Toowoomba Vineyard Church

It might seem like an obvious question, and a fairly central part of the Christian faith... but the question in the title turns out to be one of the most controversial debates in modern theology. Chris unpacks some of the dominant theories about the atonement, and importantly, how they shape our picture of who God is...

Having spent the last three weeks unpacking the Triune God, it's time to bring things (figuratively) back down to earth... and talk about humanity. Who are we, and what's the point of us being here? What's our standing before God? And how do we live differently knowing the answers to these slightly important questions?

This week we introduce the elusive third member of the Trinity: The Holy Spirit. Mandy reveals two equal and opposite errors we can make when learning to do life with the Spirit, and presents a more complete understanding of who the Holy Spirit is—and how he works in our lives, and the life of the church.

When we think about Jesus, we normally think about a superhuman type character—an inexhaustible healer and super-intelligent teacher with a slightly bent 21st Century sensibility. The truth is, while his teaching and significance are timeless, he was also a person set in a historical context. Mandy unpacks some of the background to Jesus which helps us get a sense of who he really was, and how muc...

Our Back to Basics series turns towards a somewhat important topic in Christianity... God himself. What's he like? How can Christians claim to understand, much less know the divine? After a brief foray through scripture, Chris responds to these questions by addressing a core, yet oft misunderstood doctrine — the Trinity. It turns out that yes, there is immense practical significance to this doctri...

In week two of Back to Basics, we're looking at the source of Christian knowledge... the bible. Rather than our traditional 'theological' lens, we're putting on the biblical scholar hat to examine the bible as an ancient text. When we stop treating the bible as a book that fell out of the sky and begin to read it for what it truly is, it doesn't undermine the text. Rather, it b...

This Easter Sunday we kick off a brand new series called 'Back to Basics'. It's a chance to review some of the foundational tenets of the Christian faith together, revisiting what we believe and why. Chris kicks off the series by asking 'what exactly is Christianity?', with an examination of four 'frames' we could use to sum it up.

As our James series comes to a close, Jen unpacks the final few verses. At first glance it might seem like a strange way to finish... there's stuff about prayer, rain, confessing sins, and and leading people back to faith. Yet as Jen points out, it's a helpful reminder that for all the hard things James has called us to do in response to Jesus, we don't have to do them on our own.

We're into the final chapter of James and this week, he gives us a doozy. Apparently if you're wealthy, or if you exploit workers for your gain then you'd better watch out. So who does this passage actually apply to (hint: all of us), and what are we supposed to do in response? Other than, well "weeping and wailing" of course...

At first a quick read of James 4:13-17 might cause you to cancel all your plans because, apparently, making plans is sinful. Or is it? This week Laura unpacks this possibly confusing passage and reminds us that plans can actually be very helpful, whereas it's a very different story when it comes to complacency...

If you're 2 or older, chances are you have experienced conflict. It's a universal part of the human experience. And for some reason, it doesn't seem to be any less common in the church than outside it. What's the deal? In this week's passage, the author of James suggests it's due to one of the deepest parts of the human experience — our desires.

This week's foray into James brings us up against a passage which borrows generously from ancient Jewish wisdom literature. Chris unpacks the 'two kinds of wisdom' it presents, revealing a surprising theme that ties them together...

This week Cindee shares on the first half of James 3, the passage that famously calls us to 'tame our tongues.' This more interactive message has a few moments to stop and reflect, so feel free to pause the podcast and think when prompted.

Back in the 1500's, the book of James got in a lot of trouble with one of the key figures in the reformation, who called it a 'gospel of straw'. Why? Because of today's passage. At the core of the Christian faith is the idea that we're not saved by what we do, but by what Jesus has done. And yet James 2:14-26 seems to say the opposite — that works are essential to our salvation...

This week we arrive at James chapter 2, which opens with a timely reminder that favouritism isn't recommended in churches. What is it about human nature that makes us so prone to referencing those with power and wealth? How can we put a stop to favouritism in church? And how did Mandy end up at a breakfast table with the mayor? All this and more in this week's episode...

This week we tackle a section of James with what seems to be a whole series of disconnected (though profound) thoughts. There's stuff about not getting angry, remaining unstained by the world, looking in the mirror, and "all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness" (sounds intense!). Yet when you do a bit of digging, it turns out there is a common thread that holds it all together,...

This week we take a quick break from our James series to answer the big questions — who are we and where are we going? Chris and Jen share about our vision, mission, and values, as well as some dreams about what church could look like more practically into the future.

Temptation is a curious beast. We all experience it, and when we cave it can sometimes lead to catastrophic consequences. In this week's passage from James, the author digs into the very heart of temptation—it turns out it doesn't come out of nowhere, but from our desires—the deepest (often corrupted) longings of our heart. So how do we deal with temptation? Is it a matter of just trying h...

It's 2025 and the pod is BACK! There's no gentle on-ramp this year, as we kick straight into a new, heavy-hitting series on the book of James. In this introductory talk Chris outlines the problem we're trying to solve, gives some background to the letter (hint, it's not really a letter at all), and digs into the first 8 verses. As we begin reading James 1, it quickly becomes appare...

It's our final episode of the pod before our summer break, which means it's this year's Christmas message! To keep things interesting, Chris has decided to talk about... yep, a genealogy. So sorry about that. Actually, it turns out that if you're a Hebrew living 2000 years ago, this is one of the most exciting parts of the bible. There is a very good reason the New Testament opens with a list of f...

Our advent series turns toward yet another slightly odd story, this time about some strange foreigners (maybe three? Maybe twelve?) who come from afar to ask the 'King of the Jews' where the new 'King of the Jews' was. You can imagine how that goes down — and it turns out the story of Herod and the Magi has a lot to teach us about the backwards Kingdom of God.

This week for Advent, Cindee takes a look at the story of Mary. She is an often venerated figure in the church, and for good reason—her faithfulness and courage played a very big role in making sure that God's chosen saviour wound up on the scene like he was supposed to. What can we learn from her today?

In week two of our run up to advent, Chris explores the story of Joseph in Matthew 1. It's a passage that raises lots of questions: why are the facts so different to Luke's version of the story? Why was a virgin birth necessary? And what would it have been like for Joseph in this situation? We discover that Joseph is a pretty good example of standing up for God even when it's unpopular, and we can...

It's only mid-November but we're the 'put the tree up early' kind of church... our Christmas series has begun! Over the next 5 weeks we'll be looking at the Advent story through the eyes of the people who were a part of it—Joseph, Mary, Herod, The Magi—and, for today, Zechariah and Elizabeth. If you open up Luke 1 (which just so happens to be the longest chapter in the New Testament) you might won...

In our final instalment of our 'Life on a Mission', Allan Kent shares vulnerably about his difficult upbringing, God's remarkable work of healing in his life, and how he channeled his experience into seeing others encounter the love of God though friendship. Trigger warning: family violence. Allan shares some difficult stories from his early childhood.