Toowoomba Vineyard Church

We've talked a lot about 'transforming culture' in the last few weeks. So what is it exactly about culture that needs to change? While the answer to that question is a big one (with lots of nuance as always), one big issue we're seeing is a startling rise in fundamentalism. In this week's message, Chris unpacks this tricky topic. Importantly, he distinguishes it from orthodoxy...

We try and avoid dirty words in our sermons, but every now and then you do need to bring up things like 'vulnerability' and 'commitment'. If we want to be 'transformed people' who are transforming culture, being rooted in community is essential to the process. Mandy explains why quality friendships are essential to our faith journey and how to go about cultivating them.

When we zoom all the way out and look at the bible as a whole, we see a grand narrative the spans the creation of the world, the unfortunate moment it all went wrong, and the final moments when God makes all things new. This might sound high and lofty, but it changes the way we live right here, and right now. But how? Mandy explains.

As a Vineyard church, praying for one another is a core part of our culture. And yet, because it requires a level of vulnerability, it's way too easy to get hurt. So what does respectful, emotionally healthy prayer ministry look like? How do we navigate ministry when big stuff comes up? And what does 'success' look like in prayer ministry? Hint: it's not when you get a big 'spi...

Everyone's trying to do it. Everyone's reading the same book (mostly). So why are there so, so many different kinds of church that all claim to be biblical? There are a bunch of reasons, but the big one is that we all interpret it differently. And the reason (one of them at least) is that we come to the bible with different lenses. To try and get at what it means to be a biblical community, Chris...

If you asked a super-intelligent AI powered robot how it would destroy humanity, what would it say? Well guess what... we asked a robot (Chat GPT) and the answer was kind of scary, because in many ways it's already happening. We live in a world where the technology that's designed to help us has, in a way, made us into its slaves. Conspiracy theories aside, it's kind of crazy. But... g...

We've been talking the 'why' of church these last few weeks, so this time around we turn to the 'what'... what does church look like on its best day? There's an amazing passage in Acts 2 that describes the very first few weeks and months of church, and it provides an inspiring picture... but one that, it turns out, isn't quite sustainable. Yet Acts 2:42-47 still has muc...

Last week we started by sharing the story of TVC so far. This week we zoom out a long way and look at the story of the Vineyard movement. From its roots in the Jesus movement of the '70s to the ministry of John Wimber, to church planting across the world, we come from an incredible heritage. But the point is not to convince you of how wonderful Vineyard is (that's a nice side benefit), but...

Welcome back! After 2 weeks off, we're launching into a new series... with no title, and no outline. Rather, we're sensing that as a church we need to take a few steps back and remember why we're here, who we are, and who we want to become. Chris opens this 'series' with a look at our new-ish mission statement: 'Transformed people transforming culture.' So what does it...

People have been talking about the end of the world since... well, probably as long as people have been talking about anything. There's something that captures our imagination when it comes to how all of this ends. The bible certainly has a piece to say. But unfortunately this topic gets hijacked all the time by well meaning people who are convinced they've finally solved the puzzle of Rev...

On the church's (sort of) birthday, Mandy appropriately takes us through the 101 of the church. Scripture uses a bunch of analogies to talk about who we're supposed to be, so Mandy walks through the key ones and makes the point that church needs ALL of us to work right!

It might seem like an obvious question, and a fairly central part of the Christian faith... but the question in the title turns out to be one of the most controversial debates in modern theology. Chris unpacks some of the dominant theories about the atonement, and importantly, how they shape our picture of who God is...

Having spent the last three weeks unpacking the Triune God, it's time to bring things (figuratively) back down to earth... and talk about humanity. Who are we, and what's the point of us being here? What's our standing before God? And how do we live differently knowing the answers to these slightly important questions?

This week we introduce the elusive third member of the Trinity: The Holy Spirit. Mandy reveals two equal and opposite errors we can make when learning to do life with the Spirit, and presents a more complete understanding of who the Holy Spirit is—and how he works in our lives, and the life of the church.

When we think about Jesus, we normally think about a superhuman type character—an inexhaustible healer and super-intelligent teacher with a slightly bent 21st Century sensibility. The truth is, while his teaching and significance are timeless, he was also a person set in a historical context. Mandy unpacks some of the background to Jesus which helps us get a sense of who he really was, and how muc...

Our Back to Basics series turns towards a somewhat important topic in Christianity... God himself. What's he like? How can Christians claim to understand, much less know the divine? After a brief foray through scripture, Chris responds to these questions by addressing a core, yet oft misunderstood doctrine — the Trinity. It turns out that yes, there is immense practical significance to this doctri...

In week two of Back to Basics, we're looking at the source of Christian knowledge... the bible. Rather than our traditional 'theological' lens, we're putting on the biblical scholar hat to examine the bible as an ancient text. When we stop treating the bible as a book that fell out of the sky and begin to read it for what it truly is, it doesn't undermine the text. Rather, it b...

This Easter Sunday we kick off a brand new series called 'Back to Basics'. It's a chance to review some of the foundational tenets of the Christian faith together, revisiting what we believe and why. Chris kicks off the series by asking 'what exactly is Christianity?', with an examination of four 'frames' we could use to sum it up.

As our James series comes to a close, Jen unpacks the final few verses. At first glance it might seem like a strange way to finish... there's stuff about prayer, rain, confessing sins, and and leading people back to faith. Yet as Jen points out, it's a helpful reminder that for all the hard things James has called us to do in response to Jesus, we don't have to do them on our own.

We're into the final chapter of James and this week, he gives us a doozy. Apparently if you're wealthy, or if you exploit workers for your gain then you'd better watch out. So who does this passage actually apply to (hint: all of us), and what are we supposed to do in response? Other than, well "weeping and wailing" of course...

At first a quick read of James 4:13-17 might cause you to cancel all your plans because, apparently, making plans is sinful. Or is it? This week Laura unpacks this possibly confusing passage and reminds us that plans can actually be very helpful, whereas it's a very different story when it comes to complacency...

If you're 2 or older, chances are you have experienced conflict. It's a universal part of the human experience. And for some reason, it doesn't seem to be any less common in the church than outside it. What's the deal? In this week's passage, the author of James suggests it's due to one of the deepest parts of the human experience — our desires.

This week's foray into James brings us up against a passage which borrows generously from ancient Jewish wisdom literature. Chris unpacks the 'two kinds of wisdom' it presents, revealing a surprising theme that ties them together...

This week Cindee shares on the first half of James 3, the passage that famously calls us to 'tame our tongues.' This more interactive message has a few moments to stop and reflect, so feel free to pause the podcast and think when prompted.

Back in the 1500's, the book of James got in a lot of trouble with one of the key figures in the reformation, who called it a 'gospel of straw'. Why? Because of today's passage. At the core of the Christian faith is the idea that we're not saved by what we do, but by what Jesus has done. And yet James 2:14-26 seems to say the opposite — that works are essential to our salvation...