Elm City Vineyard Church Talks

Throughout the Book of Acts we find accounts of how God speaks and acts in miraculous ways, even as the Apostles and the early church act with wisdom and boldness to bear witness to the death and res…

The Book of Acts tells the story of the birth of the church and its remarkable expansion in the early decades of its existence. Central to that story is the crucial encounter between the Apostle Pete…

What are the costs of following Jesus? Sometimes, it’s easy to think about our lives as our existing lives + Jesus. In this scenario, Jesus is a simple add on to what we are already doing. As we cont…

Political power can seem threatening these days. Or overwhelming. Maybe just exhausting. The good news is that the history of the early church is full of stories of people faithfully following Jesus …

If we’re interested in lives of generosity, we have to consider not just what or how much we give but also where we hold back from giving. God is invested in full lives of surrender where we let God …

In the Gospels, the main figure is clearly Jesus. As a “sequel” to the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles might seem to shift the focus from Jesus to his 12 disciples as the main players. But the central …

In the Gospels, the main figure is clearly Jesus. As a “sequel” to the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles might seem to shift the focus from Jesus to his 12 disciples as the main players. But the central …

Few narratives in the Bible describe an event as impactful as the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. At Pentecost we see the birth of the church, the reversal of the divisio…

In this first week of the “Being the Church” series, Andy Saperstein considers what it means to bear witness to our faith in the world among friends and family, neighbors, strangers and enemies alike…

How does culture’s call to follow our dreams connect with Jesus’s call to follow him? As we close out our dreaming series, we’ll look at Jesus’s own longing  - God’s Kingdom coming to earth. Does the…

God’s dream is to be home with humanity. That dream involves our own flourishing - for us and for others around us. If we’re learning to live within God’s bigger dream and not chase our own idols, th…

Last week, we shared that God’s dream is to be home with humanity. This calls us to see the bigger picture of His dream and surrender our own — sometimes forever, and sometimes for further refining. …

What dreams do we have for our life? Are they God’s dreams or our dreams? Both? Sometimes, we protect God from our own dreams, wondering if we gave into his ways and will if he would squelch our true…

As we end our series, We Have Seen the Lord, it is apparent that these resurrection accounts are more than just seeing Jesus alive with one's own eyes. People see Jesus and experience peace, comfort,…

In this third part of the “We Have Seen the Lord” series, we will consider the striking encounter between Thomas, often labeled “Doubting Thomas,” and Jesus, where Thomas in the end affirms his deep …

When the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19). This Sunday we will discuss having…

On this first Sunday in our new post-Easter series, “We Have Seen the Lord,” we will consider a remarkable encounter at his tomb between the risen Lord and Mary Magdalene, a most unlikely witness in …