Elm City Vineyard Church Talks

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!

Jesus’ famous last words dealt with being known by one’s love. What does love have to do with the poor, service, and justice? A lot, it turns out. Love isn’t just motivation to do work with and among the marginalized. Love is how we will be recognized as disciples, students of Jesus. On Sunday, we have the privilege of hearing someone who has walked this out in word and deed. Rob Morris, CEO and Co-Founder of Love146, will share his story, the story of his organization which works to eliminate child trafficking, and what love has got to do with it all. You don’t want to miss this!- 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!

You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Exod 23:9).The remarkable text from Matt 25 about the sheep and the goats and the "least of these" has been with us every week so far in our series on "Loving the Poor in Word and Deed" as we've explored how we serve and encounter Jesus when we feed, clothe, house, welcome, visit, and otherwise care for the poor. This week we continue our series with a look at how God identifies with the poor as he rescues a people from slavery in Egypt and enjoins those people--his people--to liberality, generous giving motivated by their own experience of rescue by God from affliction and lack. It's the model for the church of Jesus who was "anointed to bring good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18) and instructed his followers to "give to all who ask" (Matt 5:42).- 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!

In the famous parable of the sheep and the goats, both parties are surprised by Jesus’ connection with the poor — even the ones who have seen Jesus through their feeding, clothing, visiting, and compassionate service. Through our hearing of the story, we don’t have to be surprised anymore that we can see Jesus in the face of the poor. Instead, our compassion for the poor and marginalized can now become our worship of and encounter with Jesus. With that hope, we’ll go deeper on Sunday as we listen to stories from our community about encountering God through the marginalized. You don’t want to miss hearing these dynamic stories from other ECVers as we continue to build courage for this work together.- 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!

Who is “the poor”? What does that phrase even mean anyway? Throughout the Bible, that phrase is used to describe people God wants to remember, serve, include, and relieve. Yet, we often forget these people. During this Lenten season, we’re remembering this group and God’s call for us to serve the marginalized amongst us. In Matthew 25, Jesus has surprising news about who they are. Hint: it involves Jesus in a big way. Could Jesus’ revelation change our lives, our church, and our city? Come and see.- 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!

Last week, Josh shared about how Jesus died for our sin not to be a big deal. But once we understand and receive the good news of Jesus’s rescue from sin… what happens next? How are we supposed to relate to our own sinfulness as people who have been set free from sin if we can’t stop sinning? This Sunday, for the second installment of our two-part series on Sin, Tina will be sharing more about what it means to walk with Jesus as everyday sinners in a world distorted by the accuser’s voice.- Series Description -S I NSome people say sin is missing the mark. Others say sin is like drinking poison, weakening you with every breath you take. Some say sin doesn’t exist or, if it does, it doesn’t really matter. What does Jesus make of sin? What do you?

After exploring four weeks on hospitality, we will dive into one of the most contested topics when it comes to hosting others — SIN. Jesus was constantly accused of spending time with tax collectors and sinners, unsavory types. Religious experts thought Jesus minimized God’s law. Jesus wasn’t just full words and teaching on the matter either; he touched the untouchable who were thought to carry sin’s contagion. Our Sinless Savior wants to teach us a thing or two about how to view and engage sin, others’ and our own. Are we up for being learners?- Series Description -S I NSome people say sin is missing the mark. Others say sin is like drinking poison, weakening you with every breath you take. Some say sin doesn’t exist or, if it does, it doesn’t really matter. What does Jesus make of sin? What do you?

