Vinings Lake Church

Join us for a chat with guest speaker Dr. David Gushee.

In this message, we explore one of the Bible's strangest acts of protest: Isaiah walking naked and barefoot for three years as a warning against trusting the empire for safety. This sermon looks at symbolic action, spell-breaking resistance, and why faithfulness in the face of power isn't about volume, but endurance. When lies feel normal and cruelty is normalized, the call is simple and costly: s...

Some systems won't change with words alone. This sermon explores Isaiah's shocking act of embodied protest and what it means to resist empire today, not by shouting louder, but by showing up longer, breaking the spell of false security, and bearing faithful witness.

The killing of Renée Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, revealed a moment of moral clarity in our nation. This sermon explores three responses to her death, unchecked power, narrative control by empire, and Renée's own final words, "I'm not mad at you"—to reveal a vision of creative resistance rooted in Jesus: resisting injustice without mirroring its cruelty, holding systems accountable while r...

In A Creative Resistance, Part 1, we focus on Jeremiah's shocking act of smashing a clay jar as a public, prophetic protest. This embodied act exposes the illusion of strength in a nation convinced it was divinely untouchable. Jeremiah reveals that some corrupt systems cannot be repaired, they must be shattered. The sermon invites us to imagine how creative resistance can still awaken truth and co...

In the final sermon of A Revolutionary Anthem, Mary's Magnificat exposes the lie of empire: proclaimed prosperity built on hidden suffering. "He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty." This message reveals a God who overturns rigged systems, lifts the lowly, humbles the powerful, and calls us to give birth to a world turned upside down.

Mary's Magnificat reveals a God who topples the powerful and lifts the lowly. This is Exodus again, oppressive systems overturned and dignity restored. Advent isn't sentimental; it's a radical reordering of power. In this episode, we explore the holy reversal at the heart of Mary's song.

Mary's Magnificat is more than a song, it's a revolutionary anthem. From the margins of society, she sings joy that resists despair and challenges empires built on fear. In this episode, we explore how her journey, her spirit, and her words still call us to hope, justice, and daring joy today.

What if Jesus wasn't telling us to get rid of fear - but to relate to it differently? "Do not be afraid" isn't a command to suppress emotion, but an invitation to stop letting fear control us. Fear has a purpose; anxiety isn't your enemy. This episode explores how to integrate anxiety instead of being defined by it.

Jesus said no—without guilt, shame, or apology. He didn't take on what wasn't his to carry, and we are invited to do the same. This episode is an invitation to set boundaries, release people-pleasing, and focus your energy on what you're truly here to do. Saying no isn't selfish—it's sacred.

In this episode, we explore what I call "The Energetic Audit." Even in the middle of constant demands, Jesus paid attention to His energy. He didn't give endlessly or mindlessly but lived with a wise awareness of both His limits and His love. Together, we'll unpack how His example can reshape the way we give, serve, and rest today.

In a world full of noise, power struggles, and people claiming to speak for God, how do we know which path truly leads to life? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns of wide roads that end in destruction and narrow ways that bring life. He calls us to test the fruit, examine the foundation, and choose carefully whom we follow. This message explores Jesus' timeless warning in Matthew 7 and how it...

Healing the world comes at a cost. In this episode, we explore how Jesus felt the personal toll of his work in the world. From exhaustion to intentional boundaries, we uncover the sacred give-and-take at the heart of life—and how paying attention to our energy can transform both us and those around us.

Your life is speaking. The real question is—are you listening? Wisdom doesn't shout; it whispers. It speaks softly through your longings, your limits, and even your fatigue. Today, we learn to listen: to ask better questions, to interview ourselves, and to hear what our lives have been trying to say all along. That's where we begin to move beneath the exhaustion and burnout.

What if the fatigue, exhaustion, depletion and burn-out has come to tell you something about your life? What would it look like to find a place of solitude and silence and begin interviewing these feelings and experiences you are having? What could they be saying? If your body is weary, it's time to stop and listen to that communication.

What do you do when you are tired, exhausted, depleted, and burned out? Our culture tells us to push through, power through, grind it out, and keep going at all costs. But how is that working for us? What if instead we stopped? What if we took a deep breath, and didn't do anything? What if instead we listen to the fatigue instead of pushing through it?

Neglecting yourself for the sake of another can appear as a noble sacrifice. But after a while, it can lead to your own personal burnout. What you begin to realize is that neglecting yourself actually limits your capacity to love the other. Today we talk about making your own well-being a priority. We are called to love our neighbor AS OURSELF.

Tired, Exhausted, Depleted, Burned out? This one goes out to the weary and ones carrying heaven burdens. Christ invites you to come to him. Why? He can give you rest.

This week the senate passed H.R.1 also called the one big beautiful bill. Afterward, speaker Johnson said, "I give glory to God." Did God push the vote through? Does God support H.R.1? Let's talk about it.

Are you tired, exhausted, depleted, on the brink of burn out? If that's you, today we talk about loving your neighbor as yourself. But before we get to, "as yourself" we need to talk about loving our neighbor. Because what is happening with immigrants in this country can make us exhausted.

There is a common expression swirling in the air when asked, "How are you?" Generally the response is, "I'm tired, weary, fatigued, exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed, drained, spent, depleted or burned out. Today, we begin a new series of teaching on why we all feel exhausted and what this exhaustion might be telling us.   

This is our final teaching in the book of Revelation. In this final section, John extends an invitation into the new city to all those who are thirsty. Who does John see inside this city? Who is left out? The gates remain open. This is the ultimate ending with a picture of universal restoration.

In the final chapter of Revelation, John takes us back to Genesis 3 with an image of the tree of life. People in the new city are recovering their original goodness. The leaves on this tree are for the healing of the nations. In this new city, John sees no more pain and hurt but healing of all the harms that have been done and received.

When John describes a new city of Jerusalem, it is important to remember that the old city of Jerusalem has been largely leveled and burned some years before. This vision he gives us is deeply personal and the details inside that city matter to him. One of those details is a city with no temple and bright lights. Revelation 22 today.

John moves from pulling back the curtain on the "Eternal City" of Rome and gives us an image of what could be with the "Holy City" of the New Jerusalem. This week we look at the images and words John uses to describe what could be.