Vineyard Richmond Weekly Message: Recent Episodes
Vineyard Community Church Richmond
Can you say that your spouse is your best friend? What are the qualities of a great friend?
We have to give up being lord of our own life, chasing our own comforts and self-gratifications. This path will just leave us spiritually empty and lost. But if we surrender, we will gain life. We will gain purpose and fulfillment.
We all want to choose a life that will lead to long term happiness, but when we dive into a relationship with God, it will guide everything else.
How are people swayed away from the good life God has prepared for us? Why do we exchange it for our own twisted desire?
In the midst of their worship they had assumed that God was just saying “love me, love me, say that you love me!” But God says there is one remedy to their foolishness. It isn’t a better worship service, a fog machine, an LED wall, or a wittier sermon. Instead, the immense roaring power of justice is what they need!
Maybe your mask is different, maybe you cover your insecurities with a big ego or maybe you have to pretend to be the smartest person in the room. If you are human, there are times when you will shield yourself from the reality of life by dressing up as someone other than who you are meant to be. That’s just a reality of the human condition.
We are in this together. We are called to care for each other and watch out for each other. We strive together, we suffer together, we succeed together, we win together.
We all want to be seen. We all want to be known. We all want to know that after someone sees the real us, they’ll choose to stay.
Someone once likened prayer to calling God on the phone. I had a bible college professor say once, “God’s phone number is Jeremiah 33:3.”
We as people we are hiders. We have been hiding since Adam and Eve. And that is a big part of this story.
Often, God works through our own imperfect circumstances and the mistakes we make to bring about his goals.
Where do you find hope, fellowship, and community? It awaits you at the Well, the church of Jesus Christ.
Has it been a hard year so far? We forget we are spiritual beings. We live a spiritual existence in these physical bodies.
The disciples didn’t understand the truth while they were living it out. But when it clicked in their hearts, they couldn’t hold it in.
Have you ever noticed how sometimes life can feel busy but empty? You’re doing a lot. Working hard. Making plans. Trying to move forward. But somehow it still feels like something isn’t clicking. You’re active, but not fulfilled.
We love winning and we are so grateful for a God who wins! But, what happens when we lose? What happens when it’s not the outcome we desired?
You might think the Army of God is made up of people who have been “called” or chosen or ordained - you know, the professional Christians. But the truth is, when it comes to the Army of God, the second you become a follower of Christ is the second you are enlisted into the Army of God.
Jesus doesn’t say that he is the way to the truth and to the life, nor is he the way to the truth that brings life, no— he is all three of these things fully.
The point is, regardless of where you are: wanting a relationship, wanting a better relationship, or evaluating a past relationship— choose well and love what you choose.
What can we expect Lord? In your relationships or in your marriage, what is the biggest issue you have?
Our nakedness is not shameful to God. Sex was created by God, so sex is not shameful to God. However, the abuse of sex is an offense to God.
Just like God redeemed Israel from Egypt - he sacrificed all of Egypt’s army in the waters, God has redeemed you and I through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
The Lord has chosen you, called you, forgiven you, wrapped his arms around you, put the cloak on you, sandals on your feet, a ring on your finger, and called you his own.
The Angel went and told Zechariah and Elizabeth. The Angel went and told to Mary and Joseph. The Angels went and told the shepherds. Now it is up to you and me.
What if God inspected my offering each Sunday? What if he had a sit down with me? My Attitude, My Relationships.
The Lord’s name literally is, “Abounding in love and FAITHFULNESS” What does that tell us about God himself?
We can all trust the Lord when it is popping up sunshine and roses-- when it is blue skies and big smiles. What about in the storm, the wreck, the loss?
Sometimes we get caught up in the definition of surrender that gets wrongfully associated with weakness or loss. We shout “never surrender!” and continually spend our days looking to prove our strength, worth, and value to those around us. However, just like in the hymn, our full surrender leads to a greater presence of the Holy Spirit.
Peter, the disciple of Jesus, lived a rollercoaster of a life. This man that stood up and rebuked Jesus for saying he would go to Jerusalem and die. This same Peter cut off Malchus’ ear in the garden the night Jesus was arrested. The same man said he would never, ever, deny Jesus— and failed. Why? He didn’t understand the vision.
Grace is the totally unmerited, unearned, unwarranted favor of God. Simply put, it is the forgiveness based upon the love of God to us. We cannot earn it.
Even King David had moments when he couldn’t hear from God even though he was asking, begging God to speak! If you are seeking God and not hearing God, you are in good company. All is not lost.
When we hear the Lord and then act on it, we tend to get more comfortable; we recognize it a little faster, easier, and more confidently.
How do you know when it’s God talking? How do you hear God speak? Does God still speak to people today?
Have you ever made a little decision that ended up changing everything? Sometimes these moments may not seem big but have a huge impact.
The cross holds back the flood of God’s wrath upon our lives, it won’t reach us. But when that stone was rolled away, the promise of the Holy Spirit flooded the world!
