Elm City Vineyard Church Talks

As we’ve looked at our stories over the last few weeks, it’d be easy to see our stories as purely individual affairs connected to the person of God. After all, it’s my story! Right? Well, there is a power in stories not being only our own. Our stories are impacted and influenced by others. Our stories flourish in community. Many of our best stories include invitations from others, interruptions by others, and real risks and vulnerability to connect with one another —even folks less familiar to us. This helps us do something together that we cannot do on our own. Life changes when we expect God not only to work in us but through others in a way that blesses a whole community. There’s trust in our story, calling in our story, suffering in our story, and those things are connected to other people. These are people outside of us, but these are also people God can use to change us to be more like Jesus. Come and learn more this Sunday.

- Series Description - 

Revelation 12:11 says that we have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Our stories are powerful tools that reveal how God has been and continues to be at work in our lives and are meant to be weapons against the enemy. Come and hear about the power of our stories.

How do you live out a story of worship even when wronged? This isn’t just the story of Jesus; it’s our story. It might not be a surprise to learn that our way of responding is different than Jesus’ way. Jesus was wronged repeatedly. And yet, he still chooses love. Learning the story of this kind of suffering might not be attractive, especially when we know that Jesus was killed for this kind of love. However, Jesus’ love and his suffering have a greater story of outlasting the wrong. Come on Sunday to hear more!

- Series Description - 

Revelation 12:11 says that we have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Our stories are powerful tools that reveal how God has been and continues to be at work in our lives and are meant to be weapons against the enemy. Come and hear about the power of our stories.

What is your calling? This simple question can begin existential crises. Who am I, we ask? What if, however, our calling is less who we are and more what we find we cannot stop doing over the long haul. In good seasons, in bad seasons. Looking at our calling through the lens of our story, we can find patterns, habits, and rhymes that help us understand the call God has on our lives. Through the bigger story of God, we learn we’re all God’s children. That’s the foundation. Through God’s work in our stories, we can find a calling that helps us receive blessing and bless others. Come this Sunday to learn more about how Moses’ story helps show the power of knowing your calling.

- Series Description - 

Revelation 12:11 says that we have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Our stories are powerful tools that reveal how God has been and continues to be at work in our lives and are meant to be weapons against the enemy. Come and hear about the power of our stories.

Our Stories series continues with a look at a story that invites us to trust. After hearing about the gift and power of stories, the primacy of love in our stories, and the way stories rhyme with goodness, we’re going to take a deeper dive into the stories of several folks from the Bible. As we consider what it means to trust God even when we don’t have all the details, we’ll look at the story of Abram. His journey began with a call to go and no clear arrival point. That can feel bad to us. Very bad. For Abram and Sarai, his wife, living into the unknown became a way for them to practice obedience, faithfulness, and to dream bigger than they could ever have imagined. What if there’s something freeing up about giving up on our own projects informed by certainty and letting “sands and stars” dreams place us rightly in our story, the story of others, and God’s?

- Series Description -

Revelation 12:11 says that we have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Our stories are powerful tools that reveal how God has been and continues to be at work in our lives and are meant to be weapons against the enemy. Come and hear about the power of our stories.

Join us this week as Kyanna shares about the power and importance of stories from our childhood.

- Series Description -

Revelation 12:11 says that we have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Our stories are powerful tools that reveal how God has been and continues to be at work in our lives and are meant to be weapons against the enemy. Come and hear about the power of our stories.

Join us for our next sermon in our Be Not Afraid series. This Sunday, Shirley will be sharing about what it means to be not afraid in our speaking. Come and hear more!

- Series Description -

Scripture records variations of this phrase so many times. Be Not Afraid. Fear not. Do not be afraid for God is with you. God says it. Angels say it. Jesus says it. People say it. Why is it such a repeated exhortation and encouragement? Because we can struggle so mightily with fear. We can have a lack of trust in God and others, and we can feel a lack of love that God is with us. Or if He is with us, that it’s a good thing. The words from scripture are clear though: Be not afraid.

Today, we’ll reflect on our fears of disqualification. What does God have to say to us even when we feel constrained by our fears? Gather with us to receive Jesus’ encouragement from the gospel of Luke.

