Is the God of the Old Testament different than the God of the New? Or does the grace that we experience because of Jesus have ancient rooting? It does! Abraham’s story shows us how.

Life goes off the rails when we stop believing God is good and start worshipping idols, but Jesus is working to reverse the curse!

The Story of God is the story of us. How do we figure into the story? What is God’s intention for humankind? What does it mean to be “made in His image?”

The most beautiful Story in the Universe begins with Creation. This is where the story starts for you and me, too.

Our fifth value is doing restorative justice. We believe our church exists to partner with God to “restore” his intention for his good creation. Why is justice so important? What role do we play?

We believe that every person’s highest good is to become like Jesus. This sits at the core of our identity. This week, we answer the questions “Why is this so important to us?” and “How do we do it?”

This week, we explore our second congregational value, arguably the most important defining value of the Vineyard movement of churches. Acts 2 anchors this key distinctive.

This week we begin a new series on our congregational values. Our first value comes straight from the apocalyptic letter of Revelation: Worshipping the True and Beautiful God.

Jesus lived a radically simple life marked by few possessions and dependence on God, and His followers imitated him with abundant generosity for one another. What could it look like to practice [...]

Devotional prayer is a well-known but often taken-for-granted practice of the Christian life. Why is a life of devotional prayer important, and how does it affect us? What might a private prayer [...]

Jesus practiced radical hospitality and welcome toward strangers and people in need. We can follow His lead today by being people who open our homes and hearts to others.

Jesus was led by the Spirit to pray for people. We should too. Prayer is a gift that we give freely to anyone and anywhere.

In a culture that idolizes success and security, we are pressured to endlessly produce and desire more. How do we find rest in having and in being enough? What does God have to say about this?

Jesus loved the scriptures and we can too. By building the habit of reading scripture, we set the table for communion with God.

How did Jesus resist the constant pressure of the people’s demands during his life on earth? Through solitude and silence. We can do the same.

Letitia Suk on the spiritual practice of meeting God by ourselves, in a quiet place, to get some rest.

Today we begin a nine week series on spiritual practices that help us become like Jesus. In this introduction, Ted gives us a way to think about transformation.

Paul has great cause for celebration! Why? Because of the generosity of the church in Philippi. In these verses, we learn three important lessons about giving and flourishing.

Joy is meant to be nurtured, but how do we do it? What gets in the way of our joy growing and flourishing? We look at Philippians 4:4-7 for guidance.

 After spending five weeks in joy, we now come to a passage that answers the question, “Why is joy so hard to find?” The Apostle Paul gives us some helpful insight and a huge encouragement.

In Philippians 3 we see that joy comes from finding our identity in Christ: being marked by the Spirit, boasting in Christ, and placing no confidence in the flesh.

What are you building with your life? In this passage, Paul shows us how we can build something with our lives that will last beyond us and give us joy.

It can be hard to locate joy when life is difficult or in transition. Paul shows us where to locate our joy and how it sustains us.

Today we are beginning a new series in the book of Philippians. In this beautiful, uplifting letter, we find Paul full of joy. Why? Can we share in that joy, and if so, how? The first 11 verses [...]

In our liminal space, between what was and what will be, we are reordering our lives. Jesus helps Peter and us through this process with love and kindness. 

What does the miraculous catch have to teach us about the return with great joy? Much, as it turns out. The future and the past hold the sea. But Jesus calls us to the present, where he is on the [...]

As we return with great joy, there is room for our doubt and uncertainty. In fact, we can meet Jesus in our doubt and ask for His help. Thomas’s encounter with the risen Jesus shows us what’s possible.

Today we begin a new series looking at four episodes from the book of John of life after the resurrection. Can we return to life after Covid with “great joy”  as the disciples returned to [...]

Message to the church on the importance of God’s intervention.

The resurrection is not just for when we die, it’s present power for today. Luke 24 shows us four ways resurrection breaks into our present.

The Triumphal Entry demonstrates the “lifelong mismatch between what we think we need and what we need.” The Jews wanted another Judas Maccabaeus. They got Someone far better. That’s good news [...]

The parables of Jesus expand our imagination and vision for the kingdom of God. Watching the Father and his two sons, we see that God loves us so very much. He searches for us and rejoices when [...]

Jesus tells us how to avoid hypocrisy.

We get a glimpse at the real Jesus, and it’s glorious. How will we respond? Will we respond like Peter and put him in a shelter? Or will we let ourselves be surrounded by the cloud and “listen to him?”

Jesus tells us who He wants us to be and yet, we struggle to follow through. It is never too late to forge a new foundation with Jesus.

Jesus envisions a new community where there is no judgment; forgiveness and generosity flows with liberality; and we grow in dependence on one another as we take out planks and call out specks.

The challenge to love your enemies.

