Vineyard Altoona Podcast

Today we are continuing our series for Lent called "Have Mercy on Us".

Sometimes our preconceived notions of what God is going to do gets in the way of what God is actually doing. As we look to next Sunday's celebration of Easter, Jeri invites us one more time to open ourselves to God to be formed into people who can engage in the mission of God in humility.

Today we are continuing our series for Lent called "Have Mercy on Us".

Confirmation bias is the human tendency to prefer information that confirms what we've already decided while suppressing information that contradicts it. Every one of us is prone to confirmation bias. The Jewish leaders had been waiting for the Messiah for centuries, but when Jesus shows up as the Messiah, he doesn't look like they decided he should. Consequently, the very people who have been waiting for the Messiah end up missing Jesus. We all have a confirmation bias that seeks to affirm what we've already decided. But what if our confirmation bias causes us to miss the invitation of Jesus? Derek's message today is called "How Could We Miss Jesus?"

Today we are continuing our series for Lent called "Have Mercy on Us".

Elizabeth Ebling, one of our very own, will be bringing the third message in this series. She encourages us to not only walk with our God, toward justice and mercy, but doing so with humility.

Today we are continuing our series for Lent called "Have Mercy on Us".

We all love good stories of kindness, where someone does something for someone in need. When God calls us to repentance, one of the things He calls us to be is people who love mercy. We are called to be people who not only do kindness but love to do merciful acts for people. We all have plenty of reasons we could give for why we don't do that, but God invites us to experience His mercy so that we might be people who could love to extend mercy everywhere. Today Derek talks about what it means to love mercy.

Today we are continuing our series for Lent called "Have Mercy on Us".

Lent is a season of repentance where we intentionally allow God to search us to remove from our lives things that don't belong. When God calls us to repentance, He calls us to become the people He created us to be. One of the foundational things God calls us to be is people who actively do justice. Today, Derek talks about what it means to do justice as we dig deeper into Micah 6:8.

Today we are beginning a new series for Lent called "Have Mercy on Us".

Lent has been referred to as "spiritual spring cleaning". It's a season where we intentionally open ourselves to God to allow him to point out areas of our lives that don't align with who he has called us to be. Because this is true, Lent is a season where we are offered an invitation by God to repent, or turn around, from the ways we live life contrary to who God created us to be. Today, as we begin Lent, Derek talks about what repentance is and explains that holiness looks like humility before God, and justice and mercy toward those around us.

This week we finish our series "CORE", which is a look at the foundations of who we are as Christians and as a church.

We all long to know that our lives have meaning and purpose. We want to do something that matters. If we are Christians, we know that we find meaning, fulfillment, and purpose in doing things that God designed us to do. We often refer to that as calling. But so many people struggle to know what God's calling for their lives is. Maybe we don't even believe we are able to be called. In this message, Derek talks about what it means to be a called people by looking at the kind of people God calls into Kingdom service.

This week we continue our series "CORE", which is a look at the foundations of who we are as Christians and as a church.

We've spent a few weeks building a base of who we are, why we exist, and the values that dictate how we conduct our mission, which is to equip people for Kingdom release. With all of that in place, how does someone begin to walk out the life we've been called to? If we've already begun to walk out the life, how do we continue in the life. In this message, Derek talks about how everything in the Kingdom comes by grace and surrender.

This week we continue our series "CORE", which is a look at the foundations of who we are as Christians and as a church.

So much of our culture is concerned with appearance. Social media is all about putting out an appearance of who we want people to think that we are. We've become conditioned to polishing our image. But God has so much more in store for us. He desires for us to actually be on the inside the kind of people that we portray on the outside. We believe that the best way for us to become those people is not to hide who we actually are or pretend we don't struggle, but rather we live out authentic, vulnerable lives that are pursuing the wholeness God has called us to live in. Today, Evan expands on our third core value "We pursue wholeness with authenticity".

This week we continue our series "CORE", which is a look at the foundations of who we are as Christians and as a church.

It seems like all across our culture today people get cast as the outsider. The experience of being an outsider is common among most people. We know what it feels like. But God's desire has always been to bring the outsider in, to welcome those who are on the margins. So as we follow Jesus, we too are to be people who extend welcome and hospitality to those who are outsiders and marginalized. Today, Derek talks about Vineyard Altoona's core value 'We Highly Value the Outsider'.