Elm City Vineyard Church Talks

Restoration. Renewal. Resurrection. Easter Sunday is a chance to reflect, celebrate, and trust that Jesus, our God of life, defeated death. This God of hope is not through with us yet. There is more for us. Here's the Good News! If Jesus was put to death by humanity but came back to love humanity still, that means God's forgiveness has incredible power — for us and for others. This Sunday, trust that this resurrection possibility of hope and forgiveness is alive and on offer for you, our city, and our world. Come and celebrate with us.

“Hosanna in the highest!”Each year, we celebrate Palm Sunday as a way to remember when Jesus triumphantly enters into Jerusalem. Using this story, we'll take a deeper look at the concept of humility. Together as a community, we may discover where God shows himself to be humble and where He is calling us to “take on humility” in our own lives. Join us at 4:00pm as we celebrate our humble king and begin Holy Week.

As we finish out the Conviction and Embrace series, we will consider what it means to practice conviction in community. What kind of people must we seek to become if we are to speak words of conviction wisely and winsomely into one another's lives? How can we avoid the pitfalls on the one hand of never speaking words of challenge to one another, and on the other hand of doing so in harsh and unredemptive ways that lack all humility and self-awareness? Thankfully, the Scriptures have much to say to help us find our way, so bring a friend and come out on Sunday to learn more together about “Practicing Conviction in Community.”- Series Description - This Lenten season, we will create space for the Lord to move for the sake of growing closer to Jesus and the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus is life and life abundant. It is also life through constraint, sacrifice, and even suffering. Our own missing the mark, our own sin, keeps that life far from us and keeps the work of death close. Pursuing life means giving God space to convict us of sin and to embrace us with forgiveness. Conviction of sin by the God of love gives us space to seek God for life, mercy, and for forgiveness. Condemnation simply closes us in our own darkness. It robs us of hope. Yes, conviction exposes our sin as light piercing darkness. However, the revelatory light of conviction is joined by the warmth of the Father's love for us. We will experience both this Lent as we go deeper with Conviction & Embrace, our Lenten teaching series.

What happens when we come to the end of ourselves? What can we do when self-improvement isn't enough to change a destructive or unhelpful habit? Does Jesus still love us, even when we feel incompetent? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is we have an available Savior who we can turn to when He knocks on our door, ready to embrace us. Join us this Sunday to imagine what this could look like as Kim invites us to do just that: turn towards our available Savior. - Series Description - This Lenten season, we will create space for the Lord to move for the sake of growing closer to Jesus and the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus is life and life abundant. It is also life through constraint, sacrifice, and even suffering. Our own missing the mark, our own sin, keeps that life far from us and keeps the work of death close. Pursuing life means giving God space to convict us of sin and to embrace us with forgiveness. Conviction of sin by the God of love gives us space to seek God for life, mercy, and for forgiveness. Condemnation simply closes us in our own darkness. It robs us of hope. Yes, conviction exposes our sin as light piercing darkness. However, the revelatory light of conviction is joined by the warmth of the Father's love for us. We will experience both this Lent as we go deeper with Conviction & Embrace, our Lenten teaching series.

Among God's greatest gifts to his people is the gift of the Holy Spirit, our Helper and Advocate, as Jesus refers to him in John's Gospel. As we continue with our Conviction series this week, we will consider just what a gift it is to have on our side someone who knows us fully, who loves us unconditionally, and who leads us into all truth, including the truth about ourselves through the conviction of sin. Come this week and bring a friend as we seek to reflect on and encounter the gift and work of the Holy Spirit together.- Series Description - This Lenten season, we will create space for the Lord to move for the sake of growing closer to Jesus and the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus is life and life abundant. It is also life through constraint, sacrifice, and even suffering. Our own missing the mark, our own sin, keeps that life far from us and keeps the work of death close. Pursuing life means giving God space to convict us of sin and to embrace us with forgiveness. Conviction of sin by the God of love gives us space to seek God for life, mercy, and for forgiveness. Condemnation simply closes us in our own darkness. It robs us of hope. Yes, conviction exposes our sin as light piercing darkness. However, the revelatory light of conviction is joined by the warmth of the Father's love for us. We will experience both this Lent as we go deeper with Conviction & Embrace, our Lenten teaching series.

God's love for us like a father or parent takes many forms, one of which is discipline. When we receive conviction or discipline from God, this is only and always a way our Heavenly Father is loving us. It is God lovingly leading us to what He knows is good, and will lead to goodness for us. Discipline is God drawing us in. Drawing us in to knowing Him better, and drawing us in to a deeper relationship of being His children.- Series Description - This Lenten season, we will create space for the Lord to move for the sake of growing closer to Jesus and the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus is life and life abundant. It is also life through constraint, sacrifice, and even suffering. Our own missing the mark, our own sin, keeps that life far from us and keeps the work of death close. Pursuing life means giving God space to convict us of sin and to embrace us with forgiveness. Conviction of sin by the God of love gives us space to seek God for life, mercy, and for forgiveness. Condemnation simply closes us in our own darkness. It robs us of hope. Yes, conviction exposes our sin as light piercing darkness. However, the revelatory light of conviction is joined by the warmth of the Father's love for us. We will experience both this Lent as we go deeper with Conviction & Embrace, our Lenten teaching series.

In the first talk of our Lenten series, Conviction & Embrace, we will uncover the power light has to reveal sin and darkness. Do we fear that light? Or do we trust that light also comes with the warmth of embrace? Conviction is about exposing — even rebuking—sin. While potentially scary, conviction is not condemnation, where darkness reigns as sin closes in on us. Conviction is a step in a journey of forgiveness and redemption where God seems to always pair this conviction with an embrace. Will we receive this kind of embrace or will the light that reveals, exposes, and yes, warms be too much for us? Let the light in.- Series Description - This Lenten season, we will create space for the Lord to move for the sake of growing closer to Jesus and the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus is life and life abundant. It is also life through constraint, sacrifice, and even suffering. Our own missing the mark, our own sin, keeps that life far from us and keeps the work of death close. Pursuing life means giving God space to convict us of sin and to embrace us with forgiveness. Conviction of sin by the God of love gives us space to seek God for life, mercy, and for forgiveness. Condemnation simply closes us in our own darkness. It robs us of hope. Yes, conviction exposes our sin as light piercing darkness. However, the revelatory light of conviction is joined by the warmth of the Father's love for us. We will experience both this Lent as we go deeper with Conviction & Embrace, our Lenten teaching series.

