Viva Vineyard Church

Leviticus is often misunderstood. We take a fresh look. The Tent of Meeting is the focus of the book. Last week we looked at the architecture of the tent. This week we look at the activity. We discover, incredibly, that much of it resembles the beloved Aussie ritual - the BBQ.

God is re-Edening. The Tabernacle of Exodus 25-40 is a symbolic garden of Eden. “God moves into sin. God stakes out a claim in the region of sin and dedicates it and redeems it by his holy presence.” The Bible Project

Jesus wasn't a used car salesman, neither should we be. So what's the alternative?

Cities. Towers. Self-protection and self-exultation. The gospel according to Disney meeting the God of Abram.

The fall. The fallout. Our propensities. God's way back.

Eden. Mountain. Relationship and responsibility. We dive into Genesis 2

How did we get here? Why are we here? (Small questions like that!) And a conversation about what God wants.

The marvel of God's renewing ways displayed through lives of Hannah and Samuel. Speak Lord, your servant is listening.

What the Bible teaches us about contentment.

My prayer used to be, “I trust you God I know you’re good, show me how you’re going to do it and when I understand it I will be at peace.” And that’s not what this passage is saying…Peace or understanding, which are you after? 

Paul was very sure he knew what carried true value. That changed when he met Jesus.

Isaiah 49 is breathtaking. What if it's actually not just about Israel or Jesus but us as well? And how might that be possible?

Philippians 2 is majesterial. The cruciform life of Christ and others are on display. And yet... as Paul bemoaned, "everyone is looking out for their own interests, not the interests of Christ." Why the mismatch? What needs to change?

Imprisoned Paul would insist no. Joy isn’t found in our inward turn but in an upward turn to God and an outward turn to each. 

The New Testament is jammed with prayers for God's people. As we continue to ask the Lord to teach us to pray, we're turning to the prayers of Philippians...

Jesus is welcomed as King when he enters Jerusalem. Then he goes to the Temple, turns tables and makes a statement that upends far more than the dodgy temple economy...

The Red Sea parts. Praise erupts. 3 days later, grumbling and accusation. It takes time to unlearn how we've seen God... the good news is God has his ways.

Exodus 5. Things go from bad to worse. Where is God? Can he be trusted to do what only he can do?

Culture says you define you. Moses' encounter with God suggests otherwise...

Exodus 1. Exodus is the birth story the people of Israel. Imperial oppression through economic exploitation leading to attempted genocide. The market society prison. All God's people could manage was a groan. And the groan, our groan is enough. With this God of grace, exodus always starts with a groan.

What's the aperture of your heart?

There's an ancient blessing that God gave his people. At the centre of this blessing is the smile of God.

John asserts that there is a throne in heaven and one who sits upon it and that that person is not me. How then are we to live?

At the end of Joseph's epic tale stands a remarkable act of forgiveness.How was this possible? How can we forgive today?

The difference the Holy Spirit makes.

There is an end to prison. God decides. God lifts up. God saves.

Joseph in Prison: Living well in the weight of the waitJoseph knew God as present help. And future hope. He experienced his steadfast love. God had planted a dream in Joseph’s heart that couldn’t be uprooted. 1. Have you spent time in “prison”? What was it? Are you in a “prison” now? 2. What do you do when the “walls press in”, when the weight of the wait seems too much? Do you sulk (give up)? Do you strain to regain control (fight)? Or do you just try to ignore it through substitutes? What does your sulking look like? What does your straining look like? What does your substituting look like? 3. Who around you is most impacted by your sulking or your straining for control or substituting? How are they impacted? How do you know?“In surrender, we give up control, but we do not give up agency.Control is the ability to determine outcomes and circumstances. Agency is the exercise of our God-given, God-directed, God-empowered ability to take action. To use our agency is to initiate and create and take responsibility.” John Ortberg, Steps.Do the opposite to emotion-driven, ego-charged desiresThen he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. Luke 9:23-25“That is why the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.”C.S.Lewis, Mere Christianity 

"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved" -Victor Hugo. Thanks Strahan Coleman for your amazing book, Beholding.