Jesus knew his time was short and spends what’s left trying to build up confidence, character, and understanding in his followers. He is aware that he has a limited amount of time to dispense an immense amount of teaching.
You are not going to experience the resurrection Jesus spoke of if you are dressed in the clothing of the world.
We are quick to shy away from God’s word, the one that brings about redemptive love, because we’re afraid that he’ll change his mind! When we have a view of God as the bully with a magnifying glass and we’re the ants in the anthill then we think the only thing he could be is angry at us, but that’s not what scripture tells us!
If scripture tells us to put to death what is earthly in us, then at the very least we should be wrangling and wrestling with it.
Paul is telling us that our relationship to God is something that we must continually care for.
Things changed during the 11:15a service this week as the Holy Spirit led Pastor Joe into a different message for the service than the one he had prepared.
I have heard very well-meaning people ask: “Have you been praying the scriptures?” It usually gets said in a manner that suggests that if you pray the scripture, God is more inclined to hear what you are saying, or give you what you ask for. Is that true?
A lot of things that get attributed to God that “sound” right… but does the Bible actually back that up?
Even in the simplest of ways, scripture is being twisted in our world today. What did Jesus actually say, and how do we live it out?
A plant can look good. A plant can make leaves and be green, but if you are actually seeking fruit and it doesn’t bear fruit, it is worthless.
Today is a day for us to consider the fact that we get to start a new year— to start over so to speak. Our God is the God of second chances, of third, and fourth, and fifth, chances.
I see a God who sees you, hears you, knows you, wants you, calls to you, convicts you, and wants to put his arms around you.
Welcome to the end of a year. Does it feel like you are left with a lot of trash? Does it feel like you have been blessed in a lot of ways? You wake up, Christmas is over. Then what?
The Magi had no idea of the significance of their story. They were the first true strangers to acknowledge Jesus’ holy heritage. They were gentiles. This is a major hint that the Messiah will be for all people.
What child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Or maybe more important— who is Jesus to you?
Mary held baby Jesus, and 33 years later she stood before the cross. Would Mary do it all again if she knew? As you stand in anticipation of the second advent of Jesus, the Lord’s Messiah, would you do it all again for the chance to be here?
Listen in on the word Pastor Joe shared at our Pulse Worship Experience. This was a night filled with Worship, Baptisms, and Ministry to one another.
A part of our mission is to become a community. As a community, we reach in to protect the wellbeing of each other and reach out to bring others in.
We yearn for the kingdom. We want so see people get healed, we want to see people get changed-- but to get there, we have to go through many hardships.
We can so easily buy into the idea that the world is crumbling, the sky is falling, and all is lost… UNLESS…
We are called to compassion, to care for the least of these: the outcast, the unwanted, and the rejected.
We can see from the beginning that it was the nature of God that he loves his children. Even when we don’t love his children, God loves his children.
There is a battle going on between heaven and hell and you and I find ourselves in the middle. God is seeking and saving his children, his lost sheep. The devil is seeking whom he may devour.
As we come together we know we have the right, individually and corporately, to come before God in prayer.
We are supposed to be teaching people to obey what Jesus said, commanded, taught, and prescribed for us to do.
While the 11:15a service had the chance to cheer our friends on in baptism, this is the full message that PJoe had prepared for the morning.This season, along with our small groups, we are digging through John Mark Comer’s “God Has a Name”. Knowing God begins with knowing his name.
Every single morning when I wake up, I feel like I ought to do holy things. I ought to pray. I ought to read scripture. I ought to journal and write about my spiritual life. But I don’t always want to.
Have you ever been interrupted by God? God will interrupt your life when He is ready to do something powerful, something great, but here’s the thing, it’s up to you to make room for God.
In this special anniversary message from Vineyard USA Area Leader, Jason Duncan, We look at the world around us and see all the need, all the hurt, all the chaos. What is Jesus doing in the midst of it all?
We can get along even if there’s not much in common. In fact, we can get along if there’s only one thing in common.
This is one of those psalms that I sometimes just gloss over, but I actually think this gets at a fundamental reality of who we are created to be. Our work matters. Full stop.
God, in the power of his love, curiously set Esther in a spacious place – beyond her imagination. Possibly beyond any hopes and dreams.
This book that God wrote has been established, done, completed. But like our “Paperback writer,” rather than study this book to show themselves approved, people want to rewrite it. They write their own version so they can justify what they like and nullify what they don’t like.
Even when life is crazy, we can still trust in God who is our Rock and our Redeemer. This is easy to say and you might just think “Oh, this is one of those almost cliche Jesus Christian things,” but in the middle of everything, God is there.
A strong marriage is the cornerstone of a successful family and the cornerstone of a successful culture. So How do I make my spouse feel like the most important person in the world?
Life was pretty good in the garden of Eden and even there, humanity fell short. Even in the peak seasons of your life, even in the twilight of our lives, the enemy is prowling around like a lion looking for a way to separate us from our dependence on Jesus.