So many of us live trying to do enough to prove that we are enough. But what if we didn't need to prove anything? What if our value and worth weren't things we had to prove, but rather gifts from an unfailing source of unconditional love?Jesus says that's exactly our situation. Maybe we even believe that. But what if we knew it deep in our souls? What if we could abide there? Rest there? Live out of that love? Join us this Sunday us as Matt Croasmun invites us to do just that: learn to abide in the Love of God.

Jesus commands unclean spirits to flee. Jesus tells blind eyes to open. Jesus invites healing to come - at all levels. Can we do any of this…or is it just Jesus? Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit's empowerment of all believers to “do the stuff” of Jesus, starting with his closest disciples and moving to people who never met Jesus in the flesh in the book of Acts.Still, this can seem fairly intimidating. We're not just talking about confessing sin in prayer, petitioning God for ourselves and others, or listening to what God says to us in prayer. There is an opportunity for us to be like Jesus as he is in the scriptures: one with authority who invites God's Kingdom to come through prayers of command that set the world as it ought to be. As we close out our prayer series, we will take Jesus at his word and take some risks pursuing God's kingdom together.

Prayer is mysterious. Jesus demystifies it by encouraging us simply to start praying. If we need something? Ask God for it. If we have a cry for justice, then shout it out. The newest part of this teaching by Jesus seems to be the shock that someone wouldn't pray for their needs or the needs of others. What's the difference? Jesus knows God as Father, a loving parent. Of course there's room to bring all of our needs before that kind of God.

As we begin a four-week series entitled “Building a Life of Prayer,” we will focus on one of the stones in the foundation – listening prayer. By listening prayer, we mean a quiet and settled godward orientation where we hold ourselves open before God, free of striving, settled and attentive, seeking both to encounter and to receive from God, even when we remain silent. For God is alive and does not merely passively listen to our words of prayer but actively communicates to us through both his word and his Spirit, if only we have ears to hear. Join us this week, bring a friend, and let us together learn to better tune our hearts and our ears to hear the living God, who through the ages has been pleased to speak to those who will listen.

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was attacked by an angry mob simply for speaking well of the enemies of his own people, and he later taught that God would bless us when people hated and mistreated us on his account. Elsewhere, the Scriptures guarantee that to be faithful to Jesus and to love those he loves will often put us at odds with others, and often with our own people. This week we will consider how Christians around the world and throughout history have experienced persecution and opposition not only for their faith in Jesus, but for their faithfulness to love the wrong people in his name, and we will seek God for courage and wisdom to embrace this same cost as part of our life with God.- Series Description -Jesus' greatest commandment is to love God and love neighbor. Paul, a famous church planter, simplifies it even more: love your neighbor as yourself. In a city like New Haven, there are many people to love. Some are lower on our list because some of us have to move in and past discomfort to love people God has placed nearby. Some are simply harder to reach. In this short series, we will look at what it means to neighbor New Haven. This will include an overview of the topic, a specific look at folks in the incarceration system, immigrants, and people others see as “wrong” to love. Multiple Sundays will have tangible ways of serving our neighbors that we can do during our worship service. If you want to grow in loving people in the new year, be a part of this series!

As we love our neighbors beyond our comfort zone, this includes neighbors who have recently arrived to our country. Scripture has a long witness of blessing the stranger in our midst and showing them hospitality - the goodness of God in practical ways. In the book of Leviticus it says, “do not mistreat foreigners living in your country, but treat them just as you treat your own citizens. Love foreigners as you love yourselves, because you were foreigners one time in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” This invitation stands in contrast to the way we can vilify foreigners casting them as a shadow on our land, a competitor for our goods, or simply too strange to engage in a daily way. The Kingdom offers a different way: service and compassion to people experiencing displacement just as God served His people in Egypt, just as God serves us as we learn how to belong to a heavenly country that we get citizenship to only through Christ. This work takes courage. Come hear this message of hope.- Series Description -Jesus' greatest commandment is to love God and love neighbor. Paul, a famous church planter, simplifies it even more: love your neighbor as yourself. In a city like New Haven, there are many people to love. Some are lower on our list because some of us have to move in and past discomfort to love people God has placed nearby. Some are simply harder to reach. In this short series, we will look at what it means to neighbor New Haven. This will include an overview of the topic, a specific look at folks in the incarceration system, immigrants, and people others see as “wrong” to love. Multiple Sundays will have tangible ways of serving our neighbors that we can do during our worship service. If you want to grow in loving people in the new year, be a part of this series!

What does it mean to proclaim liberty to the captives? How can we neighbor people that are locked up? When it comes to loving incarcerated people, we have to be intentional to even see folks who are often invisible to us. Yet, in a city like New Haven, many of drive past a correctional center regularly to get to our work, homes, our home groups. Of course, even more people are trying to re-enter society and need support. Thankfully, God has a special place for criminals, those held in detention, jail, or prison. Jesus had experience with that the last day of his life and so have so many other saints, biblical and otherwise. This Sunday as we continue loving our neighbor beyond our comfort zone, we'll dive into God's heart for the prisoner.- Series Description -Jesus' greatest commandment is to love God and love neighbor. Paul, a famous church planter, simplifies it even more: love your neighbor as yourself. In a city like New Haven, there are many people to love. Some are lower on our list because some of us have to move in and past discomfort to love people God has placed nearby. Some are simply harder to reach. In this short series, we will look at what it means to neighbor New Haven. This will include an overview of the topic, a specific look at folks in the incarceration system, immigrants, and people others see as “wrong” to love. Multiple Sundays will have tangible ways of serving our neighbors that we can do during our worship service. If you want to grow in loving people in the new year, be a part of this series!