At this point in the story it is very clear Joseph is not in control. He's not the main character. God is. And God is with us in the pit.

Finding purpose is a crucial and elusive part of modern living. So how do we do it? Well.... maybe a deep read of Joseph's story is a good start.

Palm Sunday. The week before Easter the road to Jerusalem erupts with praise and scorn. Peace and bitter jealousy. What might this key event in the life of Jesus tell us about human's quest for the good life?

The Jacob we meet at birth is very different to the Jacob we see at life's end. How did this transformation occur?

Life is hard. We try to escape. We try to control. God offers a third way to live: trust in relationship.Abraham lived that way. How was that possible?

Do you know the difference between a covenant and a contract? Understanding that difference will open up God's incredible grace in a fresh, fresh way...

Abraham is a wandering nomad. Then God appears and blesses him. What does God's action teach us about the nature of God, how he works and particularly the nature of blessing.

The Flood puts the problem of human evil front and centre. How will God deal with evil without destroying us when the evil runs right through our hearts?

Cain and Abel is an ancient story. Human jealousy remains lethal. So what's God's way out of this lethal tendency?

Expedia says we’re made to travel. What do you think we’re made to do? Expedia is spending millions persuading us that we’re made to travel. They know that what we believe we’re made for will steer our choices about how we focus our dreams, spend our money and our time.How would you finish this sentence? “I’m made to ___________”In this session we compare the Garden of Genesis 2 with the Brickyard of Exodus 1. The reflection questions referenced in the dialogue are the following:ReflectionWhere am I experiencing garden life?(Walking with God, walking with others, nurturing and protecting. E.g. wholeness in relationships, peace in who I am, satisfaction in my labours…)Where am I experiencing the brickyard? (Brueggemann says, "We are all of us caught in a way of life that yields only frantic hostility and desperate effort, which cannot finally pay off." That's brickyard life. Life in the brickyard is marked by coercion, competence, quality, quantity and quota. The core question of the brickyard is Who's in charge? Eg. A nine year old with a demanding soccer coach, a junior salesperson whose targets constantly get ratcheted up, an unappreciated mother or wife)In my relationships and work where am I nurturing and protecting? Where am I exploiting and attacking or neglecting?What is one step I could take to shift to move from exploiting or attacking or neglecting toward nurturing and protecting? Garden life starts (but doesn’t finish!) with our hearts. What’s one change you could make this week to nurture the garden of your heart? 

We introduce Genesis with a bunch of visuals... (probably needed to be there!) But seriously there are plenty of reasons to love this book!

What is Viva about? What might 2025 hold for our community?

God has a different vision for church, not check in, check out, laundered sheets and anonymity...

The Father has certain things he wants daily conversation with us about. Here's why and how to begin doing it.

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Psalm 10:1 In this workshop style Sunday, we ask: Does God care about injustice? How would we know? If he does, what's his plan for addressing injustice? Are we included?

Christian identity doesn't reside in what you've done, what you have or who people or you say you are. Christian identity isn't achieved, it's received...

No one has seen God. In a world of haunting beauty and piercing pain that's a challenge. That's why Jesus came. NB. The Sacred Romance is authored by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis. Apologies for the error on the podcast.

"When we pray come Holy Spirit, we don’t force a power.  The Holy Spirit isn’t just power, like electricity.  The Holy Spirit is a person.  So when we pray, we invite a person.  The presence of that person is where the power is." Peter Sanyon shares on the presence and the power of the Spirit.  

One of the extraordinary things that happens as we follow Jesus is that we are changed, deeply. How does that happen? 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us it happens as we spend face time with God.

The spiritual armour described in Ephesians 6 is a popular kids church lesson. But brushing it off as just for kids would be a mistake. The battle is real, so is our armour.

Living in reality doesn't come naturally. Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, there are powers opposed to the life of faith and they want our allegiance...

God's vision for relationship is radical. Maybe it's time to hear it again.