- Series Description -

Scripture records variations of this phrase so many times. Be Not Afraid. Fear not. Do not be afraid for God is with you. God says it. Angels say it. Jesus says it. People say it. Why is it such a repeated exhortation and encouragement? Because we can struggle so mightily with fear. We can have a lack of trust in God and others, and we can feel a lack of love that God is with us. Or if He is with us, that it’s a good thing. The words from scripture are clear though: Be not afraid.

This week, Kyanna will be exploring what it looks like to be under the Lord's protection in danger. Come and hear more!

- Series Description -

Scripture records variations of this phrase so many times. Be Not Afraid. Fear not. Do not be afraid for God is with you. God says it. Angels say it. Jesus says it. People say it. Why is it such a repeated exhortation and encouragement? Because we can struggle so mightily with fear. We can have a lack of trust in God and others, and we can feel a lack of love that God is with us. Or if He is with us, that it’s a good thing. The words from scripture are clear though: Be not afraid.

This week, Tina will be taking us deeper into God's invitation to not fear in the face of battle, through the lens of an ancient king who stood firm in battle by embracing his powerlessness and taking up worship as his weapon against the advancing enemy.

- Series Description -

Scripture records variations of this phrase so many times. Be Not Afraid. Fear not. Do not be afraid for God is with you. God says it. Angels say it. Jesus says it. People say it. Why is it such a repeated exhortation and encouragement? Because we can struggle so mightily with fear. We can have a lack of trust in God and others, and we can feel a lack of love that God is with us. Or if He is with us, that it’s a good thing. The words from scripture are clear though: Be not afraid.

God wants us to know that we do not have to fear. Whether it’s simply how harsh life can be or whether it’s opportunities God speaks to us about it, the fear we face can come either way. Today, Josh will explore both of those scenarios — the fears of life and the fear that comes when God invites us deeper into His story. After all, we have a story where fear can lose its volume as we grow and mature even if our fears change over time, shifting to stop the growth God has for us. As we contemplate how God is looking to rescue us and invite us deeper, let’s press into this admonition from scripture: be not afraid.

- Series Description -

Scripture records variations of this phrase so many times. Be Not Afraid. Fear not. Do not be afraid for God is with you. God says it. Angels say it. Jesus says it. People say it. Why is it such a repeated exhortation and encouragement? Because we can struggle so mightily with fear. We can have a lack of trust in God and others, and we can feel a lack of love that God is with us. Or if He is with us, that it’s a good thing. The words from scripture are clear though: Be not afraid.

This week we connect rest with play.

- Series Description -

Rest can seem so elusive in our fast-paced culture and our own choices to cooperate with such a breakneck speed. Yet, rest remains a gift from God for God’s people. As the school year winds down, we have a chance to reevaluate and reset before we just adopt a version of a speedy summer. Using the framework for a healthy Sabbath - pause, pray, and play, we’ll slow down to think about how we can foster Sabbath rhythms for us and our communities that last far beyond one day a week. Come and explore more!

Join us as we connect rest with prayer.

- Series Description -

Rest can seem so elusive in our fast-paced culture and our own choices to cooperate with such a breakneck speed. Yet, rest remains a gift from God for God’s people. As the school year winds down, we have a chance to reevaluate and reset before we just adopt a version of a speedy summer. Using the framework for a healthy Sabbath - pause, pray, and play, we’ll slow down to think about how we can foster Sabbath rhythms for us and our communities that last far beyond one day a week. Come and explore more!

As we begin, we’ll connect rest with pausing and reflecting on God’s love.

- Series Description -

Rest can seem so elusive in our fast-paced culture and our own choices to cooperate with such a breakneck speed. Yet, rest remains a gift from God for God’s people. As the school year winds down, we have a chance to reevaluate and reset before we just adopt a version of a speedy summer. Using the framework for a healthy Sabbath - pause, pray, and play, we’ll slow down to think about how we can foster Sabbath rhythms for us and our communities that last far beyond one day a week. Come and explore more!

In this series, we’ve been thinking together about how different facets of our lives are changed by the hope and power of the resurrection. As we near the end of the series, we'll reflect on corporate resurrection in the Body. Our hope is that our messages each week haven't made more individual to-do lists for us in the Church as we pursue our own resurrection. Instead, the Spirit brings the power of resurrection to our Church - to us individually and to one another. As kids of the Kingdom, we help one another recognize the glory of this resurrection, we keep one another far from the work of the flesh & the schemes of the law, and we practice playing well as siblings and co-heirs with Christ. Join us as we learn and practice more together.