In Matthew 22, when asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”What does it look like to actually live out these commandments? More specifically, how can we love our neighbors here in NewHaven as ourselves? Join us this week as we begin our new series on loving our neighbors…even when it's not comfortable.- Series Description -Jesus' greatest commandment is to love God and love neighbor. Paul, a famous church planter, simplifies it even more: love your neighbor as yourself. In a city like New Haven, there are many people to love. Some are lower on our list because some of us have to move in and past discomfort to love people God has placed nearby. Some are simply harder to reach. In this short series, we will look at what it means to neighbor New Haven. This will include an overview of the topic, a specific look at folks in the incarceration system, immigrants, and people others see as “wrong” to love. Multiple Sundays will have tangible ways of serving our neighbors that we can do during our worship service. If you want to grow in loving people in the new year, be a part of this series!

In Luke's account of the birth of Christ, an angelic herald proclaims to a group of shepherds "good news of great joy for all people." ECV exists to call all people to revolutionary lives of action through Spirit-empowered communities that love and obey Jesus Christ in all things. This week, we will consider this "all people" aspect of what it means to follow Jesus, and how it challenges us to live vulnerably, availably, and courageously to love and engage with people very different from ourselves as a way of life, that all people might also know and obey Jesus, too.- Series Description -During Advent this year, we join believers around the world as we seek to quiet and reorient ourselves to Jesus in this often busy and fragmented season. And as we both celebrate his first coming and expectantly await his return, we seek to savor and reflect his light, enter into his joy even in our pain, and lift our eyes to the world for whose sake he came.

Joy is a major theme of the Christmas story, and for good reason—Mary rejoices with her cousin Elizabeth as she carries Jesus in her womb, angels announce the birth of Jesus as "good news of great joy" to the shepherds outside Bethlehem, and the Magi rejoice "exceedingly with great joy" as they approach the place of Jesus' birth. And yet even in the joy, there is much sorrow and pain and loss—Simeon speaks of a sword piercing even Mary's soul, Mary and Joseph take Jesus and flee from Herod as refugees to Egypt, and Herod takes the life of innocent children in Bethlehem after they depart. Today, too, both at Christmas and beyond, our joy is often mixed with sorrow, loss, and pain. This week, we will consider how true Christian joy does not dim in the face of pain, but rather strengthens and encourages us in the midst of it, as we encounter our one true source of joy, the Lord himself.- Series Description -During Advent this year, we join believers around the world as we seek to quiet and reorient ourselves to Jesus in this often busy and fragmented season. And as we both celebrate his first coming and expectantly await his return, we seek to savor and reflect his light, enter into his joy even in our pain, and lift our eyes to the world for whose sake he came.

It's that time of year. It gets dark before 5pm. It can seem like darkness is all there is. While that is true for December in the northeast, that can also feel real for our souls. But what if we remember that anything can be illuminated by God's light? This light brings about truth—revelation about what is so, grace—warmth and kindness from the one who has no shadow, and beauty—God's light making ordinary things beautiful and marked by His power and presence.- Series Description -During Advent this year, we join believers around the world as we seek to quiet and reorient ourselves to Jesus in this often busy and fragmented season. And as we both celebrate his first coming and expectantly await his return, we seek to savor and reflect his light, enter into his joy even in our pain, and lift our eyes to the world for whose sake he came.

On this first Sunday of Advent and of the liturgical year, we reflect on how Jesus was born to humble people in quiet village places, and not in a great city or to the rich and powerful. In our own time, too, it is in humility and quietness that we are invited to encounter Jesus and to receive from him the one true life, so often revealed in whispers and not shouts. Join us this week, bring a friend, and learn to get quiet and make room for Jesus at the beginning of this not-so-quiet holiday season.- Series Description -During Advent this year, we join believers around the world as we seek to quiet and reorient ourselves to Jesus in this often busy and fragmented season. And as we both celebrate his first coming and expectantly await his return, we seek to savor and reflect his light, enter into his joy even in our pain, and lift our eyes to the world for whose sake he came.

In this third and final week before Advent, we will finish our 3-week series on worship with a time of extended musical worship interspersed with brief reflections on Scripture to help us review, reflect on, and embody worship in all areas of our lives. With word and song, our physical bodies, attentiveness to God in ordinary moments, and offering our lives to God as a living sacrifice, we will finish out the liturgical year together in preparation for Advent and welcoming the coming of Jesus. Do join us, and bring a friend!- Series Description -Our Fall 2024 series started with healing and continued with enemy love. It's hard to admit we're sick, and we need healing. It's hard to love our enemies. It's also hard to submit ourselves to God and worship God alone. Yet, if we worship God fully, healing comes easier as we are oriented around the Healer — not just our wounds. If we worship God fully, we'll know we're lifting someone up who loves us…and our enemies. This short three week series will be a primer on how to notice God and be invited to worship, understand obedience as worship in all areas of our lives, and form habits of formation — even in the every day — that help us worship God for the long haul.

Worship is more than music. It is a whole life surrender to God's will. This kind of whole-life worship reshapes our lives to look radically different than the patterns of this world. This week, in the second installment of our teaching series on worship, we'll be exploring what it means for us to lead fully submitted lives of worship, beyond our communal singing and our religious services, and what Scripture has to say about how this kind of whole-life worship can set us free.W- Series Description -Our Fall 2024 series started with healing and continued with enemy love. It's hard to admit we're sick, and we need healing. It's hard to love our enemies. It's also hard to submit ourselves to God and worship God alone. Yet, if we worship God fully, healing comes easier as we are oriented around the Healer — not just our wounds. If we worship God fully, we'll know we're lifting someone up who loves us…and our enemies. This short three week series will be a primer on how to notice God and be invited to worship, understand obedience as worship in all areas of our lives, and form habits of formation — even in the every day — that help us worship God for the long haul.

