Christ Church Vienna

Pastor Johnny Kurcina explores Jeremiah’s daring confrontation at the temple gates, where he warned that outward religious rituals are meaningless without a genuine heart-level relationship with God. God wants us to love Him with our whole hearts, without idols distracting us from what is important. He also wants us to love our neighbor and have […]

Pastor Dean Miller explores how God’s intimate calling of the prophet Jeremiah serves as a guide for us to embrace what God is asking us to do this new year, even when we feel unqualified or overwhelmed. Drawing from Jeremiah’s ancient warnings, he challenges us to forsake the “broken cisterns” of temporary satisfaction and instead […]

Alister uses the Gospel of John to examine the profound difference between the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and the spiritual reality of Jesus Christ. He reflects on how modern celebrations often leave people feeling exhausted, disappointed, or overwhelmed and that we often focus on the “box” of external rituals rather than the […]

We all look for safety in strength, from little kids building forts to hide behind to adults building their life on something. But when the God of the universe came to his people to fulfill his promise of salvation, restoration, and peace, he did not come as a warrior king but as a baby born […]

In Isaiah 61 we see how God is still working through His Spirit to heal the brokenhearted and fulfill His Kingdom on earth. The message highlights that believers are not merely observers of this divine narrative but are active participants recruited to rebuild and restore their communities. He also shows how God intertwines individual lives […]

All humans have a desire for home, a longing to be in the place and with the people that feels like “home,” especially for the holidays. But this innate desire is part of a longing for a home we are truly made for. In Isaiah 35, God promises Israel to bring them back home to […]

Isaiah 11 reveals how God provides the hero humanity needs through Jesus Christ,  the Messiah—the true King—who emerges as an unexpected “chute from the stump of Jesse,” capable of bringing life from what seems dead and hopeless.  Discover how this hero is endowed with the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, and might, ready to judge […]

Isaiah 2 challenges us to walk with the Lord with both hope and humility.  Hope that God will lead us through the darkness even if we can’t see where we are going, and humility to surrender our pride and truly follow where He is leading us.

Although believers come from different cultures, backgrounds, and consciences, they are called to live in unity by treating disputable matters with grace and love.  Paul places responsibility on the “strong” to lay down their freedoms for the sake of the “weak”, modeling the self-giving sacrifice of Christ.  The ultimate goal is a generous family of […]

As we continue in Esther we find Esther and Mordecai in a difficult situation as they try to save the Israelites from Haman and Xerxes. Dean talks to us about the importance of knowing who you serve and how to remain steadfast in times of difficulty.

As we begin in Esther, we read about the introduction of Esther, or Hadassah, to the court of the King of Persia. Johnny talks about the importance of good stories, life in the king’s court, and how God often works in simple and unremarkable ways through simple and unremarkable people.

In the last chapters of Nehemiah, once the city is complete, Nehemiah returns to Persia for a while, and when he returns to Israel, he finds it in sin once again. Dean highlights three actions of Nehemiah in this chapter: how he leads the people in thanksgiving, how he kicks Tobiah out of the temple, […]

In Nehemiah 9, we see the people of Israel go through a confession of their sin after the Feast of Booths, as well as a prayer from Ezra, going through the Old Testament, showing God’s blessings followed by Israel’s unfaithfulness. Johnny talks about the importance of trusting God in times of wealth and of poverty.

In this chapter, we see the people of Israel reflecting on their successful work, and we see them weep when they realize how absent God has been from their lives. Alister shows us how, later in the chapter, the people have a “serious Joy”, because despite their brokenness, God has brought them back and saved […]

Nehemiah is faced with a conflict within the community. The poor, facing burdensome taxes and a famine, have had to take out loans but their creditors, their fellow Jews, are exploiting them with exorbitant terms. Many have lost their lands, vineyards, homes, their very source of income and identity, and some have had to sell […]

In Nehemiah 3, we read a detailed account of who was responsible for rebuilding every part of the wall in Jerusalem. Dean compares the rebuilding of the physical wall to the rebuilding of their spiritual wall, and how people from all trades worked together to finish the wall.

Nehemiah 1 takes place after the temple was finished, as well Nehemiah learning of the troubles the builders had from the lack of a wall or city. After a long period of daily prayer, Nehemiah talks to the king of Persia, who gives him permission, resources, and letters to send with him to rebuild Jerusalem.

Now that Ezra has been teaching in Israel for a while, the returned exiles are beginning to see their sinful ways of living. We see how, once again, Israel’s problem is the worship of other gods, or marrying from other nations, and the process of Israel’s recovery.

In Ezra 7 and 8, the priest and scribe, Ezra, arrives on the scene for the first time in the book. Ezra is authorized by the Persian king, Artaxerxes, to lead a 2nd wave of exiles from Babylon back to Jerusalem to see to the restoration of faithfulness to the Law of God. How did […]

This week, we read in Ezra 5 how the prophets Haggai and Zechariah restarted and finished the Temple building project after it had been abandoned for many years. Dean talks about how the Temple, as well as it’s restoration, was meant to put God at the center of the Israelite’s lives, and how we should […]

This week, we read about the first steps the returning exiles take towards rebuilding the temple. Johnny recognizes the work it takes to rebuild this temple, and the laments of the oldest exiles as they compare the new foundations to Solomon’s temple.

As we begin the series on Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, Johnny takes us through the beginning of Ezra, and the history surrounding the Israelite’s exile in Babylon and Persia.

When Paul and Barnabas miraculously heal a lame man, the locals begin to worship them as Greek gods. Paul swiftly works to correct this, and Bishop Chris Warner shows how this applies to miracles and to idols today.

After Paul preaches the sermon in Pisidian Antioch, we get to see the incredible effect it has on Jews and Gentiles alike. Dean shows the great lengths Paul and Barnabas went to to give this sermon, and shows how we can have that same missionary impact today.

In this passage, we see Paul and Barnabas called to be missionaries to the Gentile Church. We see Paul preaching in the synagogue at Antioch in Galatia, and we learn about the importance of listening to God’s calling.