- Series Description -

In this series, Resurrected Lives, we are exploring what it means to live post-Easter lives in light of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus has been raised, we can be raised too. But sometimes, it takes more than three days for us to believe and live into that resurrection. For the first two weeks of our series, we looked at what kind of lives are possible through the story of Acts. Next, as a Church, we will walk through several hot-button topics like money, sex, parenting, and power to see what kind of difference resurrection makes for these areas in our lives. Come and see!

In this series, we’ve thinking together about how different facets of our lives are changed by the hope and power of the resurrection. On Pentecost Sunday, we talk about how the story of the resurrection and the story of the Spirit's coming changes what it means to wait. Waiting for a season, waiting in the Sabbath, and waiting even in a moment of pausing. Come to hear more and to experience God's power this Pentecost.

- Series Description -

In this series, Resurrected Lives, we are exploring what it means to live post-Easter lives in light of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus has been raised, we can be raised too. But sometimes, it takes more than three days for us to believe and live into that resurrection. For the first two weeks of our series, we looked at what kind of lives are possible through the story of Acts. Next, as a Church, we will walk through several hot-button topics like money, sex, parenting, and power to see what kind of difference resurrection makes for these areas in our lives. Come and see!

In this series, we’ve been thinking together about how different facets of our lives are changed by the hope and power of the resurrection. What might it look like to know God's power in the very places where we feel powerless? Through 2 Corinthians 12, we see how it's in our weaknesses that we meet the resurrection grace and power of Jesus.

- Series Description -

In this series, Resurrected Lives, we are exploring what it means to live post-Easter lives in light of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus has been raised, we can be raised too. But sometimes, it takes more than three days for us to believe and live into that resurrection. For the first two weeks of our series, we looked at what kind of lives are possible through the story of Acts. Next, as a Church, we will walk through several hot-button topics like money, sex, parenting, and power to see what kind of difference resurrection makes for these areas in our lives. Come and see!

In this series, we’ve been thinking together about how different facets of our lives are changed by the hope and power of the resurrection. This week, Patrick will be talking about the grace that God has for us in parenting.

- Series Description -

In this series, Resurrected Lives, we are exploring what it means to live post-Easter lives in light of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus has been raised, we can be raised too. But sometimes, it takes more than three days for us to believe and live into that resurrection. For the first two weeks of our series, we looked at what kind of lives are possible through the story of Acts. Next, as a Church, we will walk through several hot-button topics like money, sex, parenting, and power to see what kind of difference resurrection makes for these areas in our lives. Come and see!

This week, we will be discussing sex in light of a resurrected life.

- Series Description -

In this series, Resurrected Lives, we are exploring what it means to live post-Easter lives in light of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus has been raised, we can be raised too. But sometimes, it takes more than three days for us to believe and live into that resurrection. For the first two weeks of our series, we looked at what kind of lives are possible through the story of Acts. Next, as a Church, we will walk through several hot-button topics like money, sex, parenting, and power to see what kind of difference resurrection makes for these areas in our lives. Come and see!

This week, we will be discussing money in light of a resurrected life. We'll take a look at the early church and learn from them what it looks like to live a hospitable and generous life until the Lord.
 
- Series Description -

In this series, Resurrected Lives, we will explore what it means to live post-Easter lives in light of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus has been raised, we can be raised too. But sometimes, it takes more than three days for us to believe and live into that resurrection. For the first two weeks of our series, we looked at what kind of lives are possible through the story of Acts. Next, as a Church, we will walk through several hot-button topics like money, sex, parenting, and power to see what kind of difference resurrection makes for these areas in our lives. Come and see!

If resurrection has the power to transform death to life, shame to honor and forgiveness, isolation to community, and scarcity to abundance, then how might living in light of that kind of resurrection change us?

- Series Description -

In this series, Resurrected Lives, we explore what it means to live post-Easter lives in light of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus has been raised, so can we. But sometimes, it takes more than three days to believe that for us. For the first two weeks of our series, we will look at what kind of lives are possible through the story of Acts. Then, as a Church, we will walk through several hot-button topics like money, sex, parenting, and power to see what kind of difference resurrection makes for these areas in our lives. Come and see!