Do we live slow enough to notice invitations from God to worship? We don't ever start worshipping God ex nihilo, out of nothing. We join in. We respond to an invitation. During our short series on WORSHIP before Advent, we are taking time to see worship as more than music. Worship is the site of our noticing God and drawing near. Worship is obedience. Worship is the place we establish habits of spiritual formation. This Sunday, we'll look at how noticing God is the beginning of this path and how God can help us overcome distraction, confusion, and self-centeredness. Worship, because of God's generosity, can even become a place where not only notice God but receive an invitation from God for the rest of our lives. What's yours?- Series Description -Our Fall 2024 series started with healing and continued with enemy love. It's hard to admit we're sick, and we need healing. It's hard to love our enemies. It's also hard to submit ourselves to God and worship God alone. Yet, if we worship God fully, healing comes easier as we are oriented around the Healer — not just our wounds. If we worship God fully, we'll know we're lifting someone up who loves us…and our enemies. This short three week series will be a primer on how to notice God and be invited to worship, understand obedience as worship in all areas of our lives, and form habits of formation — even in the every day — that help us worship God for the long haul.

This Sunday, we have the privilege of hearing from Julia Pickerill, co-senior pastor with her husband, Eric, at Vineyard Columbus, a flagship Vineyard church and the largest Vineyard church in the world. Julia and Eric have been part of Vineyard for many decades, led Joshua House, a rich and rooted young adult community at Vineyard Columbus for many years, and spent seven years in the Netherlands planting Vineyard Amsterdam, a vibrant urban Vineyard church in one of the most secular cities in Europe. Julia is an accomplished poet and preacher and is committed to humbly building faithful and relevant Vineyard churches that bear winsome witness in the 21st century world. She and Eric have three grown children, a dog named Cosmo, and a hairless Siamese cat. Come hear what she has to share with us from the Lord!

During our series on Enemy Love, it may have been easy to wonder…but what about the Pharisees - the religious teachers that strongly oppose and eventually help kill Jesus? Jesus doesn't seem too chummy with them. How is that love? Jesus does have a strange way of showing this group love. But by putting the pieces of our series together - creative engagement, proximity, and forgiveness, Jesus somehow manages to call his enemies in vs. cut them off. Come learn more on Sunday.- Series Description -If your sworn enemy asks you to love those who hurt you, you should run. If God asks the same, you should lean in and listen. Most people nod and agree with the teaching to love your neighbor — even if we don't. But to love our enemies? Most laugh. Why love people who will hurt us? Why prioritize people who want to harm us? This seems foolish, unwise, even abusive. Yet, loving one's enemies is the foundation of Jesus' teaching…and his life. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us….For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:8,10) Jesus starts his enemy love — with us. In turn, God's love for us —not our natural love for our enemies - is the foundation of this radical teaching and practice. But what does it look like? For some of us, we're confused if we even have enemies. For others, we know exactly who they are and we are not excited for Jesus' words on these matters. For all of us, Jesus has a good and powerful invitation as we respond to his transformative witness in a time of division, cancelation, and violence.

It can be easy to avoid our enemies, but it may be even easier to be offended by them. Jesus calls us to do something different: to love them. When we give up being offended, opportunities for love abound…even love that gets close. Jesus demonstrates this in his ministry. He gets close to people that his own community would consider enemies. When a tax collector shows up to see Jesus, Jesus doesn't get offended by his swindling ways. Instead, he gets proximate in a surprising way. Come and learn more this Sunday. - Series Description -If your sworn enemy asks you to love those who hurt you, you should run. If God asks the same, you should lean in and listen. Most people nod and agree with the teaching to love your neighbor — even if we don't. But to love our enemies? Most laugh. Why love people who will hurt us? Why prioritize people who want to harm us? This seems foolish, unwise, even abusive. Yet, loving one's enemies is the foundation of Jesus' teaching…and his life. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us….For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:8,10) Jesus starts his enemy love — with us. In turn, God's love for us —not our natural love for our enemies - is the foundation of this radical teaching and practice. But what does it look like? For some of us, we're confused if we even have enemies. For others, we know exactly who they are and we are not excited for Jesus' words on these matters. For all of us, Jesus has a good and powerful invitation as we respond to his transformative witness in a time of division, cancelation, and violence.

If your sworn enemy asks you to love those who hurt you, you should run. If God asks the same, you should lean in and listen. Most people nod and agree with the teaching to love your neighbor — even if we don't. But to love our enemies? Most laugh. Why love people who will hurt us? Why prioritize people who want to harm us? This seems foolish, unwise, even abusive. Yet, loving one's enemies is the foundation of Jesus' teaching…and his life. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us….For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:8,10) Jesus starts his enemy love — with us. In turn, God's love for us —not our natural love for our enemies - is the foundation of this radical teaching and practice. But what does it look like? For some of us, we're confused if we even have enemies. For others, we know exactly who they are and we are not excited for Jesus' words on these matters. For all of us, Jesus has a good and powerful invitation as we respond to his transformative witness in a time of division, cancelation, and violence. Learn more this Sunday.- Series Description -If your sworn enemy asks you to love those who hurt you, you should run. If God asks the same, you should lean in and listen. Most people nod and agree with the teaching to love your neighbor — even if we don't. But to love our enemies? Most laugh. Why love people who will hurt us? Why prioritize people who want to harm us? This seems foolish, unwise, even abusive. Yet, loving one's enemies is the foundation of Jesus' teaching…and his life. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us….For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:8,10) Jesus starts his enemy love — with us. In turn, God's love for us —not our natural love for our enemies - is the foundation of this radical teaching and practice. But what does it look like? For some of us, we're confused if we even have enemies. For others, we know exactly who they are and we are not excited for Jesus' words on these matters. For all of us, Jesus has a good and powerful invitation as we respond to his transformative witness in a time of division, cancelation, and violence.

