Vineyard Assembly of God

One of the most important men in history was a Jewish carpenter named Joseph.  A man handpicked by God to be the step-father of Jesus, yet, the Bible doesn't record a single word that this man said - instead, the Bible records what this man did.  A person's character is known by what they do, not by what they say and in this message, we see the kind of character that God is looking for in all of us.

When they were visited by the angel Gabriel, both Zechariah and Mary asked a question.  Zechariah's question was predicated by his lack of faith in God, and Mary's question was predicated by her faith in God.  What questions are you asking when you are confronted by the often challenging and difficult teachings and promises in the Bible? 

Whenever a single ingredient is missing in cooking, in chemistry, in business, people can taste, feel, and sense that the end-product is deficient in some way.  As Christians, we pride ourselves in having faith, being able to quote the promises of God from the Bible, and telling others about Jesus Christ - BUT - we often lack a vital missing ingredient, Thanksgiving!

In Exodus chapter 20, Moses goes to meet God "in the thick darkness."  When Jesus hung on the cross for our sins, darkness covered the sunlight.  Jesus has entered into the darkness of our lives - our pain, our regrets, our sins, our idols - and invites us to come and meet with Him there in our darkness, so we can be healed.

In this message, Pastor Matt leads the church in listening in on what the Holy Spirit is saying to the South Korean Church - as discovered by YouVersion in 2015.  One of the greatest challenges we face is in viewing our spiritual state through the lens of our economic condition.  Success or failure isn't determined by what we have or what we don't have, but on who we know and believe - Jesus Christ!

In 2015, YouVersion discovered that (Jeremiah 29:11) is the most popular Bible-verse being downloaded and shared in Nigeria and South Africa - making this verse of scripture, the message that the Spirit is speaking to the African Church.

The greatest challenge to any marriage is the past of the couple.  Sometimes, the sins of the past return in some way to damage the present marriage.  However, there is HOPE!  Hosea & Gomer had a marriage damaged by adultery, but by demonstrating the love and forgiveness of God, Hosea was able to reclaim his estranged wife Gomer, and they saw their marriage restored.

In the cartoons and comics, Bizarro Superman was the opposite of the real Superman.  A Bizarro Marriage is a marriage where (in any area) the priorities, morals, convictions, and actions of the couple are the inverse of what God says they should be in His Word.  In this message, Pastor Matt takes a look at an extremely Bizarro marriage in the Bible - and discovers how we can discern "bizarro spirituality" in our own marriages.

In this message, we see what ingredients are necessary for making an already good marriage into a glorious marriage - meaning, a marriage that brings glory to God.  With this message comes a strong word of teaching and healing for marriages that have been wounded by anxiety and a malformed perception of personal self-worth.  God created marriage - God knows how to heal marriages!

Continuing this series, Pastor Matt takes a look at a "Bad" marriage of the Bible - the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah.  Some marriages, even some Christian marriages start so well with the blessing of God, but gradually tear themselves apart because the husband and wife each pursue a different vision of what they want their family, their lives to look like.  This is the Flaw of Double-Vision.  In this message, we learn what to look for so we can learn what to avoid.

On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Early Church, God chose to manifest the presence of the Holy Spirit through two, unique symbols that were never repeated again - the sound of a strong wind and tongues of fire.  Together, these two symbols teach us some key insights about what we're to expect when the Holy Spirit moves in a church and in a community.

"Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me" was King David's most intense prayer and greatest desire.  We sometimes focus so much on the power that the Holy Spirit gives, that we forget about the presence of the Holy Spirit.  He is a person.  He is God.  He is incredibly interested in helping us reach our maximum potential because He loves us!

Many think of the Holy Spirit as just a "force" or "power" that Christians can tap into.  The Holy Spirit is a person - God Himself, and in the Old Testament two prophets expressed God's plan for the Holy Spirit to made available to every Christian.  This wish and this word from these two prophets form the foundation of our understanding of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.  That God desires to immerse each Christian in Himself - and through His Presence, provide the power we need to represent Jesus Christ to the fullest.

The claim that Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified and buried is Christianity's most crucial and controversial claim.  Which is why human ingenuity, authority, and legality has worked together to try to keep Jesus dead in the hearts and minds of people everywhere.  This fact has made Christianity the world's most persecuted religion, but also points to the inescapable truth of Christianity - that Jesus is ALIVE!

Peter the Apostle fell into terrible sin when he denied knowing Jesus.  Yet, there was a way back to restoration for Peter, and there is a way back for any Christian who falls into sin.

"2017-03-12 Jesus, Like Never Before".

 

*** Due to a technical problem there was no video recording of this service - only audio was recorded ***

"2017-02-26 Success, Failure, and Faith".

"2017-02-12 Turning Point".