Life has these things— the roots and rocks of sin and suffering and selfishness, the twists and turns of unexpected circumstances.
God brought us together, and people are the body—the bride of Christ. It’s not about what you get, but what part you get to play in the whole.
David recognized that he was a sinner in need of a savior. And he speaks of being washed clean by God’s love and forgiveness— a metaphor for baptism.
There are so many ways in which people are so often deceived! But Jesus came for that very reason.
From Mary we can see that motherhood is not easy. Whether you have a mother, or you are a mother, it is not for the faint of heart.
Jesus is divine, He is God, He doesn’t settle for second-fiddle. He is preeminent - that is, He has top rank, highest authority, He is the most important.
Jesus chose Judas at the beginning. Judas walked with Jesus, laughed with Jesus, ate with Jesus, obeyed Jesus, preached and healed for Jesus— and then he got greedy.
The woman’s sin is not the focal point of the passage because the gospel is full of grace, not fear.
Easter has come and gone, but what comes next? Listen as Pastor Joe breaks down what happened with the disciples after Christ rose from the grave.
The debt is paid, the work is finished, the battle is won, and the war is over for Jesus!
God has targets for a lot of areas of our lives-- expectations. He expects obedience from us and we have to take it seriously.
The disciples are asking some hard and very real questions. Is a birth defect a punishment from God?
Sometimes we need to just step outside of ourselves, surrender, and say I do believe God, but help my unbelief. How do we do that?
When the Psalmist says “I remembered my songs in the night …” I wonder if he was really speaking artistically, of the times in our lives when things aren’t going well.
What to do with women? Last week re recognized that women are God’s ezer to the problem of loneliness and a helpmate.
God said let us create man in our image. We bear the image of God, not just in our character, our emotions, relationship, but physically.
The Kingdom of God will not grow by the stoning of people that we consider “enemies of the cross.” Jesus will only change that heart of those that have embraced his love and forgiveness.
God’s grace is usually defined as God’s undeserved favor. Have you ever been given undeserved favor?
Jesus told this man who was delivered to go and represent to his family— and he went everywhere.
Your story can be what Jesus did in your life, or it can be what God is doing in your life.
Fire is mesmerizing – it is equally dangerous and warming. It can be life-destroying and life-giving.
I want to let you know this Christmas that the question the conductor asks the boy is the same question I’m asking you - “You comin’?” The invitation is for you.
When we talk about walking I don't just mean moving from one place to another, but walking out this life that God has given to us. We are all called to walk out our relationship to God, to put it into action.
Sometimes I look at my life and I wonder, “Why would God give me any to begin with?” Then I read the Word, and I see that “My Father which art in Heaven” is a loving, generous, and warm Father, especially when I am generous and obedient. He is a lover and a giver, not a hater and a taker.
James uses the word “steadfast” or “steadfastness” five times in his letter. “Patient” three times in our text today. He says in James 1 to be slow to speak, slow to anger. There’s a thread running throughout this entire book - slow down. Take it easy. Don’t rush.
Are you living the life you dreamed of as a younger person? Are you living more than you could ever ask or imagine? Or, is your life significantly less that what you knew it would be?
Mercy triumphs over judgment. Today, who or what do you feel condemned for? Who are you condemning? God desires to give you mercy.
Giving is a social grace that we need to learn and exhibit, not as nice people, but as believers.
The tongue, that thing has a mind of its own. When it’s on autopilot, it will set the world on fire, and left to itself it will crash and burn!
There is a transformation from who you used to be to who you are. Transformation involves leaving something old and becoming something new.
Check out the message from Vinestock 2023! We all need Jesus. We all need to not give up. We all need to stay the course.
You see a lot of messages are given from the stage about “the doing.” It can be a message of motivation or a call to be brave and bold. It can be a message on stepping out of your comfort zone or stepping out of fear. But I don’t think its always an issue of comfort or fear for people. I think there are eager people who want to carry this banner, but they just don’t always know what they’re doing… or at least, they don’t think they know.
As Christian people, we have a big task on our hands. We have standards to live up to within and without the church. What does that look like?
Are small groups really that important? Isn’t this just like extra credit? Why would I add more to my already full plate?
Paul said, "you say the god is unknown, but I’m going to proclaim Him to you. I will make Him known to you. Because He is knowable. In the person of Jesus Christ, God became flesh and blood so that we could know Him."
We have been given the ministry of reconciliation – restoring sinners, not celebrating their sin. When a sinner repents, God’s forgiveness is already there. We rejoice and walk with them.
Peter saw what he wanted and worked up the courage to get out of the boat. So the question is, what’s your boat?
Jesus tell us, “You believe in God; believe also in me.” Can you do that? Can you believe in God? Can you believe in Jesus?
Do you feel that you can speak freely with God? Does “unreserved” describe your style of prayer? Do you feel bold enough to say, “God, this isn’t working?”
There are moments in our life that don’t seem fair. Someone has done us wrong and we’d like to even the scales of justice a bit. In his old age, David penned Psalm 37.
