Vintage Grace Church

Introduction : Veteran’s Day Tribute — we need men and women to step up and serve and sacrifice in our military. Why? We live in a hostile world. We are at war. The same is true for us as God’s people. We are at war. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,…

Surpassing Story Part Four Text: 1 John 3 Illustration: Harry Potter—“Harry don’t you know it? You’re a wizard and famous one at that.” — Not “Just Harry” — Harry’s story had drastically changed.We are in a new story, a new reality. It’s not just new facts. It’s a new transforming reality and and transforming…

Introduction : We’ve been talking about stories. We are story-formed creatures. There’s a battle for which stories control our hearts. There are nemesis narratives that seek to snuff out the gospel. But there is a surpassing story! This letter starts with John asserting … we have a better story! Illustration…

Introduction Illustration: Batman Begins — to know someone you must know where they come from We all have a back story as it were Illustration: losing it on Paul Pepin—there was more to the story In fact, there was more to my story Last Week : Story is powerful, there is a battle raging over which story…

Introduction: What if I told you that there is one thing that shapes everything about you? What you desire. What you hope for. The decisions that you make. The people you choose to be around. The person you married. How you relate to you children. The career path you took. The things that drive you.…

Introduction: Illustration: Series of commercials “Want to get away?” (Fart after a date; throws controller into a tv, guy loses control of spray hose, Review : We are offered God’s amazing mercy and forgiveness. 2. If we are willing to come clean and genuinely own our mess. 3. Then God’s grace forgives,…

Introduction: Refresh: to restore strength and animation to. To renovate, revive, restore. Review: David made a colossal mess but somehow came out victorious and even singing. How? We need refreshing, it is freely offered in Jesus. In our passage today we see the heart of the gospel, of God’s grace.…

Introduction Illustration : girl who over permed her hair. Teacher, “You should just shave that and start over.” Refresh: to restore strength and animation to. To renovate, revive, restore. Last week: David made a colossal mess but somehow came out victorious and even singing. How? We need refreshing,…

Introduction Illustration : We’ve all experienced it. Phone is lagging. Computer is stuck. Call tech support… “Turn off device to refresh the system”. Reboot. Why? Do any of us realize what that is really doing? (like most of us when our car doesn’t start. Open the hood to look under) Refresh: to restore…

Introduction Illustration : Marriot “golden rule” commercial — “what if everyone in the world was kind?” It is impossible to discuss what it means to be human without asking the question “What is wrong with us?” Every philosophy, religion, and world view has to grapple with this question. Its is answered…

Introduction Genesis 2:15-25 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat…

Introduction: We are still in our series “Only Human” and we have been asking the question “What does it mean to be human.” This is a crucial question. How we answer this question personally, socially, and politically will determine the course of our lives. And there is no place where this question is…

Introduction: “Only Human” — there’s a popular song our now by the title “I’m Only Human After All". In the song he says, "I'm only human after all Don't put your blame on me.” So he uses the excuse that he’s “only human” as a means not having responsibility. But this raises as huge question, "What does…

Introduction Therefore Series : Audacious truths about what it means to be a Christian. Justified, set free, a new life (out of autonomy and self-sufficiency, adopted, heirs, given hope, help, and purpose in our suffering. These truths build and build until you get an explosion, a crescendo of glory.…

Introduction Therefore Series: Audacious truths about what it means to be a Christian. Let me be honest with you guys. Sometimes, when my sin seems overwhelming; when the circumstances in my life seem overwhelming; I am tempted to think that God doesn’t love me. I am tempted to think that perhaps I have…

Introduction TEXT : Romans 8:28-29 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.…

Introduction Series: Therefore … Here in Romans is where we discover the benefits/blessings of being “in Christ” Justified, set free, a new life (out of autonomy and self-sufficiency, adopted, heirs. Illustration : “Our new suffering” Have you ever been left out of a party or something that other friends…