Vista Community Church

As we discuss 1 Peter 1:13-25, we see that all of the demanding actions we're implored to take are predicated upon the action God has already taken in Christ.

All Christians live with a bit of a dual identity. First, we are children of God. Secondly, we are strangers in the world. Because of these identities, scripture is clear that we will face trials... it's a part of our life in this broken world. In this letter to the church, Peter writes to Christians who are going through various trials based on that duel identity. He writes to give them hope and to remind them that even their trials can deepen their faith and be a source of their joy.

First Peter is a letter written to scattered Christians, who found themselves socially excluded, out of control, and struggling to live faithfully in an unfaithful world. In many ways we're in a similar place, and are invited to see our scattering as a divine sending and not a demonic disaster.

What does a healthy biblical sexual ethic look like? We end the series exploring how not being our own helps us better navigate the confusing terrain that is modern sexuality.

The current culture tells us to live one way, but God's word clearly tells us something different. For those who have surrendered their life to Christ, God gives us direction on how we should live.

Rather than being denied, our humanity is fully affirmed when we accept that we are not our own. Christ-like self-denial is the ultimate form of self-care.

As followers of Jesus, we should be less concerned with what culture says about family, and more about what God says. So, what does God say about marriage and family?

Scripture nudges us toward understanding that true freedom is not writing your own story but joyfully accepting your role in God's story.

In this beautiful Psalm we see David mention many of God's truths, which are both convicting and comforting. It really is an astonishing truth that God is both infinite and intimate.

Psalm 8 reflects that the God of creation chooses to reveal His glory through humanity, caring for them and crowning them "with glory and honor." What is the purpose of humanity? To rule and reign with God and to bless the world in His name.

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and is all about learning to love scripture. So, how do we become like the psalmist and learn to love the word of God?

Psalm 51 is one of the most clear and concise picture of repentance – mirroring the repentance in King David's life. This is something we all should learn how to do often, because we're all sinners and repentance is our way back to God.

Psalm 24 sets practical implications for us; as the psalmist prepares for the Ark of the Covenant, we can prepare our lives for Christ to return.

If we're honest, we've all had seasons where we feel unheard by God and suffer alone. David felt the same way while writing Psalm 22—reminding us that God is not silent in our suffering but that He's already spoken.

Why be good if being good isn't good for you? Why be faithful to God when God isn't faithful in return? Psalm 73 asks these questions and reminds us that God's faithfulness does not always come in the form of worldly prosperity but divine nearness.

Psalm 1 sets the book's tone by contrasting the life God blesses versus the life he won't bless. We all want to be blessed by God, but what does God's blessing look like, and how do we attain it?

Jude Austin, one of our elders, explores Christ's defenselessness and helps us break down our defensiveness to better trust in God's plan.

The future should fill the present with meaning rather than drain it of meaning. This happens when we spend time with the future in healthy ways but resist the temptation to live ahead of our time.

We relate to the present properly by attending to it with stability, attention, and curiosity instead of wanderlust, distraction, and boredom.

The past is not what we leave behind so much as what we carry. How do we carry it well? We carry the past well when we carry it with gratitude, acceptance, and contrition – instead of nostalgia, denial, and shame.

Psalms takes us on a rollercoaster because that's what life is. But, Psalms ends with five psalms of joy and praise, because the rollercoaster of life ends on the highest note imaginable: hallelujah!

The gospel (when rightly heard and received) is a source of laughter. Because His promises exceed our expectations, we can't help but laugh when God comes through for us.

How can Paul write about having joy, despite his dire circumstances? And how do we find that kind of joy? Paul gives us insight into how to live joyfully in a broken world.

What happens at the end of Mark's gospel account? This Easter, we're examining why it ends the way it does and what we can learn about the resurrection story.

What happens at the end of Mark's gospel account? This Easter, we're examining why it ends the way it does and what we can learn about the resurrection story.

Jesus leaves Jerusalem after the palm procession, and we read about a rather odd account with a fig tree. This story leads us to ask, are we bearing any fruit? Or are we just leaves?

