Central Vineyard Church Sermon Podcast

In this message Dan explores the final parable in Matthew 13 as a picture of God’s sweeping, uncurated grace towards a future where God puts the world right. The Parable of the Net shows us a Kingdom that gathers everything, while reminding us that the sorting is Jesus’ job, not ours — while also holding the sober truth that our choices matter in God’s story of renewal.

In this message, Alisha Wiseman explores Jesus’ parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl — two short stories about discovering something so valuable it reshapes your whole life. Through themes of discovery, sacrifice, and joy, Alisha reminds us that the Kingdom is a treasure worth giving everything for—and that in Jesus’ eyes, we are the treasure He joyfully gave everything to have.

In this talk Dan Sheed explores one of Jesus’ shortest parables — a one-sentence story on the Kingdom being like yeast that is mixed into a dough — and how even though it is hidden, it is quietly working its way through everything. This story invites us to patiently trust the unseen and unpanicked work of God’s Kingdom in our ordinary lives — because even when it’s hidden, we can stil trust that t...

In this message, Dan Sheed explores Jesus’ first recorded parable — the Parable of the Sower — as the doorway into all the others. What if this story isn’t about soil management, but about a reckless and generous Sower — a God is who is extravagantly sowing His Kingdom everywhere, even in places of resistance, and how good soil is found not through effort, but through grace and a willingness to li...

In this opening message of our new series, Parables, Dan explores why Jesus chose to teach through these stories which create an analogy of comparison. These stories reveal the hidden reality of God’s Kingdom — grace breaking into ordinary life, and a world where God is ruling and reigning. Dan offers some wisdom on how to treat parables and how to practice reading them.

In this one-off message, guest speaker Adam Russell shares on the need for friendship in our discipleship journey and looks at the relationship between David and Jonathan as an archetype of covenant friendship.

In this one-off message, Communities Pastor Ella Oh invites us to revisit Jesus’ words: “You are the light of the world.” Together we explore what it means to live outward as God’s people—shining His light not just in safe spaces but into the dark and broken places of our city. Ella also shares the story of Gratis, our church’s long-running outreach birthed from a simple “yes” to joining God’s mis...

For the past 10 weeks we’ve been exploring When Life Goes East — those seasons when life doesn’t go to plan. From relational breakdown to anxiety, disappointment, and hitting the wall in our faith, we’ve seen that “east” moments are part of every human story. But they’re not the end of the story. In this final message, Dan CLoses with a theology of suffering and hope: that God meets us in our ache...

When faith feels like winter — cold, stripped back, and endless — where do we turn? In this message, Dan unpacks our need for the Good Shepherd who leads us not where we want to go, but where we need to go. He offers three practices for keeping hope alive at the Wall: moving learning from head to heart, praying with honesty and hope, and staying close to the flock.

Faith isn’t just about projects we complete — it’s about the journey of becoming. But on that journey, we will all face the Wall: the place of exhaustion, silence, and disorientation. Join us in this final section of When Life Goes East as Dan unpacks what the Wall is, why it matters and how going through it leads to greater love and freedom.

Disappointment is something we all carry — the gap between what we hoped for and what is. In this message, Alisha explores what it means to live in the “Saturday” space of life — that confusing middle ground between loss and resurrection, when God feels silent and hope seems buried. Instead of despair or denial, we’re invited to wait — to bring our raw honesty before God in lament, to lean into co...

Disappointment is the feeling of sadness when what we hope for doesn’t come to pass. Join us as we hear guest speaker Bron Tait share her story and wisdom on facing disappointment with God/life, with others and with ourselves.

Anxiety doesn’t just disappear — it often needs to be unseated. In this second message on the theme of anxiety, Alisha explores Paul’s call to “let the peace of Christ rule” and draw on insights from Nader Sahyouni, whose three A’s model offers a practical way forward: Avoid less, Accept more, Attach better. Through Scripture, neuroscience, and the “Please, Thank You, Yes” prayer model, we learn h...

