Elm City Vineyard Church Talks

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 powe...

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 Oursel...

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,...

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 flo...

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 u...

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...

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 th...

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 ab...

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 C...

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...

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...

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 involve...

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 wha...

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 si...

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...

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 tha...

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...

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 yea...

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 help...

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 disb...

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...

Last week, we learned that “can I pray for you right now” is a helpful question to encourage real-time compassion, discipleship, and service to others. This week, we’ll engage “come Holy Spirit” as a powerful prayer to call on the Spirit’s power. This is an ancient prayer that has its roots in the disciples waiting on the Spirit at Pentecost before the Spirit fills them all and leads them to new a...

In the last few weeks, we proclaimed that spiritual gifts like prophecy and healing are from God and are meant to build up the Body. We also demonstrated this through some practical exercises around these gifts that have yielded some good stories. Praise God! Our Empowered series continues looking at how any number of these spiritual gifts operate in the real world by asking this simple question:...

"...and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal..." (Luke 9:2) The accounts of Jesus's public life and ministry in the gospels of the New Testament can be roughly divided between stories of Jesus's healing ministry, his teaching and dialogue with disciples, crowds, and religious leaders, and the extended narrative of his arrest and crucifixion. The gospels make abundantly clear...

After one of the most famous passages on love ever written, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians says, “follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” Huh? What do love, spiritual gifts, and prophecy have to do with one another? This Sunday, we will explore how prophecy is relevant today — not as a plot to a convoluted superhero movie, but for the bu...