Listen to one of our weekly sermons here!
This is the first sermon in a new series on the book of Romans. Paul makes a special effort to point out to this new collection of house churches that the story they are living is way bigger than their individual stories. Both the Christians in Rome in Paul's day and believers today can be sure that we are part of something much bigger and greater than each of our own small stories.
Is your Joy held captive by something: guilt, shame, condemnation, or maybe just your own feeling that happiness and joy aren't really for you? Be free of those restrictions and allow the nature of God to fill you with Joy and even happiness!
Peace is more than absence of conflict. Advent is a time of waiting and preparation, so how do we prepare for peace. Scripture tells us that there is no end to the greatness of God's peace. Peace comes not as we conquer or opponents or enemies, but as we realize the Lordship of Christ and surrender to Him. Who is battle weary? Who's tired of fighting? Jesus offers a different way where we lay down our ammunition and receive His peace.
Hope is meant to be fulfilled. We have already had our hope fulfilled in part by the first coming of Jesus, but one day we will have it in full when He comes again. We can't be thankful for something we feel entitled to. In the same way, we can't hope for something we already have in full. Worldly hope is nothing more than wishing. Wishing is weak, but hope is not. Kingdom hope has a hook in reality, in the promises of God. The zeal of the Lord will make our hope certain. Hope is the tone with which we prepare for the Lord to come, and it tempers us while we wait.
From God's instruction to Adam and Eve to subdue the earth and rule over it, people have had an innate desire for a mark, a legacy, that lasts beyond our own lives. But God's purpose for us is not just a legacy or inheritance that we can build with our own two hands, but for us to serve as a conduit to pass a legacy of the Kingdom of God on to the next generation. The church needs to be the birthplace of the best artistry, creativity and beauty that reflects the glory of God and lasts beyond our own lives. Our legacy is not what we store up for ourselves. Instead, our legacy is what we give away and entrust others with.
God desires for us to have a life well spent, not a life, well....spent. To live the full, abundant life that God designed for us, Sabbath must be a central part. But for those who live only for themselves, the Sabbath is out of reach. However, those who join with God in His work, also get to join Him in his rest. The Sabbath is good news, because the point of the Sabbath is that, for the things that really matter, God will take care of them.
Many of our desires and longings are God given, but often have been twisted and contorted by the world, our sinful nature, and temptation. In this sermon, the second in the "As The Deer Pants" series, Pastor Josh explores how we realign those desires to the will and nature of God. (We apologize that the first sermon in the series is unavailable. The audio recording was corrupted.)
Continuing in the "The Kingdom of God Is..." series, Leah Pavel uses Jesus' example and excerpts from the book of Matthew to look at the outward, others-focused nature of the Kingdom and to explore what that means for both our personal lives and as a faith community. She also discusses how we counter a culture of marketing and sales by simply loving Jesus and loving others in a way that allows the gospel to be a natural outflow of relationship with Jesus.
In Matthew chapter 13 Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like yeast that works it's way through all of the dough. But being a part of the Kingdom of God is not just adding Jesus to your life the way it already is. It's an exchange of our former understanding and way of living for a completely different one.
Continuing in our current series, "The Kingdom of God Is..." Pastor Josh uses Matthew 13 to talk about the substance of the Kingdom of God and what is the "really real". The driving force of the Kingdom is the entire of creation being reconciled to the Creator.
We don't always see the Kingdom of God break through when we pray. Sickness, death and brokenness are still a part of our lives. Why? The answer lies in the reality that there are two kingdoms in conflict and we live in the tension between them. Pastor Josh address this reality and what scripture has to say about it and about how we, as followers of Jesus, maintain hope and persist in ministry.
The good news of Mark 1:15 is that the Kingdom of God, the place where God is King and His rule and His reign exist and where His will is done, is close at hand. The Kingdom is relevant to our lives today and always because it is near and available for those who want to experience it. As Jesus' followers we have the invitation of being active participants in God's Kingdom.
This sermon is the first in a new series, "The Kingdom of God Is...". Pastor Josh looks at lessons from the book of Nehemiah and how part of advancing the Kingdom is simultaneously building and battling - and making sure we're battling against the right thing!
This sermon is the last in the "What Is God Doing?" series and explores what the Holy Spirit is doing specifically in the local church body at VCHS.
Guest speaker Brant Cannon speaks from 2 Corinthians 5 and explores how our worldview affects how we perceive what God is doing and how we ourselves are reconciled to God as well as how we participate in the ministry of others being reconciled to God.
Pastor Josh Pavel teaches about the difference between our working and striving to do what we understand to be the will of God and following Jesus' example of doing what we see the Father doing.
SERVICE TIME & LOCATION:
10:30am Sunday @
190 Rosewood Centre Drive
Suite 101
Holly Springs, NC 27540
E: office@hollyspringsvineyard.org
P: 919-391-8247
