Church of The Vine: Recent Episodes
In this passage, Esau is willing to forfeit the blessing of God for a bowl of stew. Thus, he stands as a perpetual reminder of the folly of choosing immediate things over ultimate things.
In this passage, another redemptive pattern is set forth in three words- redemption, barrenness, reversal.
In this passage Abraham servant is commissioned to find a bride for Isaac, thus foreshadowing the pattern of the great commission.
It is easy to obey God in the light , when we have a sense of God's presence, when we are secure and have peace in our lives, but it is much harder to obey God in the dark, when we feel forsaken, when their is no consolation. Abraham here, stands as an example of what it looks like to obey God in the dark.
Christ's resurrection is the single event in history that grounds the Christian hope. It is our source of hope, the pattern for our life, and the template for eternity.
Lot was a man who was rescued from judgment in spite of himself, on the basis of Abrahams intercession. And while this does stand as a representation of salvation by God's sheer mercy, it also stands as a warning of how insignificant a life a saved person can still live.
In order to grow as Christians, we just seek to be useful in the place where God has placed has. We can do this by faithfully stewarding what and who God has entrusted to us.
In this sermon we examine how a Christian grows in the local church- both through its liturgy and by being an active part of the Body.
In this sermon we are given a theological background for prayer along with practical ways to begin and strengthen prayer.
In this passage we explore the necessity of Scripture the Christian life as we are challenged to make Bible reading a daily habit.
Christians are by definition, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But this does not mean that we should be passive. We must keep in step with the Spirit.
Spiritual progress, most fundamentally, involves living for the glory of God, but it also entails a deeper fellowship with God, a closer walk. In this sermon we explore what that means and how we can pursuit it.
In order to make spiritual progress, we must have the ultimate goal in mind. The highest call on the Christian life is to live for God's glory and the reputation of His name.
In this passage, the Lord intends to bring Sarah to a point of faith. Then, and only then, did God use her to give birth to the promised child. This is only a piece of a larger biblical principle- God gives us power to do what He calls us to do through faith.
In this passage, God gives Abraham a covenant call, a covenant sign, and promises a covenant child. Of of these are shadows of which are cast by New Covenant realities.
Sarai and Abram's dubious decision along with Hagar's desperate circumstance shows us when God is and is not pleased to move in our lives.
In this passage God ratifies His promise to Abram with an ancient covenant cutting ceremony which points to the ultimate basis God has given His people for trusting Him.
In this passage Lot and Abram continue to serve as paradigms of two divergent spiritual trajectories, while the shadowy, Melchizedek, serves as a theological compass pointing to the source of victory foreshadowing redemption in Christ.
We hunger for a great move of God, but the good news is that we do not have to manufacture that move through techniques or ingenuity. God has not left us to our own devices, but has ordained identifiable means of grace through which he builds and preserves His people.
Behind the practice of church discipline there is a settled conviction- If someone's life demonstrates that they are spiritually dead, it is by the church's very silence that it will give the impression that someone is spiritually alive when they are in fact spiritually dead. Thus, the church must not remain silent when it sees open and unrepentant sin in a person's life. The most loving thing we can do is show the person that they are on a path to eternal destruction.
A local church is not ultimately comprised of people who happen to be there, but of those who are committed to there. Our church is made up of its members who believe the gospel, agree with the church's statement of faith, and bear the fruit of Christlikeness in their life.
This sermon explains the essence of Baptist ecclesiology and the biblical basis for affirming it.
Throughout history God has breathed life into His people when they return to the study and obedience of His Word. That is why our church is committed to passing down Christian truth in a structured and deliberate way.
In Acts 2, we see that the first local church because a- Peter preached the gospel b- people responded to the gospel c- the gospel unified the people. This shows that the gospel is the unifying principle for any new covenant church and therefore must take functional priority in the ministry of our church, rather than pragmatic or attractional church tendencies.
In this final offer of praise to God we are reminded that God is our source of strength, that He has given us the preaching of Christ to be sustained, and that the purpose of all things is the glory of God.
This passage reminds Christians to be on the watch for those who disguise worldly teaching with smooth talk and flattery and thereby deceive many.
It is common to think of ministry as something done by -professional Christians- such as vocational pastors, professional theologians, and trained missionaries. But in this passage, we see non-professional Christians who earned a good name for themselves because of their work in Christ.
In this passage we see the missionary zeal of Paul and learn how Christians can engage in God's primary agenda for the world.
As Paul reflects on his ministry in this passage, we glean five foundational characteristics of a mature and effective ministry.
In this passage, obligation is laid upon mature Christians to come alongside new and immature Christians and shoulder the failings of the weak for the purpose of corporate holiness.
In this passage we are instructed to be careful to not baptize our convictions on secondary issues or glue them onto Christianity as if the two were indistinguishable. When we do this, we are placing our own opinions as the door of God's Kingdom thus potentially causing new and weak Christians to stumble and perhaps fall.
In this passage we are instructed to not create boundaries that God himself has not created. Our unity does not rest upon uniformity in all our convictions- it rests upon Christ.