In this fourth week of our teaching series on Healing, we'll be looking at what scripture has to say about the healing of our cities. The brokenness in our connections to one another can be so easy to see in the city around us. But real hope for the healing of our city can be harder for us to grab hold of. Do we hope in our own striving? Or is our hope in Jesus, the wounded healer who loves our city and longs for its wholeness more than we do? This Sunday, Tina will walk us through what it means to lives of hope and lives of worship, tethered to the restored and healed city that is to come at the end of all things, as we join God's spirit in the work of healing our city.- Series Description - God heals. We see this in scripture. Jesus performs miracles and then his disciples do the same work of healing people from sickness and setting people free from dark forces. We see this in church history. Saints do healing work and communities rejoice. Hundreds of years later, do we see God's healing in our lives? In our community? This Fall, we're going to look at who Jesus is as a healer, but also what it means that God forms healing communities in and through us. This is not merely about physical healing though we'll learn how that, too, is a powerful sign of the Kingdom. This is healing for our minds, emotions, our cities, and our worlds. If you are tired of sickness and eager for health, check out this entire series and ask God for more healing in your life, in our church, and in the world.

God heals broken bodies. God heals troubling thoughts. But what about hearts? Broken hearts are not just the stuff of junior high drama. A broken heart steals our joy, robs our peace, and leads us to numbness. God isn't only invested in our spiritual lives. God is invested in healing our hearts and emotions. We can ask God for full hearts in order to receive deep healing in our very emotional lives. God is near to the brokenhearted, he saves those crushed in Spirit. Learn and experience more this Sunday.- Series Description - God heals. We see this in scripture. Jesus performs miracles and then his disciples do the same work of healing people from sickness and setting people free from dark forces. We see this in church history. Saints do healing work and communities rejoice. Hundreds of years later, do we see God's healing in our lives? In our community? This Fall, we're going to look at who Jesus is as a healer, but also what it means that God forms healing communities in and through us. This is not merely about physical healing though we'll learn how that, too, is a powerful sign of the Kingdom. This is healing for our minds, emotions, our cities, and our worlds. If you are tired of sickness and eager for health, check out this entire series and ask God for more healing in your life, in our church, and in the world.

God desires an integrated healing for us — body, mind, emotions, communities, and the world around us. In the Gospels, Jesus heals bodies. Does he heal minds too? With our increasing awareness of anxiety, depression, and trauma, it would be great if Jesus' healing was more than skin deep. This Sunday, we'll talk about how God does heals us through meditating on truth, rejecting lies, and receiving freedom for a sound mind.- Series Description - God heals. We see this in scripture. Jesus performs miracles and then his disciples do the same work of healing people from sickness and setting people free from dark forces. We see this in church history. Saints do healing work and communities rejoice. Hundreds of years later, do we see God's healing in our lives? In our community? This Fall, we're going to look at who Jesus is as a healer, but also what it means that God forms healing communities in and through us. This is not merely about physical healing though we'll learn how that, too, is a powerful sign of the Kingdom. This is healing for our minds, emotions, our cities, and our worlds. If you are tired of sickness and eager for health, check out this entire series and ask God for more healing in your life, in our church, and in the world.

God heals. We see this in scripture. Jesus performs miracles and then his disciples do the same work of healing people from sickness and setting people free from dark forces. We see this in church history. Saints do healing work and communities rejoice. Hundreds of years later, do we see God's healing in our lives? In our community? This Fall, we're going to look at who Jesus is as a healer, but also what it means that God forms healing communities in and through us. This is healing for our bodies, minds, emotions, our cities, and our worlds. This Sunday, we'll lay out this big picture of healing with special attention to Jesus' power to heal our bodies. Come with curiosity or expectation about how God can take our sickness and pain and transform it into something so much greater.- Series Description - God heals. We see this in scripture. Jesus performs miracles and then his disciples do the same work of healing people from sickness and setting people free from dark forces. We see this in church history. Saints do healing work and communities rejoice. Hundreds of years later, do we see God's healing in our lives? In our community? This Fall, we're going to look at who Jesus is as a healer, but also what it means that God forms healing communities in and through us. This is not merely about physical healing though we'll learn how that, too, is a powerful sign of the Kingdom. This is healing for our minds, emotions, our cities, and our worlds. If you are tired of sickness and eager for health, check out this entire series and ask God for more healing in your life, in our church, and in the world.

This week, for the final message of our summer series on the book of Ephesians, we will be looking at what it means to live as children of light. In a world like ours, with forces at play that are neither safe nor kind, it can be easy to keep parts of our lives hidden in the dark. But when we hide from God and from others, shame grows, and we become less of who we were made to be. This Sunday, we'll look together at God's invitation for us to bring everything into the light of Christ, to be transformed in that light, and to stand in the power of God to overcome darkness as children of light.- Series Description -How often do we lose sight of God's character? We rupture a relationship and feel guilty. We sin and justify ourselves instead of seeking forgiveness. We lose our job and feel devastated. We need to remember who God is. God is powerful. God is alive. God is a unifier who makes us one. God is love. God is generous. God is light. The letter to Ephesus declares who God is, and we will ask God to help us not only believe these truths but walk them out in our lives.

In Ephesians 3, Paul writes about his ministry of bringing "the news of the boundless riches of Christ" to non-Jews (Gentiles), "to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God" (3:8) "now revealed...by the Spirit" (3:6).What is this mysterious plan now revealed?Would you believe that it's the church? "Through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known...in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord" (3:10-11).The good news is that all—Jew and Gentile alike—have "access to God" (2:17 cf. 3:12) as they are incorporated into a people, "members of the household of God" (2:19), even "a dwelling place for God" (2:22). Does the church, the Body of Christ, feel like good news to you?Join us this Sunday as we reflect on just how closely connected the good news of Jesus is to the church in the letters of the New Testament we've been reading together this summer. We'll make space for folks to share how they've experienced the good news of Jesus in and as an invitation into the church and also engage with God about what we might need to persist in or move closer to the church as the fundamental location of our lives with God. We'll also look at Ephesians 4, where Paul describes God as a giver of good gifts, empowering each person to build the Body of Christ and find a place in it through the exercise of those gifts. We'll make time to reflect on the gifts that we've each been given and seek both new gifts and an increase in fruitfulness as we invite the Holy Spirit and pray for one another.- Series Description -How often do we lose sight of God's character? We rupture a relationship and feel guilty. We sin and justify ourselves instead of seeking forgiveness. We lose our job and feel devastated. We need to remember who God is. God is powerful. God is alive. God is a unifier who makes us one. God is love. God is generous. God is light. The letter to Ephesus declares who God is, and we will ask God to help us not only believe these truths but walk them out in our lives.

