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Colossians 2:1–10

February 20, 2012 in VCC 0

Some of the stories are scary. Over 900 dead in Jonestown. David Karesh. The Heaven’s Gate cult. How do these groups get people to follow so blindly?

I know, you could never be so gullible.

And yet, people believe foolish things all the time. And not just religious people. Anyone with a Facebook account knows how often urban legends are shared via people’s status updates.

It is easy to be fooled.

Paul speaks to that very truth in the opening verses of chapter two. He challenges the Colossians to be firmly rooted in Christ so that they are not tricked by every wind of foolish teaching. We need to continually be reminded of that truth today. We simply do not need to check out minds at the door before entering church. In fact, Jesus makes it clear that we must love him with all our mind.

Check out this week’s video:

Colossians 1:21–29

February 17, 2012 in VCC 0

It’s easy to forget, isn’t it? Most of the Bible is a Jewish book. Most of the Old Testament is the story of God relating to his chosen people, Israel. Even the New Testament begins with the Jewish Messiah, the Christ. The disciples were Jewish. Most of the first believers were Jewish. And, when the Church first began, it’s mission was to reach the Jewish people. 

That all changed in Acts 10. A centurion guard wants to know God personally. At the same time, Peter has a vision where God directs him to reach non-Jewish people, also known as Gentiles. The guard and his family are converted after Peter shares the message of grace with them. Peter is called before the church leaders (Jewish men), shares what God is doing, and they celebrate. From that moment on, the door is open and the church is truly launched worldwide. 

But it’s not easy for Jewish Christians to accept these Gentile believers. After all, for their entire lives, Jewish people have seen Gentiles as second-class citizens. Suddenly, they are to be welcomed as brothers and sisters. For some Jewish Believers, it’s too hard to accept. And so, they press the Gentiles to continue to follow Jewish customs in order to truly be accepted by God.

And that’s where this passage comes in to play. Paul let’s the Colossians in on an amazing secret: Christ is in you. Without following the Jewish rituals or customs, the Gentiles have been welcomed into the family of God. They are adopted sons and daughters simply because of God’s grace. It’s an incredible example of God breaking down racial barriers and demonstrating that his love is for everyone.

NOTE: we are having difficulty with this week’s video. The service was recorded, but when we export it, we are getting errors in the upload to Vimeo. As soon as we have it sorted out, I’ll post the video here.

UPDATE: Video is now online … here you go:

Colossians 1:15–20

February 7, 2012 in VCC 0

It’s amazing. Paul has been making incredible claims about Jesus being “everything.” He has suggested that we bring nothing to the equation. It is only when we fully surrender our lives to Jesus that we can experience the fulfilment that we long for.

But what is it about Jesus that makes his claims credible? Can he back his promises?

This week, we continued our Colossians series by looking at one of the most incredible passages in the Bible. This passage focuses on who Jesus is, his role in creation, and his ability to fulfill every promise that he made.

Check out the video:

Colossians 1:9–14

January 30, 2012 in Spirituality, VCC 0

Last week we began our new series on the book of Colossians. The first message focused on the first eight verses of the book.

This week, we looked at verses 9–14 of Colossians 1. The passage contains a prayer that Paul prayed over the church in Colossae. There is so much that we could learn from his prayer, both in how to pray for others and in what he saw as important for those who followed Christ.

We focused in on three main parts of Paul’s prayer:

  • That we would have knowledge, wisdom, & understanding
  • That we would be strengthened by God’s glorious power
  • And, that we would be full of joy and thankfulness.

Each aspect of the prayer came with a reason. Ultimately, Paul is reminding the Colossians that everything they need or desire can be found in Christ. That if they pursue a deep understanding of the truth of God’s amazing grace, everything else will flow out of that. It’s a powerful truth that we need to be continually reminded of.

You can watch the video below:

Colossians 1:1–8

January 26, 2012 in Spirituality, VCC 0

Last week we launched a series on the book of Colossians. It’s going to take us a few months to get through this amazing book found in the middle of the New Testament.

I thought I’d offer a brief summary of each message here on my blog along with the video of each week’s message.