In this passage we are commanded to love our neighbor as the fulfillment of Christ's law, to walk in light of Christ's return, and to be guided by Christ's life - this is the essence of discipleship.
Governmental authorities, along with those who carry out law and order, are not a threat to God's sovereignty, but as the very means through which God maintains peace as a nation. Therefore, if possible, Christians should seek to live as dignified and exemplary citizens within these social mechanisms that God has ordained.
In this passage we see that the way of the cross is the way that a Christian's strength is both alien to the world and powerful enough to bring it under the authority of Christ.
In this passage, we are reminded about how to maintain both genuine love and a Godward perspective in the Christian life
The person renewing his mind does not think too highly of himself, but sees his gifts as only one piece in God's economy. He does not overvalue or devalue other gifts in the body, but sees them all as necessary for the proper functionality of the church.
The key for living our best life is to understand that, as Christians we have not only been saved from our sin, but that we have been saved to worship God. This is the very reason for our existence.
Not only has God kept a remnant of believing Jews in the present, but as we see in this passage, He has a plan for ethnic Jews in future, once the fullness of the nations come to Christ.
Jesus came, not merely as the beginning of a new story, but as the fulfillment to an old story. Therefore, all Christians should seek to cultivate a biblically informed respect for the very Jewish roots of salvation in Christ.
In this passage we are presented with a God who is faithful to His covenant promises to Israel. He has not rejected Jewish people. Rather in His wisdom, God has repurposed the Jew's rejection of Christ into an instrument for the salvation of the world.
In this passage we see that even though God has made salvation available to all, it is imperative and necessary for the good news to be preached by those who know it.
In this passage we see that the gospel does not leave the spiritual seeker on an endless quest for truth. Rather, the gospel is the readily available offer of salvation in Christ, accessible, not through an endless spiritual journey, but through faith.
This passage continues to systematically deconstruct Jewish assumptions about who are God's people. In this sermon, we take a tour of the spiritual history of God's people with an eye toward God's ultimate intentions since He made His promise to Abraham.
In this passage we see that the basis for God's acceptance of people is His mercy- not anything we do, good or bad. Salvation is dependent upon God's sovereign choice to show mercy. In the same manner, God also chooses to harden some individuals and lock them into their rebellion, for His redemptive purposes. This brings up the question of whether God has unalterably fixed the eternal destiny of every individual. This question is addressed by taking the context of chapters 9-11 into account, and arriving at a tentative theological conclusion which may not fit within the dominant theological systems.
Paul answers the best objection to the doctrine of election. -What about Israel-- If they were chosen then passed over, will God do the same with us- Paul gives God's definition of true Israel, exalting God's promise and God's choice over ethnic claims and human works.
This passage sets forth what can be described as a theology of triumph. Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God secures for the Christian a sure and fixed confidence that we are on the winning side of eternity, despite all adversity that we will face.
In this passage we are reminded that God is not detached from over day-to-day life. It may feel that way sometimes, and that is precisely why we are given the promises that God is sovereignly and intimately supervising your life in ways that you cannot fully perceive.
In this passage we are encouraged to endure through every trial in life with our hope set fully on future the promises of God in Christ.
In this passage, Christians are urged to live in agreement with the work of God in them. Through Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit who enables us to live in obedience to God -Rom. 8-4-. It is on this basis that Paul urges Christians, in the strongest terms possible, that they must kill sin through the Holy Spirit, thus living as true children of God.
Bringing the mind into conformity with the natural instincts, passions, and anxieties is manifestly not the avenue to come into cooperation with God's will. The way to do that, is by bringing the mind into conformity with the Spirit- something the Christian can and must do.
The Old Testament law could only point out sin and condemn you for it. But, in this new age of redemptive history, God has opened up a spiritual sphere which can be entered by faith. When one enters this sphere, they are cleansed of the stain of sin, and enabled to love and serve God. This is the redemptive framework of God's plan to restore a people.
Christianity is not based on a spiritual idea or ecclesiastical authority, but on an event that occurred in history. If Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead and left an empty tomb behind Him, Christianity follows.
We look together at the atonement in Romans 3 to see some of the plans of purposes of God in Good Friday
Behind the details of the suffering and humiliation of Jesus' crucifixion there lies a spiritual reality of Christ, enthroned as King, and lifted up as the object of healing and forgiveness.
Christ goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to be the True and Better Adam. Where Adam fell through self-will, Christ will succeed through submission to The Father, and will boldly face the crucifixion.
In the institution of the Lord's Supper Jesus imported all the significance of the original Passover onto His own body and blood to help His disciples understand the meaning of His impending crucifixion. As Christians, we redeem the very act of eating as we take the Lord's Supper in remembrance of His sacrifice and in anticipation His return.
Everything we have has been given to us by God. From abilities, to opportunities, to houses, and money, we must ask ourselves, -What do you have that you did not receive-- -1 Corinthians 4-7-. This mindset frees the child of God from living as an -owner- of possessions to a steward of God's gracious gifts. The essence of Christian stewardship then is redirecting back to God what He has already given to us.