Viva Vineyard Church

As we walk through the biblical story we’ll discover that exile is a recurring feature. The first exile was Adam and Eve banished from the garden, then there’s Abraham called from his homeland and shifted around by famines and violence. And of course there’s the massive exile of the Israelite nation which is the focus of this talk today. It shouldn’t surprise us that it’s a thread through the bibl...

As we follow the story of Scripture we come to kingdom and Saul and David two very different kings, with very different hearts. 

God saving plan gains momentum. At the centre of this chapter of that story is God's decision to reveal himself as I AM. God present and Lord. Then, now, forever.

So the story got off to a great start and then... That's what this talk is about. Something is very wrong, isn't it? We all seem to agree on that but until we understand what that is any sort of solution we propose is going to be bandaid at best. 

This series is all about helping you get into the Bible. It's a big story. But there are key themes that we can use as guide rails as we explore the landscape of this incredible story. Here we explore two and dive into the start looking at the Who? and Why? of humanity's origin story. 

Paul described it as treasure in jars of clay. It's so easy to overlook the Gospel invitation, particularly, given the state of the messengers but it's still an unbelievable treasure. The King's banquet will be extraordinary.

Compassion, authority, go!

Matthew 9:1-13 Here we see Jesus getting to the heart of his mission, talking about his purpose in coming and demonstrating that purpose in his interactions with the people.

Matthew 8:18-34 In this series of stories we see there is risk, cost, adventure and even danger as we follow Jesus among the people.

Jesus comes down the mountain and does an incredible thing: he practices what he just preached! In the mess and demand of damaged lives he lives out the Sermon on the Mount. It's all done among the people... and he's calling us to love like that too....

Gifts are a means by which God expresses Himself. Get that and Monday and Tuesday and... and... begin to look quite different.

Why would I want the Holy Spirit's gifts? The fact that we would even ask that question suggests we need to go back to mind-bending basics...

Can I trust the Holy Spirit? Really. 

Pentecost Sunday. A day long prophesied, happens. The Spirit is poured out. What about today? This talk kicks of a new series where we get really practical about how to grow your relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

Red pill, blue pill? We’re talking about moments when God helps us see things how they actually are. Sometimes that can be deeply unsettling, but if we can stay in the unsettling, these moments also present us with an incredible opportunity for change.

Where you and I see rusted scrap someone else sees a 1964 Lotus Elan. God's in the business of restoration. And he has no, Too Hard basket. For you and me that's the best hope we can possibly imagine. 

C.S. Lewis writes, "But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world…" Somehow disasters and suffering can be instrumental in freeing us into happiness. Really, how? In the ancient words of Joel we look for answers. 

Old. Awkward. Confusing. Grating. Offensive. And - Christians believe - God's Word. But is it worth the effort really? What harm is there in just reading the New Testament and avoiding the other 3/4s of the Bible? Well, to show our cards, we think it's as bad as just watching episode 8 in an 8 episode series.

In our first time in our new venue, we pause to pull the doors back on what's going on, what we're about and where we're headed.  The old spider or starfish metaphor is at the heart of this moment. So are three bored kids and a picture that began to swim...

This isn't a talk, rather it's a collection of voices from the Viva family retelling the Easter story. It's the recording for our Easter journey at Feaster 2022 - Easter Sunday.

How do we find hope when the prognosis is clearly terminal, when all our spin and optimism about everything’s going to get better if…. When that runs out, where can we find hope? Easter is next week. At the heart of Easter are historical events recorded over a 3 day period. For 2 millennia billions of people have looked to these events as the way to find hope when the prognosis, personally, in the...

Worship and pleasure? Not the sort of word association you'd expect, perhaps. But the Bible is clear - worshipping God is an experience of profound pleasure. Ok, but how do we experience that?  That's the substance of this talk. 

This is a big important topic if we're ever going to understand worship on planet earth. Claire and Sarah circle in on the story of a woman who poured out her best. A story we're still talking about 2000 years on. That's got to say something about what it means worship when it hurts. 

In this episode we grab a cup of tea, sit down and Claire and Sarah and I take a first swipe at what the Bible tells us about the purpose of worship. It's our introductory conversation to our new first four part series on worship.  Core idea: we all worship something. This issue is what? But that's just the beginning...

We’re finally at the conclusion of Jesus’ ridiculously famous teaching, The Sermon on the Mount, which has been occasionally called the constitution of the Kingdom of God. Jesus came declaring, “Repent, the kingdom of God is here.” With Jesus’ healing ministry in full swing, crowd control has become an issue. But there is a growing band of people who are getting serious about following Jesus, so h...