River City Vineyard - Teachings

There is a great cause worth living and dying for!

This message is out of sequence but it is a good week to post. We enjoyed a Sign Up Sunday on September 7 and if you were not there the recording of signing up for serving, learning, and connecting is a tad uneventful. So here is a podcast we missed posting a while ago.

As Paul announces the King and the Kingdom in Athens those with a pagan background have no point of reference for Jesus or the resurrection. Is he introducing two new gods to the Pantheon? This is amazing.

We had a bit of technical trouble in the middle of this podcast, however we think there is enough to pass along. Sorry about that. Thanks for listening.

This message; Jesus is alive raised from the dead, Jesus is King, His Kingdom has arrived, disturbed the Roman Empire. Whose empire is disturbed by this message today?

Paul and Silas were Roman citizens and enjoyed the rights of citizenship. After violating those human rights the Philippian officials backpedal after a big Oooppps. How are we doing today with human rights?

"Please tell me how to get out of this mess."

Slavery and divination were both acceptable in Roman Law. Paul, however, represented another law, the Law of the Kingdom. Human trafficking, divination, and demon possession were just not acceptable. When he did something about it on the streets of Philippi he was accused of disturbing the peace.

Paul receives a vision of a man in Macedonia. He and the team get to Philippi in Macedonia as quickly as possible. That "man from Macedonia" pleading for help ends up being a lady from Asia Minor, Lydia. The first to respond to the announcement of the King and his kingdom in Europe is a woman!

Good to have a plan. Better to move out holding loosely to the plan. Best to respond to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as He improves the plan.

Paul goes one way. Barnabas the other. Luke sticks with Paul as we head back into Asia Minor. Paul picks up a new companion, Timothy, as he announces the the arrival of the Kingdom of God.

Celebrating Father's Day by encouaging Dads (as well as all of us) to manage conflict well. Barnabas, a spiritual dad to Saul (Paul), let a conflict get to the boiling point and the two parted company. What can we learn from these two?

“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!” Are we speaking the languages of our generation? Are we declaring God's mighty works? Is any one wondering what's going on with these people who are following Jesus?

We are reading about solving a problem in the 1st Century, but wow! There is so much here for the church to consider in addressing today's questions.

Jews and Gentiles in the same house on equal footing is no afterthought. This is what God has intended all along. James and the Council in Jerusalem simply recognize this is what God is doing in complete agreement with the Prophets.

"Don't we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation?" Thank you, Peter. Great question. Our turn to give an answer.

Amazing how we can make our doing more important than God's giving. Salvation is his gift to give not ours to earn. Hope we can be encouraged by Paul and Barnabas' response to those in their generation who attached conditions to salvation.

The resurrection of Jesus helps us see death in a whole new light.

The first 13 saw Jesus resurrected and believed. Took some time for Thomas, but in the end he believed. All 13 spent the next 40 years giving their all to telling others that Jesus is alive and urging others to believe. Each had the courage to face physical death knowing that like Jesus "the true self survives death." How are we those who believe but have not seen more blessed than these...

From curiosity, to celebration, to suspicion, to condemnation, to sorrow, to righteous indignation...Jesus' royal entry into Jerusalem is full of emotion. May we tap into that emotion in order to recognize and welcome our king.

Susan and Katie visited the Holy Land with a group of thirteen on a Journey of Understanding. Their journey combines pilgrimage and conversation with Israelis and Palestinians. Here is part of their story.

Five of us from our community visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the Galilee earlier this month. We return from an unforgettable journey with stories to tell. Please be patient as we unpack our bags over the next few weeks. We hope to impart a vision for something bigger and better not just for ourselves, but also for the whole world because our King has arrived with his kingdom.