When you are hard pressed – what do you lean on? Who is standing beside you? Who will “Stand by me” when you are in the fight?
Have you ever felt “world-weary?” Have you ever felt like no matter what you do, you can’t make things different? Can’t make them better?
You will only be as healthy and strong as what you take in. What does your time with God look like?
Storms come into our lives; we cannot avoid them, but we can decide how we will embrace them.
It’s vacation time. We need to get away from the pressures of life, to relax. A real change of pace. What do you need a break from?
Scripture tells us over and over that God is near to the poor, the oppressed, the widows, and the broken hearted as well as the hopeless.
It’s an inconvenient reality - we are in a spiritual battle. And some of the things that have been happening in our community of faith are proof positive of that - that there is active opposition to us: our spiritual growth, our marriages, our relationships, our everyday lives.
A shepherd— one who cares, who lives with the sheep, who walks among them, one who heals them. God is here tonight for you and I. He is here because we need him. He is here tonight because he wants us.
We have a God who picks us up and carries us all the way through when we can’t walk anymore. When we are exhausted from the caves we’re in, whether by our own doing or someone else’s, we call out to the Lord and ask him to do the stepping.
When has God not been your favorite person? This is the crux of how we sometimes waver in our faith— when something seems too far out of God’s character.
Humility is not just avoiding overstepping our boundaries but is also being sure we step into them.
The Jesus you are looking for isn’t here. He doesn’t think like you do. He doesn’t act like you do. He doesn’t forgive like you do.
We serve a God who is a Promise Maker and a Promise Keeper, and none is so special as the promise that he made one night in Egypt.
It is Palm Sunday! We celebrate this yearly the week before Easter - we take time to remember Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Who will recognize the King, and who will worship Him?
It was the original plan for humanity to leave their families of origin, cement themselves to one another establishing a covenant relationship, and to become one flesh.
Intimacy means a closeness and familiarity with someone. This is seen during creation in Genesis and the creation of Adam. We were formed in intimacy and God still works that way.
Where do you like to linger? What are the places and times in your life, when you kind of wish time would stand still and just give you a few more seconds?
God interrupted the morning with a new message during the 11:15 service. What have you been crying out to God for that now is dead?
This is one of those things in church that can be confusing and disheartening, as well as encouraging and uplifting. It tends to be highly polarizing, but we need to talk about it.
As a humanity, no one is harder on us than we are on ourselves. Don’t we have a million excuses not to take the shot at our dreams? A million excuses but not one real reason.
I am sure Gideon was planning on bringing much glory to God through a great victory. He and God were going to accomplish so much together. But as a follower of God, Gideon was trying to do too much. He was trying to do too much for God!
Marriage is meant to display a gentle, tender, thorough, and sacrificial love. Marriage is also meant to display a respectful submission - not an attempt to rule each other.
We’re gonna talk about judging. If you have been hurt by church folks you may swing the pendulum too far and hear people say things like “No one gets to judge what I do.” “That’s not their place.” But here’s the thing. Judging isn’t wrong, we just need to get better at it.
John Elmer, our Super Regional Leader for Vineyard USA shares a word. What is your holy discontentment?
Christmas is about God giving so we could give so others can receive and then, in turn, give.
What does the very first Christmas have to do with how we can help bring merry to our Christmases?
Boundaries aren’t anything new. In the beginning, God even created some boundaries for Adam and Eve. If we are going to have a merry Christmas this year, we will need to set boundaries.
Why did Luke see fit to include Simeon and Anna in the gospel account? I believe that their lives, at least what we’re told about in the little snippet we’re given, tell us a few things about people who have hope.
Today, we're talking about how God wants us to interact with our families. So what is family supposed to look like?
Israel made an agreement that they would not neglect the house of our God. But why are people so quick to throw in the towel?
The enemy is trying to get you to question everything so that you will give up on God, your marriage, your church, your job—because you don’t understand what God is doing as he works on your behalf.
Paul told the Ephesians (and by extension, us) that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood - in other words, the enemy isn’t people.
Nehemiah risked his life, heavily invested his resources, sold the vision, and then stayed the course!
Sooner or later it is time to act. In our story, Nehemiah came to God with his heart in his hand. You can only sit and do nothing for so long.
Sooner or later it is time to act. In our story, Nehemiah came to God with his heart in his hand. You can only sit and do nothing for so long.
Doctrine will make or break our unity - so we defer to Jesus and we don’t stray from Him. Desire will make or break our souls - so we aim to desire godliness, not what we can get out of it. Direction will make or break our ministry and our witness - so we make Jesus our aim and keep going His way.
Doctrine will make or break our unity - so we defer to Jesus and we don’t stray from Him. Desire will make or break our souls - so we aim to desire godliness, not what we can get out of it. Direction will make or break our ministry and our witness - so we make Jesus our aim and keep going His way.
God sent Jonah to Nineveh to speak to Ninevites. These weren’t his friends. He wanted to be with his friends.
