Toowoomba Vineyard Church

As we draw our Conversations with Jesus series to a close, and with it 2025, Chris unpacks the final scene in John's gospel. It's got a few peculiar features — why were the disciples (newly commissioned to go and spread the good news to the world) out fishing? Why did Jesus ask Peter if he loved him not once or twice, but three times? And which disciple counted 153 fish while this all happ...

With only two weeks left of Conversations with Jesus (and church for 2025!), Chris made it his mission to rescue the Apostle Thomas from his 'Doubting Thomas' moniker. Not because he didn't doubt. But because he was willing to put voice to his doubts, and in doing so, got to deliver one of the best punchlines in the whole Gospel of John.

In our next instalment of 'Conversations with Jesus' we explore a dialogue that occurs in a garden, outside the tomb where Jesus lay. Like many passages in John, there are layers upon layers to Jesus' discussion with Mary Magdelene, and Mandy peels them back one by one. It's a striking testament to what happens when we choose to linger, rather than run off. It also just happens tha...

This week, we turn towards a conversation between Jesus and Pontius Pilate (once you say it you can't un-say it). Ever the cynic, Pilate is in no mood for the Jewish leaders' games. So he has what ends up being quite a profound conversation with Jesus about the nature of truth—funly enough, asking the famous 'what is truth' question after Jesus already gave the answer...

This week's 'Conversation with Jesus' is a high-emotion situation. Jesus arrives in Bethany after learning of the death of his close friend Lazarus. As he interacts with Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, we see a masterclass in how to stand with those whoe grieve. Perhaps even more profound, we see Jesus — the living embodiment of God — himself grieve deeply. What's confusing...

In another 'crowd' themed instalment of our John series, Laura tackles the famous scene where the Pharisees and teachers of the law try and trick Jesus by presenting him a woman caught in adultery (never mind the man...). Jesus response is legendary—but what do we actually take away from it? How do we see ourselves in the different groups of people in the story? And how do we avoid the mor...

This week's Jesus conversation is an interesting one, because it's not with a person but with a crowd. At the beginning of John 6, Jesus' ministry is going superbly by our standards. He's got a crowd who are willing to lay down their lives for him. He's performed a spectacular miracle, walked across water, and (in John's rendering) seems to be the new Moses. Yet by the star...

This week, we turn to John chapter 4, where Jesus has a famous encounter with a Samaritan woman. The conversation is full of insight and layered meaning—but one of the most remarkable things is that it happened at all. Who exactly was this Samaritan woman, and why was it so scandalous for Jesus to speak with her? What did she understand that the disciples missed? And was she really the morally sus...

This week, we plumb the depths of one of John's most theologically rich dialogues — the one between Jesus and Nicodemus. The latter — a well respected lawmaker and leader — speaks to the former under the cover of darkness. Their conversation can be hard to follow for modern readers, so Chris takes us through the passage not one, but three times. Each time we take a different perspective. What...

Our non-series series has come to and end and this week we step into an actual series... looking at the Gospel of John! This new series, Conversations with Jesus, dives into the moments where Jesus really gets personal — meeting people with honesty, curiosity, and grace that transforms them. As we listen in on these encounters from John’s Gospel, we’re learning not just what Jesus taught, but how...

What if lasting, real change in your life isn't about trying harder? It turns out the key to change isn't effort, but creating the right conditions for fruitfulness. This week Chris explores what that actually means in practice, and how to create a concrete plan for growing into the likeness of Jesus...

Is your life better than it was 12 months ago? If you're following Jesus, you should expect to see year-on-year growth, development, and maturity in your inner life. Yet for so long, in the church we have settled for a skin-deep discipleship that settles for just believing the right ideas. Drawing from Jesus' words on the mount (Matthew 5), Chris explores a biblical vision for a deeply tra...

This week Mandy turns our attention towards the scriptures (as a whole... we do normally pay attention to the scriptures!) and asks: how do we read the bible? After sharing 7 key truths about the bible, she explores the difference between reading for information versus formation... and how we need both.

This week in a specially re-recorded (whoops) episode of the podcast, we take a break from our non-series series (is that even possible?) to talk about where we feel the church is going in the next three years. To be perfectly candid, it's been a tough couple of months here at TVC. Yet we (Chris, Jen, the board, and most of the rest of the community) feel we are indeed on the straight and narr...

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!