What does God's love mean to you? A question like that can elicit some pretty complicated and beautiful responses. Join us this week for another family friendly service filled with testimonies and lessons on what God's love means to some of our youngest ECVers.- Series Description -How often do we lose sight of God's character? We rupture a relationship and feel guilty. We sin and justify ourselves instead of seeking forgiveness. We lose our job and feel devastated. We need to remember who God is. God is powerful. God is alive. God is a unifier who makes us one. God is love. God is generous. God is light. The letter to Ephesus declares who God is, and we will ask God to help us not only believe these truths but walk them out in our lives.

Church can be one of the easiest places to feel like we don't belong. In this week's portion of Ephesians, Paul reminds us that we have been brought in and no walls stand between us and Jesus. Not only so, but Jesus is the cornerstone of the new building being created by God from those who are called by him from the prophets to the apostles and on into today. Our lives are built on Christ and through him, we are and are becoming the dwelling place of God.- Series Description -How often do we lose sight of God's character? We rupture a relationship and feel guilty. We sin and justify ourselves instead of seeking forgiveness. We lose our job and feel devastated. We need to remember who God is. God is powerful. God is alive. God is a unifier who makes us one. God is love. God is generous. God is light. The letter to Ephesus declares who God is, and we will ask God to help us not only believe these truths but walk them out in our lives.

When we look around, things aren't perfect, or even ideal. The Bible uses stronger words- there's a way of death, and we see it daily. From wars between nations, injustice among people groups, or the internal strife we each feel. But there's also a promise that something unexpected can come from what we see, and people can be made ALIVE. Join us as we continue our journey through Ephesians and experience the surprising life God has in store.- Series Description -How often do we lose sight of God's character? We rupture a relationship and feel guilty. We sin and justify ourselves instead of seeking forgiveness. We lose our job and feel devastated. We need to remember who God is. God is powerful. God is alive. God is a unifier who makes us one. God is love. God is generous. God is light. The letter to Ephesus declares who God is, and we will ask God to help us not only believe these truths but walk them out in our lives.

How often do we lose sight of God's character? We rupture a relationship and feel guilty. We sin and justify ourselves instead of seeking forgiveness. We lose our job and feel devastated. We need to remember who God is. God is powerful. God is alive. God is a unifier who makes us one. God is love. God is generous. God is light. The letter to Ephesus declares who God is, and we will ask God to help us not only believe these truths but walk them out in our lives.- Series Description -How often do we lose sight of God's character? We rupture a relationship and feel guilty. We sin and justify ourselves instead of seeking forgiveness. We lose our job and feel devastated. We need to remember who God is. God is powerful. God is alive. God is a unifier who makes us one. God is love. God is generous. God is light. The letter to Ephesus declares who God is, and we will ask God to help us not only believe these truths but walk them out in our lives.

How often do we lose sight of God's character? We rupture a relationship and feel guilty. We sin and justify ourselves instead of seeking forgiveness. We lose our job and feel devastated. We need to remember who God is. God is powerful. God is alive. God is a unifier who makes us one. God is love. God is generous. God is light. The letter to Ephesus declares who God is, and we will ask God to help us not only believe these truths but walk them out in our lives.- Series Description -How often do we lose sight of God's character? We rupture a relationship and feel guilty. We sin and justify ourselves instead of seeking forgiveness. We lose our job and feel devastated. We need to remember who God is. God is powerful. God is alive. God is a unifier who makes us one. God is love. God is generous. God is light. The letter to Ephesus declares who God is, and we will ask God to help us not only believe these truths but walk them out in our lives.

When Paul wrote to the church of Colassae, perhaps Paul wondered, “What if tomorrow, different households became faithful witnesses to the person of Jesus in all that they do? What would our world look like with multiple homes on fire with the Holy Spirit?” Paul's ancient letter to the Colossians encourages the church of Colassae to dwell with Jesus' teachings, clothing themselves with what they have received from God and encouraging them to practice this first in their household. This Sunday, Kim and all of us will be in wonder: How can we be faithful witnesses through mutual submission under Jesus in the context of today's power structures?- Series Description -Stories are so important to our culture. Whether it's the story of our country or our family or even our favorite novel, stories have the power to ground us, inspire us, and give us hope. This summer, we'll be studying the letter to the Colossians that hones in on a really important story for all of humanity: the Gospel (or good news) of Jesus. This Gospel story isn't only in the Bible. It's happening. Paul says it's even connected to hope laid up in heaven for us. Need some more hope this summer? Come and get your fill from a story you can join.

When we look at the world around us, there is so much death. So many default ways of being and living that bring about harm, emptiness, something other than freedom. We see it in our individual lives, and we see it in the oppressive systems and structures all around us. And yet, Jesus invites us to live with our minds and hearts set on a different Way, a Way from above that is life and peace and freedom. How do we walk out this tension, as Jesus people in a decaying world? Paul's ancient letter to the Colossians invites us to put on this Kingdom way not as individuals, but as a corporate body - in transforming, humbling, radical unity with one another. This Sunday, Tina will be walking us through Jesus's invitation for us to be made new in Christ, formed in the Way of the Kingdom of God in & through Christian community.- Series Description -Stories are so important to our culture. Whether it's the story of our country or our family or even our favorite novel, stories have the power to ground us, inspire us, and give us hope. This summer, we'll be studying the letter to the Colossians that hones in on a really important story for all of humanity: the Gospel (or good news) of Jesus. This Gospel story isn't only in the Bible. It's happening. Paul says it's even connected to hope laid up in heaven for us. Need some more hope this summer? Come and get your fill from a story you can join.

