Matthew 8:2-3 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

With God all things are possible! All the resources of heaven are available to His people, and God greatly desires to heal, help, and save His people.

In the Vineyard, we believe that Kingdom of God has come in Jesus and is continuing to come. He inaugurated heaven-on-earth through His life, death, and resurrection. And there's more to come because obviously sickness, illnesses, problems, calamities, hardships, etc. are still very much present. But God desires for His people to be whole!

Sometimes we relegate the Kingdom to the "not yet," just waiting until heaven for our ultimate healing (which is still absolutely true!), but what if we prayed for the Kingdom of God to break in, right here and right now? What would happen if we postured ourselves and positioned ourselves to not just ask for healing, but to be ready when that healing happens?

The pitfall of this, obviously, is that we can easily get into a "name it claim it" mentality, but the opposite also happens where we begin to dismiss even the possibility of Jesus healing our sicknesses and diseases and hurts. And just like the man in this story, we ask the Lord, "If you're willing, would you heal me?"

Judges 6:12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

We are finishing up our corporate fast this weekend, and something that Pastor Grant was sensing for our talk was the encouragement that the angel of the Lord gave to Gideon as he was preparing for battle.

Even though we've only just begun this year, by participating in this year's fast, many of our folks are experiencing hardships, hurts, sicknesses, and everything in between. And it's so easy to look at these things and wonder, are we doing the right thing? But we just need a little encouragement.

The world is full of troubles, full of hurts, and though we shouldn't be surprised by that fact, we often are because we know that this is not how it's supposed to be. It's why we will always contend and pray for "Thy Kingdom to come" because we know that God has better plans than we ever can come up with.

This weekend, we'll be looking at the story of Gideon and how the Lord's presence, encouragement, and guidance allowed them to take their steps into their destiny!

Throughout the Bible, there are so many references to plans and preparations, and what it looks like to walk lockstep with the Spirit of God. The hard part, as usual, is when our pace outgoes God's, so He sometimes places things, whether big or small, to slow us down and remind us that He is the one that's in charge.

Seeking the Lord's will, pursuing His counsel, is both an individual and a corporate act which is why we wanted to begin our 2025 with a fast. Many people are fasting individually different things, but as a church, we are all going after His wisdom.

Throughout the week, we've been having times of prayer and intercession from 12-1pm, and these have been incredible ways to come together to hear from the Lord.

As Acts reminds us, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us..." It's all about what God is doing to us, for us, and with us. And we are so excited to see all the amazing things that He will do this year!

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

We are starting a new series, The Will of God, and we'll be looking at so many different passages of Scripture where the people of God seek His guidance and His wisdom.

Many of us struggle with discerning the will of God. We sometimes think of it as some ethereal, way out there thing, but the reality is that God's will for us, God's will for you, is pretty simple: to serve Him all the days of our lives. And as we serve Him, He reveals His plan for our lives. It may not always be an instant download, but God is more concerned about our obedience.

In Genesis, God tells Abram, "Go to the land that I will show you..." Abram doesn't know where that land is or how long he's going to be on the journey. But he does know the One that called him there.

As we seek God's will, especially during our 21-day fast, it's all about obedience as we wait and listen to and for His voice!

Psalm 51:15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.

Happy New Year! One of the ways that we celebrate the start of the new year is to have a testimony Sunday service. As we close out the last year, we reflect and remember all the ways that God has brought healings, restorations, breakthroughs, and provisions in our midst. We'll have folks share 3-5 minute stories of God's Faithfulness.

As we begin to tell these stories, the faith in the room begins to rise as we anticipate all the God is going to do in the new year.

2025 is going to be an incredible year!

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

The Light has come into the world, and we behold His glory! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebration this week. We had a lovely time on Tuesday night singing songs of Christ's birth, remembering what His presence brings, and ending in candlelight singing. It was a great time together!

We'll be continuing the celebration this Sunday! We'll have amazing time of worship, sharing of the Word, and time for prayer and ministry.

1 John 4:7-8 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."

We are finishing up our Advent series by looking at the topic of Love!

If you turn on the radio, more often than not, you'll hear some kind of song about love. Whether it's someone falling in love or out of love, 90% of the songs that are sung on the radio are about love. And when you go to the Scriptures, love is all throughout!

As humans, we are wired for love because we have been created by God who is Love (as 1st John later reminds us), and it is God who models what Love is.

Many of us have a warped, or maybe incomplete, idea of what love is, but Jesus reminds us that there is no greater love than this for someone to lay down their lives for a friend.

Love, throughout the Bible, is expressed in selflessness and pouring out. The kind of love that God is isn't the romantic or friendly or Hallmarky version; it is Agape.

We are so excited to finish out this series as we get closer to Christmas and remember that God-is-with-us!

John 15:11 "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

We are in the third week of Advent looking at the topic of Joy. In the Gospel of John, as Jesus is preparing to go to the cross, He reminds His disciples that all the things that He has told them and shown them is to give them His joy.

Many of us struggle with the idea of happiness and contentment, and the Apostle Paul reminds us that joy is not a conditional thing! Our situations are constantly changing, and our lives are always in flux. But our joy in the Lord should always be consistent and steady!

Join us as we learn more about the promise of God's Joy as we experience His presence and His goodness.

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

We are continuing in our series, Emmanuel-God With Us, by looking at the promise of God's peace!

As we mentioned last week, our hearts are all longing for the presence of God. And it's in His presence, we experience hope, peace, joy, and love. This week, we'll be spending time looking at different aspects of God's peace.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus reminds His disciples that it's His peace that He leaves with them. It's not the peace of the world, or the absence of problems or suffering because the story of Jesus ends in crucifixion (and resurrection!).

To be in God's presence, to have God with us, means that we will have a peace that surpasses our human comprehension, beyond our definitions of peace, and it's His peace that propels us to do the things that are sometimes scary, daunting, or terrifying. But as we go, we have Him with us!

Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

We are so excited to begin our Advent series, Emmanuel-God with us, and we'll begin this weekend by looking at the topic of hope!

This world could use a little bit of hope couldn't it? All over the news, in our social media feeds, and even in the grocery stores, it seems like all people can do is be a little discouraged. There's actually a term for this when looking through social media, "dooms scrolling," and as we fill our minds with all the bad that's happening out there, we ourselves begin to feel bad. But as Christ reminds us, "Take heart for I have overcome the world!"

The Advent season becomes an opportunity for us to reset and remember the gift of Jesus Christ, our God with us, and in Him and through Him, we have our hope!