Why would I want the Holy Spirit's gifts? The fact that we would even ask that question suggests we need to go back to mind-bending basics...

Can I trust the Holy Spirit? Really. 

Pentecost Sunday. A day long prophesied, happens. The Spirit is poured out. What about today? This talk kicks of a new series where we get really practical about how to grow your relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

Red pill, blue pill? We’re talking about moments when God helps us see things how they actually are. Sometimes that can be deeply unsettling, but if we can stay in the unsettling, these moments also present us with an incredible opportunity for change.

Where you and I see rusted scrap someone else sees a 1964 Lotus Elan. God's in the business of restoration. And he has no, Too Hard basket. For you and me that's the best hope we can possibly imagine. 

C.S. Lewis writes, "But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world…"

Somehow disasters and suffering can be instrumental in freeing us into happiness. Really, how? In the ancient words of Joel we look for answers. 

Old. Awkward. Confusing. Grating. Offensive. And - Christians believe - God's Word. But is it worth the effort really? What harm is there in just reading the New Testament and avoiding the other 3/4s of the Bible? Well, to show our cards, we think it's as bad as just watching episode 8 in an 8 episode series.

In our first time in our new venue, we pause to pull the doors back on what's going on, what we're about and where we're headed. 

The old spider or starfish metaphor is at the heart of this moment. So are three bored kids and a picture that began to swim...

This isn't a talk, rather it's a collection of voices from the Viva family retelling the Easter story. It's the recording for our Easter journey at Feaster 2022 - Easter Sunday.

How do we find hope when the prognosis is clearly terminal, when all our spin and optimism about everything’s going to get better if…. When that runs out, where can we find hope?

Easter is next week. At the heart of Easter are historical events recorded over a 3 day period. For 2 millennia billions of people have looked to these events as the way to find hope when the prognosis, personally, in their communities or for the planet itself seems terminal.

Why?