Vineyard Church of North Grand Rapids

Vineyard Church of North Grand Rapids Sermons Podcast for Vineyard Church of North Grand Rapids http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com en-us Vineyard Church of North Grand Rapids no Vineyard Church of North Grand Rapids ℗ & © 2010 Vineyard Church of North Grand Rapids 720 The Wisdom of Farming Ray Befus, Jr Things Your Parents Should Have Told You but Probably Did Not, Proverbs, Summer 2010 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-wisdom-of-farming http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-wisdom-of-farming Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDT The Wisdom of Facing Your Anger Matt Gravelle Things Your Parents Should Have Told You but Probably Did Not, Proverbs, Summer 2010 Proverbs, Anger Proverbs, Anger http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-wisdom-of-facing-your-anger http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-wisdom-of-facing-your-anger Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT How Wise People Think about Sex Ray Befus, Jr Things Your Parents Should Have Told You but Probably Did Not, Proverbs, Summer 2010 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-wise-people-think-about-sex http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-wise-people-think-about-sex Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT Is This Recession the Proverbial Writing on the Wall? Mike Befus Things Your Parents Should Have Told You but Probably Did Not, Proverbs, Summer 2010 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/is-this-recession-the-proverbial-writing-on-the-wall http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/is-this-recession-the-proverbial-writing-on-the-wall Sun, 08 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT Raising Wise Children in a Foolish World Ray Befus, Jr Things Your Parents Should Have Told You but Probably Did Not, Proverbs, Summer 2010 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/raising-wise-children-in-a-foolish-world http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/raising-wise-children-in-a-foolish-world Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT The Key to Living Well Ray Befus, Jr Things Your Parents Should Have Told You but Probably Did Not, Proverbs, Summer 2010 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-key-to-living-well http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-key-to-living-well Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EDT Always Choose Groowth Ray Befus, Jr Spring 2010 Graduation Series http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/always-choose-groowth http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/always-choose-groowth Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EDT Graduating into Jesus Mission Ray Befus, Jr http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/graduating-into-jesus-mission http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/graduating-into-jesus-mission Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EDT Pushing Past Satan's Resistance Ray Befus, Jr Spring 2010 Graduation Series http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/pushing-past-satans-resistance http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/pushing-past-satans-resistance Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT Graduating into Jesus Wisdom Ray Befus, Jr Spring 2010 Graduation Series http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/graduating-into-jesus-wisdom http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/graduating-into-jesus-wisdom Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT Graduating into Jesus' Character Matt Gravelle Spring 2010 Graduation Series http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/graduating-into-jesus-character http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/graduating-into-jesus-character Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT Growth Towards Graduation, part one Ray Befus, Jr Spring 2010 Graduation Series In today's sermon, Pastor Ray gives practical suggestions on how to grow towards a more fulfilling life in Christ. In today's sermon, Pastor Ray gives practical suggestions on how to grow towards a more fulfilling life in Christ. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/growth-towards-graduation--part-one http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/growth-towards-graduation--part-one Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT The Message of the Cross Ray Befus, Jr The Cross - a story like no other Ray closes the series with a look at the scandalous message of the cross Ray closes the series with a look at the scandalous message of the cross http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-message-of-the-cross http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-message-of-the-cross Sun, 30 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT sin From Catholicism to Islam to Jesus Ray Befus, Jr The Cross - a story like no other Ray interviews a unique seminarian: Andy, a former Catholic who converted to Islam before discovering Jesus Ray interviews a unique seminarian: Andy, a former Catholic who converted to Islam before discovering Jesus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-catholicism-to-islam-to-jesus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-catholicism-to-islam-to-jesus Sun, 23 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT catholic, andy From Islam to Jesus The Cross - a story like no other Ray interviews a convert from Islam to Christianity Ray interviews a convert from Islam to Christianity http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-islam-to-jesus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-islam-to-jesus Sun, 16 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT islam, muslim Jesus the Women's Revolutionary Lauren Befus The Cross - a story like no other Lauren Befus compares Jesus revolutionary teaching, treatment and perspective toward women in a very patriarchal, misogynist ancient world. By understanding Jesus speech and behavior in the past we can come to Lauren Befus compares Jesus revolutionary teaching, treatment and perspective toward women in a very patriarchal, misogynist ancient world. By understanding Jesus speech and behavior in the past we can come to http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-the-womens-revolutionary http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-the-womens-revolutionary Sun, 09 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT misogynist, lauren befus, feminism, jesus, feminist, women From Buddhism to Jesus The Cross - a story like no other Ray interviews a convert from Buddhism to Christianity Ray interviews a convert from Buddhism to Christianity http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-buddhism-to-jesus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-buddhism-to-jesus Sun, 02 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT buddhism, eastern, religions, convert, interview When Life Gets Too Loud Special Events Special Mother's day message for moms on tuning out the distractions in life Special Mother's day message for moms on tuning out the distractions in life http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/when-life-gets-too-loud http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/when-life-gets-too-loud Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT lauren befus, loud, noise, voice, quiet, heart From Judaism to Jesus From Judaism to Jesus 4-25-10 From Judaism to Jesus 4-25-10 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-judaism-to-jesus- http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-judaism-to-jesus- Sun, 25 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT from, judaism, jesus, 4-25-10, ray, befus From Hinduism to Jesus Ray Befus, Jr The Cross - a story like no other In today's sermon, Pastor Ray interviews a man who grew up in Hinduism and then converted to Christianity in his late twenties. In today's sermon, Pastor Ray interviews a man who grew up in Hinduism and then converted to Christianity in his late twenties. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-hinduism-to-jesus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/from-hinduism-to-jesus Sun, 18 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT ray befus, jr, the cross, hinduism Think Like a Missionary Ray Befus, Jr The Cross - a story like no other http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/think-like-a-missionary http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/think-like-a-missionary Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT The Bridge Ray Befus, Jr The Cross - a story like no other http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-bridge http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-bridge Sun, 04 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT Beyond Sexual Brokenness Smart Sexuality in a Sex-Crazed World http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/beyond-sexual-brokenness http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/beyond-sexual-brokenness Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EDT beyond sexual brokenness A Christian Response to Homosexuality Matt Gravelle Smart Sexuality in a Sex-Crazed World A Christian Response to Homosexuality - 3/21/10 - Matt Gravelle A Christian Response to Homosexuality - 3/21/10 - Matt Gravelle http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-christian-response-to-homosexuality http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-christian-response-to-homosexuality Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EDT homosexuality, pro-gay, romans 1, luke 18, luke 19, the rich young ruler, zacchaeus Porn: The Dirty Little Secret Mike Befus Smart Sexuality in a Sex-Crazed World Porn: The Dirty Little Secret - 3/14/10 - Mike Befus Porn: The Dirty Little Secret - 3/14/10 - Mike Befus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/porn:-the-dirty-little-secret http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/porn:-the-dirty-little-secret Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST Healing the Hurt from Sexual Abuse Lori Crossman Smart Sexuality in a Sex-Crazed World http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/healing-the-hurt-from-sexual-abuse http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/healing-the-hurt-from-sexual-abuse Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST Another Look at Modesty Lauren Befus Smart Sexuality in a Sex-Crazed World http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/another-look-at-modesty http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/another-look-at-modesty Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST 1 timothy 2:8-10, 1 peter 3:1-4, modesty, sexuality Affirming Your True Self Matt Gravelle Smart Sexuality in a Sex-Crazed World In this series, Pastor Matt talks about how to affirming our true self and how to break free from the stranglehold from societal pressure to conform and live behind masks In this series, Pastor Matt talks about how to affirming our true self and how to break free from the stranglehold from societal pressure to conform and live behind masks http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/affirming-your-true-self http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/affirming-your-true-self Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST female, male, sex, affirm, matt gravelle, smart sexuality in a sex crazed world God's Purpose for Marriage Mike Befus Smart Sexuality in a Sex-Crazed World http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/gods-purpose-for-marriage http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/gods-purpose-for-marriage Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST marriage, commitment, vows, preach, sermon, mike befus, genesis, flesh, man, woman, naked, shame The Cost of Sex Without Commitment Matt Gravelle Smart Sexuality in a Sex-Crazed World Today, Pastor Matt talks about the cost of sex without commitment and the three areas of life that break down when we engage in sex. Today, Pastor Matt talks about the cost of sex without commitment and the three areas of life that break down when we engage in sex. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-cost-of-sex-without-commitment http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-cost-of-sex-without-commitment Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST Recapping Naturally Supernatural Gary Best Guest Speaker Today, one day after the Naturally Supernatural conference, Gary Best shares from Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 4:14-21 and encourages the church to continue on the mission given to us by Jesus. Today, one day after the Naturally Supernatural conference, Gary Best shares from Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 4:14-21 and encourages the church to continue on the mission given to us by Jesus. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/recapping-naturally-supernatural http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/recapping-naturally-supernatural Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST january, mark, luke Understanding our Need for Love Mike Befus Smart Sexuality in a Sex-Crazed World Jesus speaks to the heart of human sexuality Jesus speaks to the heart of human sexuality http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/understanding-our-need-for-love http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/understanding-our-need-for-love Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST well, love, romance, acceptance Everyone Needs A Spiritual Mentor Ray Befus, Jr Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/everyone-needs-a-spiritual-mentor http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/everyone-needs-a-spiritual-mentor Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST grace, galatians, mentor The Time for Talking is Past Ray Befus, Jr Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-time-for-talking-is-past http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-time-for-talking-is-past Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST The Sufficiency of the Holy Spirit Ray Befus, Jr Galatians In today's sermon, Pastor Ray talks about how the Holy Spirit keeps us on the right path in life and how He is sufficient for all our needs. In today's sermon, Pastor Ray talks about how the Holy Spirit keeps us on the right path in life and how He is sufficient for all our needs. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-sufficiency-of-the-holy-spirit http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-sufficiency-of-the-holy-spirit Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST sufficiency, sufficient, holy spirit Living as God's Children Ray Befus, Jr Galatians In today sermon, pastor Ray gave us three characteristics of a Christian who "gets" grace. In today sermon, pastor Ray gave us three characteristics of a Christian who "gets" grace. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/living-as-gods-children http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/living-as-gods-children Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST christian Are You Ready To Meet The Real Jesus? Ray Befus, Jr Special Events http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/are-you-ready-to-meet-the-real-jesus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/are-you-ready-to-meet-the-real-jesus Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST taladega nights Take Your Stand Ray Befus, Jr Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/take-your-stand http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/take-your-stand Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST Get Rid of the Legalists! Ray Befus, Jr Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/get-rid-of-the-legalists http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/get-rid-of-the-legalists Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST Generous Giving: the Gift that Sets us Free Mike Befus Mike explores our freedom to give and challenges popular notions about promises of prosperity Mike explores our freedom to give and challenges popular notions about promises of prosperity http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/generous-giving:-the-gift-that-sets-us-free http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/generous-giving:-the-gift-that-sets-us-free Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST giving, generous, generosity, tithe, tithing, offering Free to Be Me Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/free-to-be-me http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/free-to-be-me Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST Freedom to Live- Really Live Ray Befus, Jr Galatians Through our exploration of Galatians, in this sermon Pastor Ray Befus shows us that through Jesus Christ we are free to live fully and completely Through our exploration of Galatians, in this sermon Pastor Ray Befus shows us that through Jesus Christ we are free to live fully and completely http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/freedom-to-live--really-live http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/freedom-to-live--really-live Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST november, live, freedom We're Not Doing Law Anymore Ray Befus, Jr Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/were-not-doing-law-anymore http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/were-not-doing-law-anymore Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST Take a Seat at Grace's Table Ray Befus, Jr Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/take-a-seat-at-graces-table http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/take-a-seat-at-graces-table Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EDT A Real Freedom Fighter Ray Befus, Jr Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-real-freedom-fighter http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-real-freedom-fighter Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EDT Get the Truth from Jesus Ray Befus, Jr Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/get-the-truth-from-jesus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/get-the-truth-from-jesus Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EDT Lessons about Religion from the Prodigal Son Danny Daniels http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/lessons-about-religion-from-the-prodigal-son http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/lessons-about-religion-from-the-prodigal-son Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT Guest Speaker Cherith Fee Nordling Guest Speaker http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/guest-speaker-cherith-fee-nordling http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/guest-speaker-cherith-fee-nordling Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT cherith fee nordling, calvin college, idols, guest Amazing Grace Ray Befus, Jr Galatians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/amazing-grace http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/amazing-grace Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT Africa Report Matt Gravelle Pastor Matt Gravelle shares stories from him trip to Africa this past summer. Pastor Matt Gravelle shares stories from him trip to Africa this past summer. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/africa-report http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/africa-report Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT africa, aids, prayer Suffering and Loss on the Journey to Heaven Matt Gravelle Welcome to the Vineyard Pastor Matt helps us understand that there will be suffering and loss on our journey to Heaven. Pastor Matt helps us understand that there will be suffering and loss on our journey to Heaven. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/suffering-and-loss-on-the-journey-to-heaven http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/suffering-and-loss-on-the-journey-to-heaven Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EDT suffering, heaven, jackie robinson, dodgers, already, not yet A Light to My Path--Preparing to Read Through the Bible Together Ray Befus, Jr Welcome to the Vineyard http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-light-to-my-path--preparing-to-read-through-the-bible-together http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-light-to-my-path--preparing-to-read-through-the-bible-together Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EDT bible, word, reading, scripture Fighting for the Future Tom Spraque Dr. Tom Sprague gives us five steps how to fight spiritual warfare. Through these steps and the power of Jesus Christ, we can have freedom in Christ Dr. Tom Sprague gives us five steps how to fight spiritual warfare. Through these steps and the power of Jesus Christ, we can have freedom in Christ http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/fighting-for-the-future http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/fighting-for-the-future Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EDT demon, tom sprague, spiritual warfare, joy, christ Making the Most of the Holy Spirit Ray Befus, Jr Welcome to the Vineyard Pastor Ray talks about the person of the Holy Spirit and why it is important to the Vineyard movement. Pastor Ray talks about the person of the Holy Spirit and why it is important to the Vineyard movement. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/making-the-most-of-the-holy-spirit http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/making-the-most-of-the-holy-spirit Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EDT acts, god inspired speech, welcome to the vineyard Welcome to the Vineyard Ray Befus, Jr Welcome to the Vineyard Pastor Ray starts an eight week series about unity within the church. This first week is called Welcome to the Vineyard in which he talks about the five Vineyard values. Pastor Ray starts an eight week series about unity within the church. This first week is called Welcome to the Vineyard in which he talks about the five Vineyard values. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/welcome-to-the-vineyard http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/welcome-to-the-vineyard Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EDT values, july, unity Costa Rica Team Report Mike Befus The 2009 team reports on their experience at the Los Anonos Project in San Jose, Costa Rica The 2009 team reports on their experience at the Los Anonos Project in San Jose, Costa Rica http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/costa-rica-team-report http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/costa-rica-team-report Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EDT san jose, costa rica, los anonos, missions Sharing the Hope of another World Ray Befus, Jr Hope Lives Here http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/sharing-the-hope-of-another-world http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/sharing-the-hope-of-another-world Sun, 31 May 2009 12:00:00 EDT hope, teach Hope Lives Here Ray Befus, Jr Hope Lives Here Become a person of hope Become a person of hope http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/hope-lives-here http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/hope-lives-here Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDT Easter: "The Door" Ray Befus, Jr Special Events Jesus' resurrection opens the doors to real change and hope in our lives Jesus' resurrection opens the doors to real change and hope in our lives http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/easter:--the-door- http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/easter:--the-door- Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDT easter, door Missions Report Mike Befus Special Events Mike updates us on recent visit to our partners in Indonesia and Costa Rica Mike updates us on recent visit to our partners in Indonesia and Costa Rica http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/missions-report http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/missions-report Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDT indonesia, partnership, overseas Live From A Bigger Heart Ray Befus, Jr How To Stay Strong in a Weak Economy Develop a generous lifestyle in this time of crisis Develop a generous lifestyle in this time of crisis http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/live-from-a-bigger-heart http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/live-from-a-bigger-heart Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EDT economy, sacrifice Did you say crisis? Ray Befus, Jr How To Stay Strong in a Weak Economy How Godliness, or God-like-ness is tested and shaped through crisis How Godliness, or God-like-ness is tested and shaped through crisis http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/did-you-say-crisis http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/did-you-say-crisis Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EDT godliness, trust, crisis My Perfect Storm: Steve Deckrow Ray Befus, Jr How To Stay Strong in a Weak Economy Steve Deckrow shares insights from his personal journey of loss, challenge and faith Steve Deckrow shares insights from his personal journey of loss, challenge and faith http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/my-perfect-storm:-steve-deckrow http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/my-perfect-storm:-steve-deckrow Sun, 15 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EDT steve deckrow, struggle, financial, loss Speak Life & Hope Into Your World Mike Befus How To Stay Strong in a Weak Economy According to a few businessmen at the Vineyard, our words in an economic downtown have the power to determine our future in the workplace. According to the Bible, words have the power of life and death. In week 3 of our series, we look at the power of words to bring life to ourselves, our families, and our careers. According to a few businessmen at the Vineyard, our words in an economic downtown have the power to determine our future in the workplace. According to the Bible, words have the power of life and death. In week 3 of our series, we look at the power of words to bring life to ourselves, our families, and our careers. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/speak-life---hope-into-your-world http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/speak-life---hope-into-your-world Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST words, encouragement, workplace, career Following Jesus With Both Feet On The Ground Ray Befus, Jr How To Stay Strong in a Weak Economy Is there a middle-ground between trusting God in trials and embracing suffering as part of life? This second week of the series confronts two popular Christian myths: the distant, unknowable God and the so called "prosperity gospel." Is there a middle-ground between trusting God in trials and embracing suffering as part of life? This second week of the series confronts two popular Christian myths: the distant, unknowable God and the so called "prosperity gospel." http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/following-jesus-with-both-feet-on-the-ground http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/following-jesus-with-both-feet-on-the-ground Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST prosperity, wisdom, trials, pain Don't Take The Bad News Sitting Down Matt Gravelle How To Stay Strong in a Weak Economy Series opener focusing on the power of Jesus when life is challenging Series opener focusing on the power of Jesus when life is challenging http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/dont-take-the-bad-news-sitting-down http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/dont-take-the-bad-news-sitting-down Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST gravelle, resurrection On the Road to Easter Matt Gravelle None On the Road to Easter. The 40 days before Easter, let's take time and focus on the mission that Jesus' has called us to. On the Road to Easter. The 40 days before Easter, let's take time and focus on the mission that Jesus' has called us to. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/on-the-road-to-easter http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/on-the-road-to-easter Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST church, 2 corinthians Are You Missing Out On What Jesus Offers? Mike Befus None http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/are-you-missing-out-on-what-jesus-offers http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/are-you-missing-out-on-what-jesus-offers Sun, 01 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST vineyard north The Right Equipment Ray Befus, Jr Everyone Gets to Play We've all been called to be players. The Holy Spirit's power was essential to Jesus' ministry. We've been handed the ball--Jesus' Kingdom Ministry We've all been called to be players. The Holy Spirit's power was essential to Jesus' ministry. We've been handed the ball--Jesus' Kingdom Ministry http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-right-equipment http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-right-equipment Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST christianity, football, equipment, game A Winning Season Matt Gravelle Everyone Gets to Play http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-winning-season http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-winning-season Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST winning, season, coach, strategy Welcome to the Team Ray Befus, Jr Everyone Gets to Play Everyone is called to play. Everyone is called to play. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/welcome-to-the-team http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/welcome-to-the-team Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST do the stuff, pastor, play, team A New Year Without Hype Ray Befus, Jr Starting the new year with a realistic plan for spiritual growth Starting the new year with a realistic plan for spiritual growth http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-new-year-without-hype http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-new-year-without-hype Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST Jesus ~ The Face of God Ray Befus, Jr Advent advent, jesus, john, vineyard north, ray befus advent, jesus, john, vineyard north, ray befus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-~-the-face-of-god http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-~-the-face-of-god Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST An Unexpected Kindness Open Before Christmas: 4 Gifts That Show I care http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/an-unexpected-kindness http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/an-unexpected-kindness Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST Jesus ~ The Savior of the World Ray Befus, Jr Advent http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-~-the-savior-of-the-world http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-~-the-savior-of-the-world Sun, 14 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST advent Jesus ~ The Suffering Servant Ray Befus, Jr Advent Who is this baby Jesus? Did this baby really come into our world to suffer and die? We all share Peter's frustration. Christmas calls us all back to the cross. Who is this baby Jesus? Did this baby really come into our world to suffer and die? We all share Peter's frustration. Christmas calls us all back to the cross. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-~-the-suffering-servant http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-~-the-suffering-servant Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST cross Jesus ~ The Fulfillment of the Jewish Hope Advent Advent ~ Preparing for Christmas Advent ~ Preparing for Christmas http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-~-the-fulfillment-of-the-jewish-hope http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/jesus-~-the-fulfillment-of-the-jewish-hope Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST jewish, matthew I'd Like to Grow Old with People Like Mack & Nan & Willie Ray Befus, Jr The Shack Series Growing Old with People Like Mack & Nan & Willie Growing Old with People Like Mack & Nan & Willie http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/id-like-to-grow-old-with-people-like-mack---nan---willie http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/id-like-to-grow-old-with-people-like-mack---nan---willie Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST 1 john, the trinity, willie, nan, mack Interview with Joe & Jennifer McGraw Ray Befus, Jr The Shack Series http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/interview-with-joe---jennifer-mcgraw http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/interview-with-joe---jennifer-mcgraw Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST joe & jennifer mcgraw Will Heaven be Like the Shack Ray Befus, Jr The Shack Series Will Heaven Be Like the Shack? Ray Befus November 2, 2008 The Shack Series #8 II Peter 3:13 (TNIV, p. 837); Revelation 21:1-5 (p. 854) I donâ€™t remember feeling IT until I was in college. A friend took me to Arcadia Bluffs (a couple hours north), high above the shore of Lake Michigan, near mid-night. I had never seen so many stars in such a dark sky, sparkling all the way down to the horizon, and shimmering on Lake Michiganâ€™s dark waters. It was amazing . . . wonderful . . . awesome. I felt something new stir deep within me . . . a strange combination of wonder and sadness, joy and loneliness. The sky was so beautiful that it almost hurt. The beauty of that place has drawn me back over the years, but the feeling wasnâ€™t altogether pleasant. It was bitter-sweet. I was grateful and inspired, but I also felt small, and alone, and shut out of something inexpressibly wonderfulâ€”something more, out there, that was just beyond my experience. I experienced IT again, even more powerfully on the honeymoon Carol and shared in Europe 33 years ago. Just college kids married at the end of May, we bicycled and camped around Europe for six weeks on the cheap in the summer of 1975. In the middle of our travels, we found ourselves deep in the Swiss alps, camping in the shadows of snowcapped Jungfrau, in a small mountain village called Grindewald. The mountains and valleys, the rushing streams and the sound of cowbells ringing in the high pastures were all so beautiful . . . that the experience was almost painful. Like the stars over Lake Michigan, I felt amazed and thrilled and sad and lonely . . . all at once. Whenever I hear someone talk about feeling heartache, I think of that unusual feeling that was both wonderful and painful. 