If you aren’t plugged into your local church— serving and being served, you are an orphan. But, God came to build a family.
I surrender to Christ and then testify to others. I serve the kingdom by serving the humanity around me. I persevere until the coming of Christ— no compromise. We are family, you do not have to be alone.
Jesus came to seek and save lost people. He is looking for you and you can draw near to Him today. He doesn't shame you and He's not mad at you.
Living by the letter of the law doesn’t cut it. Jesus brought a higher deeper meaning and invites us to practice the spirit behind the law— thereby fulfilling it.
How many voices are you listening to? The music is playing— we all chase the same God but we are called to different lives. We make different decisions, but we all are invited to dance.
When we don't understand why lean on who God is. God is going to take us to a place as a community where we will say to the world "How do you like me now?"
We’re gonna go to a Psalm where David was clearly being eaten apart by some of the stuff that he’d done and experienced.
Marvin Gaye says there is no height or depth to which he would not travel to be with the one he loves. But God actually did just that. God so loved that he gave.
This is a psalm to meditate on and have in your back pocket. Who are you listening to? Where are you running? What is the truth?
Am I asking for more? Or perhaps more specifically—am I choosing to let this relationship be enough?
Something left you thinking, “Why God, why should I even try anymore?” Have you ever been there? It can be something huge or it can be just one more small straw, but how we deal with it will determine our future.
God calls us to be children, but many prefer the relative comfort and safety of workers. It’s possible to show up every week, to sing along to worship, to serve as a greeter or an usher or whatever, to go to retreats and conferences and all of it and never actually approach the throne of God.
There are things that tie us down and hinder our growth that honestly shouldn’t. There are things in our lives that while they aren’t necessarily bad for us, they aren’t good for us as individuals.
While we celebrate mothers day, it takes a family, a community, to direct the path of a child to seek God and surrender to him.
We treat God this way too many times. He says something in his Word, we read it, then we twist it, complicate it, rethink it, and then change it to fit our circumstances. When all he wanted us to do was to turn around and do it the way he said.
Nobody getting healed, nobody getting taught, no grand spiritual impartation— and yet John sees fit to include this story. So why does John include this account?
The night can be so dark when you don’t understand the hand of God. Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for what was about to happen
He was looking down the barrel of the crucifixion but celebrating the Resurrection! His focus was on God’s promise to raise him from the dead! Jesus believed his father and acted on it.
Receive this from me today God. I am stating with this gift the importance that you hold in my life. What do we bring to God that indicates who he is to us?
Do you believe Jesus and take Him at His word? Do you reject it all? Do you treat it as a fairy tale, say it can’t possibly happen, say it was all made up and the Bible was just perpetuated by people with nefarious reasons?
38 years disabled. Laying by the pool day-in and day-out. Jesus asks him if he wants healing, but he never answers the question. Jesus heals him anyway. — His whole life was changed in that moment.
You are not so far from God that he cannot forgive you. He told the woman at the well, “You are seeking the right God, but the wrong way.” Then he unfolded it for her.
There is no Accelerated Reader class with Jesus. Smart folks do not have an advantage. They might even have a disadvantage!
John is writing to convince us to believe in Jesus Christ as the anticipated messiah and savior. But as we read his account, he wants us to believe more than that.
At some point you have to choose to believe something about where you came from, why you are here, and where you are going when you die. Choose you this day whom you will serve, who you will believe.
Have you ever had someone say to you, “Are we going the right way?” and you keep going and going, even though you’re unknowingly headed in the wrong direction?
If the Apostle Paul was writing to us today, what would he say about the way we are practicing and sharing our faith?
The gathered church has built more orphanages than individuals ever did. The ability to gather resources and launch people is way more effective in the church than in loners. But what does it mean for us to be a Church community?
What’s the score… Have you ever thought about what that means? What are you truly asking when you ask “Whats the score?" You’re asking, “How are they doing?” How long has it been since someone has asked you how you were doing?
Your present situation has no bearing upon the things that God has planned for you. God is going to be near to you this year.
For Christmas, God asked something big of Joseph. Something bigger than he might have felt was acceptable.
As family we all sit rocking little children and don’t give too much thought to anything other than getting them to sleep, or to stop crying, or fed. We don’t have a clue the extent of influence we can have on a friend, a neighbor, or a neighbors child.
What miracle are you needing right now? What miracle would you like from Jesus this year? What have you given up hoping for.
Welcome to the Christmas season. What do you associate with Christmas? What about miracles?
There is something special about eating together. The early church was eating together and sharing with anyone they could find. What does that look like for us?
We’d like to believe that every time Jesus asks something of us, it will be smooth sailing, but that isn’t always the case, especially if he is trying to shape us.
Peter chose to run towards the words of eternal life when others chose to run away from it. Where do you run to when the teaching is hard, and life gets difficult?
This is what Christian people do, they open up their homes and host groups and people. They give and provide for those in need-- that’s what the Bible says anyway.
