Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
June 9 Recap
On Sunday, June 9, Larry spoke on Acts 28, the final chapter in the book of Acts, and the final message in the series, "Spirit Falls." The primary focus of the message was the idea of gospel hospitality.
In this chapter, Paul "welcomed all who came to see him" as he stayed in Rome under house arrest. Every person he encountered, whether Jew or Gentile, whether friend or Roman soldier, was a person Paul was open to a relationship with. He was always looking for opportunities to encourage people and share the gospel with them. Larry challenged us to examine our own "hospitality factor." If our life was a front door, would it be padlocked, with an iron bar across it? Would it be open, but only a couple of inches? (with a chain to make sure it only opened so far) Or, would it have a note on it that said, "come on in!"
This week, let's consciously open the doors of our lives a bit wider to those around us as we live gospel filled lives.
In this chapter, Paul "welcomed all who came to see him" as he stayed in Rome under house arrest. Every person he encountered, whether Jew or Gentile, whether friend or Roman soldier, was a person Paul was open to a relationship with. He was always looking for opportunities to encourage people and share the gospel with them. Larry challenged us to examine our own "hospitality factor." If our life was a front door, would it be padlocked, with an iron bar across it? Would it be open, but only a couple of inches? (with a chain to make sure it only opened so far) Or, would it have a note on it that said, "come on in!"
This week, let's consciously open the doors of our lives a bit wider to those around us as we live gospel filled lives.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
May 26 recap
On Sunday, John preached on Acts 16:6-10, looking specifically at Paul and Silas' journey through Asia Minor.
In this story, Paul and Silas are traveling through Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), visiting some churches Paul had planted a few years earlier. After encouraging the Christians there, they decide to share the gospel in new areas. But strangely, the Holy Spirit sets up roadblocks in a couple of areas and won't allow them to preach in those places. After running into a couple of dead ends, Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia (in Europe - modern day Greece) calling him to come across the Aegean Sea and help them. Paul and Silas immediately set sail for Macedonia and for the first time, the gospel is planted on European soil.
The sermon centered around what this passage has to say about the times when we encounter roadblocks. First, we discussed that God is in control, even when things seem to be bleak. Secondly, he is good, even in the roadblocks. He can use these tough times to make us more like Jesus, as well as to point us in a new direction.
With that in mind, we should make plans, but write them in pencil. We always should be open to the Holy Spirit "re-routing" us and changing our plans. In order to hear him speaking, though, we need to be consciously listening for his guidance.
We also discussed one specific area where the staff feels like God is leading VRBC - the area of evangelism. We'll be talking about this much more in the weeks to come...
Make sure to check out the podcast!
In this story, Paul and Silas are traveling through Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), visiting some churches Paul had planted a few years earlier. After encouraging the Christians there, they decide to share the gospel in new areas. But strangely, the Holy Spirit sets up roadblocks in a couple of areas and won't allow them to preach in those places. After running into a couple of dead ends, Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia (in Europe - modern day Greece) calling him to come across the Aegean Sea and help them. Paul and Silas immediately set sail for Macedonia and for the first time, the gospel is planted on European soil.
The sermon centered around what this passage has to say about the times when we encounter roadblocks. First, we discussed that God is in control, even when things seem to be bleak. Secondly, he is good, even in the roadblocks. He can use these tough times to make us more like Jesus, as well as to point us in a new direction.
With that in mind, we should make plans, but write them in pencil. We always should be open to the Holy Spirit "re-routing" us and changing our plans. In order to hear him speaking, though, we need to be consciously listening for his guidance.
We also discussed one specific area where the staff feels like God is leading VRBC - the area of evangelism. We'll be talking about this much more in the weeks to come...
Make sure to check out the podcast!
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Monday, May 13, 2013
May 12 recap
Hey everyone -
In this week's installment of the Big Story, Larry talked about the church at Antioch as described in Acts 13. And on Mother's Day, he described this church as a "Mother Church" - one who was "pregnant" with the gospel.
