Verve City Church: Weekly Messages

Was the United States founded as a "Christian nation?" Can any nation be a "Christian nation?" Exploring the teachings of Jesus and the history of "Christian" imperialism, we'll discuss the incompatibility of the way of Jesus and the way of Empire. Series Overview:  Verve City Church won't tell you who to vote for. We won't tell you which policies to su...

"I can't." "I should." "Nobody likes me." "I'm such an idiot." "I'm a dumpster fire." For many of us, the negative talk in our lives is focused less on other people and more on ourselves. While it's healthy to understand our strengths and weaknesses, constantly disparaging ourselves can become a self-fulfilling indictment and a...

The way we see and experience others reveals less about them than it does about us. And when we “call it like we see it,” what we say is a reflection of our soul. We can laugh at ridiculous one-star reviews, but don’t we all fall into the trap of spreading negative gossip sometimes? How can adjusting our mindset change the words we say and restore a sense of calm and peace in the midst of our chao...

Our words hold surprising power to shape our identity, our environment, and our friends. We get to decide whether to wield that power well or to wield it haphazardly. The words we choose, the tone we use, and even our body language can intentionally or inadvertently build up or tear down. So, how do we become people who are filled with words of grace, truth, and gratitude in a world that's so...

Celebrated at Easter, Jesus’ resurrection is a central event for Christianity… which means Jesus’ death is also at the center of our faith. But why did Jesus have to die? And what does the answer reveal about God?

Jesus was compassionate toward the outcasts of society and brutal toward highly respected religious leaders. He disrupted their religious festivals, called them snakes, and warned their followers to avoid modeling their lives after them. Why does Jesus seem outraged by the most revered of religious leaders rather than the greatest of sinners? Series overview: When we think of Jesus, we often think...

Jesus invites a man to follow him and then seemingly refuses to let him bury his own father. Is Jesus being unreasonable? Does he lack compassion for this man's family? What do we learn about the mission of Jesus as we discover the mindset of Jesus? Series Overview: When we think of Jesus, we often think of his kindness, gentleness, and tenderness. We think of his graciousness toward sinners,...

Jesus wasn't fair. How does His radical unfairness offer a surprising example of how we should act toward others? Could unfairness be a model for how we can make the world better? Series Overview: When we think of Jesus, we often think of his kindness, gentleness, and tenderness. We think of his graciousness toward sinners, his generosity toward the poor, and his healing of the sick. So what...

A Gentile woman asks Jesus for help. He first ignores her, and then seems to insult her. What's going on here? Why does Jesus seem so...un-Jesusy in this story? Series overview: When we think of Jesus, we often think of his kindness, gentleness, and tenderness. We think of his graciousness toward sinners, his generosity toward the poor, and his healing of the sick. So what do we do about the...

The church is called to step boldly into the future, working toward the renewal and reconciliation of all things. This must never devolve into an end-times-oriented, doom-and-gloom, ejection theology, but should rather be a hope-filled vision of what could be if more people chose to attach themselves to the Kingdom of God. Series overview: Throughout history, the Christian church has occasionally...

As we grapple with the call of the church to live out the great commission and the great commandment, how are individual Christians - and the Church as a whole - uniquely positioned to unleash radical generosity as a blessing in our communities and around the world? Series Overview: Throughout history, the Christian church has occasionally lost its way, becoming distracted or obsessed with money,...

In the second week of our series about the Church as the Bride of Christ, we'll explore how churches serve as missional communities. What do we mean by "mission," and how do we differentiate the good things a church CAN do the missional things a church MUST do?  Series Overview: Throughout history, the Christian church has occasionally lost its way, becoming distracted or obsessed w...

Throughout history, the Christian church has occasionally lost its way, becoming distracted or obsessed with money, political power, or cultural relevancy. But at its best, the church has been a beacon of grace, acceptance, and holiness — a spiritual refuge for the broken-hearted and a light illuminating the way to God for those far from Him. How can the Church, the Bride of Christ, stay true to t...

This week: Many Christian leaders and spiritualists have written about the two halves of life available to us. The first half is largely about identity and personal security while the second half becomes more about contributing and shedding your ego. So how do people scale this second mountain? How do we follow the pattern of Jesus in giving our lives away? Series Overview:  Your life can dramatic...

Our worldview, values, and religious beliefs don't typically change until our current paradigms don't work for us anymore. We encounter suffering, grief, or cognitive dissonance and we realize that our way of understanding the world doesn't hold explanatory power for our experiences. How do we make sense of the world when the world stops making sense? Series Overview:  Your life can...

The human ego prefers just about anything to suffering, changing, or dying. In fact, many people adopt a religious tradition in hopes of avoiding such painful experiences. But the way of Jesus has always understood this terrifying and liberating truth: resurrection can only come after death. Jesus told us we would experience trouble in this world (John 16:33). How do we leverage our suffering to g...

Some older people inspire the young people who know them, and some serve as a cautionary tale. How do we become more kind, generous, and patient as we age? How do we avoid becoming cynical, embittered, or resentful? Series Overview: Your life can dramatically change for the better, but there is no silver bullet. It’s a pathway to walk rather than a habit to implement. It’s a whole-life pursuit rat...

This week: The shepherds were near the bottom of the socio-economic ladder of first-century Jewish society. The wise men were likely wealthy gentiles, perhaps astrologers or kings. These two groups of men could not have been much more different than they were. And yet both groups needed Christmas so much that the angels themselves proclaimed the arrival of Jesus in spectacular fashion.  

Most things aren’t for everyone. But Christmas reminds us that Jesus IS for all of us! His birth represents the reality of God’s love. Through his birth, life, death, and resurrection, Jesus justifies our joy; reminds us that we’re not alone; and gives our lives hope and purpose. 

Whether you’re a “glass is half-full” or “glass is half-empty” kind of person, Christmas comes every year just the same. And underneath the shiny trappings of another holiday season, we can find ourselves feeling oddly empty, unfulfilled, and even disappointed. But what if the birth of Jesus was actually world-changing for optimists, pessimists, and realists alike? What if all of us could experien...

Every generation thinks that the generation behind it is the worst generation ever. There are significant psychographic and value-driven differences between different generations that lead them to listen to different music, vote differently, watch different television shows, and purchase different products. But Boomers, Xers, Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha all have at least this in common: they...

This week: As disciples, we choose to be with Jesus, learn from Jesus, and ultimately - become like Jesus. The final message of our Jesusy Life series explores the power and beauty of a life lived like Jesus. Series overview: The way of Jesus isn’t primarily something you believe but someone you become. So how do we become the people Jesus invited us to be? How do we become Jesusy ?

This week: Most of us have a favorite life hack (or two!) because we're all looking for easy ways to make our lives better. Following Jesus seems harder than most of those hacks... But what would it actually look like for Jesus' teachings to totally transform our lives? What if we could l earn from Jesus how to have true rest, peace, and joy? Series overview: The way of Jesus isn’t prima...

This week: From free overnight shipping to on-demand entertainment, we’re immersed in an age of seemingly inescapable expectations of speed and efficiency. As followers of Christ, how can we adopt a set of low-tech, ages-old spiritual practices that hold the key to a more productive relationship with God and others? Series overview: The way of Jesus isn’t primarily something you believe but someon...

Week 1: We make plans for all kinds of things: working out, saving for our kids' college tuition, accomplishing work goals, binge-watching Netflix shows. But while many of us would like to develop our spiritual lives, few of us make a plan to do so. What if there were a proven way to become more shaped by Jesus? Series overview: The way of Jesus isn’t primarily something you believe but someo...