Sometimes following God can feel like you are on the receiving end of a wrecking ball. Like you are holding a big “X” on your back.
Parenting is an exercise in intentionality. You can’t ever let your guard down on that. We have to stay intentional. But not just in our parenting...
I can’t expect to pass on anything I don’t keep and model myself. But I also have to share it. The things we are careful to keep are the things we are able to pass on.
The Devil’s wrecking ball keeps crashing through morality, integrity, truth… Families are being attacked on every side, but are we wrecking our own children?
God is working on a plan that we are not privy to. He is building his church, and asking you to make it happen.
Have you even been there—where the dream you were holding had to be released to the wilds?
Sometimes God really wants to move and we yield to his tug at our hearts. But when we run through life at 100 miles an hour we don’t always have time to give to God.
We draw near to God. We cry out to him. The Bible says, if we draw near to God he will draw near to us.
When you think of real rest, what do you think of? Beaches? Camping? A cup of coffee and the lake? A cup of coffee and a gentle rain?
Have you ever thought about the way we get childhood and adulthood mixed up? It’s in our nature to be kids when we should be adults and to be adults when we should just be kids. And Jesus tells us to turn and become like children.
Ever been in a storm? —Have you ever been in a storm and wondered how this was going to end?
Today we are gonna take the walls up. As good as a blueprint and a foundation is, it’s also fairly important to build your walls square.
What is the foundation that you are building your life on? What is the foundation that you are building your family on?
The enemy is trying to take your life before you can choose Jesus, or get you to choose to walk away from God.
What is it about the night that makes you question life? Whether we like it or not, our father’s have a lot to do with who we are. For some of us they were a fabulous example, for others they have been a bit of an excuse, but God is inviting us to something more.
Where there is no agreed upon foundation, no agreed upon structure, no agreed upon morality, there will never be any peace.
We are in a time with a growing rate of failing marriages. While there are some that fail due to complex reasons, generally it isn’t that complicated.
We all feel taken advantage of, used, abused, ignored, not valued, or just hurt. It’s embarrassing, humiliating, shameful, and frustrating. We all want the moment that comes around and they get theirs.
Two thieves on the cross—one thief joined with the world and hurled insults, one thief watched and listened and stood against the tide of humanity.
Have you reached that point in life yet? It’s the real world. Out on your own - can’t count on anyone, discovered the world doesn’t orbit around you…
Always in his heart, kind of sounds like David’s relationship to God. As David writes a song of Ascents, of “going up” to church, he includes his feelings about his own relationship to God and likens himself to a child clinging to its mother.
David is looking back because he is in a tight spot. Life is hard, the enemy is big, the wall won’t fall, and he needs God desperately. So he remembers. I hear David saying, “Look how far we have come.”
I want to encourage you not to be afraid to honestly wrestle with this question–do I believe this stuff?
Don’t you wish you could just get the Lord on the phone? Jesus made it a point to touch, love, and reach out to people that this world rejected.
The most powerful part of the Easter story isn’t that Jesus paid such a horrible price for our sin. The truly amazing part is that God raised him from the dead!
Today we continue to look at the passion of the Christ, recognizing that it wasn’t all the cross and the beating he took. It wasn’t just his death that defines his passion; it was you.
What does it take for you to give up on something? What does it take for you to go all in?
One third of the written accounts of Jesus’ 33 years of life, were dedicated to one week of his existence. Just seven days.
In our lives we will have pain. We were designed to have pain. What are you going to do with it?
Where else could she go? What else could she do? Her daughter was on the edge of helplessness, on the edge of hopelessness, severely oppressed. She knew only Jesus could help.
Too often we are trying to navigate this world pain-free. We are trying to outwit pain. We are determined to escape it at every turn.
We’re talking about pain that you didn’t cause - pain you experience and encounter because of someone else.
We make life choices based on pain. We make spiritual decisions based on pain. How do we stand up under inexplicable pain? What does it take to get us to fold?
Growth is natural. Healthy things grow. You can’t stop growth if the conditions are right.
Put down your sword and pick up the word of God. Sarcasm, snide comments, and judgment only serve to show that we are still sinners.
If 2021 is going to be different, you have to change. You have to do something different.
When you have something as precious as gold, you know exactly how much you have and where it is. And yet, the gold of Christmas is found in a lowly manger.
God cares for you. The reason that God will take our anxieties upon Himself, the reason our cares can be cast on Him is because God cares for you.
It isn’t whether we can afford to be generous, it’s whether or not we are holding on to something God gave us for the sole purpose of extending his kingdom.
Sometimes we are in our own way. We need to humble ourselves, give up trying to be the fixer, and trust Jesus.
Identities are special things. Your name is what separates you from others. Your name conveys value. It protects your free will.
We may have had a bit of rain, but God still had something to say at Vinestock. Listen in as Pastor Joe shares a brief message.
In these days of isolation and distancing, we have had to ask ourselves? Who needs church? How important is it?
What does it look like for you to make space for God's will, and to invite His will to be done in your life?
