Give the people what they want — this week's podcast isn't Chris! In week two of our series on Surprise the World Jen takes us through the second habit of highly missional people... hospitality. Following on from last week, Jen unpacks the problem with the Christian huddle at middle of church, and how we can live like Jesus on the edge.

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Have you ever wondered how the church can be effective in telling people about Jesus, in a culture that’s becoming increasingly hostile to the faith? Us too. In this week’s message, Chris kicks off a series called ‘Surprise the World’, working through Mike Frost’s book of the same title. The premise is that we can take up a set of simple, repeatable habits that help us be missional in our everyday lives. The first habit is ‘bless’… in other words, bless three people this week, at least one of whom isn’t a Christian.

PS — We’re sorry we don’t have last week’s Easter message up yet. Chris wanted to stand and wander around while speaking, and we didn’t have the right mic. We’ll force him to re-record it and put it up when it’s ready.

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We live in a world that's becoming increasingly polarised — opinions are black and white, and shades of gray just don't seem to exist anymore. What's more, there's this idea that beliefs come in sets... if you believe A, you must also believe B, and C, and D as well.

As it turns out, the Vineyard movement was born into just such a world, and gives us frameworks to navigate these tensions. In this week's podcast (a 'bonus episode' for our values series), Chris talks through the quest for the radical middle, and explores language that might just fit a bit better in the 21st century.

It's finally happening... we're becoming a real life church! Not that house churches aren't proper churches... but, you get the idea. We're meeting publicly from next week onwards. In this week's message, Chris reflects on the journey so far, fills us in on the roadmap moving forward, and the invitation for those of us who are going to call Toowoomba Vineyard Church home. Hint: it's not what you think.

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If you've ever visited a Vineyard church, chances are you've come across the movement's favourite (and sometimes only) liturgy — 'Come Holy Spirit'. Since pretty much the beginning, the ongoing work of God's spirit has been central to our practice, and the Vineyard has always used this prayer as a way to get the fun started. But is the Spirit just about having fun after a Sunday service, or making us feel nice in worship? Those things are great, but there's definitely more to it. In this message, Chris shares about the different ways Paul and Luke talk about the Spirit, and how, taken together, they give us a more complete picture of the Spirit's work today.

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When you pick up a bible, what exactly do you have in your hands? What is it trying to communicate? When was it written, and why does it have these books (as opposed to the many other ancient texts we have that speak about God)?

This week, Chris shares 5 'fun facts' about the bible, which help orient us to what it actually is. It turns out when we read on its own terms, we get a 'higher' view of scripture then when we elevate it above all else.

If you're after the slides, you'll find them here:

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Have you ever wondered how the church got to be so divided and argumentative? Us too. Sadly, we don’t have a quick fix to make everyone get along, but we do have a value of ‘keeping the main thing the main thing’, which would help a bit. In this message, Chris unpacks what the ‘main thing’ is and how we can learn to coexist with people who think differently from us.

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This week we turn our attention to the aphorism 'come as you are, don't stay as you are'. Chris talks through John 8:1-11 (the woman caught in adultery), a passage where Jesus perfectly navigates the tension between welcome and challenge. He goes on to examine how we can practice this tension as we welcome people who don't neatly fit into white, middle class Christian subculture. The short version? Be curious, not judgemental.

The slides will be pretty helpful for this one, so if you'd like to follow along, you can find them here:

https://tvc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/come-as-you-are.pdf

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This week, Chris talks about something that's been almost assumed knowledge in our talks thus far — the Vineyard's practice of the supernatural. We unashamedly believe that God can and does continue to be involved in his creation. Sometimes this looks very 'natural'. And sometimes it doesn't. 

This talk is split into two parts. The first looking at how to be naturally supernaturally supernatural, as well as supernaturally natural. The second makes this very practical, looking at the gift of prophecy and how to do that well.

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As we continue to work through our values, this week's message is about 'Everybody gets to play / Everybody needs to play'. But... due to some personal hangups from our speaker, we're calling it 'The Kingdom is not a spectator sport'. In said message, Chris explores three possible models for ministry in the church and what it means for everybody to 'play' in a post-Covid world.

If you're after the diagrams Chris refers to, you'll find them here:

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