Elm City Vineyard Church Talks

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.

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.