The Wisdom of God - Ecclesiastes

The lesson of Ecclesiastes is not that we should be depressed all the time because everything is meaningless, the lesson is that God has provided a way that we can enjoy life by putting things in their proper perspective. We must make the right choices and value the right things. King Solomon had spent time, money and energy on all the wrong things that do not satisfy and he writes to offer wisdom to avoid his error. 

The Wisdom of God in the Book of Job

The wisdom of Job is the mystery of suffering in light of the sovereignty of God. God is sovereign over both the trouble and the blessings. If you've ever judged yourself and thought that you were experiencing trouble because you failed, if you've ever given counsel to someone in error like Job's friends did, or if you've received counsel that was errant and that left you dismayed and wondering where to turn, then we hope this lesson from Job's life will help you heal, forgive, and see your circumstances in light of God's sovereignty. 

The Wisdom of God - Intro

Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Wisdom is more than just knowledge - it is the application of knowledge combined with obedience to God. Wisdom must by sought and cultivated not in the times of crisis and distress but in the day to day of life so that when we encounter the unexpected and difficult times, wisdom is at the ready. But we must start from a place of revering and respecting the Lord, or we will learn the wrong lessons and grow in fear or cynicism instead of wisdom. 

Advent Week 1: The Prophets

In the first week of Advent, we celebrate hope, and specifically the hope that we've been given through prophecy and the prophets. Jesus himself fulfilled hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah. John the Baptist is the prophet of Advent who came to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus. As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, we prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus as the prophets have by embracing a message of hope and being confident in what the Lord has said He will do.

Demystify: Introduction to Spiritual Gifts

*AUDIO NOTE:  We apologize for the blips in the audio in this recording. There was difficulty with the wireless mic that gets resolved around 11 minutes into the track. 
This week Pastor Josh lays the foundation for a new sermon series that will take us into October: Demystify. It's all about making the spiritual gifts more accessible and approachable and less daunting, keeping in line with our Vineyard value of "everyone gets to play". Instead of only a pastor teaching on the theology behind the gifts each Sunday, over the course of this series we will get to hear from a number of different practitioners of these gifts. These individuals with share their perspective and experiences in being used by the Holy Spirit to operate in these gifts on a regular basis.

Baptism

July 30th was a baptism Sunday at VCHS and pastor Josh took the opportunity to talk about the meaning, purpose and importance of baptism. We baptism because we obey and follow the example of Jesus. The mark of God's people is no longer external as it once was with circumcision. We are now marked internally with a circumcision of the heart that we demonstrate outwardly by baptism.