the Vine

Kevin Van Brunt, of Sentinel Ministries (Camp Sentinel) joined us to share a crisp and powerful message based on Philippians 4:6-7: "Do not worry... but pray... Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand", in the language of the NLT. How do we confidently supplant worry with prayer? Watch and see!

Guest preacher Doug Warren continued his exploration of Paul's letter to the church at Philippi with this engaging sermon focusing on Philippians 1:12-26. This passage reinforces Christians' call, in Paul's time and no less so today, to rejoice! We live in the tension of the days between Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday and His return at the end of history. Even as we endure tremendous difficulty, we will not be ultimately disappointed in our Gospel hope. Therefore, we rejoice that the Gospel continues to advance, that God's people are progressing (individually and collectively) as we grow in our faith (sanctification, to use the theological term), and that Christ will be exalted in the fulfillment of His redemption of all believers on the last day.

Visiting pastor Mark Tobey shares an engaging and thorough examination of five major points distilled into the first 9 verses of Paul's letter to the church at Philippi (the first Christian church in Europe), established during Paul's second missionary journey (see Acts 16) and much loved by Paul.

Guest preacher Scott Lambert shares the last of his four-part series considering Jesus' parable of "the prodigal son", for a very mixed crowd of listeners, as recorded in Luke 15. Spoiler alert: in case you didn't know, the father in Jesus' parable is God the Father Himself. God doesn't just sit on a distant throne and wait for us to come to our senses and return to Him. The Father watches and, when He sees the lost son, even from a great distance, He runs to him!

Guest preacher Scott Lambert shares the third of his four-part series considering Jesus' parables, particularly that of "the prodigal son", for a very mixed crowd of listeners, as recorded in Luke 15. This week's sermon focuses on the prodigal son himself, considering God's intense love for and interest in the individual and also the congregation's role in welcoming back the repentant sinner. It's an intense and moving meditation on God's love for the lost.

Week 2 of Scott Lambert's sermon series on Jesus' arresting parable of "the prodigal son" (Luke 15: 11-32). This week's sermon opens with a press conference from the older son in the story; passionately stating his case and proposing his rebranding as "the Loyal Son". This is a vivid and potent examination of the apparent validity of the older son's perspective in the absence of a deeper understanding of the love and the ways of God.

Scott Lambert, our interim pastor from September through December 2025, is with us again this fall for four weeks. On September 13, he shared the first sermon of a four-week series, based on Luke 15, titled "Lost & Found & Mad". In today's sermon, Scott focuses on the crowd, as described in Luke 15:1-2, who heard Jesus speak these parables.

Doug Warren graciously joined us again this week, on short notice, to deliver a thoughtful and practical message on the nature of Christian love, abstracted from Philippians 1:9-11.

Pastor Jim Van Yperen visited us again to share a vivid sermon drawing from the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-10), but focused on the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus had much to say about the Kingdom of Heaven, but it remains a difficult concept to grasp. Jim explores why Jesus used simile in His parables describing the Kingdom in this compelling and thought-provoking message.

Doug Warren joined us again this week to continue his exploration of Philippians chapter 1. Total devotion of our hearts to God and true love for God frees us to love one another. Jesus has given us new hearts, enabling our transformed lives as followers of Christ.