us strong. Richard Foster explains why celebration is a spiritual discipline. He says ‘The choice to focus our attention to the higher things in life is a matter of our will. That is why celebration is a spiritual discipline.’ Celebration is the result of a conscious chosen way of life.
Today I pick up my series on ‘Going Deeper’. The spiritual disciplines all involve bodily action and today I am going to look at a couple of passages from the Bible that describes how your body can be used in order to ‘go deeper’ with God.
Today I pick up my series on ‘Going Deeper’. The spiritual disciplines all involve bodily action and today I am going to look at a couple of passages from the Bible that describes how your body can be used in order to ‘go deeper’ with God.
This morning Maurits kicked-off a new series of preachings Going Deeper on the practice of Spiritual Disciplines
This morning Maurits kicked-off a new series of preachings Going Deeper on the practice of Spiritual Disciplines
God is looking for builders who want to build wholeness and unity nto a broken and torn apart world. They’re people like Nehemiah who build the broken wall of Jerusalem. They’re disciples of Jesus who take following Jesus seriously. We learn from Nehemiah some important steps in order to advance unity, wholeness, restoration and peace on multiple levels of our society.
Paul spoke in these verses in Gal. 3 about baptism as ‘clothing yourselves with Christ’. Meaning that it involves the deep spiritual implications of ‘putting all that Christ is and what He has done for us’. The clothes of Jesus are the clothes of his salvation, authority and discipleship. As we baptize today, we celebrate the story of ‘lives being changed’; from ‘slaves to sons of God’ through faith in Jesus. A powerful demonstration!
Brooke Christensen from Vineyard USA, Vineyard Amsterdam is sharing with us how grace changes everything about our calling based on Galatians 6:1-10
A powerful message about the shift that takes place when you put your faith in Jesus Christ: from slaves to sons and heirs of God. In this ‘identity-shift’ the holy Spirit fulfils a powerful role as He is called the ‘Spirit of sonship’. Still many Christians are ‘afraid’ for God. But it’s exactly because of your ‘sonship’ that there is no reason at all to have any anxious fears for God. Instead you’re called to a life of peace, joy, hope and love, imparted by God’s Spirit.
Guest speaker Crispin is sharing his message on how we are commanded to reproducing faith bearers by ministering to our children.
From the story in which Peter encountered the risen story I will look at ‘power to forgive’. Forgiveness as culture in God’s kingdom, as a necessity and release, restoration and reconciliation as result of forgiveness. The teaching of Jesus on forgiveness is radical and it’s certainly not easy to put into practice. It takes courage and humility. And yet it’s one of the most powerful steps we can take!