Elm City Vineyard Church Talks

Empty wallet. Empty bank account. How could those things have anything to do with resurrection? Jesus’ life giving advice on money isn’t go forth and chase “up and to the right” or “more, more, more.” Instead, Jesus’ path towards abundance goes once again through loss. Can we trust Jesus with our finances? Whatever our answer is, come and consider how following Jesus

Following our Easter service exploring the power of the empty tomb, we will spend several weeks looking at how resurrection changes emptiness. Because of the resurrection, we know that empty things can be blessed. And some things need to be emptied to be consecrated for blessings that go far beyond what we can see. How do our schedules, wallets, contacts, and more need to be emptie

What’s a time you’ve had something redefined? Was it sudden or over time? Some of us have woken up with an ordinary understanding of some specific part of our life and by the time we went to sleep, everything was different. Others had that change happen over months, years, decades. This Easter, we remember that Jesus’ followers went through a whirlwind of emotions after Jesus

What if tomorrow brought freedom to all people and the land? This was God's vision of Jubilee, a time when the Israelites were invited to take a break from harvesting every 50 years to let the land rest and enjoy the abundance God would provide. They were also called to free all enslaved people. This is the essence of Jubilee. Where are you longing for Jubilee today?This week, Kim

Over the past few weeks during this season of Lent, we’ve been spending time considering God’s heart for those who are materially poor. There is Gospel good news for all of us in this call to love the poor. And yet, we can so easily miss the good news altogether because we get entangled and distracted with other things, like wealth, and stability, and worry. This week, Tina wil

Jesus’ famous last words dealt with being known by one’s love. What does love have to do with the poor, service, and justice? A lot, it turns out. Love isn’t just motivation to do work with and among the marginalized. Love is how we will be recognized as disciples, students of Jesus. On Sunday, we have the privilege of hearing someone who has walked this out in word and deed.

You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt (Exod 23:9).The remarkable text from Matt 25 about the sheep and the goats and the "least of these" has been with us every week so far in our series on "Loving the Poor in Word and Deed" as we've explored how we serve and encounter Jesus when we feed, clothe, house, welco

In the famous parable of the sheep and the goats, both parties are surprised by Jesus’ connection with the poor — even the ones who have seen Jesus through their feeding, clothing, visiting, and compassionate service. Through our hearing of the story, we don’t have to be surprised anymore that we can see Jesus in the face of the poor. Instead, our compassion for the poor and

Who is “the poor”? What does that phrase even mean anyway? Throughout the Bible, that phrase is used to describe people God wants to remember, serve, include, and relieve. Yet, we often forget these people. During this Lenten season, we’re remembering this group and God’s call for us to serve the marginalized amongst us. In Matthew 25, Jesus has surprising news about who th

Last week, Josh shared about how Jesus died for our sin not to be a big deal. But once we understand and receive the good news of Jesus’s rescue from sin… what happens next? How are we supposed to relate to our own sinfulness as people who have been set free from sin if we can’t stop sinning? This Sunday, for the second installment of our two-part series on Sin, Tina will be