Colossians 1:1–8

We began by looking at an overview of the book along with Paul’s opening comments to the people of Colossae. Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter at the request of Epaphras, who started the Colossian church. The church had begun to take various teachings from other religious groups and spiritual cults and added them to the gospel message. As a result, they began placing significant burdens on those who simply wanted to be a follower of Christ.

Paul writes this letter to remind the Colossians of the incredible amazing truth of the good news: Jesus did it all. There is nothing we bring to the equation. In fact, as soon as we try to bring something to the gospel message, we weaken its power. As Tullian Tchividjian puts it in his book Jesus + Nothing = Everything, when we recognize that we offer nothing, then we finally experience the everything that Jesus offers.

I was amazed at how freeing this message was for so many. The comments I received from people after both services was very encouraging. It seemed people are getting just how awesome the good news truly is.

Anyway, I encourage you to take time to watch the following video. Keep in mind that the audio is a little screwy at the beginning of the message, but it does get better.

Ready To Grow Deeper?

January 24, 2012 in Spirituality, VCC 0

A few weeks ago I shared my vision message for 2012. In that talk, I suggested that 2012 would be the year that we would be challenged to grow in spiritual maturity. I quoted Colossians 2:7 which says,

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (nlt)

I suggested in that message that there are a number of ways that we can become rooted in God. One of the key ways is through small groups.

Tonight, we launch the next phase of our Submerge classes. We have two topics we’re coving this session. The first is a woman’s only group focusing on a book by Beth Moore. The second is open to both men and women and goes through Philip Yancey’s book, “The Jesus I Never Knew”. Both promise to be excellent studies.

Let me encourage you to join us tonight for the Submerge gathering. As the passage quoted above suggests, nothing will cause us to experience thankfulness more than to be rooted in God.

Ready to grow deeper?

For those who missed the vision message, here it is:

One Church

November 8, 2011 in Bikers' Church, City Church, Two Churches, VCC 5

This was an historic weekend for Bikers Church and City Church. In separate business meetings, both churches voted to merge their ministries together to establish a new church called Vanier Community Church. The merger isn’t a typical merger, and the creativity demonstrated by both the partnership committee and the congregation as a whole was wonderful to see.

I as said, the merger is a unique one in that both churches will continue to operate as expressions of Vanier Community Church (VCC). In other words, if you show up on a Thursday night, you will be attending Bikers Church. If you come out on a Sunday, you’ll be at City Church. But everything behind the scenes, ministries shared by both churches, etc., will be known as VCC.

It’s a model that opens the door to all kinds of potential ministries in the future. In the same way that a Dream Centre can function with multiple churches, VCC can oversee all kinds of creative expressions of church. Each expression is stronger by being under the umbrella of VCC.

It was amazing to listen to the heart of the membership regarding this merger. The Bikers Church family voted 91.1% in favour of the move. At the meeting, the biggest concern expressed had to do with protecting the unique identity of the Bikers Church “brand”. There was fear that in merging, the potential was there to lose what makes Bikers Church an entity.

During the City Church meeting, the exact same concern was expressed. Not that City Church was worried about losing their identity, they were more concerned with protecting the identity of Bikers Church! A number of BC people attended that meeting, and they were amazed at how sincere the CC people were at seeing BC continue to be effective in their ministry. It was wonderful to hear. In the end, the CC membership voted 100% in favour of the merger.

So, where do we go from here?

Well, over the next few months, lots of paper work will be filed. The merger is effective January 1st, 2012 and that means we’ll need to have the process of moving all assets of the church into the name of Vanier Community Church. We’ll be merging the bank accounts, setting up new accounting practices, and working through branding ideas for the new entity.

These are exciting days. One long time member of Bikers Church came to me following their business meeting and said, “I feel like the first ten years of BC we’ve been in first gear. We’ve now shifted into second gear.” I smiled and agreed. He then added, “Just keep in mind, most engines have six gears, this is still just the beginning!” I asked him if he was trying to kill me!

And yet, he’s right. We’ves shifted into a new gear. God is shaping this community of believers into a force that will be used by Him to touch the lives of many who are far from God. I’m so thrilled to be part of the journey!