3. What is that ache that we sometimes feel deep in our hearts? Ecclesiates, a book in the middle of the OT, is a wise kingâ€™s journal. King Solomon believed that God has set eternity in the human heart. God himself has put something inside of us that disturbs us from time to time, letting us know that there is more to reality than what we can see and hear and touch. Reality is much, much bigger than anything weâ€™ve experienced in our short lives in this broken world. Eternity in our heartsâ€”a deep awareness that we were created with divine purpose, for perfect love, for another world. God has put this longing within usâ€”a hunger for more, and strange awareness of destiny, a painful longing to explore and experience things that are out of reachâ€”like a spiritual compass that points toward our destiny. We feel it most intensely when we experiences great beauty, deep love, and thrilling achievement. We feel conflicted and we donâ€™t know why. Itâ€™s not a bad thingâ€”this haunting sense that we were created for something moreâ€” this yearning to know the secrets, to travel beyond the horizon, to touch the heart of God. Itâ€™s keep us moving on our journey of faith. Itâ€™s a longing for heaven, for our home with God. It reminds us that we are only travelers here, passing through. TRANS: The Bible teaches that physical death is not the end of human lives. Funerals are not final chapters. There really is another life awaiting usâ€”heaven or hell. Some people believe that when you die, your candle simply goes out. That is all. The Bible teaches that when you die, your candle will burn on and, perhaps, even grow brighter. I. ANOTHER WORLD AWAITS US. A. In The Shack, our fictional friend Mack drives up a fire road through the dense forests of the pacific northwest to revisit the run-down hunting shack where his youngest daughter Missy was murdered. Itâ€™s a sparse winter scene, painted on a white canvas mostly in different shades of greyâ€”a dark, run down cabin sitting on the edge of a frozen lake under a darkening sky. Until that moment when God pulls back the canvas and eternity invades earth for just a weekend. This morning Iâ€™d like to explore the question, will heaven really be like The Shack? Will the life to come really be like Mackâ€™s weekend at the shack? Letâ€™s me take you back to the story. The Shackâ€”p.80, â€œHe barely walked fifty feet up the path . . . .â€ P. 109, â€œHe followed Jesus out the back door . . . .â€ P. 144, â€œOnly then did he look up . . . â€œ Those are just the things Mack sees with his human eyes. Later in the book the Holy Spirit touches Mackâ€™s eyes so that he can see even deeper into Godâ€™s world, and everything is transformed once again. In the darkness of the summer night, every plant gives off a glow, and every flying bird or scampering animal leaves a trail of rich color. Even people have richly colored auras and their personalities and passions manifest in sparkling, muliti-colored arcs of energy. The evening is filled with startling beauty, wonderful discoveries, rich relationship, personal reunion and reconciliation, and transforming love. Some of you have been led to believe that heavenâ€”the life to comeâ€”will just be one great big, never-ending church service. A diverse multitude of church people standing around listening to wonderful sermons (lotâ€™s of sermons), singing songs for hours and hours, over and over again, and finally sitting down at folding tables to enjoy punch, peanuts, and cheap wedding food. Every day, all day, forever. Frankly, this is why folks on the street will tell you that theyâ€™d rather go to hell with their country-music-loving friends than end up in heavenâ€”some celestial retirement community were no one ever dies, but no one has any real fun either. TRANS: The Bible doesnâ€™t reveal a lot about heaven, but the picture it does paint is closer to The Shack than the image many people carry around in their imagination. II. MACK GLIMPSES A FUTURE THE BIBLE PAINTS IN HAUNTING COLORS. A. Our Creator will do again what he does best! II Peter 3:13. A new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. A sky without pollution; a replenished ozone layer that lets you tan all day long. Rain without acid. A planet as perfect as the Garden of Eden. Everything that is now bent or broken, corrupted or polluted, in short supply or even extinctâ€”set right. Everything set right, as God intended when he first created the world. When humanityâ€™s parents walked together without shame or regret, worked because it was meaningful and enjoyable, and had time for long talks and walks with God and each other. Peter says that, at the end of time, our world, our environmentâ€”weather patterns and global temperatures, mountains and lakes, expansive forests and great plainsâ€”will be transformed, renewed, replenished in keeping with Godâ€™s promise. What promise? Isaiah 65:17, â€œSee, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mindâ€. Our recreated world will be so wonderful that no one will think back to how it used to be. No comparison. Romans 8:19-22 (vv. 15-16 reveal that Peter was acquainted with Paulâ€™s writings) â€œThe creation waits in eager expectation . . . . for the creation was subject to frustration, . . .â€ A day is coming when â€œthe creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present timeâ€. 2. Revelation 21:1-5. John saw and heard the very things Peter wrote. A fresh new world, glistening in the dew of a sunny new morning. The people who love and trust Jesusâ€”diverse beyond belief, like the inhabitants of an expansive world-class city. People and neighborhoods from every tribe, language, nation, and race. But there is unity amidst all this diversity. Collectively, they are like a bride with a single focus: love for the Lord Jesus. Will you be in this scene? You can decide. Walt Disney will tell you that all dogs go to heaven. But the Bible reveals that not all people will be there in this scene. The people in this scene trust and love Jesusâ€”like a bride trusts and loves her groom. They arenâ€™t perfect people, but they trust and love Jesus and have made the decision that they want to be with him forever. ILLUS: A person becomes a Christian in a manner much like a person gets married. You make a well-thought out, life-changing decision. You donâ€™t get married by hanging out in your girlfriend or boyfriendâ€™s house. You decide that hanging outâ€”even occasionally making outâ€”isnâ€™t enough. You decide to commit your whole selfâ€”all your secrets, weaknesses, strengths, and dreamsâ€”to this person. You give yourself to him (totally, completely, publicly) and you welcome him into your lifeâ€”forever. In the same way, you donâ€™t become a Christian just by hanging out at a church like this and even having happy, spiritual experiences. You wonâ€™t find yourself in this scene, just because you heard about Jesus, read a Bible, sang some songs about Jesus, or knew his family. You have to decide to get married. Those who trust and love Jesus will spend forever with God on a recreated earth, where everything that now causes fear and loss, pain and suffering, despair and death is gone. Where men and women like us will finally see God, face to face, and feel the comfort of his presence, and enjoy his company forever. Like Mack did for a weekend at the shack . . . hiking, gardening, building in the workshop, cooking and cleaning, sharing mealsâ€”even fishing. AND YOUâ€™RE THINKING, WHAT ABOUT NASCAR? I DONâ€™T KNOW. BUT, THE ANGEL GABRIEL ONCE TOLD THE VIRGIN MARY, â€œWITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!â€ B. Can you say â€œPARADISEâ€? The one word the Bible most often uses to describe heaven, our eternal home, is paradiseâ€”a garden of perfect beauty and delight. Donâ€™t think backyard garden; think New York Cityâ€™s Central Park. Or maybe think the Florida Keys. Or perhaps Yellowstone National Park. Or better, Hawaii. Paradise! In the ancient world, the word was used to describe royal gardens, or even forestsâ€”the expansive nature preserves richly cultivated and protected by kings and queens. When God created mankind, he gave them a home in a paradise called Eden, a place the prophet Isaiah called â€œthe garden of the Lordâ€. Thatâ€™s what God is going to recreate for his bride. Luke 23:43. Jesus is actually dying, crucified between two thieves. One of the criminals is hard and cynical. He seeds Jesus as just another pretender who lost at the game of life. But the other criminal has heard and seen enough to trust and love Jesus and want to be with Jesus forever. He says to Jesus, â€œremember me when you come into your kingdomâ€. Jesus replies, â€œTruly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradiseâ€. Jesus doesnâ€™t care who you are or what youâ€™ve done. Even if you live with horrible regrets and grinding guilt and have a criminal record . . . all you have to decide is that youâ€™re ready to trust your life to Jesus and invite him into your life the way a bride invites her groom into her life. II Corinthians 12:4. Before he met Jesus, Paul was a hard-driving, judgmental religious fundamentalistâ€”the most tightly-wound religious leader you can imagine. Ridged, angry, controlling, violent, and religious. He had an unusual conversion and spiritual journey. Not only did Jesus appear to him, but Jesus (in a vision) took him to heaven where he heard things he couldnâ€™t explain and saw things that are beyond imaginingâ€”things God has prepared for those who trust and love him (I Corinthians 2:9). If we said to a Paul, â€œTell us something, anything about what you saw,â€ Paul would say, â€œit was paradiseâ€”a garden-like place of perfect beauty and pleasure. If I tried to describe it, I couldnâ€™t get close. If I tried to explain it, I couldnâ€™t possible get it right. Itâ€™s beyond imagining! Revelation 2:7. Jesus himself is here speaking to Christians whoâ€™ve lost their edge. Theyâ€™re still going to meetings, but theyâ€™re no longer pursuing the mission. Theyâ€™re staying out of trouble, but they are no longer praying and worshipping, giving and serving from a passionate heart. Theyâ€™ve got correct doctrine, but cold hearts. Jesus calls attention to their lack of love (v. 4)â€”something odd in any bride. He asks them to make a firm decision to return to those activities that keep love alive and strong. Jesus puts the promise of paradise before them as motivation. The future groom reminds his bride of the beautiful vision of their future home. III. DO YOU EVER LISTEN TO YOUR LONGINGS? Here we are, the richest people in the world . . . the most sexually active people on the planet. The best educated adults in history. We consume and collect more stuff than any other nation. Some of us change careers mid-stream and even change marriage partners. If variety is the spice of life, we are the spiciest folks around (move over Spice Girls)! Weâ€™re the most technologically advanced generation ever. The most highly entertained people in any culture. We travel more than most people in the world could ever dream of doing. And, still, we have a hankering for more. Weâ€™re discontent. True happiness seems just out of reach. Even after giving our hearts to God in worship and feeling the presence of his Spirit in prayer, church seems . . . disappointing. B. Could our abiding disappointmentâ€”with everythingâ€”be trying to tell us something thatâ€™s true? Are our insatiable longings pointing to a world we havenâ€™t yet experienced? Are our heartaches are trying to tell us a secret that will help us make sense of our discouragement and restlessness? YES! We were created for someone elseâ€”for friendship with God. We weâ€™re created for something elseâ€”eternal life. This world is not our home. Some day a door will open and, peering through it, we will see it and smell the fragrant air. Weâ€™ll hear the laughter of a bride and groom . . . in paradise. And finally weâ€™ know it and feel it: weâ€™re home. IV. HAVE YOU EVER LISTENED TO ONE CROSSING OVER? ILLUS: Email from Deb Bergren. My family recently held a garage sale [to get rid] of my dad's household belongings. My sister put a few old Bibles in a box marked â€œFreeâ€ for anyone who wanted them. On the day of the sale, a woman who had been looking at the Bibles brought one of them to me and suggested that I might not want to give it away because it contained a lot of personal notes. Later on after the garage sale, I paged through that old Bible and realized that it had been my great-grandmother's Bibleâ€”a gift she had received in 1939 and used all her life. And my grandmother had then used that same Bible after her motherâ€™s death 1972. In the pages of that old Bible was a note written by a compassionate nurse who sat at my great-grandmother's bedside when she passed away at the age of 80. This nurse, who watched my great grandmother Grace take her last breaths, wrote down the final few words she spoke in this world: "Jesus is coming, is coming for me. Wonderful! Wonderful!" "It's so beautiful - beautiful." "Tell the church, I am the Lord's!" "Where's Dave? (my uncle) Bless him!" "Is that the water over there?" (whispered) "I am almost over." CONCLUSION Band/PP slide showâ€”â€œI Can Only Imagineâ€ Revelation 22:17 (Gospel Invitation) Will Heaven Be Like the Shack? Ray Befus November 2, 2008 The Shack Series #8 II Peter 3:13 (TNIV, p. 837); Revelation 21:1-5 (p. 854) I donâ€™t remember feeling IT until I was in college. A friend took me to Arcadia Bluffs (a couple hours north), high above the shore of Lake Michigan, near mid-night. I had never seen so many stars in such a dark sky, sparkling all the way down to the horizon, and shimmering on Lake Michiganâ€™s dark waters. It was amazing . . . wonderful . . . awesome. I felt something new stir deep within me . . . a strange combination of wonder and sadness, joy and loneliness. The sky was so beautiful that it almost hurt. The beauty of that place has drawn me back over the years, but the feeling wasnâ€™t altogether pleasant. It was bitter-sweet. I was grateful and inspired, but I also felt small, and alone, and shut out of something inexpressibly wonderfulâ€”something more, out there, that was just beyond my experience. I experienced IT again, even more powerfully on the honeymoon Carol and shared in Europe 33 years ago. Just college kids married at the end of May, we bicycled and camped around Europe for six weeks on the cheap in the summer of 1975. In the middle of our travels, we found ourselves deep in the Swiss alps, camping in the shadows of snowcapped Jungfrau, in a small mountain village called Grindewald. The mountains and valleys, the rushing streams and the sound of cowbells ringing in the high pastures were all so beautiful . . . that the experience was almost painful. Like the stars over Lake Michigan, I felt amazed and thrilled and sad and lonely . . . all at once. Whenever I hear someone talk about feeling heartache, I think of that unusual feeling that was both wonderful and painful. 