Our January teaching series on Hospitality has explored how we need to be hosted by God with the gifts of love, home, and family that God gives us and then give those gifts in turn to others. We conclude our series with the gift that makes all of those (and more) possible-- the gift of himself in the Holy Spirit. When Jesus, who welcomes sinners (Luke 15:2), ascends to heaven, he sends the Spirit to his followers whose growing numbers represent an ever-widening circle of those into whose hearts God's love has been poured by the Spirit (Rom 5:5), a "spirit of adoption...bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom 8:15-16). The filling of the Spirit, again and again, leads and equips the church to extend God's hospitality, bringing near all those who were "far off" to be "members of the household of God" (Eph 2:13, 19).- Series Description - A Sermon Series on God's Hospitality and Our Own

The loneliness epidemic in our country impacts our city and our church. Even with people around us and in our lives, we can ask who is our family? Once we receive family, we have a choice. Do we hoard sacred and beloved relationships? Or do we connect other people to life-giving relationships and see that family grow. When we’re warmed, we provide warmth. That’s the hope. So, what does it mean that we have a God, who is a Loving Parent —one whom Jesus calls his “Heavenly Father.” Can we feast of this relationship and then minister family to others? Jesus seems to think so! The work of family is available, growing, and we’re a part of receiving it and passing it on.Series Description - A Sermon Series on God's Hospitality and Our Own

Last week, we kicked off our series, Warmed, by proclaiming and experiencing God’s love. Even though God’s love is abundant, we can act like it is as scarce as warmth in the winter. How can we show God’s warmth to others when we haven’t received it ourselves lately? We need to be hosted first by God with the gifts God gives us (love, home, family, and the Spirit). Then, we’re called to give those gifts away to the Church, neighbors, strangers, and enemies. This week, we’ll explore how God gives us the gift of home. Through God being Creator of the world and our Maker, we can find Home in peculiar ways and help others find home too. Series Description - A Sermon Series on God's Hospitality and Our Own

Have you ever been so cold that you don’t share a blanket? When you finally get some warmth in the winter, sharing it is not so easy. Sometimes, we simply need to be warmed in order to share that warmth with others. This is often true for God’s lavish love and hospitality. How can we show God’s warmth to others when we haven’t lately received it ourselves? In our first sermon series of the new year, we will talk about the gifts God gives us (love, home, family, and the Spirit) as our Great Host and how we’re called to give those away to the Church, neighbors, strangers, and enemies. Come today to hear about and experience God’s love as God’s ultimate act of hospitality.

When we think of humility, we often think about lowering ourselves and our self-worth so as to not seem prideful or arrogant. What if being humble is not about taking on a false worth but actually stepping into the fullness of who God created you to be? What does that mean in the scheme of God's bigger story that He is writing? Join us this Sunday as we look at how John the Baptist's humility helped pave the way for the coming of Jesus.Series Description -In Advent, we remember the anticipation of many who were looking forward to the birth of Jesus. We also look forward to the second coming of Jesus. Both parts help us expand our own story— it started before us and it is connected to something beyond us.

All of us, at some point, have wrestled with belief and unbelief. When we doubt, sometimes it causes us to wonder - do our questions and uncertainty cut us off from God? Could any of God's promises still be real and trustworthy in the face of our own unbelief? How can we still cling to the bigger story of our faith when we're not sure? This Sunday, Tina will be leading us in an exploration of disbelief, faithful rescue, and kingdom perspective through the story of Zechariah’s angelic visitation and the birth of John the Baptist.Come join us for this second chapter of our Advent series. Series Description - In Advent, we remember the anticipation of many who were looking forward to the birth of Jesus. We also look forward to the second coming of Jesus. Both parts help us expand our own story— it started before us and it is connected to something beyond us.

In Advent, we remember the anticipation of many who were looking forward to the birth of Jesus. In Advent, we also expect and look forward to the second coming of Jesus. Both parts of Advent help us expand our own story — it started well before us and it is connected to something beyond us. As we expect a bigger story than just our own, we grow in hope, we shake off doubt, we foster humility, and we learn just how central Jesus is to all of that. A few months ago, we began a journey learning about how our stories are powerful and connected to Jesus’ story. In our Empowered series, we learned how the Holy Spirit changes our lives and empowers our stories. As we close out the year, we’ll discover together just how big our story is when we tether it to the life of Jesus. This Jesus, son of God, born in a manger and coming again on a white horse. From his birth to his second coming, Jesus wants this good news to be a great joy for us and our world. Come hear more how that gives us hope this Sunday.