Podcasts

This passage has become iconic because it is the origin of the concept that we can be 'born again' and all the baggage that now comes along with that phrase in our culture. As we revisit the passage, I found some refreshing truths that ran contrary to my pre-conceived notions about what it means to be born again.

In the story surrounding Jesus' first miracle, he demonstrates the character of God to his followers while beginning to announce that the kingdom of God has arrived, but not the way the Jewish folks expected it to come.

What does it look like to follow Christ and be his advocate in the world? John the Baptist shows us how the greatness of Jesus fosters humility in our lives when we let him have his rightful place in our hearts.

We all have an idea of the way our lives and our world is supposed to be. We all recognize that it is not this way. And we all hope that something or someone can make it what it's supposed to be. John starts his gospel by calling his readers to embrace their expectations and place their hope in Jesus to make those expectations a reality.

In looking at a couple events in the life of Saul, we see a man with an opportunity to be used greatly by God who couldn't trust God through the difficult times. What has God called you to and are you willing to stay with it and let God work in and through you when you feel completely lost in your call?

We wrap up the Advent Conspiracy by looking at how people in his day reacted to Jesus and if we are being moved towards greater worship of Him during this season.

Continuing in our series leading up to Christmas, this week we look at how Jesus gave up his riches and embraced poverty so that we might become 'rich'. If this is why Jesus came, then how do we appropriately celebrate his coming in the giving away of ourselves in service of others?

Billions of dollars worth of material gifts are given in celebration of Christmas, but are they the best way to represent the type of giving that God did at Christmas? This week we looked at the danger of our system and some alternative ways to look at 'giving' this Christmas season.

God could have come to earth at any time, in any place, and in any way. This week Shannon takes us through a look at the specific circumstances that Jesus was born into.

When Isaiah 52 and 53 talks about a servant, is it talking about the nation of Israel or about an individual Messiah?

In Luke 4, Jesus enters the synagogue in Nazareth and reads a passage from Isaiah 61, which was a Messianic prophecy. Then, proclaims that he is the fulfillment of that prophecy.

The evening of the talk on elders at Visio Dei, we held a question and answer session to respond to people's concerns.

Today we covered a complex and sensitive theological issue, whether or not women will serve as elders at Visio Dei. We believe that both men and women are equally made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) and equal partners in Christ (Gal. 3:28). As in the Trinity, there is equality of persons, but diversity in function. In each age God has designated men to fulfill the primary role of spiritual leadership: Old Testament priests, the twelve apostles and elders/overseers in the church. 1 Timothy 2:12 can be understood as combining the two ideas of teaching and authority. Thus, Paul limited women only from the position of "authoritative teacher," that is, the role of elder/overseer. Our position is sometimes called "soft complementarian." It closely reflects the interpretation offered by Craig Blomberg's essay in Two Views: Women in Ministry.

In the Old Testament, it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born on a virgin. In the New Testament, Matthew describes Jesus' birth as the fulfillment of that prophecy.

3rd annual business meeting and birthday celebration.

Together we take a quick look at the whys, the whats, and the hows we gather as God's church. Then we move through scripture and peak at appropriate responses to who God is and what Jesus has done. May we be moved as God's church to place Him in the center of our lives and worship Him appropriately.

A life of Worship starts with recognizing who God is and what Jesus has done. Pastor Jason will take a look at how we can become blinded to these things and place other less valuable created things at the center of our life. The hope is to then paint a picture of Gods glory, His greatness, and the work of Christ in a way the beckons us to center our lives around.

Our culture teaches us to use our work to gain our value and significance while the gospel tells us that we are loved as we are through the grace of God and are work is our means of loving God and others. To live out the principles we've looked at the past four weeks, we really will have to adopt a counter cultural attitude towards our work.

The relationships we have around the office can be some of the toughest to navigate in life. Why are they so much trouble and how do we live out our faith in them?

Our lives move at an ever-increasing speed. More work, more play, more connections... but are we getting where we want to go? And do we even know where it is that we want to go? God has offered direction from the beginning of time and he created not for an ever-increasing pace that gets us nowhere, but for regular times of rest to tell us who we are.