Paul's letter to the Colossians urgently encourages the church in Colossae to remember their connection to Christ, where the fullness of God lives. Christ, the head of the Church. Christ, the one who aids God in reconciling all to Himself. Paul wants the Colossians to know that they are complete in Christ. Yet, many of them are living captive to deceptive philosophies and empty practices. A growing number were fascinated by a syncretic mix of following Jesus, rules from Judaism, gnostic religion, and “the elemental spirits of the universe.” They cheated themselves out of freedom in Christ. Instead of being complete, they let themselves be captive. As we think about our faith in Jesus, is it marked by full dependence on Christ? Of course, us being complete in Christ doesn't mean, we've arrived. Instead, it means we can grow in the one who completes us vs. be distracted by a need for empty rules and habits that move us further away from Christ even when their lure of safety, certainty, or spiritual power draw us in. This Sunday, let's dwell on the only one who offers completeness instead of more captivity.- Series Description -Stories are so important to our culture. Whether it's the story of our country or our family or even our favorite novel, stories have the power to ground us, inspire us, and give us hope. This summer, we'll be studying the letter to the Colossians that hones in on a really important story for all of humanity: the Gospel (or good news) of Jesus. This Gospel story isn't only in the Bible. It's happening. Paul says it's even connected to hope laid up in heaven for us. Need some more hope this summer? Come and get your fill from a story you can join.

In the first two weeks of our teaching series on the book of Colossians, we've explored the "hope laid up in heaven" (Col 1:5) that the gospel articulates, good news that "bears fruit" in the communities to which it has come all over the world. While Christ's supremacy has been "proclaimed to every creature under heaven," the rule and reign of God is not yet "all in all" (as 1 Cor 15:28 puts it), and Paul urges the Colossians to "continue...steadfast in the faith" (Col 1:23).In v. 24, Paul—who, after all, is writing from prison (4:3)—makes clear that his having become a "servant" of the gospel (1:23) involves "suffering" (1:24) and no small amount of "struggle" (2:1). Deepening roots of faith in Jesus, Paul suggests, result not (only) in comfort, but (also) in costly service in pursuit of the kingdom of God. Join us this Sunday as we invite the Lord's formation and encouragement to "continue steadfast in the faith" especially when our faithful service in response to the good news of Jesus leads us into suffering.- Series Description -Stories are so important to our culture. Whether it's the story of our country or our family or even our favorite novel, stories have the power to ground us, inspire us, and give us hope. This summer, we'll be studying the letter to the Colossians that hones in on a really important story for all of humanity: the Gospel (or good news) of Jesus. This Gospel story isn't only in the Bible. It's happening. Paul says it's even connected to hope laid up in heaven for us. Need some more hope this summer? Come and get your fill from a story you can join.

We conclude our post-Easter teaching series, Empty, on the Sunday that concludes Eastertide in the church calendar: the feast of Pentecost. We've explored the idea that empty things-- like the empty tomb of Easter morning-- can be places of blessing. When we empty our schedules, wallets, resumés, beds and more to be present to God we can experience his life-giving abundance.Join us this Sunday when we'll empty out some of the time we typically devote to teaching to engage with the Lord and be filled with the Holy Spirit whose coming to the fledgling post-Resurrection church we celebrate on Pentecost.- Series Description -Following our Easter service exploring the power of the empty tomb, we will spend several weeks looking at how resurrection changes emptiness. Because of the resurrection, we know that empty things can be blessed. And some things need to be emptied to be consecrated for blessings that go far beyond what we can see. How do our schedules, wallets, contacts, and more need to be emptied in order for us to experience God's abundance? Come and learn more.

Join us this Sunday as we continue our Empty series. We will focus on the Empty Bed. Is it a site of restless anxiety or a place of reflection and peace? Sometimes, our culture's messaging on sex and our trust in God's goodness in this tender area of our lives determines whether we hide in shame or isolation or whether we open up this part of our lives to God and others. We become open not because our romantic life is perfect (whatever that would mean) but because we'd rather have a loving God speak to us—personally and communally—than the broken messages we can get otherwise. As we hear God speak, we can try ourselves to be part of a healing culture that empties toxic lies around sex and relationships in order to be open to God's fullness and abundance regardless of our relationship status.- Series Description -Following our Easter service exploring the power of the empty tomb, we will spend several weeks looking at how resurrection changes emptiness. Because of the resurrection, we know that empty things can be blessed. And some things need to be emptied to be consecrated for blessings that go far beyond what we can see. How do our schedules, wallets, contacts, and more need to be emptied in order for us to experience God's abundance? Come and learn more.

The Bible talks a lot about power of the words that come out of our mouths. Proverbs says that death and life are in the power of our tongue. Are our tongues producing words of life or words of death? Join us this Sunday as we discover if our mouths are full of gossip, slander, and lies or truth, encouragement, and edification.- Series Description -Following our Easter service exploring the power of the empty tomb, we will spend several weeks looking at how resurrection changes emptiness. Because of the resurrection, we know that empty things can be blessed. And some things need to be emptied to be consecrated for blessings that go far beyond what we can see. How do our schedules, wallets, contacts, and more need to be emptied in order for us to experience God's abundance? Come and learn more.

When we come to Jesus, we are not only joined to him, but to his people—to his household. In the way of Jesus, our identity as members of his household takes precedence over all other memberships and identities, and, humanly speaking, becomes the locus of all our other relationships. To continue the “Empty” series, this week's sermon will be called “Resetting our Relational Center: Emptying Ourselves to Make Room for a New Community." Our guest speaker, Andy Saperstein, will help us explore some of the graces, challenges, and adventures we encounter as we make room to live out our identity as the people of God.- Series Description -Following our Easter service exploring the power of the empty tomb, we will spend several weeks looking at how resurrection changes emptiness. Because of the resurrection, we know that empty things can be blessed. And some things need to be emptied to be consecrated for blessings that go far beyond what we can see. How do our schedules, wallets, contacts, and more need to be emptied in order for us to experience God's abundance? Come and learn more.