Let’s just admit it. When we get lazy or want to do what we want to do, we work pretty hard at convincing ourselves it’s a good idea.
Trials don’t have to mean martyrdom. Trials don’t have to be monumental, but there is no life without trials.
When it comes to most areas of your life, the difference between magnificent or mediocre is your investment.
Let’s talk about how we handle it when the truth hurts. How to handle being told that you’re wrong – whether directly by the Holy Spirit or —when the Holy Spirit uses someone else to tell you that you’re wrong.
One of the reasons to church has struggled so much with speaking truth about human sexuality, is the church is spent so much time trying to keep people from sin.
We are not a whole church if we are not a reconciled church. We are not a welcoming church if we are not reaching out to people of all color.
This is the world as it descends into chaos rejecting God in heaven. Are we the final generation? What if we are?
When you think of “a friend that sticks closer than a brother,” who do you think of? What kind of friend are you?
Do you ever have those days when you feel like you are just, in the words of the great prophet and theologian, Jon Bon Jovi, Livin’ on a Prayer? How we handle the pressure tells us a lot about what we are made of.
David is talking about the pain of depression and frustration. Feeling the hopelessness of being abandoned by his friends and by God. There is a sense of drowning— of not being able to keep your head above water that comes with being in that place.
What do you do when you feel like you aren’t winning? When all your hard work and effort isn’t paying off. When goals are not met, and don’t look like they will ever be met.
We're kicking off a favorite series of ours: Psalm Songs. What does Bruce Springsteen have to do with us living out our faith?
Join us for another week of worship in your living room! We are exploring what it means to be a follower of Jesus, because - are you ready for this? Everything costs something.
Welcome back to another week online! Join us as we launch a new sermon series! Abram went all in at 75 years of age. What's it gonna take for you to go all in?
Welcome back to another week of worship at home! Buckle up for week two of our Esther series! God is all about redeeming the situations in your life.
Welcome to a time of worship and the start of a new message series! Have you ever been somewhere that you were completely in over your head?
Welcome to Easter Sunday morning! Join us as we celebrate the resurrection through worship! Someone once said, when you cannot see the hand of God, then trace the move of his finger through your life.
Join us as we celebrate Good Friday! We'll be participating in directed communion during this service. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, go ahead and gather some sort of bread and drink in preparation for this time.
Before the worst of times, we have the best intentions. Peter’s failure did not catch Jesus off guard. He was not surprised. God not only knows where we are going to mess up but he is already preparing us for what comes next.
Sometimes we go through something hard, and we want to shake our fist at someone. We need someone to blame because we are hurting. The argument usually goes, "If bad things happen then clearly it was God’s fault, so there must not be a loving God."
But truely: God is love!
The Light of the world came. GOD, who created us all came in the person of his Son, and the world still did not recognize him.
Are you living in freedom, abusing your freedom, or using your freedom to serve others?
Now that I have recognized my need for Jesus, and received his gift of forgiveness for my sins, how do I behave in my world— in my culture?
What do you believe about who you are? What God says matters more than you think it does.
We may know that Jesus died to save us from our sin, but how do we live for him while we are still battling our sin nature? The Apostle Paul tackles this problem in the 7th chapter of Romans.
God solved the problem of our depravity. He made a way for us. Do we understand the dire circumstances of our society?
Romans: Grace, love, and mercy. Paul lays out the truth for us as we grow deep in the Gospel of Jesus.
Our word for 2020 is Stand Up. This is a great time to evaluate your life and stand up for Jesus.
God needs to do a surgery to give us a new Heart this year: new love, new compassion, new direction. New forgiveness, new healing, new compromise, new life
When things are crazy or quiet, fast paced or lackadaisical—when you are winning or when you don't know how you will win, can you find your joy and lay hold of it?
Christmas is a Spirit of Love. Is there something stopping the love of God in your life this Christmas?
There was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout and he was waiting. What are you doing during your wait?
The Holly Jolly Spirit of Christmas is a spirit of anticipation. What do you need rescuing from this season?
God invites us to bring thank offerings in the midst of our exile. He is going to restore us to our previous place in his favor!
Will we live our lives based upon what we read about the teachings of Jesus? What are the questions that you have for Jesus?
What are some things that you need to lay down in order to better serve your family? What are some things that you need to lay down to advance the mission of God’s kingdom?
When someone ticks-off the whole nation of believers, let's see what Scripture has to say about it.
How will you run your race? As a team member looking for others or will you run just for yourself?
God made us to need each other. He made us to need him first, but community and relationships second. Everything we see in our culture tells us that’s true because the Enemy is doing everything he can to come against community.
We are all going through things in our lives that are just wearing us out with worry. For some it’s health issues, for some it’s finances, for some it’s marriage… Worry, fear, and stress continues to build until we reach a breaking point.
When it really matters, who is really in control? Not you. Run the race marked out for you and don't look back.
You're running the race, but are you trying to run on shortcuts? How's that going to work out?