This church was filled with people who were giving their lives for the gospel. And the church consistently "gave birth"to new believers and new churches, as they sent out people from their own midst to spread the gospel throughout the world. In this particular story, the church sent Paul and Barnabas out on a missionary journey. The church at Antioch could have been selfish with their leaders and charged them with taking care of the local flock. But instead, they had a kingdom mindset that led them to celebrate the movement of the Holy Spirit wherever it was to be found, and to make all their resources available to participate in the extending of Christ's kingdom.
Larry concluded with an exercise comparing and contrasting the church at Antioch with our hearts and our church. And while there are many wonderful similarities, he also challenged us strongly to "close the gap" through the power of the Holy Spirit. He called us to turn our primary focus away from ourselves and our own needs, and toward those of people outside the church. If you missed the sermon, please check out the podcast and allow God's Word and Larry's sermon to inspire and challenge you this week!
In this week's installment of the Big Story, Larry talked about the church at Antioch as described in Acts 13. And on Mother's Day, he described this church as a "Mother Church" - one who was "pregnant" with the gospel.
This church was filled with people who were giving their lives for the gospel. And the church consistently "gave birth"to new believers and new churches, as they sent out people from their own midst to spread the gospel throughout the world. In this particular story, the church sent Paul and Barnabas out on a missionary journey. The church at Antioch could have been selfish with their leaders and charged them with taking care of the local flock. But instead, they had a kingdom mindset that led them to celebrate the movement of the Holy Spirit wherever it was to be found, and to make all their resources available to participate in the extending of Christ's kingdom.
Larry concluded with an exercise comparing and contrasting the church at Antioch with our hearts and our church. And while there are many wonderful similarities, he also challenged us strongly to "close the gap" through the power of the Holy Spirit. He called us to turn our primary focus away from ourselves and our own needs, and toward those of people outside the church. If you missed the sermon, please check out the podcast and allow God's Word and Larry's sermon to inspire and challenge you this week!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Jesus and Mary (or, stuff John didn't have time to cover in the sermon)
Hey everyone -
So, when I wrote the sermon for this week, there was a topic I found fascinating, but didn't have time to get to in the sermon. If reading the exchange in this passage between Jesus and his mother made you go "huh?" then you can head on over to the worship blog and read my thoughts there.
If the link doesn't work, you can type it in directly: vrbcworshipstuff.blogspot.com
John
So, when I wrote the sermon for this week, there was a topic I found fascinating, but didn't have time to get to in the sermon. If reading the exchange in this passage between Jesus and his mother made you go "huh?" then you can head on over to the worship blog and read my thoughts there.
If the link doesn't work, you can type it in directly: vrbcworshipstuff.blogspot.com
John
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Week 18 Recap
Hey everyone -
This week, we looked at Matthew 4:1-11 - the temptation of Jesus. In this passage, immediately following his baptism, we see Jesus being tempted by Satan in the desert. It reminds us of when Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden way back in Genesis, but this time, Satan is defeated. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded.
In this passage, we find sobering news: we are vulnerable to the devil's tactics.
This week, we looked at Matthew 4:1-11 - the temptation of Jesus. In this passage, immediately following his baptism, we see Jesus being tempted by Satan in the desert. It reminds us of when Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden way back in Genesis, but this time, Satan is defeated. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded.
In this passage, we find sobering news: we are vulnerable to the devil's tactics.
- We are vulnerable to our appetites: As Satan tempted Jesus to fill his hunger by turning stones to bread, he tempts us to fill the good desires God has given us with things other than Jesus, the only one who can truly satisfy. We talked about how we are especially vulnerable to temptation when we are HALT (hungry, angry, lonely, tired)
- We are vulnerable to accolades (we desire approval/applause). Satan tempted Jesus to do a "trick" to gain popularity. He often tempts us to forsake our calling for popularity's sake as well.
- We are vulnerable to ambition. Satan promised to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he will just bow down and worship him. And he often tries to sell us the same bill of goods: "make this one compromise to get ahead"
While it is sobering news that we are vulnerable to these "short-cut" tactics the devil uses, there is good news in the passage: Jesus defeats Satan! And through his power, so can we. Jesus forgives our sins, cleanses us, and strengthens us for the fight.