It is easy to live our lives thinking that are worth is in our accomplishments. Thankfully, Jesus has a list of accomplishments that are different than our own. They are freeing and completely free. Child. Reliant on God's power. One who discerns the way of Jesus with him, not alone. This is the way to a life where we don't withdraw from the world; instead, we remember who we are - God's beloved, and continue in the path God has called us, empowered by the Spirit to deal with trial and challenge. Listen to hear more practical strategies for finding our worth in a God who chose us before we accomplished anything.- Series Description -Following our Easter service exploring the power of the empty tomb, we will spend several weeks looking at how resurrection changes emptiness. Because of the resurrection, we know that empty things can be blessed. And some things need to be emptied to be consecrated for blessings that go far beyond what we can see. How do our schedules, wallets, contacts, and more need to be emptied in order for us to experience God's abundance? Come and learn more.

Empty wallet. Empty bank account. How could those things have anything to do with resurrection? Jesus' life giving advice on money isn't go forth and chase “up and to the right” or “more, more, more.” Instead, Jesus' path towards abundance goes once again through loss. Can we trust Jesus with our finances? Whatever our answer is, come and consider how following Jesus with our money can lead to flourishing.- Series Description -Following our Easter service exploring the power of the empty tomb, we will spend several weeks looking at how resurrection changes emptiness. Because of the resurrection, we know that empty things can be blessed. And some things need to be emptied to be consecrated for blessings that go far beyond what we can see. How do our schedules, wallets, contacts, and more need to be emptied in order for us to experience God's abundance? Come and learn more.

Following our Easter service exploring the power of the empty tomb, we will spend several weeks looking at how resurrection changes emptiness. Because of the resurrection, we know that empty things can be blessed. And some things need to be emptied to be consecrated for blessings that go far beyond what we can see. How do our schedules, wallets, contacts, and more need to be emptied in order for us to experience God's abundance? Come and learn more this Sunday.- Series Description -Following our Easter service exploring the power of the empty tomb, we will spend several weeks looking at how resurrection changes emptiness. Because of the resurrection, we know that empty things can be blessed. And some things need to be emptied to be consecrated for blessings that go far beyond what we can see. How do our schedules, wallets, contacts, and more need to be emptied in order for us to experience God's abundance? Come and learn more.

What's a time you've had something redefined? Was it sudden or over time? Some of us have woken up with an ordinary understanding of some specific part of our life and by the time we went to sleep, everything was different. Others had that change happen over months, years, decades. This Easter, we remember that Jesus' followers went through a whirlwind of emotions after Jesus' death leading to his resurrection. Grief. Offense. Shock. Doubt. Belief. In the morning, the offense of someone robbing a grave gave way to myriad emotional responses when the empty tomb was revealed. How do we make meaning out of the empty tombs of our lives? The good news of Jesus helps us redefine it all. Come and encounter more this Sunday and remember to invite a neighbor, classmate, or friend. What might God redefine for you this Easter?

What if tomorrow brought freedom to all people and the land? This was God's vision of Jubilee, a time when the Israelites were invited to take a break from harvesting every 50 years to let the land rest and enjoy the abundance God would provide. They were also called to free all enslaved people. This is the essence of Jubilee. Where are you longing for Jubilee today?This week, Kim will discuss the vision and imagination that God invited the Israelites to embrace for a new way of life: one that holds about the abundance, safety, and security God provides if they follow his decrees and the directions God extended to the Israelites if one of their fellow Israelites became poor. - Series Description -Jesus cares deeply about the marginalized. During this Lenten series, we will unpack God's care for the poor, identification with this group, and the ways God moves on their behalf and calls us to do likewise. Oftentimes, we see people talk the talk with justice — saying the right things, using the in season buzzwords — but they are not caring for actual marginalized folks. Other times, we see people serving to the point of burnout and not modeling the world they are working so hard for. They might do good works but without much good news. Jesus is completely different. He has compassion, mercy, and deep love for folks who are marginalized. Jesus sees, stops, and cares, and He calls us to do the same. Will we? Over the Covid-19 pandemic, each our service and justice ministries got shut down — prison bible studies at Whalley and York, serving at Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK), and serving with Agape Church for the Homeless. As the pandemic shifted and more things opened up, we remained quite inward. We want that to change. We are praying that God's work amongst us would inspire a new ministry for and among the poor and marginalized. Join us!

Over the past few weeks during this season of Lent, we've been spending time considering God's heart for those who are materially poor. There is Gospel good news for all of us in this call to love the poor. And yet, we can so easily miss the good news altogether because we get entangled and distracted with other things, like wealth, and stability, and worry. This week, Tina will be sharing more about scripture's challenging invitation for us to open our hands and to be set free from the empty ways of living that keep us from sharing in God's kingdom blessings in solidarity with the poor. - Series Description -Jesus cares deeply about the marginalized. During this Lenten series, we will unpack God's care for the poor, identification with this group, and the ways God moves on their behalf and calls us to do likewise. Oftentimes, we see people talk the talk with justice — saying the right things, using the in season buzzwords — but they are not caring for actual marginalized folks. Other times, we see people serving to the point of burnout and not modeling the world they are working so hard for. They might do good works but without much good news. Jesus is completely different. He has compassion, mercy, and deep love for folks who are marginalized. Jesus sees, stops, and cares, and He calls us to do the same. Will we? Over the Covid-19 pandemic, each our service and justice ministries got shut down — prison bible studies at Whalley and York, serving at Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK), and serving with Agape Church for the Homeless. As the pandemic shifted and more things opened up, we remained quite inward. We want that to change. We are praying that God's work amongst us would inspire a new ministry for and among the poor and marginalized. Join us!