When Jesus says, “Do not worry,” he’s not dismissing anxiety—he’s inviting us into a deeper way of living. Join us as explore how anxiety isn’t just something to silence, but a signal—an invitation to pay attention to what is going on under the surface, and discover Jesus’ invitation to return to the Father’s love.

What can we practically do when relationships fall apart — when life “goes east”? In this message, Dan invites us into the slow, sacred work of reconciliation. Rooted in 2 Corinthians 5, we explore how God makes His appeal through us, calling us to be peacemakers in a fractured world. With practical tools like the Ladder of Integrity and the posture of curiosity over defensiveness, this talk offer...

What do you do when a relationship breaks down — when the last conversation hurt, or the message notification makes your stomach drop, or the distance between you and someone feels unbridgeable? In this episode of When Life Goes East, we explore the reasons under the surface why relationships fracture and how we begin the hard, healing work of reconciliation. Through the ancient stories of Genesis...

What do we do when life unravels—when prayers go unanswered, dreams die, or suffering lingers longer than we’d hoped? In this first episode of When Life Goes East, Alisha explores a bigger story—the biblical arc from creation to fall, from exile to redemption. This isn’t just a conversation about pain—it’s about learning to live with honesty, hope, and deep faith in the God who meets us in the val...

Join us for a different ending to The Familiar Stranger series — a special Q+A Sunday where Dan, Alisha, and some friends of Central Vineyard answered various questions sent in about life with the Holy Spirit.

What does it mean to be a church truly aligned with the Holy Spirit? Using the image of a sailing crew “seeing the wind,” this message explores how the early Church responded together in one accord to the Spirit’s movement. It’s about being united as a community marked by both the fruit and gifts of the Spirit, living self-giving love in everyday life. Join us to discover how the Spirit aligns us...

Pentecost often slips by unnoticed in our cultural calendar—but what if it’s one of the most important days of all? In this message from Acts 2, we explore Pentecost as the day the Church was born and sent into the world. It’s not just about fire and wind—it’s about mission, courage, and God’s presence breaking into ordinary people for the sake of others. The Spirit fills us, yes—but not so we sta...

What if true freedom isn’t something you chase—but something the Spirit gives? This week in The Familiar Stranger series, we explore The Spirit who brings freedom—not always by changing our circumstances, but by transforming us from the inside out. In a world obsessed with personal freedom yet plagued by anxiety and isolation, the Spirit invites us into a deeper kind of liberation—one rooted in th...

Life has become so loud—notifications, headlines, conversations, distractions—that tuning in to God's voice can feel impossible. In this message, Dan gets personal about his own hearing loss, the noise that surrounds us, and the quiet whisper of the Spirit that we’re so often missing. Drawing from Elijah’s encounter on Mount Horeb and Jesus’ words as the Good Shepherd, we explore what it means to...

Have we settled for knowing about God instead of truly knowing Him? In this Pentecost series opener, we explore how the Holy Spirit—often the most ignored member of the Trinity—isn't a force to harness, but a Person to know. Drawing from John 14 and Tyler Staton's The Familiar Stranger, we ask why the Spirit feels like a stranger to so many, and how we can begin to walk with Him as a friend. If yo...

This Stories Sunday, we're taking a moment between series to name something beautiful God is doing in our midst: forming us more and more into an intergenerational whānau. Drawing from Joseph Hellerman’s When the Church Was a Family and Jesus’ redefinition of family in Mark 3, we explore the vision of church as a spiritual household — where we belong to one another across every age and stage. Alon...

What does worship really cost us—and what does it say about who we love most? In this sermon Alisha dives into the unforgettable story of Mary and the alabaster jar, where a year’s wages are poured out in a single act of extravagant devotion. She takes us through the tension between image and surrender, we explore how real worship isn’t polished—it’s costly. This isn’t about emotional hype. It’s a...