3. What is that ache that we sometimes feel deep in our hearts? Ecclesiates, a book in the middle of the OT, is a wise kingâ€™s journal. King Solomon believed that God has set eternity in the human heart. God himself has put something inside of us that disturbs us from time to time, letting us know that there is more to reality than what we can see and hear and touch. Reality is much, much bigger than anything weâ€™ve experienced in our short lives in this broken world. Eternity in our heartsâ€”a deep awareness that we were created with divine purpose, for perfect love, for another world. God has put this longing within usâ€”a hunger for more, and strange awareness of destiny, a painful longing to explore and experience things that are out of reachâ€”like a spiritual compass that points toward our destiny. We feel it most intensely when we experiences great beauty, deep love, and thrilling achievement. We feel conflicted and we donâ€™t know why. Itâ€™s not a bad thingâ€”this haunting sense that we were created for something moreâ€” this yearning to know the secrets, to travel beyond the horizon, to touch the heart of God. Itâ€™s keep us moving on our journey of faith. Itâ€™s a longing for heaven, for our home with God. It reminds us that we are only travelers here, passing through. TRANS: The Bible teaches that physical death is not the end of human lives. Funerals are not final chapters. There really is another life awaiting usâ€”heaven or hell. Some people believe that when you die, your candle simply goes out. That is all. The Bible teaches that when you die, your candle will burn on and, perhaps, even grow brighter. I. ANOTHER WORLD AWAITS US. A. In The Shack, our fictional friend Mack drives up a fire road through the dense forests of the pacific northwest to revisit the run-down hunting shack where his youngest daughter Missy was murdered. Itâ€™s a sparse winter scene, painted on a white canvas mostly in different shades of greyâ€”a dark, run down cabin sitting on the edge of a frozen lake under a darkening sky. Until that moment when God pulls back the canvas and eternity invades earth for just a weekend. This morning Iâ€™d like to explore the question, will heaven really be like The Shack? Will the life to come really be like Mackâ€™s weekend at the shack? Letâ€™s me take you back to the story. The Shackâ€”p.80, â€œHe barely walked fifty feet up the path . . . .â€ P. 109, â€œHe followed Jesus out the back door . . . .â€ P. 144, â€œOnly then did he look up . . . â€œ Those are just the things Mack sees with his human eyes. Later in the book the Holy Spirit touches Mackâ€™s eyes so that he can see even deeper into Godâ€™s world, and everything is transformed once again. In the darkness of the summer night, every plant gives off a glow, and every flying bird or scampering animal leaves a trail of rich color. Even people have richly colored auras and their personalities and passions manifest in sparkling, muliti-colored arcs of energy. The evening is filled with startling beauty, wonderful discoveries, rich relationship, personal reunion and reconciliation, and transforming love. Some of you have been led to believe that heavenâ€”the life to comeâ€”will just be one great big, never-ending church service. A diverse multitude of church people standing around listening to wonderful sermons (lotâ€™s of sermons), singing songs for hours and hours, over and over again, and finally sitting down at folding tables to enjoy punch, peanuts, and cheap wedding food. Every day, all day, forever. Frankly, this is why folks on the street will tell you that theyâ€™d rather go to hell with their country-music-loving friends than end up in heavenâ€”some celestial retirement community were no one ever dies, but no one has any real fun either. TRANS: The Bible doesnâ€™t reveal a lot about heaven, but the picture it does paint is closer to The Shack than the image many people carry around in their imagination. II. MACK GLIMPSES A FUTURE THE BIBLE PAINTS IN HAUNTING COLORS. A. Our Creator will do again what he does best! II Peter 3:13. A new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells. A sky without pollution; a replenished ozone layer that lets you tan all day long. Rain without acid. A planet as perfect as the Garden of Eden. Everything that is now bent or broken, corrupted or polluted, in short supply or even extinctâ€”set right. Everything set right, as God intended when he first created the world. When humanityâ€™s parents walked together without shame or regret, worked because it was meaningful and enjoyable, and had time for long talks and walks with God and each other. Peter says that, at the end of time, our world, our environmentâ€”weather patterns and global temperatures, mountains and lakes, expansive forests and great plainsâ€”will be transformed, renewed, replenished in keeping with Godâ€™s promise. What promise? Isaiah 65:17, â€œSee, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mindâ€. Our recreated world will be so wonderful that no one will think back to how it used to be. No comparison. Romans 8:19-22 (vv. 15-16 reveal that Peter was acquainted with Paulâ€™s writings) â€œThe creation waits in eager expectation . . . . for the creation was subject to frustration, . . .â€ A day is coming when â€œthe creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present timeâ€. 2. Revelation 21:1-5. John saw and heard the very things Peter wrote. A fresh new world, glistening in the dew of a sunny new morning. The people who love and trust Jesusâ€”diverse beyond belief, like the inhabitants of an expansive world-class city. People and neighborhoods from every tribe, language, nation, and race. But there is unity amidst all this diversity. Collectively, they are like a bride with a single focus: love for the Lord Jesus. Will you be in this scene? You can decide. Walt Disney will tell you that all dogs go to heaven. But the Bible reveals that not all people will be there in this scene. The people in this scene trust and love Jesusâ€”like a bride trusts and loves her groom. They arenâ€™t perfect people, but they trust and love Jesus and have made the decision that they want to be with him forever. ILLUS: A person becomes a Christian in a manner much like a person gets married. You make a well-thought out, life-changing decision. You donâ€™t get married by hanging out in your girlfriend or boyfriendâ€™s house. You decide that hanging outâ€”even occasionally making outâ€”isnâ€™t enough. You decide to commit your whole selfâ€”all your secrets, weaknesses, strengths, and dreamsâ€”to this person. You give yourself to him (totally, completely, publicly) and you welcome him into your lifeâ€”forever. In the same way, you donâ€™t become a Christian just by hanging out at a church like this and even having happy, spiritual experiences. You wonâ€™t find yourself in this scene, just because you heard about Jesus, read a Bible, sang some songs about Jesus, or knew his family. You have to decide to get married. Those who trust and love Jesus will spend forever with God on a recreated earth, where everything that now causes fear and loss, pain and suffering, despair and death is gone. Where men and women like us will finally see God, face to face, and feel the comfort of his presence, and enjoy his company forever. Like Mack did for a weekend at the shack . . . hiking, gardening, building in the workshop, cooking and cleaning, sharing mealsâ€”even fishing. AND YOUâ€™RE THINKING, WHAT ABOUT NASCAR? I DONâ€™T KNOW. BUT, THE ANGEL GABRIEL ONCE TOLD THE VIRGIN MARY, â€œWITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!â€ B. Can you say â€œPARADISEâ€? The one word the Bible most often uses to describe heaven, our eternal home, is paradiseâ€”a garden of perfect beauty and delight. Donâ€™t think backyard garden; think New York Cityâ€™s Central Park. Or maybe think the Florida Keys. Or perhaps Yellowstone National Park. Or better, Hawaii. Paradise! In the ancient world, the word was used to describe royal gardens, or even forestsâ€”the expansive nature preserves richly cultivated and protected by kings and queens. When God created mankind, he gave them a home in a paradise called Eden, a place the prophet Isaiah called â€œthe garden of the Lordâ€. Thatâ€™s what God is going to recreate for his bride. Luke 23:43. Jesus is actually dying, crucified between two thieves. One of the criminals is hard and cynical. He seeds Jesus as just another pretender who lost at the game of life. But the other criminal has heard and seen enough to trust and love Jesus and want to be with Jesus forever. He says to Jesus, â€œremember me when you come into your kingdomâ€. Jesus replies, â€œTruly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradiseâ€. Jesus doesnâ€™t care who you are or what youâ€™ve done. Even if you live with horrible regrets and grinding guilt and have a criminal record . . . all you have to decide is that youâ€™re ready to trust your life to Jesus and invite him into your life the way a bride invites her groom into her life. II Corinthians 12:4. Before he met Jesus, Paul was a hard-driving, judgmental religious fundamentalistâ€”the most tightly-wound religious leader you can imagine. Ridged, angry, controlling, violent, and religious. He had an unusual conversion and spiritual journey. Not only did Jesus appear to him, but Jesus (in a vision) took him to heaven where he heard things he couldnâ€™t explain and saw things that are beyond imaginingâ€”things God has prepared for those who trust and love him (I Corinthians 2:9). If we said to a Paul, â€œTell us something, anything about what you saw,â€ Paul would say, â€œit was paradiseâ€”a garden-like place of perfect beauty and pleasure. If I tried to describe it, I couldnâ€™t get close. If I tried to explain it, I couldnâ€™t possible get it right. Itâ€™s beyond imagining! Revelation 2:7. Jesus himself is here speaking to Christians whoâ€™ve lost their edge. Theyâ€™re still going to meetings, but theyâ€™re no longer pursuing the mission. Theyâ€™re staying out of trouble, but they are no longer praying and worshipping, giving and serving from a passionate heart. Theyâ€™ve got correct doctrine, but cold hearts. Jesus calls attention to their lack of love (v. 4)â€”something odd in any bride. He asks them to make a firm decision to return to those activities that keep love alive and strong. Jesus puts the promise of paradise before them as motivation. The future groom reminds his bride of the beautiful vision of their future home. III. DO YOU EVER LISTEN TO YOUR LONGINGS? Here we are, the richest people in the world . . . the most sexually active people on the planet. The best educated adults in history. We consume and collect more stuff than any other nation. Some of us change careers mid-stream and even change marriage partners. If variety is the spice of life, we are the spiciest folks around (move over Spice Girls)! Weâ€™re the most technologically advanced generation ever. The most highly entertained people in any culture. We travel more than most people in the world could ever dream of doing. And, still, we have a hankering for more. Weâ€™re discontent. True happiness seems just out of reach. Even after giving our hearts to God in worship and feeling the presence of his Spirit in prayer, church seems . . . disappointing. B. Could our abiding disappointmentâ€”with everythingâ€”be trying to tell us something thatâ€™s true? Are our insatiable longings pointing to a world we havenâ€™t yet experienced? Are our heartaches are trying to tell us a secret that will help us make sense of our discouragement and restlessness? YES! We were created for someone elseâ€”for friendship with God. We weâ€™re created for something elseâ€”eternal life. This world is not our home. Some day a door will open and, peering through it, we will see it and smell the fragrant air. Weâ€™ll hear the laughter of a bride and groom . . . in paradise. And finally weâ€™ know it and feel it: weâ€™re home. IV. HAVE YOU EVER LISTENED TO ONE CROSSING OVER? ILLUS: Email from Deb Bergren. My family recently held a garage sale [to get rid] of my dad's household belongings. My sister put a few old Bibles in a box marked â€œFreeâ€ for anyone who wanted them. On the day of the sale, a woman who had been looking at the Bibles brought one of them to me and suggested that I might not want to give it away because it contained a lot of personal notes. Later on after the garage sale, I paged through that old Bible and realized that it had been my great-grandmother's Bibleâ€”a gift she had received in 1939 and used all her life. And my grandmother had then used that same Bible after her motherâ€™s death 1972. In the pages of that old Bible was a note written by a compassionate nurse who sat at my great-grandmother's bedside when she passed away at the age of 80. This nurse, who watched my great grandmother Grace take her last breaths, wrote down the final few words she spoke in this world: "Jesus is coming, is coming for me. Wonderful! Wonderful!" "It's so beautiful - beautiful." "Tell the church, I am the Lord's!" "Where's Dave? (my uncle) Bless him!" "Is that the water over there?" (whispered) "I am almost over." CONCLUSION Band/PP slide showâ€”â€œI Can Only Imagineâ€ Revelation 22:17 (Gospel Invitation) http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/will-heaven-be-like-the-shack http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/will-heaven-be-like-the-shack Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EDT crossing over, ii peter, revelation, the shack series Are You Sure You Want to Be The Judge? Ray Befus, Jr The Shack Series Are You Sure You Want to Be The Judge? Ray Befus Matthew 7:1-6 (TNIV, p. 663) October 26, 2008 The Shack Series #7 Our focus this morning is on judging other people . . . a subject near and dear to the hearts of folks in the Ameriquest Insurance group. Theyâ€™re so committed to being understanding and gracious toward their clients that they ran these ads during Superbowl 39 (video clipâ€”4 ads). Ameriquest says, â€œDonâ€™t judge people too quicklyâ€. Weâ€™re turning to a passage in the Bible this morning where Jesus teaches, â€œDonâ€™t judge other people at allâ€. READ Matthew 7:1-6 (Sermon on the Mountâ€”the very heart of Jesusâ€™ teaching). b. Weâ€™re thinking about judging other people this morning because judgment is one of the significant themes in the book, The Shack. The main human character, Mack, has been beaten up by lifeâ€”a harsh, religious father; a dysfunctional childhood, career tensions and transitions, feelings of inferiority in his marriage, disappointments in the church, and then the murder of his youngest daughter. Papa cuts Mack some slack for all his attitudes, because Mackâ€™s pain has been real. Mack is a survivor. But Mackâ€™s main survival strategy has been destructive to himself, those he says he loves, and his relationship with God. Mack has been living like he is the judge of the universeâ€”at least his universeâ€”judging God, judging the church, judging himself, and judging other people. As this fictional story unfolds, Mack eventually sees his arrogance, repents of his judgments, and is reconciled to both his earthly father and his heavenly father. Mack even decides to forgive his daughterâ€™s murderer. By the end of the book, Mack has been transformed by repenting of his harsh judgments toward God and other people. 3. What is judgment . . . or the sin of judging others? Itâ€™s not the same thing as recognizing weaknesses, or discerning failures, or calling attention to dangers. In verses 15-20, Jesus urges his listeners to be discerning about false teaching and to identify false prophets. Godâ€™s people should be clear thinking, discerning, courageous students of life and Scripture who are willing to speak out about the problems and dangers they see. a. Jesusâ€™ concern isnâ€™t DISCERNMENT; itâ€™s DEVALUING others because of their weaknesses, failings, wrong ideas, and sins. Itâ€™s deciding that they arenâ€™t worth respecting, loving, forgiving, helping, or serving because they are wrong about something high on our list of personal values. When we judge other people, we decide (consciously or not) that these people are fundamentally different than us. Their needs and problems, hopes and dreams arenâ€™t any concern of ours. We decide that theirs lives and ministries, their beliefs and priorities, their families and careers are worth less than ours. In fact, we treat them like they are worth-less . . . WORTHLESS . . . to us. We feel free to slander them, or withhold our help and support. We feel free to hold on to our disappointment in them until it distills into bitterness and we become negative, detached people. We feel free to separate from them, abandon them, and move ahead in life without them . . . THESE PEOPLE GOD CREATED AND LOVES, THESE PEOPLE JESUS CAME TO RECONCILE AND SAVE, THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE PRETTY MUCH JUST LIKE US (whose weaknesses, muddled thinking, personal failings, sins arenâ€™t a lot worse than our own). b. Weâ€™re not talking about discernment this morning. Jesus is addressing the practice of devaluing other people, withholding ourselves from them, deciding that they are unworthy of help, respect, or kindness; hanging on to our criticisms, refusing to forgive, and walking away from them with callous indifference or cold resentment. Judgmentâ€”a poison to our souls and an offense to the One who created us all. PRAY. TRANS: If judging people is so ugly and destructive, why do we so easily fall into it . . . slandering presidential candidates and their constituencies, withdrawing from other Christians as if they were agents of the anti-Christ, refusing to forgive folks who are just human, fellow travelers like us? We can see that judging others is an ugly evil; why does Jesus feel the need to spell this out for us? Judging others is a special danger because it often feels good, feels right, and feels empowering. I. A CHEAP THRILL FOR BITTER PEOPLE (like sniffing glue or paintâ€”a cheap buzz) A. (It feels good) Judgment provides comfort when weâ€™re feeling insecure. Even if our lives are still filled with chaos and weâ€™re still facing real trouble, there is some comfort in finding someone to blame, to isolate, and to punish (at least with our criticisms). Judging others relieves some of our stress. Sure, weâ€™re going through a hard time, but at least we have the comfort of being right and telling others that weâ€™re right and theyâ€™re wrong, and knowing, when we go to bed, that they should be ashamed of themselves for the error of their ways. They have no one to blame but themselves. Like Pilot, we feel some comfort in washing our hands of other peopleâ€™s lives and believing that weâ€™re not responsible for them. (It feels right) Judgment lifts us up when weâ€™re feeling down. You canâ€™t judge another person without (often unconsciously) deciding that you are, in fact, superior to him or her. The very process of judging others has an elevating effect that feels . . . self-affirming . . . because it is just that: self-affirmation. ILLUS: I have a mother to die for. When I was a teenager and was just beginning to sharpen my tongue into a razor-like weapon, she told me that people who become proficient at evaluating, criticizing, and judging others are really small people who are desperate to elevate themselves. They go through life trying to elevate themselves by cutting others down. They feel better, they feel smarter, they feel high and mighty . . . but for all their criticizing, they havenâ€™t grown an inch. C. (It feels empowering) Judgment provides a rush of spiritual power. Actually, I have come to believe that judging others is one sure way to tap into spiritual power . . . real spiritual power . . . demonic power. In the oldest book of the Bible, Job, Satan is revealed to be a spiritual being who openly declares his suspicion, cynicism, judgment, and malice to all the hosts of heaven. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, Satan whispers his suspicion, cynicism, judgment, and malice into Eveâ€™s innocent heart. Judging others often feels empowering because it opens the door to demonic partnership, deception, and destruction. Men and women whose hearts are filled with bitterness will sometimes meet together for some fellowship, share their mutual judgments, and feel that they had a powerful meeting. Actually, they did. People who build a friendship or partnership on shared criticisms and judgments of political leaders or church leaders or business leaders will feel that they reached a powerful understanding and agreement with each other. Theyâ€™re right; there was real power spinning their conversation. Satan is happy to empower Christians to do his work of isolating Godâ€™s people from each other and destroying Godâ€™s work in their lives. TRANS: Like sniffing glue or paint, judgment is a cheap thrill for bitter people. But, like glue or paint, judgment is . . . II. A POISON THAT WILL DAMAGE YOUR SOUL A. Donâ€™ be foolish (vv. 1-2)â€”youâ€™ll reap what you sow. Jesus speaks from common-sense wisdom. Wisdom on the streets. What goes around, comes around. Itâ€™s not hard to understand. Itâ€™s hard to remember when youâ€™re frustrated, disappointed, feeling betrayed, or down right angry at someone. If you let yourself become a negative person, youâ€™ll attract negative friends. Your conversations will be filled with negative evaluations of this and that. If your conversation is often full of cynicism and cutting remarks, folks who are at a similar place in life will feel comfortable around you. Theyâ€™ll find your company welcoming. If youâ€™re harsh with people who frustrate you, other folks who speak your language will find you. Youâ€™ll find it easy to relate to each other. And, at some point in your journey, those same people are going to turn on you. Itâ€™s only a matter of time before you stumble or do something to offend them and the searchlight of judgment will be turned on you. Youâ€™ll be the one who is no longer worth their company, or loyalty, or respect, or support. Youâ€™ll be the one who isnâ€™t worth forgiving, loving, helping, or inviting over on a weekend. Youâ€™ll be the one on the outside of the club, looking in. So, be wise. Do not judge others. If you give yourself license to judge others, sooner or later youâ€™re going to get a taste of that same treatment. B. Donâ€™t be a hypocrite (vv.3-5)â€”look in the mirror. Jesus knows that itâ€™s just human nature to pick at other peopleâ€”their weaknesses, failings, and sinâ€”while being blind to our own stuff. Who doesnâ€™t have stuff . . . a lot of stuff? Think of some of the stuff that you just canâ€™t stand in other people . . . stuff that just drives you nuts . . . stuff that ticks you off . . . stuff that makes you sick . . . stuff that gets you boiling . . . stuff that starts your doors slamming. You know what Iâ€™m talking about? Oh yeah, baby! I hate that stuff . . . people who are late to meetings, who donâ€™t know American history, who break their promises, who talk too much, who are voting for the other presidential candidate, who are divorced, have a jail record, or try to be funny when theyâ€™re not . . . I hate that stuff . . . kids who cohabitate and protest the war, Youâ€™re right: thereâ€™s a lot of sad stuff out there. I wish people were a little smarter, wiser, more discerning. But isnâ€™t there still a lot of sad stuff in thereâ€”inside you? Are you positive that your stuff smells like roses? That your stuff is so much better than their stuff? Are you sure that at the end of the day, God is going to wink at your stuff and slam other people for their stuff? Itâ€™s true: their stuff (like a speck of sawdust in the eye), is probably really hurting them. But, your stuff . . . this judging stuff, this devaluing others stuff . . . this turning your back on fellow travelers is going to destroy you. Itâ€™s poisoning your own soul. 2. Hypocrite is a pretty strong word. You donâ€™t want to be a hypocrite. By definition a hypocrite is someone who wears a mask. A hypocrite plays a part for his audience, while his mask covers up the truth about whatâ€™s really underneath. If youâ€™ve read the gospels, you might know that hypocrisy is a bedfellow of wickedness and evil. Hypocrites hang out with liars. In Jesusâ€™ mind, hypocrites are just one step away from hell. When King David is pleading with God for mercy and help, he argues that God should give him some credit for not associating with hypocrites (Psalm 26:4). 3. ILLUS: Speaking of mothers, one of my favorite actors is Denzel Washington. Did you see The Great Debaters last year? Wowâ€”one of my all-time favorites! Denzel was being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey last year and told a story about how his mother helped keep his budding, movie star ego in check. He said, â€œI walked in the house one day andâ€”feeling full of myself, a movie starâ€”I said to my mother, "Did you ever think this was all going to happen?" She was like, "Please. First of all, go wash the windows for me. You have no idea how many people were praying for you when you were being a knucklehead." Oprah Winfrey and Denzel Washington: 'Little Things Matter,'" Parade magazine (12-16-07). Everyone is a knuckled head from time to time; no one has to be a hypocrite! Someday, when youâ€™ve taken care of all your stuff . . . thatâ€™s when youâ€™ll have the right to walk out on other folks because of their stuff. Until youâ€™ve overcome all your stuff, keep your great and mighty powers of discernment focused on yourself. You donâ€™t have the right to judge them, to devalue them, to treat them like they arenâ€™t worth your respect or love or help. TRANS: Jesus ends this intense little coaching session with another bit of street wisdom. III. A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE STRATEGY THAT INVITES MORE PAIN (v. 6) God has given you a good mind. You have real discernment. You see life with real clarity. Youâ€™re right about some of these people and issues. A piece of sawdust in someoneâ€™s eye can cause a car wreck. Why donâ€™t you take what you see and move toward people with a commitment to listen and help, speak and serve, forgive and love, pray and wait? When you take the discernment Iâ€™ve given you and you decide to devalue others and pour out your judgments and criticisms on them, youâ€™ll offend them and turn them off. Your discernment might have helped them if it had been offered with respect and kindness. But, wrap your discernment in judgment, and itâ€™ll be as pointless or useless as lending your Bible to a dog, or giving your jewelry to a pig. Youâ€™re wasting your gift of discernment. Worse, the people you judge are going to be strongly tempted to turn on you, tit for tat, and give it back. Itâ€™s a very human reaction. They know you well enough to see some of your weaknesses and failings. Theyâ€™ve got some dirt on you. If you send them an email full of sharp words and condescending judgments today . . . better not check your email tomorrow. CONCLUSION: Back to The Shack: the turning point in Mackâ€™s weekend with God is the moment he decides that he doesnâ€™t have the love, wisdom, or courage to be anyoneâ€™s judge. God alone has the right to judge peopleâ€”to write them off. Mack repents of playing God by judging God and other people, and for the first time in a long time, he no longer feels stuck. If youâ€™re feeling stuck in your faith journey, you could do a lot worse than read The Shack. The book is fictional, but on points like judging others, it reflects Jesusâ€™ teaching with real power. When life has given us a beating, judging others often feels good, feels right, and even feels empowering. But, it is a poison that will damage your soul and all your relationships. In the final few paragraphs of the book, Willie writes, â€œWell there you have it . . . . I am sure there are some who wonder whether everything really happened as Mack recalls it, or if the accident and morphine made him just a little bit loopyâ€. â€œAll the changes in his life, he tells me, are evidence enough for him. The Great Sadness is gone and he experiences most days with a profound sense of joyâ€. â€œSo the question I am faced with as I pen these words is how to end a tale like this? Perhaps I can do that best by telling you a little about how it has affected me. As I stated in the foreword, Mackâ€™s story changed me. I donâ€™t think that there is one aspect of my life, especially my relationships, that hasnâ€™t been touched deeply and altered in ways that truly matter. Do I think that itâ€™s true? I want all of it to be true.â€ â€œIf you ever get a chance to hang out with Mack, you will soon learn that heâ€™s hoping for a new revolution, one of love and kindnessâ€”a revolution that revolves around Jesus and what he did for us all and what he continues to do in anyone who has a hunger for reconciliation and a place to call home. This is not a revolution that will overthrow anything, or if it does, it will do so in ways we could never contrive in advance. Instead it will be the quiet daily powers of dying and serving and loving and laughing, of simple tenderness and unseen kindness . . . .â€ Are You Sure You Want to Be The Judge? Ray Befus Matthew 7:1-6 (TNIV, p. 663) October 26, 2008 The Shack Series #7 Our focus this morning is on judging other people . . . a subject near and dear to the hearts of folks in the Ameriquest Insurance group. Theyâ€™re so committed to being understanding and gracious toward their clients that they ran these ads during Superbowl 39 (video clipâ€”4 ads). Ameriquest says, â€œDonâ€™t judge people too quicklyâ€. Weâ€™re turning to a passage in the Bible this morning where Jesus teaches, â€œDonâ€™t judge other people at allâ€. READ Matthew 7:1-6 (Sermon on the Mountâ€”the very heart of Jesusâ€™ teaching). b. Weâ€™re thinking about judging other people this morning because judgment is one of the significant themes in the book, The Shack. The main human character, Mack, has been beaten up by lifeâ€”a harsh, religious father; a dysfunctional childhood, career tensions and transitions, feelings of inferiority in his marriage, disappointments in the church, and then the murder of his youngest daughter. Papa cuts Mack some slack for all his attitudes, because Mackâ€™s pain has been real. Mack is a survivor. But Mackâ€™s main survival strategy has been destructive to himself, those he says he loves, and his relationship with God. Mack has been living like he is the judge of the universeâ€”at least his universeâ€”judging God, judging the church, judging himself, and judging other people. As this fictional story unfolds, Mack eventually sees his arrogance, repents of his judgments, and is reconciled to both his earthly father and his heavenly father. Mack even decides to forgive his daughterâ€™s murderer. By the end of the book, Mack has been transformed by repenting of his harsh judgments toward God and other people. 3. What is judgment . . . or the sin of judging others? Itâ€™s not the same thing as recognizing weaknesses, or discerning failures, or calling attention to dangers. In verses 15-20, Jesus urges his listeners to be discerning about false teaching and to identify false prophets. Godâ€™s people should be clear thinking, discerning, courageous students of life and Scripture who are willing to speak out about the problems and dangers they see. a. Jesusâ€™ concern isnâ€™t DISCERNMENT; itâ€™s DEVALUING others because of their weaknesses, failings, wrong ideas, and sins. Itâ€™s deciding that they arenâ€™t worth respecting, loving, forgiving, helping, or serving because they are wrong about something high on our list of personal values. When we judge other people, we decide (consciously or not) that these people are fundamentally different than us. Their needs and problems, hopes and dreams arenâ€™t any concern of ours. We decide that theirs lives and ministries, their beliefs and priorities, their families and careers are worth less than ours. In fact, we treat them like they are worth-less . . . WORTHLESS . . . to us. We feel free to slander them, or withhold our help and support. We feel free to hold on to our disappointment in them until it distills into bitterness and we become negative, detached people. We feel free to separate from them, abandon them, and move ahead in life without them . . . THESE PEOPLE GOD CREATED AND LOVES, THESE PEOPLE JESUS CAME TO RECONCILE AND SAVE, THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE PRETTY MUCH JUST LIKE US (whose weaknesses, muddled thinking, personal failings, sins arenâ€™t a lot worse than our own). b. Weâ€™re not talking about discernment this morning. Jesus is addressing the practice of devaluing other people, withholding ourselves from them, deciding that they are unworthy of help, respect, or kindness; hanging on to our criticisms, refusing to forgive, and walking away from them with callous indifference or cold resentment. Judgmentâ€”a poison to our souls and an offense to the One who created us all. PRAY. TRANS: If judging people is so ugly and destructive, why do we so easily fall into it . . . slandering presidential candidates and their constituencies, withdrawing from other Christians as if they were agents of the anti-Christ, refusing to forgive folks who are just human, fellow travelers like us? We can see that judging others is an ugly evil; why does Jesus feel the need to spell this out for us? Judging others is a special danger because it often feels good, feels right, and feels empowering. I. A CHEAP THRILL FOR BITTER PEOPLE (like sniffing glue or paintâ€”a cheap buzz) A. (It feels good) Judgment provides comfort when weâ€™re feeling insecure. Even if our lives are still filled with chaos and weâ€™re still facing real trouble, there is some comfort in finding someone to blame, to isolate, and to punish (at least with our criticisms). Judging others relieves some of our stress. Sure, weâ€™re going through a hard time, but at least we have the comfort of being right and telling others that weâ€™re right and theyâ€™re wrong, and knowing, when we go to bed, that they should be ashamed of themselves for the error of their ways. They have no one to blame but themselves. Like Pilot, we feel some comfort in washing our hands of other peopleâ€™s lives and believing that weâ€™re not responsible for them. (It feels right) Judgment lifts us up when weâ€™re feeling down. You canâ€™t judge another person without (often unconsciously) deciding that you are, in fact, superior to him or her. The very process of judging others has an elevating effect that feels . . . self-affirming . . . because it is just that: self-affirmation. ILLUS: I have a mother to die for. When I was a teenager and was just beginning to sharpen my tongue into a razor-like weapon, she told me that people who become proficient at evaluating, criticizing, and judging others are really small people who are desperate to elevate themselves. They go through life trying to elevate themselves by cutting others down. They feel better, they feel smarter, they feel high and mighty . . . but for all their criticizing, they havenâ€™t grown an inch. C. (It feels empowering) Judgment provides a rush of spiritual power. Actually, I have come to believe that judging others is one sure way to tap into spiritual power . . . real spiritual power . . . demonic power. In the oldest book of the Bible, Job, Satan is revealed to be a spiritual being who openly declares his suspicion, cynicism, judgment, and malice to all the hosts of heaven. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, Satan whispers his suspicion, cynicism, judgment, and malice into Eveâ€™s innocent heart. Judging others often feels empowering because it opens the door to demonic partnership, deception, and destruction. Men and women whose hearts are filled with bitterness will sometimes meet together for some fellowship, share their mutual judgments, and feel that they had a powerful meeting. Actually, they did. People who build a friendship or partnership on shared criticisms and judgments of political leaders or church leaders or business leaders will feel that they reached a powerful understanding and agreement with each other. Theyâ€™re right; there was real power spinning their conversation. Satan is happy to empower Christians to do his work of isolating Godâ€™s people from each other and destroying Godâ€™s work in their lives. TRANS: Like sniffing glue or paint, judgment is a cheap thrill for bitter people. But, like glue or paint, judgment is . . . II. A POISON THAT WILL DAMAGE YOUR SOUL A. Donâ€™ be foolish (vv. 1-2)â€”youâ€™ll reap what you sow. Jesus speaks from common-sense wisdom. Wisdom on the streets. What goes around, comes around. Itâ€™s not hard to understand. Itâ€™s hard to remember when youâ€™re frustrated, disappointed, feeling betrayed, or down right angry at someone. If you let yourself become a negative person, youâ€™ll attract negative friends. Your conversations will be filled with negative evaluations of this and that. If your conversation is often full of cynicism and cutting remarks, folks who are at a similar place in life will feel comfortable around you. Theyâ€™ll find your company welcoming. If youâ€™re harsh with people who frustrate you, other folks who speak your language will find you. Youâ€™ll find it easy to relate to each other. And, at some point in your journey, those same people are going to turn on you. Itâ€™s only a matter of time before you stumble or do something to offend them and the searchlight of judgment will be turned on you. Youâ€™ll be the one who is no longer worth their company, or loyalty, or respect, or support. Youâ€™ll be the one who isnâ€™t worth forgiving, loving, helping, or inviting over on a weekend. Youâ€™ll be the one on the outside of the club, looking in. So, be wise. Do not judge others. If you give yourself license to judge others, sooner or later youâ€™re going to get a taste of that same treatment. B. Donâ€™t be a hypocrite (vv.3-5)â€”look in the mirror. Jesus knows that itâ€™s just human nature to pick at other peopleâ€”their weaknesses, failings, and sinâ€”while being blind to our own stuff. Who doesnâ€™t have stuff . . . a lot of stuff? Think of some of the stuff that you just canâ€™t stand in other people . . . stuff that just drives you nuts . . . stuff that ticks you off . . . stuff that makes you sick . . . stuff that gets you boiling . . . stuff that starts your doors slamming. You know what Iâ€™m talking about? Oh yeah, baby! I hate that stuff . . . people who are late to meetings, who donâ€™t know American history, who break their promises, who talk too much, who are voting for the other presidential candidate, who are divorced, have a jail record, or try to be funny when theyâ€™re not . . . I hate that stuff . . . kids who cohabitate and protest the war, Youâ€™re right: thereâ€™s a lot of sad stuff out there. I wish people were a little smarter, wiser, more discerning. But isnâ€™t there still a lot of sad stuff in thereâ€”inside you? Are you positive that your stuff smells like roses? That your stuff is so much better than their stuff? Are you sure that at the end of the day, God is going to wink at your stuff and slam other people for their stuff? Itâ€™s true: their stuff (like a speck of sawdust in the eye), is probably really hurting them. But, your stuff . . . this judging stuff, this devaluing others stuff . . . this turning your back on fellow travelers is going to destroy you. Itâ€™s poisoning your own soul. 2. Hypocrite is a pretty strong word. You donâ€™t want to be a hypocrite. By definition a hypocrite is someone who wears a mask. A hypocrite plays a part for his audience, while his mask covers up the truth about whatâ€™s really underneath. If youâ€™ve read the gospels, you might know that hypocrisy is a bedfellow of wickedness and evil. Hypocrites hang out with liars. In Jesusâ€™ mind, hypocrites are just one step away from hell. When King David is pleading with God for mercy and help, he argues that God should give him some credit for not associating with hypocrites (Psalm 26:4). 3. ILLUS: Speaking of mothers, one of my favorite actors is Denzel Washington. Did you see The Great Debaters last year? Wowâ€”one of my all-time favorites! Denzel was being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey last year and told a story about how his mother helped keep his budding, movie star ego in check. He said, â€œI walked in the house one day andâ€”feeling full of myself, a movie starâ€”I said to my mother, "Did you ever think this was all going to happen?" She was like, "Please. First of all, go wash the windows for me. You have no idea how many people were praying for you when you were being a knucklehead." Oprah Winfrey and Denzel Washington: 'Little Things Matter,'" Parade magazine (12-16-07). Everyone is a knuckled head from time to time; no one has to be a hypocrite! Someday, when youâ€™ve taken care of all your stuff . . . thatâ€™s when youâ€™ll have the right to walk out on other folks because of their stuff. Until youâ€™ve overcome all your stuff, keep your great and mighty powers of discernment focused on yourself. You donâ€™t have the right to judge them, to devalue them, to treat them like they arenâ€™t worth your respect or love or help. TRANS: Jesus ends this intense little coaching session with another bit of street wisdom. III. A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE STRATEGY THAT INVITES MORE PAIN (v. 6) God has given you a good mind. You have real discernment. You see life with real clarity. Youâ€™re right about some of these people and issues. A piece of sawdust in someoneâ€™s eye can cause a car wreck. Why donâ€™t you take what you see and move toward people with a commitment to listen and help, speak and serve, forgive and love, pray and wait? When you take the discernment Iâ€™ve given you and you decide to devalue others and pour out your judgments and criticisms on them, youâ€™ll offend them and turn them off. Your discernment might have helped them if it had been offered with respect and kindness. But, wrap your discernment in judgment, and itâ€™ll be as pointless or useless as lending your Bible to a dog, or giving your jewelry to a pig. Youâ€™re wasting your gift of discernment. Worse, the people you judge are going to be strongly tempted to turn on you, tit for tat, and give it back. Itâ€™s a very human reaction. They know you well enough to see some of your weaknesses and failings. Theyâ€™ve got some dirt on you. If you send them an email full of sharp words and condescending judgments today . . . better not check your email tomorrow. CONCLUSION: Back to The Shack: the turning point in Mackâ€™s weekend with God is the moment he decides that he doesnâ€™t have the love, wisdom, or courage to be anyoneâ€™s judge. God alone has the right to judge peopleâ€”to write them off. Mack repents of playing God by judging God and other people, and for the first time in a long time, he no longer feels stuck. If youâ€™re feeling stuck in your faith journey, you could do a lot worse than read The Shack. The book is fictional, but on points like judging others, it reflects Jesusâ€™ teaching with real power. When life has given us a beating, judging others often feels good, feels right, and even feels empowering. But, it is a poison that will damage your soul and all your relationships. In the final few paragraphs of the book, Willie writes, â€œWell there you have it . . . . I am sure there are some who wonder whether everything really happened as Mack recalls it, or if the accident and morphine made him just a little bit loopyâ€. â€œAll the changes in his life, he tells me, are evidence enough for him. The Great Sadness is gone and he experiences most days with a profound sense of joyâ€. â€œSo the question I am faced with as I pen these words is how to end a tale like this? Perhaps I can do that best by telling you a little about how it has affected me. As I stated in the foreword, Mackâ€™s story changed me. I donâ€™t think that there is one aspect of my life, especially my relationships, that hasnâ€™t been touched deeply and altered in ways that truly matter. Do I think that itâ€™s true? I want all of it to be true.â€ â€œIf you ever get a chance to hang out with Mack, you will soon learn that heâ€™s hoping for a new revolution, one of love and kindnessâ€”a revolution that revolves around Jesus and what he did for us all and what he continues to do in anyone who has a hunger for reconciliation and a place to call home. This is not a revolution that will overthrow anything, or if it does, it will do so in ways we could never contrive in advance. Instead it will be the quiet daily powers of dying and serving and loving and laughing, of simple tenderness and unseen kindness . . . .â€ http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/are-you-sure-you-want-to-be-the-judge http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/are-you-sure-you-want-to-be-the-judge Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDT the great sadness, judgment I'm Ready to Return to God Ray Befus, Jr The Shack Series This is your day to re-turn to God. Jesus is alive and he's here. Leaving behind your fear that God doesn't love you. Turning from your commitment to control your own life. This is your day to re-turn to God. Jesus is alive and he's here. Leaving behind your fear that God doesn't love you. Turning from your commitment to control your own life. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/im-ready-to-return-to-god http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/im-ready-to-return-to-god Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDT re-turn to god, reconciliation My Garden is a Mess Too! Ray Befus, Jr The Shack Series My Garden is a Mess Too! Ray Befus Romans 7:14-8:2 (TNIV, p. 773) October 12, 2008 The Shack Series #5 My Garden is a Mess Too! Ray Befus Romans 7:14-8:2 (TNIV, p. 773) October 12, 2008 The Shack Series #5 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/my-garden-is-a-mess-too http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/my-garden-is-a-mess-too Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDT romans Why Does God Let Horrible Things Happen? Ray Befus, Jr The Shack Series The Shack Series part 4; A lot of what happens to us in life is not good; it's evil. God doesn't cause it and, he doesn't like it. But, he never abandons us. We are never subject to blind fate. He is always working to redeem our suffering-to bring good out of it-and to transform us-to make us stronger, wiser, more loving, more like Jesus himself. The Shack Series part 4; A lot of what happens to us in life is not good; it's evil. God doesn't cause it and, he doesn't like it. But, he never abandons us. We are never subject to blind fate. He is always working to redeem our suffering-to bring good out of it-and to transform us-to make us stronger, wiser, more loving, more like Jesus himself. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/why-does-god-let-horrible-things-happen http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/why-does-god-let-horrible-things-happen Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EDT Does God Feel My Great Sadness? Matt Gravelle The Shack Series Does God Feel My Great Sadness? Does God Feel My Great Sadness? http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/does-god-feel-my-great-sadness http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/does-god-feel-my-great-sadness Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT great sadness Is God Happy~THAT HAPPY? Ray Befus, Jr The Shack Series The Shack part 2, Is God THAT HAPPY? The Shack part 2, Is God THAT HAPPY? http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/is-god-happy~that-happy http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/is-god-happy~that-happy Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT ii corinthians How to Overcome Suffering Ray Befus, Jr Philippians How to overcome suffering How to overcome suffering http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-to-overcome-suffering http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-to-overcome-suffering Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT prison How to Win the Gold! Ray Befus, Jr Philippians We're all in a marathon race, and the course has a lot of hills! Humble sacrifice and service. Jesus defines normal for all of us. The normal Christian life is an invitation to value others above ourselves and to focus on their interests. We're all in a marathon race, and the course has a lot of hills! Humble sacrifice and service. Jesus defines normal for all of us. The normal Christian life is an invitation to value others above ourselves and to focus on their interests. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-to-win-the-gold http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-to-win-the-gold Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT marathon, olympics, gold Your Best Life....Later! Matt Gravelle Philippians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/your-best-life----later http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/your-best-life----later Sun, 10 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT philippians The Cure for the Commonly Lonely Life Mike Befus Philippians Overcoming our own loneliness Overcoming our own loneliness http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-cure-for-the-commonly-lonely-life http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-cure-for-the-commonly-lonely-life Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EDT How to Have Great Friendships Ray Befus, Jr Philippians Paul and the Christians in Philipi are more than 'church friends.' Steps to a great friendship Paul and the Christians in Philipi are more than 'church friends.' Steps to a great friendship http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-to-have-great-friendships http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-to-have-great-friendships Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EDT friendship, jesus christ, paul, for to me to live is christ Philippians Part 2 Tom Spraque Philippians Cornerstone Professor, Tom Sprague, teaching on Philippians Cornerstone Professor, Tom Sprague, teaching on Philippians http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/philippians-part-2 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/philippians-part-2 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EDT Philippians Part 1 Tom Spraque Philippians Cornerstone professor Tom Sprague launches our summer study of Philippians. Cornerstone professor Tom Sprague launches our summer study of Philippians. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/philippians-part-1 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/philippians-part-1 Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EDT The Prodigal Son Matt Gravelle Adventures in Misunderstanding (A Series for Guys) The prodigal son and the older brother. The prodigal son and the older brother. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-prodigal-son http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-prodigal-son Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EDT prodigal son, pharisees, father Costa Rica Youth Missions Trip Reporting Mike Befus Report on youth missions trip to Costa Rica Report on youth missions trip to Costa Rica http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/costa-rica-youth-missions-trip-reporting http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/costa-rica-youth-missions-trip-reporting Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT Report on youth missions trip to Costa Rica Is That Gun Loaded? Ray Befus, Jr Adventures in Misunderstanding (A Series for Guys) http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/is-that-gun-loaded http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/is-that-gun-loaded Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT Good Guys, Bad Guys, Us Guys Ray Befus, Jr Adventures in Misunderstanding (A Series for Guys) Is there any forgiveness for me? Who is God? Jesus always shoots straight Is there any forgiveness for me? Who is God? Jesus always shoots straight http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/good-guys--bad-guys--us-guys http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/good-guys--bad-guys--us-guys Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT born again, forgiveness You Can Touch God's Heart Ray Befus, Jr Ruth You can touch God's heart. Ruth Pushes the envelope of intimacy. Ruth's journey foreshadows ours. Steps to intimacy with God. You can touch God's heart. Ruth Pushes the envelope of intimacy. Ruth's journey foreshadows ours. Steps to intimacy with God. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/you-can-touch-gods-heart http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/you-can-touch-gods-heart Sun, 01 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT god's heart, intimacy Is There Really Enough Grace for Me? Ray Befus, Jr Ruth http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/is-there-really-enough-grace-for-me http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/is-there-really-enough-grace-for-me Sun, 25 May 2008 12:00:00 EDT Ruth Act 1 Mike Befus Ruth Naomi's suffering becomes an opportunity for God's miraculous redemption. Naomi's suffering becomes an opportunity for God's miraculous redemption. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/ruth-act-1 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/ruth-act-1 Sun, 18 May 2008 12:00:00 EDT homesickness, heartsickness What About Me? Trusting God When Good Things Happen To Other People Lauren Befus Mother's Day Special: confronting the big dysfunction that plagues our relationships: deep worry about God's faithfulness in our lives Mother's Day Special: confronting the big dysfunction that plagues our relationships: deep worry about God's faithfulness in our lives http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/what-about-me-trusting-god-when-good-things-happen-to-other-people http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/what-about-me-trusting-god-when-good-things-happen-to-other-people Sun, 11 May 2008 12:00:00 EDT women, mother's day, envy, worry, psycho What if Jesus isn't a Christian? Ray Befus, Jr What if Jesus isn't a Christian? Jesus' amazing invitation and his unexpected assignment. Join Jesus in the mission. What if Jesus isn't a Christian? Jesus' amazing invitation and his unexpected assignment. Join Jesus in the mission. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/what-if-jesus-isnt-a-christian http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/what-if-jesus-isnt-a-christian Sun, 04 May 2008 12:00:00 EDT invitation, outsider My Africa Education Ray Befus, Jr http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/my-africa-education http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/my-africa-education Sun, 27 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT Opinions - Like Armpits, Everybody's Got 'Em Ray Befus, Jr Saving God's Green Earth http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/opinions---like-armpits--everybodys-got-em http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/opinions---like-armpits--everybodys-got-em Sun, 20 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT global warming, environmental, god's green earth Simplicity: finding freedom from the tyranny of stuff Mike Befus Saving God's Green Earth Finding freedom from stuff Finding freedom from stuff http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/simplicity:-finding-freedom-from-the-tyranny-of-stuff http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/simplicity:-finding-freedom-from-the-tyranny-of-stuff Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT stuff, consumption, simple life God: The Original Tree Hugger Matt Gravelle Saving God's Green Earth http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/god:-the-original-tree-hugger http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/god:-the-original-tree-hugger Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EDT Does the Resurrection Matter? Mike Befus Easter sermon. Does the Resurrection Matter? Easter sermon. Does the Resurrection Matter? http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/does-the-resurrection-matter http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/does-the-resurrection-matter Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EDT eye-witness testimony I Don't Want to be Critical of the Church, But I Am Matt Gravelle Spiritual Journey series http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/i-dont-want-to-be-critical-of-the-church--but-i-am http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/i-dont-want-to-be-critical-of-the-church--but-i-am Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EDT Everyone Needs A Coach Ray Befus, Jr Spiritual Journey series Ray interviews Joni McDonnell about her experiences receiving and giving personal life coaching in recovery ministry. Ray interviews Joni McDonnell about her experiences receiving and giving personal life coaching in recovery ministry. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/everyone-needs-a-coach http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/everyone-needs-a-coach Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EST joni mcdonnell, recover, aa, 12 step, sponsor What's my part in my growth? Ray Befus, Jr Spiritual Journey series At various points in our lives, each of us get stuck in our spiritual development. How do move beyond surviving toward a faith that is growing and thriving? At various points in our lives, each of us get stuck in our spiritual development. How do move beyond surviving toward a faith that is growing and thriving? http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/whats-my-part-in-my-growth http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/whats-my-part-in-my-growth Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST discipleship, growth Simply Jesus Mike Befus Spiritual Journey series http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/simply-jesus http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/simply-jesus Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST Simply Jesus Where Are You Leading Me? Matt Gravelle Spiritual Journey series Church isn't about meetings, but a mission. Jesus wants followers not fans. Living life being captivated, connected, equipped and commissioned. Church isn't about meetings, but a mission. Jesus wants followers not fans. Living life being captivated, connected, equipped and commissioned. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/where-are-you-leading-me http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/where-are-you-leading-me Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST life, together, jesus' disciples, christians, jesus' kingdom Who Really Rules--Are You Ready for a King in Your Life? Ray Befus, Jr When God Shouts: The Minor Prophets on Justice, Mercy and Humility How to walk with God in humility during times of painful waiting. How to walk with God in humility during times of painful waiting. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/who-really-rules--are-you-ready-for-a-king-in-your-life http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/who-really-rules--are-you-ready-for-a-king-in-your-life Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:00:00 EST ray befus jr., respect, humility Blinking Back Tears: Seeing Through Mercy's Eyes Mike Befus When God Shouts: The Minor Prophets on Justice, Mercy and Humility http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/blinking-back-tears:-seeing-through-mercys-eyes http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/blinking-back-tears:-seeing-through-mercys-eyes Sun, 27 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST justice, mercy, compassion Blowing the Whistle: The Playing Field Isnâ€™t Level! Ray Befus, Jr When God Shouts: The Minor Prophets on Justice, Mercy and Humility The God of the Bible looks at justice issues through the eyes of the poor and weak The God of the Bible looks at justice issues through the eyes of the poor and weak http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/blowing-the-whistle:-the-playing-field-isn--------t-level http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/blowing-the-whistle:-the-playing-field-isn--------t-level Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST fairness, mlk, prophet God Speaks Up: He Knows What He Wants Matt Gravelle When God Shouts: The Minor Prophets on Justice, Mercy and Humility http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/god-speaks-up:-he-knows-what-he-wants http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/god-speaks-up:-he-knows-what-he-wants Sun, 13 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST micah Trusting God in a New Year Ray Befus, Jr A guide to life in the new year A guide to life in the new year http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/trusting-god-in-a-new-year http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/trusting-god-in-a-new-year Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST new year People in my Way Ray Befus, Jr Open Before Christmas: 4 Gifts That Show I care http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/people-in-my-way http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/people-in-my-way Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:00:00 EST gifts Christmas Candlelight Talk: Do Not Be Afraid Ray Befus, Jr Open Before Christmas: 4 Gifts That Show I care Have you ever considered why Jesus entered our world as a baby? Why he was born in a stable to a common young girl? Have you ever considered why Jesus entered our world as a baby? Why he was born in a stable to a common young girl? http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/christmas-candlelight-talk:-do-not-be-afraid http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/christmas-candlelight-talk:-do-not-be-afraid Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:00:00 EST fear, baby, afraid, good news Howdy Neighbor! Ray Befus, Jr Open Before Christmas: 4 Gifts That Show I care What the second greatest commandment is not. What the second greatest commandment is not. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/howdy-neighbor http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/howdy-neighbor Sun, 09 Dec 2007 12:00:00 EST good samaritan, kindness, neighbor, fred rogers Getting from Cold to Captivated this Christmas Mike Befus Open Before Christmas: 4 Gifts That Show I care http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/getting-from-cold-to-captivated-this-christmas http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/getting-from-cold-to-captivated-this-christmas Sun, 25 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EST captivated Stepping into the Future Ray Befus, Jr http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/stepping-into-the-future http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/stepping-into-the-future Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EST All Church Meeting Special Events http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/all-church-meeting http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/all-church-meeting Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EST Let's Do It! Ray Befus, Jr Naturally Supernatural Ray Befus. God is on the move. Things to do to get ready for your solo. Ray Befus. God is on the move. Things to do to get ready for your solo. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/lets-do-it http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/lets-do-it Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EST participating Three Messages for Freedom Fighters Matt Gravelle Naturally Supernatural http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/three-messages-for-freedom-fighters http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/three-messages-for-freedom-fighters Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EDT freedom fighters Hearing God's Voice Bill Johnson Guest Speaker An evening of training with friend of the Vineyard and pastor Bill Johnson from Tallahassee, Florida. Bill is an ordinary guy and teaches nationally on Hearing God's Voice. An evening of training with friend of the Vineyard and pastor Bill Johnson from Tallahassee, Florida. Bill is an ordinary guy and teaches nationally on Hearing God's Voice. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/hearing-gods-voice http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/hearing-gods-voice Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EDT bill johnson, real church, hearing god Shocking, But True! Ray Befus, Jr Naturally Supernatural This morning I'd like to speak to the concern/challenge that God's powerful acts were limited to Jesus and his Twelve apostles, not normal people like us. Many people in conservative churches believe and teach that God is not working in supernatural ways today, not giving spiritual gifts today, and that praying for healing and deliverance is just a distraction for everyday, ordinary Christians like us. For ordinary people like us, Christianity is about going to church, studying the Bible, and being as good as we can be. Miracles were for another time and place, for people like Jesus and the Apostles, not for men and women like us today. The good news, as I understand it, is shocking but true. This morning I'd like to speak to the concern/challenge that God's powerful acts were limited to Jesus and his Twelve apostles, not normal people like us. Many people in conservative churches believe and teach that God is not working in supernatural ways today, not giving spiritual gifts today, and that praying for healing and deliverance is just a distraction for everyday, ordinary Christians like us. For ordinary people like us, Christianity is about going to church, studying the Bible, and being as good as we can be. Miracles were for another time and place, for people like Jesus and the Apostles, not for men and women like us today. The good news, as I understand it, is shocking but true. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/shocking--but-true http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/shocking--but-true Sun, 21 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EDT Why Do All Jesus' Prayers Seem Like Magic? Mike Befus Naturally Supernatural http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/why-do-all-jesus-prayers-seem-like-magic http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/why-do-all-jesus-prayers-seem-like-magic Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EDT magic Holiday Home Invasion Ray Befus, Jr Open Before Christmas: 4 Gifts That Show I care 4 Kindness packages we can deliver before Christmas 4 Kindness packages we can deliver before Christmas http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/holiday-home-invasion http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/holiday-home-invasion Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EDT holiday, pray, forgive Are You Ready to Repent And Believe the Good News? Ray Befus, Jr Naturally Supernatural At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, he makes three short statements: (1) God's Kingdom is here. This is new. (2) Repent . . . reorient your thinking . . . change your lifestyle. Stop living like it's yesterday, last month, or last year. (3) Believe the good news. Lift your expectations. The kingdom is here whether you believe it or not, but your decision to believe it will open a door for you to participate. In this talk, lead pastor Ray Befus examines Jesus' main message as recorded in Mark 1:14-15, and its application to modern life. At the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, he makes three short statements: (1) God's Kingdom is here. This is new. (2) Repent . . . reorient your thinking . . . change your lifestyle. Stop living like it's yesterday, last month, or last year. (3) Believe the good news. Lift your expectations. The kingdom is here whether you believe it or not, but your decision to believe it will open a door for you to participate. In this talk, lead pastor Ray Befus examines Jesus' main message as recorded in Mark 1:14-15, and its application to modern life. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/are-you-ready-to-repent-and-believe-the-good-news http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/are-you-ready-to-repent-and-believe-the-good-news Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:00:00 EDT repent Where in the World is the Kingdom of God? Mike Befus Naturally Supernatural If youâ€™ve ever visited other churches, you know that you can tell a lot about whatâ€™s important to a church by the Sunday service. Some churches put worship right at the center. They put a lot of money into making the music exciting and loud. Some churches put the Bible right at the center. Some churches would say Bible study is the heart and soul of their church life. Youâ€™d know it because on Sunday youâ€™d hear the click-and-clack of notebooks opening during the service and whooshing of Bible pages turning. If youâ€™ve ever visited a charismatic church youâ€™d notice that the center of their faith is experiencing the power and presence of God. People talk about visitations from angels and spiritual experiences. Their congregation might travel extensively to find a speaker with a lot of anointing. Still at other churches you might sense that the center of Christianity is protecting people from the danger of the world. Theyâ€™d probably dress differently than the rest of American culture. Hairstyles might look like the 1940â€™s. There might be a whole new language system developed and kids would be protected from playing with other kids in the neighborhood. Many churches look like that. In this talk, we'll explore why the Vineyard is a "kingdom" church. If youâ€™ve ever visited other churches, you know that you can tell a lot about whatâ€™s important to a church by the Sunday service. Some churches put worship right at the center. They put a lot of money into making the music exciting and loud. Some churches put the Bible right at the center. Some churches would say Bible study is the heart and soul of their church life. Youâ€™d know it because on Sunday youâ€™d hear the click-and-clack of notebooks opening during the service and whooshing of Bible pages turning. If youâ€™ve ever visited a charismatic church youâ€™d notice that the center of their faith is experiencing the power and presence of God. People talk about visitations from angels and spiritual experiences. Their congregation might travel extensively to find a speaker with a lot of anointing. Still at other churches you might sense that the center of Christianity is protecting people from the danger of the world. Theyâ€™d probably dress differently than the rest of American culture. Hairstyles might look like the 1940â€™s. There might be a whole new language system developed and kids would be protected from playing with other kids in the neighborhood. Many churches look like that. In this talk, we'll explore why the Vineyard is a "kingdom" church. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/where-in-the-world-is-the-kingdom-of-god http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/where-in-the-world-is-the-kingdom-of-god Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:00:00 EDT The Messy Miracle of Friendship Special Events http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-messy-miracle-of-friendship http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-messy-miracle-of-friendship Sun, 16 Sep 2007 12:00:00 EDT Missions Sunday Matt Gravelle Special Events Matt Gravelle & Mike Befus explain our fall Ramadan prayer focus and Indonesian church planting partnership Matt Gravelle & Mike Befus explain our fall Ramadan prayer focus and Indonesian church planting partnership http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/missions-sunday http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/missions-sunday Sun, 02 Sep 2007 12:00:00 EDT ramadan Interview with Hussein Rassi Wario Ray Befus, Jr Special Events Lead pastor Ray Befus interviews a guest on his journey from Islam to Christianity Lead pastor Ray Befus interviews a guest on his journey from Islam to Christianity http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/interview-with-hussein-rassi-wario http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/interview-with-hussein-rassi-wario Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT conversion Learning to Walk in the Paradox of God Roy & Mary Douglas Guest Speaker Guest speakers from the Vineyard Church of Okemos share insights from their personal journey. Guest speakers from the Vineyard Church of Okemos share insights from their personal journey. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/learning-to-walk-in-the-paradox-of-god http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/learning-to-walk-in-the-paradox-of-god Sun, 19 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT rory, douglas, mary, okemos The Power of Extended Family Mike Befus Building Kingdom Families Nearly all the statistics on family and community in America show the same thing: our kids are suffering from inadequate adult relationships. Nearly 1/3 of all American children live with just one parent, and the number is growing. Research indicates that nearly all measures of a child's well-being fall dramatically as adult presence decreases. In this conclusion to our series on family life, we examine God's deep concern for parentless children, single parents and broken families and his plan for restoration that begins with the church. Nearly all the statistics on family and community in America show the same thing: our kids are suffering from inadequate adult relationships. Nearly 1/3 of all American children live with just one parent, and the number is growing. Research indicates that nearly all measures of a child's well-being fall dramatically as adult presence decreases. In this conclusion to our series on family life, we examine God's deep concern for parentless children, single parents and broken families and his plan for restoration that begins with the church. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-power-of-extended-family http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-power-of-extended-family Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT family, community Turning Teenagers Into Friends Ray Befus, Jr Building Kingdom Families http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/turning-teenagers-into-friends http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/turning-teenagers-into-friends Sun, 05 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT teenagers, parent You Canâ€™t Buy Discipline! Ray Befus, Jr Building Kingdom Families Spanking? Timeouts? Choices? Rewards? When it comes to discipline, styles and methods are always changing. The foundation of a well-disciplined home, however, has always been a well-disciplined parent. You can't pass on what you don't have, as the Old Testament priest Eli was painfully aware. In this message, discover the path to building a life and a family around discipline. Spanking? Timeouts? Choices? Rewards? When it comes to discipline, styles and methods are always changing. The foundation of a well-disciplined home, however, has always been a well-disciplined parent. You can't pass on what you don't have, as the Old Testament priest Eli was painfully aware. In this message, discover the path to building a life and a family around discipline. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/you-can--------t-buy-discipline http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/you-can--------t-buy-discipline Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:00:00 EDT discipline Why Is It So Hard to Raise Great Kids Ray Befus, Jr Building Kingdom Families http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/why-is-it-so-hard-to-raise-great-kids http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/why-is-it-so-hard-to-raise-great-kids Sun, 08 Jul 2007 12:00:00 EDT children, kids, ephesians Built to Outlast: Timeless Habits for Every Family Mike Befus Building Kingdom Families How do we pass on a vibrant faith to future generations? Our modern concern parallels the people of Israel as they entered the Promised Lands. In this sermon, we look at the contemporary relevance of Moses' instructions to the nation of Israel. How do we pass on a vibrant faith to future generations? Our modern concern parallels the people of Israel as they entered the Promised Lands. In this sermon, we look at the contemporary relevance of Moses' instructions to the nation of Israel. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/built-to-outlast:-timeless-habits-for-every-family http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/built-to-outlast:-timeless-habits-for-every-family Sun, 01 Jul 2007 12:00:00 EDT parenting Your Wife: She's A Full Partner In Life Ray Befus, Jr Building Kingdom Families http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/your-wife:-shes-a-full-partner-in-life http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/your-wife:-shes-a-full-partner-in-life Sun, 24 Jun 2007 12:00:00 EDT gender, roles Your Wife: She's Different, but Equal Ray Befus, Jr Building Kingdom Families http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/your-wife:-shes-different--but-equal http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/your-wife:-shes-different--but-equal Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:00:00 EDT wife Kingdom Missions 2007 Matt Gravelle Special Events Pastor Matt Gravelle reports on the status of various International Missions projects at the Vineyard in preparation for our annual missions offering. Pastor Matt Gravelle reports on the status of various International Missions projects at the Vineyard in preparation for our annual missions offering. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/kingdom-missions-2007 http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/kingdom-missions-2007 Sun, 10 Jun 2007 12:00:00 EDT First Loved to Love Mark Fee Guest Speaker Guest Speaker Guest speaker Mark Gordon Fee presents a summary of his "First Loved to Love" seminar, held over the weekend at the Vineyard. While sharing stories of his personal transformation, Fee examines the premise that we are only able to love others to the extent that we experience God's love for us. He offers practical steps to experience God at work in our everyday lives. Guest speaker Mark Gordon Fee presents a summary of his "First Loved to Love" seminar, held over the weekend at the Vineyard. While sharing stories of his personal transformation, Fee examines the premise that we are only able to love others to the extent that we experience God's love for us. He offers practical steps to experience God at work in our everyday lives. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/first-loved-to-love http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/first-loved-to-love Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:00:00 EDT mark fee, first loved to love, seminar A Smart Start to a Healthy Marriage Ray Befus, Jr Building Kingdom Families http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-smart-start-to-a-healthy-marriage http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/a-smart-start-to-a-healthy-marriage Sun, 27 May 2007 12:00:00 EDT needs, audio How To Plan A Great Marriage (without spending a lot of money) Mike Befus Building Kingdom Families The wedding industry wants you to know that a dream marriage isn't possible without a $30,000 wedding, that perfect dress, and a 2 months salary engagement ring. Rather than taking the salesman's word for it, we've decided to explore what it really takes to build a wise, healthy, long marriage. Discover what the Bible has to say about building a great single life -- the foundation for a healthy life. The wedding industry wants you to know that a dream marriage isn't possible without a $30,000 wedding, that perfect dress, and a 2 months salary engagement ring. Rather than taking the salesman's word for it, we've decided to explore what it really takes to build a wise, healthy, long marriage. Discover what the Bible has to say about building a great single life -- the foundation for a healthy life. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-to-plan-a-great-marriage--without-spending-a-lot-of-money- http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/how-to-plan-a-great-marriage--without-spending-a-lot-of-money- Sun, 20 May 2007 12:00:00 EDT grand rapids Rebuilding After the Hurricane of Divorce Matt Gravelle Building Kingdom Families http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/rebuilding-after-the-hurricane-of-divorce http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/rebuilding-after-the-hurricane-of-divorce Sun, 13 May 2007 12:00:00 EDT divorce Why So Many Singles Aren't Marrying Matt Gravelle Building Kingdom Families http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/why-so-many-singles-arent-marrying http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/why-so-many-singles-arent-marrying Sun, 06 May 2007 12:00:00 EDT Hope for Families in a Broken World Mike Befus Building Kingdom Families Is 21st century America still a safe place to get married and raise children? According to most young adults, the answer is no. In the western world, we're getting married less, divorcing more, and having far fewer children than generations past. In this introduction to our series on marriage and the family, we're considering the words of the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah and their impact on the contemporary Christian life. This sermon draws fresh insight from an old familiar passage: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord." Is 21st century America still a safe place to get married and raise children? According to most young adults, the answer is no. In the western world, we're getting married less, divorcing more, and having far fewer children than generations past. In this introduction to our series on marriage and the family, we're considering the words of the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah and their impact on the contemporary Christian life. This sermon draws fresh insight from an old familiar passage: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord." http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/hope-for-families-in-a-broken-world http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/hope-for-families-in-a-broken-world Sun, 29 Apr 2007 12:00:00 EDT jeremiah, community of hope The Power to Live Jesusâ€™ Life Ray Befus, Jr Naturally Supernatural This week we're discussing the ministry of the Holy Spirit, particularly stepping into the Holy Spiritâ€™s ministry for the first time. Most people who have a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit describe it in dramatic terms -- they were overwhelmed or overcome, nuked or fried, swept away or blown away. Some, having read the book of Acts describe their experience with the Holy Spirit as being baptized in the Holy Spirit -- dunked, immersed, and stuck on the spin cycle. The way I described my first experience with the Holy Spirit was, â€œWhatâ€™s going on here!?!â€ I felt as though electricity was buzzing into my body, from the top of my head, down into my hands. Clearly, in West Michigan, the subject of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit has been a controversial subject. Trying to be nice, people will try to avoid the controversy by saying something that you wonâ€™t read in the Bible: Seek Not, Forbid Notâ€”as though the Holy Spirit is like gasoline (alright in the garage, but donâ€™t bring it in the house). You need to know that West Michigan isnâ€™t the world. Itâ€™s not even close to the center of the world. W MI is an unusual place. We have an unusual number of very conservative churches, denominational headquarters, and Christian schools in West Michigan. Both the Catholics and Protestants of W MI are very conservative. This week we're discussing the ministry of the Holy Spirit, particularly stepping into the Holy Spiritâ€™s ministry for the first time. Most people who have a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit describe it in dramatic terms -- they were overwhelmed or overcome, nuked or fried, swept away or blown away. Some, having read the book of Acts describe their experience with the Holy Spirit as being baptized in the Holy Spirit -- dunked, immersed, and stuck on the spin cycle. The way I described my first experience with the Holy Spirit was, â€œWhatâ€™s going on here!?!â€ I felt as though electricity was buzzing into my body, from the top of my head, down into my hands. Clearly, in West Michigan, the subject of the baptism or filling of the Holy Spirit has been a controversial subject. Trying to be nice, people will try to avoid the controversy by saying something that you wonâ€™t read in the Bible: Seek Not, Forbid Notâ€”as though the Holy Spirit is like gasoline (alright in the garage, but donâ€™t bring it in the house). You need to know that West Michigan isnâ€™t the world. Itâ€™s not even close to the center of the world. W MI is an unusual place. We have an unusual number of very conservative churches, denominational headquarters, and Christian schools in West Michigan. Both the Catholics and Protestants of W MI are very conservative. http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-power-to-live-jesus---------life http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-power-to-live-jesus---------life Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00 EST The Wisdom of True Friendship Lauren Befus Things Your Parents Should Have Told You but Probably Did Not, Proverbs, Summer 2010 friendship, proverbs, wisdom friendship, proverbs, wisdom http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-wisdom-of-true-friendship http://vineyardnorth.cpmpreview.com/downloads/sunday-audio/sermon/the-wisdom-of-true-friendship Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00 EST