Vista Community Church

Jesus is born in order to make room for people who did not make room for Him, because God does not want to be without us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John the Baptist is such an interesting, challenging character in the Bible – but what made him so great? What questions should his life cause us to ask ourselves regarding greatness? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

God chooses Mary to give birth to the Messiah, because she is a person of deep, hidden faithfulness. Mary consents to God's plan and becomes the paradigm of human obedience to the will of God. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Luke chapter 1 we are introduced to Zechariah and Elizabeth – a remarkable couple who teach us how to wait patiently on the Lord which is, in part, what the season of Advent is all about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This generation faces many challenges amidst a rapidly changing cultural climate; yet they also have a great capacity to love, serve others, and fight for justice. We'll look at a few trends in youth culture, and what we can do to help them discover their identity in Christ. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sorry is an essential prayer, because we make a lot of mistakes and commit a lot of sins. But, instead of dreading confession, we learn to embrace it when we see it as the path to wholeness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pray can be hard, mainly because we do not know God. As we start off our series on prayer, we see that praying and asking God for help becomes natural when we know who God is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On All Saints Day, we celebrate the unity and diversity of Christian faith, spread out across space and time. As Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4, there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John closes his letter with a tone of urgency: the message of Jesus is for now, the message of Jesus is for all, and the message of Jesus is the purpose of the church. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Babylon is what happens when good things become evil things, because they were treated like ultimate things. Revelation 17-18 proclaims how and why Babylon must be destroyed, and how and why we must "come out" of her. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The story of Revelation ends with God's promise to make all things new. The end is not demolition and evacuation, but a redemption and restoration project; it's the consummation and celebration of all the world was meant to be. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Revelation 12-14 tells the story of all creation facing the wrath of the lamb by sharing a story about Satan waging war on God, creation, and the saints. We're invited to take spiritual warfare seriously, but not hysterically, because Jesus wins because he's already won. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Revelation 6, things start to get weird and ominous. There are bowls of wrath, terrible creatures, and catastrophic events. But beneath the ominous surface, there is great hope and joy because Jesus' promise to pour out his wrath on creation is also a promise his justice and mercy will rid creation of all injustice and cruelty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jesus is the only one worthy of all of our praise, because he is the Lamb who was slain; he's the only one who could have executed God's redemptive plan for all mankind. This is the root of John's vision in Revelation 5. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Revelation 4 takes us on a journey to the center of reality: a place of joy, revelry, and very loud music. Because as bad as the bad news can be, the good news is always better. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We can learn a lot from the three churches Jesus addresses in Revelation 3, like what God wants the church to be and what he finds unacceptable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is often helpful to learn from other churches who have gone before us; we can learn from the things they did right, and from the things they got wrong. In Revelation 2, Jesus is both affirming and rebuking 4 churches. What we'll see when we examine them is that a church is in danger when it prioritizes the wrong things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All the dread and drama surrounding the future is drained from the beginning in Revelation, because the first thing John glimpses in his vision is the victorious, risen Christ. No matter how wild and weird things get, we can rest assured the future is our friend because Christ already holds the keys to death and Hades. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the beginning of our journey through the wild and weird book known as Revelation, we're reminded that it is about Jesus. Revelation is not a book of secrets about the future, but a reminder that God has freely and gladly told us everything that we need to know in telling us about His son. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Apostle Paul relied Titus on for comfort and encouragement from time to time. Relying on others forces us to acknowledge our limits and remember that we are human. The kingdom work that God has given us to do is always done better collectively than it ever will be individually; the kingdom of God is built when we work together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Luke is only mentioned by name 3 times in the New Testament. However, his impact on early Christianity cannot be overstated. We owe much of what we know about the early days of Christianity to Luke, who describes the birth of the church and the spread of Christianity in the book of Acts. What was Luke's purpose in writing these books? What did he want us to know? Hosted on Acas...

When Paul gets to Corinth, he meets a married couple named Priscilla and Aquila who become a big help to him in the gospel ministry. They serve faithfully in several churches, often hosting the church in their home. What we see from this husband and wife team is a couple who live lives on mission for God. From them, we learn some things we must be willing to do if we are going to live missional li...

Timothy was like a spiritual son to the Apostle Paul. He became Paul’s right-hand man in his ministry to the churches. We see that Timothy had sincere faith, genuine commitment, and an eagerness to learn and grow as a pastor. Because of this, Paul developed a deep and unwavering trust in Timothy. The thing that stands out about Timothy is that he was very young when he began to accompany Paul, and...

Lydia was the first convert to Christianity in Europe. She was a founding member of the church in Philippi. She is only mentioned in a few verses in Acts, but her life teaches us how to live with open hearts, open homes, and open hands. She is a beautiful picture of a life of obedience, hospitality, and generosity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.