Red Bluff Vineyard Podcast

Advent: Joyful Surrender (Philippians 2:1-11)

Working through Philippians 2:1-11, pastor Luke shared how transformative the message of grace is for followers of Jesus! In fact, the Apostle Paul, when challenging the church in the ancient city of Philippi to be more loving, appealed to the Incarnation as an example of humility. 

Advent: Embarrassing Details, Questionable Characters, & a Savior for All

The Gospel of Matthew records the story of Jesus's birth, beginning with his genealogy. What can we learn from Jesus's genealogy? In this sermon, pastor Luke shared how the embarrassing details and the questionable characters in the story help us understand God's intention with the Incarnation!

Advent: Be like the Shepherds

Reading the story of the Shepherds in Luke 2, pastor Luke shared five things to learn from the shepherds that will help us avoid being a grinch during the holiday season. 

Advent: Be Intentional

Building off of John 1:1-14, pastor Luke shared about how we can celebrate and feast on Christmas with others. But first we started with our top five awkward moments of Christmas! 

The Reason for Faith: How can you believe in the Resurrection?

In the last sermon in our series on answering tough questions or common objections to Christianity, pastor Luke addressed the resurrection of Jesus. In contrast to other religions, Christianity has always invited skeptics to evaluate the evidence for her claims. Looking to three of the strongest evidences for the resurrection of Jesus, this sermon explored the implications of 1 Corinthians 15 and what Paul called the things of "most importance." 

Recommended Resources:

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, by Gary Habermas & Michael Licona.

Did the Resurrection Happen?, by Gary Habermas & Antony Flew. 

Raised with Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything, by Adrian Warnock.

Risen: 50 Reasons Why the Resurrection Changed Everything, by Steven Mathewson

The Resurrection of the Son of God, by N. T. Wright.

The Resurrection of Jesus, by Michael Licona.

Surprised by Hope, by N. T. Wright.

 

The Reason for Faith: Hasn't science disproved Christianity? And do miracles really exist?

Many people assume there is a conflict between science and faith and that science has disproven the Bible. Others reject Christianity because they do not believe that miracles exist. In this talk, pastor Luke shares a variety of ways that Christians interpret Genesis and the creation story as well as explains why a purely naturalistic worldview that's opposed to the existence of miracles is a logically incoherent perspective. 

The Reason for Faith: How can a loving God allow suffering & evil?

Reconciling how God can be both loving and allow suffering and / or evil is a challenge that many non-Christians have with Christianity. And let's face it, this issue is challenging for Christians too! In this sermon, pastor Luke shared a number of ways that Christian thinkers have engaged the topic and wrestled with the problem of evil and human suffering. 

The Reason for Faith: Is Christianity Oppressive to Women?

Many people have asked whether Christianity is oppressive to women based on the way that women have often been marginalized and overlooked throughout history. In this sermon, pastor Luke provided the biblical-theological and practical reasons why the Vineyard believes women can serve in leadership roles within the church. Building on a robust look at the whole of Scripture and engaging in a strong look at the culture surrounding the text of Scripture most often used to keep women from leadership, this talk provoked a lot of great discussion! 

Recommended Resources:

Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts: A Case for Gender Equality in Ministry

Discovering Biblical Equality

Paul, Women, & Wives

Relationshift

Why Women Must Learn in Quietness & Submission (1 Timothy 2) youtube video

Five Principles on Serving

In this sermon, pastor Dawn shared from Matthew 20's emphasis on serving! Providing five practical foundations to serving, she shared a number of great stories to help us understand why serving is so important! 

The Reason for Faith: How can there be only one true religion?

A popular question people have about religion in general is this: how can there be only one true religion? In this sermon, pastor Luke addresses some of the assumptions that underly this question and demonstrates that everyone has views and opinions on religion... the key question is why those views are held. In light of Jesus' statement that he was the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), people must wrestle with his claims for he is, as C. S. Lewis suggested, either Lord, a liar, or a lunatic. 

Recommended books: 

The Reason for God, by Tim Keller.

Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis.

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Lesslie Newbigin