Vineyard Columbus Sermons (Westerville)

Samuel has encounters with God that he doesn’t understand apart from the coaching and guidance of Eli.

Deut 6, Israel is reminded that they have responsibility for depositing the knowledge of God and awareness of His revelation in those who come after them.

The discipline of becoming a disciple. One of the aspects of our faith that is of vital importance is learning. We need to be in environments where we are learning and growing in Christ's likeness. We gather with others to learn and to grow.

Throughout the book of Acts we find a rhythm of gathering in and going out... of believers coming together into a community, and then being sent out in mission. Part of what it means to be a gathered community is that we are also a sending community... and while only some go far off to do mission, sending is a whole community effort where everybody gets to play.

When we gather together we find that we become generous people for the sake of the body of Christ. We give to meet needs. And when we do, God makes us into a sign of what God's kingdom is like.

Gathered: What happens when we pray? Life is full of challenges and setbacks. When we gather in prayer and raise a unified voice, we find that we are not only encouraged and strengthened, but that God also moves mountains and opens doors.

Gathered to Lead

Gathered to be empowered: When the followers of Jesus gathered together after the resurrection, they waited for and finally experienced the proximity and power of the Holy Spirit as Jesus had promised and as the OT had pointed to. That empowerment led to an experience of prophetic worship and witness that gave birth to the world-wide, multi-ethnic, confessing church that is still gathering and gro...

Gathered: Why we gather around Jesus. There are so many things that we can gather around, so many things that we could define our lives around. Why should we take this moment to redefine our lives around Jesus and his kingdom? What is the value of that verses all of the other options available to us? (Another emphasis: there is a cost to gathering but there is also a cost to not gathering. People'...

Remember the law of entropy? Things are always breaking down. No matter what we build (or rebuild), the job of upkeep is never finished. What does Nehemiah teach us about our calling in this world and how there may just be a constantly repeating nature to everything we do as we seek to build the kingdom and the church. And what vision is there attached to that? Vision for not just continual work,...

Celebration is an important part of any process of rebuilding! And worshipping God is how we celebrate Him, His faithfulness, and it's what marks us as Christians - we don't just celebration our own 'wins', we get to celebrate miraculous 'wins' that only happen through the power and presence of God. This sermon will remind us what Vineyard worship is, and how we can take steps toward learning agai...

Nehemiah moves from the rebuilding of the wall to the rebuilding of God's people. We see in chapters 9 & 10 a pattern of confession, worship, recommitment and renewal of the people of God. When we commit ourselves seriously to our identity-defining relationship with God and with the church, we experience His reviving presence.

Rebuilding anything requires an honest reality-check regarding the foundation upon which we build... which is why confession is so important. Confession requires us to be intentionally aware: aware of who we are, aware of our history, and aware of who God is. A practice of confession allows us to deal with what's real in our lives personally, in our culture systemically, and to take ownership in w...

We are taking a break from Nehemiah to celebrate every single one of our students... especially those who are moving up a significant milestone at school. We'll speak practically to students of all ages and encuorage them that they can be confident in the work God is doing in and throught them as they grow into the people God has called them to be...

All of the effort to rebuild was to precursor to invite everyone (the exiles) back to Jerusalem so they could reorder their lives around God and his kingdom. The same is true for us as a church. As we rebuild we need to remember that we are rebuilding for the sake of those who have not yet come through our doors. This is why we are opening doors to Vineyard campuses all around our city.

At certain times in life, you will come under attack, whether it be spiritually, physically, or relationally through accusation or slander. When you are attacked, how do you respond in a way that God would want you to respond? Nehemiah gives us several strategies for how to keep rebuilding, even when attacked.

As we rebuild our lives and our families, we have to remember to not build to benefit ourselves and our families alone. We have to build for a better world for everyone, especially the oppressed. This requires hearing the cry of the oppressed, rethinking how we live and solve problems, and living intentionally in order to be a blessing to others.

Today we'll celebrate Mother's Day by reflecting on the lesson in Nehemiah that the work of rebuilding requires diligence, and effort against outside (and sometimes internal) opposition. Families today are under tremendous pressure, parents are under-resourced and over-burdened, and kids right now have had their futures thrown upside down after 2020. We are all called to fight forward... to be str...

When you begin to rebuild your life, you will face all kinds of opposition. The enemy will accuse, lie, mock and demoralize you into giving up. Nehemiah shows us how we can respond to opposition by speaking the truth, going to God in prayer, redoubling our efforts, and adjusting our strategy as needed.

As the saying goes, teamwork makes the dream work. Nehemiah is a great picture of how the body of Christ is meant to function: each one of us using our gifts and skills to build together. Frederick Buechner once said: "the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Chapter 3 illustrates for us how each part of the community partnered with one an...

If we are going to rebuild well, we first have to understand what we are dealing with. In this message we will discuss the framework for rebuilding, which includes courage to assess the damage, a vision for what's possible, and a strategy for moving forward.

Implicit in the idea of rebuilding anything is that we're dealing with something that's in rough shape. You don't need to rebuild what isn't damaged! Oftentimes when we survey the damage around us: in our personal lives, culture, politics, relationships, and even in the church... we are filled with despair. But Nehemiah teaches us that the first thing on our to-do list when it comes to rebuilding...

Journey to the Tomb Julia Pickerill April 3 & 4, 2021 Journey with Jesus John 20:1-18

Journey of the Not-Yet Pastor Insoo Kim April 3, 2021 Journey with Jesus