One Tribe. One Sunday. One Service. We’re headed into the next ten years of our church. Listen in as Pastor Joe talks about what it takes to get there.
When you face your battles are you turning to God or are you trying to do it your own way?
The National Director of Vineyard USA, Phil Strout, joins us for the final day of our Anniversary Celebration! What does it take for this church to last another 10 years? 25 years? 50 years?
Pastor Joe Wood takes the second night of Anniversary Weekend! There are moments in your life that define your future, they are important appointments from God.
Kevin Canterbury returns to Vineyard Richmond with a powerful word! We cannot be a church that simply prays for what we want any longer! No, we must be a church that prays “God, push me to the limit, take me where only you can, do in my life what only you can do”.
There are places you want to be or things you want to accomplish. Promises you know are from God but they haven’t happened yet and your heart just wants God to hurry up. But God is a God who keeps his promises. The problem comes we when believe his promise, but we won’t wait for his process.
Do you feel like you are drifting, bobbing out on the waters of spirituality? Now what?
We all need a Timothy to pour into and a Paul to pour into us. But do you have a Barnabas to encourage and challenge you?
Some people come to Jesus, out of duty or to relieve guilt. But some come in sincerity of heart. They want Jesus. They change their lives to conform to Jesus.
Relationships are tough because the currency is relationship is trust. But you need people, and people need YOU.
“Come Holy Spirit.” We pray it, we sing it, we cry it out, we believe it, and our goal is to live it.
Are you so busy waiting to be picked that you’re missing out on valuable playing time? It is imperative that we do church together as a team.
God is not waiting for you to get worthy to come into his presence. His work on the cross already does that.
If there’s anything we can learn from failure, it’s that God does not waste our time. He will use our past and present, so that we can serve him with our future.
“Keeping the main thing the main thing is the key to success in about every area of your life.”
Pastor Joe had planned to give a phenomenal teaching, but half-way through the service God put a different message on his heart. Listen in on what God wanted you to hear.
How do you life your life-- naturally or supernaturally? Or better yet, are you living a life that is naturally-supernatural?
Ben Slabach joins us from Compassion International! What do you do when God asks you to do something that you just can't do?
Pastor Janice delivers a powerful message on poverty. "Remembering the poor is not about equity -- it's about Jesus. We are called to offer resources in Jesus's name, not just to relieve poverty, but to invoke the very presence of Christ."
Do you know? Do you believe or are you just acknowledging information about Jesus and who he is? How does believing change your life?
What you believe to be a catastrophic failure is God making something big out of your life.
You have not sinned so much that the sacrifice of God cannot forgive you, or run so far, that the love of God cannot find you.
Jesus's disciples really didn't understand where he was taking them—but he knew. Jesus always knew.
We're wrapping up the Inconvenient series today, but what about my money and my finances. Does God care about helping me out?
Our children are ours for but a season. What are you saying to them through your values and choices?
Raising children is painful. We must know when to push through and admit when we are parenting merely to avoid personal pain.
God loves you too much to leave you in your sin. Are you getting that love confused with something hurtful?
The greatest marriages work through the inconvenient and sometimes they still go crash. What happens when we miss the ideal?
Sometimes the best things in our life can be inconvenient. How will you handle the blessings that become inconvenient?
What does it really mean for you to succeed in this world and the next? Do you consider your life a success?
God is not trying to make your life comfortable. He wants you healed, he wants you whole, and that means inconvenience.
This week, Worship Director Jessie Hood brings a POWERFUL message on the lengths God will go to show his love for you. If our God didn’t hold back Jesus, why wouldn't we trust him with our lives here on earth?
Take a #Deeper2018 breath and let it out. Now let's breathe in 2019. Where are you going this year?
Many people will choose to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, but few will choose to believe by giving him their lives.
We are out here in space on the Island of Misfit Toys and we desperately need a savior.
This Christmas, let us make it about giving and lose the expectation and conversations about, "What are you getting?" Let's give to Jesus!
This week, Pastor Janice Wood brings a powerful message. When our Christmas celebrations become so completely dependent on family, relationships, circumstances, and our resources – then we are celebrating the wrong thing.
Behold, the season is upon us. How will you embrace this Christmas season, enduring or overspending? What about worshipping instead?
This Psalm is about a shepherd that leads us. He is taking us somewhere. He is providing for us.
When we get down to all the poor choices we make in our lives, how many of them fall into these categories: what you consume and what you do with your body sexually?
I want it all: the ever-increasing cry of humanity. It isn’t the amount of money that makes people successful, but keeping it in its proper priority.
Can God only use the perfect, the whole, or the self-righteous? Pastor Joe brings a powerful word on God's vision for who is included in the work of ministry. Plus, Pastor Kevin Clark from Lexington Vineyard drops by for a special ordination ceremony.
We don't have to follow a bunch of rules to make God like us. We don’t have to follow rules to make him love us. He is never done with us.
When was the last time you heard the word, lazy? Paul challenges the Corinthian church on their Lazy Christianity.