How do we enjoy life when it is so unmanageable and fleeting? By cherishing life's many provisional joys and remembering we are not entitled to permanence.

Although Solomon declares that much of life is vanity, he recognizes that it's better to live with wisdom. In Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon describes the difference between a life of wisdom and a life of folly.

God alone is who orders our life, and we can't predict outcomes of prosperity or adversity – still, how we live matters. Our response to adversity and how we handle prosperity can influence their effect on our lives.

When it comes to our work, we need to find a proper balance between laziness and pathological productivity. Paradoxically, many of us need to lower our expectations to have lives filled with gratitude and contentment – instead of entitlement and resentment.

Ash Wednesday is an invitation into a season of preparation for Easter, and an antidote for our temptation to have "Easter without Good Friday."

We should remember the past seasons and prepare for future seasons, but ultimately we should live in the season that God has us in right now so that we don't miss current opportunities. Life is a gift, so enjoy it and live with a proper fear of God.

Life can be mean. Given the injustice that fills the world, Solomon has a wise but challenging suggestion: stop waging war on reality, and surrender to the small but important work of being faithful with your little piece of the world.

Solomon recognized that the gifts from God are good and enjoyable, however they were never meant to bring ultimate satisfaction. Far too often, we settle for fleeting pleasures when infinite joy is available to us in Christ–we worship the gift, rather than the giver.

The writer of Ecclesiastes wants us to learn about life. In chapter one, the writer is frustrated and sees everything he's pursued as empty and meaningless. No doubt we have all felt this way from time to time, but the real question is "what's the solution?"

We're increasingly skeptical of authority, which can be a good thing. We also don't want to live in a world where we trust no authority but our own. Looking at an event in the life of Paul, we discuss embracing the tension between submission and autonomy.

We seem to be pushed to be either more conservative or more progressive – politically, socially, theologically, financially, etc. But how conservative or progressive should Christ followers, or the church, be? Maybe instead of being either conservative or progressive, we should seek to be conservative AND progressive in the right ways.

Do we have to choose between including people and judging people? No! Inclusion includes a healthy form of judgment, just as Christian judgment always happens in the context of inclusion.

The reality is that faith and works do not contradict each other – they compliment one another. Christian "faith" is about trusting in what God has done for us, and then "works" is the evidence of what God has done in us. Those who follow Jesus should have both: internal faith and external works.

Busyness, restlessness, and lack of Sabbath plague our culture; we struggle to truly rest well. Yet, God's invitation to us is to Sabbath – to find true rest. What if 2023 was not about hustling or accomplishing goals, but a year of Sabbath?

What's the best gift you've received? For Simeon and Anna, it was meeting Jesus! Like Simeon, we realize that Jesus is the only gift that will make us whole and give us peace. As we celebrate Christmas (the arrival of the best gift ever), don't forget to thank the giver and share the joy with everyone around you!

Jesus is born in order to make room for people who did not make room for Him, because God does not want to be without us.

John the Baptist is such an interesting, challenging character in the Bible – but what made him so great? What questions should his life cause us to ask ourselves regarding greatness?

God chooses Mary to give birth to the Messiah, because she is a person of deep, hidden faithfulness. Mary consents to God's plan and becomes the paradigm of human obedience to the will of God.

In Luke chapter 1 we are introduced to Zechariah and Elizabeth – a remarkable couple who teach us how to wait patiently on the Lord which is, in part, what the season of Advent is all about.

This generation faces many challenges amidst a rapidly changing cultural climate; yet they also have a great capacity to love, serve others, and fight for justice. We'll look at a few trends in youth culture, and what we can do to help them discover their identity in Christ.

It is not happy people who are grateful, but grateful people who are happy. Psalm 100 succinctly and joyfully expresses Scripture's assertion that our most appropriate response to God is gratitude.

Sorry is an essential prayer, because we make a lot of mistakes and commit a lot of sins. But, instead of dreading confession, we learn to embrace it when we see it as the path to wholeness.

Pray can be hard, mainly because we do not know God. As we start off our series on prayer, we see that praying and asking God for help becomes natural when we know who God is.