A COVID-19 Response
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This is no doubt a difficult time for all of us. The Coronavirus has not only shifted everything around us, but it’s also shifted our personal schedules and routines.
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Christ Is Everything
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As we near the end of this Advent and Christmas season, we must go back to the foundational element for all of the other Advent elements, and that is Christ. He is the only way that we can truly have hope, peace, joy and love. As many people say this time of year, and as cheesy as it may sound at times, Jesus truly is the reason for the season! Christmas is about Jesus Christ.
The word Christmas literally means “Christ's mass,” which comes from the Latin word “‘to give thanks.” This points to the truth that we should give thanks to God for sending the gift of his son Christ into the world.
Read MoreGO ServeNOLA
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We often associate missions and outreach as a separate area of our Christian lives and not something that is holistic and all-encompassing. We think to ourselves that we will go on mission if the church announces a mission trip somewhere, or even more, we will do outreach in our community if the church puts an outreach day together. Although mission trips and outreach days are not in themselves bad and they should happen, we should not be dependent on them in order to live on mission.
Read MoreReplicate Response: Fast Purposefully
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Fasting is one way of us showing God that we value His presence more than anything else in our lives. Personally, fasting is a spiritual discipline that I have always struggled with the most, but I’m honestly not surprised by that, because fasting is the action of giving up something, usually food, and clinging to God when we crave it. Fasting is not natural to us because we love our food and possessions! It goes against the flow of what our culture shows us. Fasting pushes against the cravings of our flesh and the world, and it compels us to press into and lean into God more than anything.
Read MoreReplicate Response: Pray Earnestly
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Prayer is our direct communication to God! I am still amazed at the reality that God grants me direct access to Him through prayer. It is truly amazing! Those of us who are His children and have given our lives to Him, have unlimited availability to talk to God. In our Western culture, we often take this for granted because life can be so busy and overwhelming. We also have so much at our fingertips and become easily distracted. The truth is, prayer should not just be something that we do when life is not going well or when tragedy hits. Prayer should be constant and consistent in our lives, no matter the circumstance we find ourselves in.
Read MoreReplicate Response: Give Generously
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We are each given the task and responsibility of stewarding our finances well. Money is a gift from God, but money can also be used to our disadvantage if we are not careful. 1 Timothy 6:10 says this: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” Paul doesn’t tell Timothy that money in itself is evil, but he does tell him that the love of money is evil. We know that money itself cannot be evil, and it is a good thing. Making money is how we take care of ourselves and provide for our needs and families. The jobs that we work give us money, which is a good and honorable thing to the Lord. The question is, though, how are we managing and using our money?
Read MoreChrist(ian) Transformation Requires Character Formation
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Living the Christ life is the most fulfilling life there is, but it comes with a price. The grace that God gives us is not cheap, but rather came with a great cost. We must each intentionally pursue and seek the Lord so that we can experience what it really means to be one of his disciples. The word disciple means ‘learner,’ which should remind us that we never arrive and we must keep learning and growing each day. This formation begins with the heart and then overflows into our actions.
Read MoreLife Groups, Life Change
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At Vintage Church, we believe that community is so important. Coming to a Sunday worship gathering serves a significant purpose in someone’s personal and spiritual life, but even that alone will not be enough to provide the depth and focus that we all need to have a thriving life after Jesus. Because of this, we have vGroups, which are groups of 10-20 people who meet throughout the city for transformation, connection and multiplication. These vGroups are where men and women from all walks of life meet in people’s homes to fellowship, study God’s Word and pray together. Although vGroups are extremely important, we are also excited about our Life Groups. Life Groups are gender-specific groups of 3-5 people who meet regularly for the purpose of focused discipleship. We have some people who are in Life Groups already, but we want to see many more step people into this as well.
Read MoreWhy You Should Make a Big Deal about Baptism
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A lot of people have different thoughts, beliefs, and even misconceptions on what baptism is and what it’s meant to be. As Christians, we need to understand the true meaning and significance behind baptism and how the Bible explains it for our own understanding and so we can also explain it to others.
Read MoreLove Ya Pops!: A Father’s Day Reflection
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Just like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day is such an important and significant day to honor our fathers and those who have been father-like to us. Personally, I have been fortunate to have an amazing father who has loved me, poured into me, and taught me what it means to be a man after God’s heart. If there has been anyone who has been a consistent support and encouragement in my life, it would be both of my parents. I could write an entire separate blog on how much I love my mom, but today is about dads (sorry mom!). I think that I take for granted the sacrifice that my dad has made in his life, in order for my sister and I to be where we are today. My dad has modeled what it looks like to put the Lord first before anything else. Of course my dad isn’t perfect, because no one is, but I honor and respect his pursuit of God and the wisdom he has given me over the years and still gives me this day.
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