Toward the end, Larry gave us a tool to fight temptation. He called it the "Temptation Equation"
I + W = V
Identity + Weaponry = Victory
Identity - remember that you are a child of God with the Holy Spirit living inside of you
Weaponry - spiritual disciplines like Scripture and prayer
Victory - the ability to follow through on the calling God has given us.
If you missed the sermon, check out the podcast on the resources tab or on iTunes. See you next week!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Week 17 Recap
Happy New Year, everyone!
We took a short break from our weekly recap videos over the holidays, but you can still catch those sermons if you happened to be out of town. They are available on our podcasting hosting website at http://sermon.net/vrbc as well as on iTunes (search Valley Ranch Baptist Church).
Yesterday, January 6th, Larry preached on Jesus' baptism as recorded in Matthew 3. If you missed it, definitely check out the podcast-it's a good one! Here is the short version of what he shared with us:
Background - John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin) is causing quite a commotion down in Judea (the southern part of Israel) by preaching that people need to "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." He is also baptizing people in the Jordan River. Jesus takes the trip down from Galilee (in the northern part of Israel) to see John.
When Jesus approaches John, he does a strange thing - he asks John to baptize him. This has caused lots of questions for theologians over the years, as Jesus was the only person at the river that day who didn't have ANY sins to confess or repent of! Larry explained it this way:
Jesus is fulfilling God's desire by being baptized, and he blazes a trail for us to be reconciled to God. Jesus identifies with us so that we can find our new identity in him.
When we find our identity in Christ, what happened to Jesus in the Jordan River that day also happens to us. We enter a new reality, where:
* Life is VERTICAL - no longer is all of our life "horizontal." Instead, the heavens have been opened and we can be connected with God.
* Life is SPIRITUAL - We can live a Spirit-led life. We don't have to wander around like a lost driver without a map. We have the Spirit with us to guide us!
* Life is WONDERFUL - Jesus takes our sin on himself and clothes us with his righteousness. When God looks at us, he doesn't see our sin - he sees his Son. And he says to us the same thing he said to Jesus: "This is my son (or daughter!), whom I love. With him I am well pleased.
May this beautiful reality inform and inspire us this week!
We took a short break from our weekly recap videos over the holidays, but you can still catch those sermons if you happened to be out of town. They are available on our podcasting hosting website at http://sermon.net/vrbc as well as on iTunes (search Valley Ranch Baptist Church).
Yesterday, January 6th, Larry preached on Jesus' baptism as recorded in Matthew 3. If you missed it, definitely check out the podcast-it's a good one! Here is the short version of what he shared with us:
Background - John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin) is causing quite a commotion down in Judea (the southern part of Israel) by preaching that people need to "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." He is also baptizing people in the Jordan River. Jesus takes the trip down from Galilee (in the northern part of Israel) to see John.
When Jesus approaches John, he does a strange thing - he asks John to baptize him. This has caused lots of questions for theologians over the years, as Jesus was the only person at the river that day who didn't have ANY sins to confess or repent of! Larry explained it this way:
Jesus is fulfilling God's desire by being baptized, and he blazes a trail for us to be reconciled to God. Jesus identifies with us so that we can find our new identity in him.
When we find our identity in Christ, what happened to Jesus in the Jordan River that day also happens to us. We enter a new reality, where:
* Life is VERTICAL - no longer is all of our life "horizontal." Instead, the heavens have been opened and we can be connected with God.
* Life is SPIRITUAL - We can live a Spirit-led life. We don't have to wander around like a lost driver without a map. We have the Spirit with us to guide us!
* Life is WONDERFUL - Jesus takes our sin on himself and clothes us with his righteousness. When God looks at us, he doesn't see our sin - he sees his Son. And he says to us the same thing he said to Jesus: "This is my son (or daughter!), whom I love. With him I am well pleased.
May this beautiful reality inform and inspire us this week!
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