Today we begin four weeks on Jesus’ masterful Sermon on the Plain. What challenges and comforts are here for us in Jesus?

Jesus begins to assemble His team, the disciples in Luke chapter 5. And of course, as it is often the case with Jesus, we will find that who Jesus chooses and how He calls them to respond is [...]

This week we take a break from our Luke series to address the past couple of weeks in our nation’s capital.

The beautiful Kingdom of God. What is it? How do we receive it? This episode in Capernaum answers these two questions.

Jesus is on the side of the oppressed.

Today I’m reminded of how much we need the mercy and justice of Jesus. I’m reminded today of how much our world needs for him to be our leader. For Jesus to come fully into his kingdom…. Oh how [...]

As Jesus comes of age, He leaves His family for three days. His parents find him at the Temple and there is revelation of the person He is becoming. There is also a lesson for us here about [...]

Simeon and Anna’s witness orients us to Jesus’ mission in the world

God sent the angels to tell the best news in the universe to… shepherds? Glory and peace are for everyone, because of Jesus, including the most lowly.

Luke 2

How Christmas shows the tender mercy of our God.

In Luke 1:39-56, we see the news of new life settle into Mary and Elizabeth and they bear witness to the faithfulness of God. As they anticipate the new thing that God is doing in the world, they [...]

As Luke 1:26-38 shows, life can miraculously emerge from the overshadowing power of the Most High. And with it, comes hope.

We close our series with the practice of noticing and nurturing beauty. Jesus is the Beauty of God embodied. How do we notice His beauty and nurture through contemplation His beauty in our lives?

Help pay off outstanding medical debt for local families in need with our 2020 Benevolence Offering on December 6! Every year we set aside the first Sunday in December for our church community to [...]

God created rest. Jesus invites us into rest. And yet, rest is not apart of the world around us. Practicing the Sabbath, reserving space for rest, allows us to give testimony to who God is and to [...]

What if we began to practice daily “being with Jesus through being with the least of these? “ Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 that it would upend our lives and change everything!

Dear Evanston Vineyard Church Family, By now, most of the country has voted and knowing who the next president of our country will be is only a matter of time. We’re holding our breath. This [...]

Life with the Holy Spirit should be a regular practice. -Steve Nicholson

Distraction is all around us. But what happens when that distraction becomes something that makes us forget who we truly are? Here’s where fasting can help us. Click here to download a helpful [...]

Jesus prayed all the time. The ways we see Jesus pray invite us into similar spaces with God. Renee looks at the life of Jesus to consider how we might engage in the spiritual practice of prayer.

Why should we put the Bible at the center of our spiritual formation? Ted explores this question, looking at the way Jesus treasured Scripture.

This week we begin a new series on becoming like Jesus by doing the things that Jesus did – the doing of spiritual formation practices. This is good news for us and for our city.

Dear Evanston Vineyard Church Family, Last week, Dave Sandell, our longtime Pastor of Communications and Administration, decided to resign from his pastoral position. Dave has been a member of [...]

It is hard to stick together when life is complicated and we are not at our best. But God has given us each other, so we are not going to give up. Creativity and flexibility are necessary!

This week we look at Matthew 16 and the beginning of the church, the new people of God. The church is the house built on the rock, and nothing can stop it.

In this crazy season we’re living in, we need each other now more than ever. As we do life together, Jesus transforms us into the people he created us to be and we become bringers of hope to our city.

On this week’s final Coping With COVID, Ted Kim hosts a conversation with John Willison. John is the senior pastor of Abundant Grace International Fellowship in [...]

As we conclude our series in the Life Worth Living, we ask the question: What role do we play in the winning of our city to the Good Life Jesus offers us?

Chris Gow- What is this life that Jesus came to bring?

On this week’s Coping With COVID, Renée Cunningham will host a conversation with Geno Olison, lead pastor at the South Suburban Vineyard in Flossmoor and member of the Vineyard Executive Team. 

This week’s guest is Matt Dobschuetz, longtime church member and host of the Porn Free Radio podcast, which you can learn more about at recoveredman.com. In addition to the podcast, [...]

How Jesus helps us overcome the painful side of life.

Our guest for tonight’s Coping with COVID class is Pam Larkin, LCPC. Pam is a clinical therapist in Chicago with a background in community mental health. She is one of [...]

Cindy Nicholson looks back over a lifetime of experiencing a life lived well to capture stories of God bringing life that has been grace-filled, peaceful and joyful in the midst of difficulties [...]

Today we’re bringing you the first of two Coping with COVID conversations from the last two weeks, a conversation between Ted Kim and Brenda and Michael Gatlin, pastors of the Duluth Vineyard in [...]

Today’s guests will need no introduction to longtime Evanston Vineyard members — they are Bill and Cheryll Hanawalt, part of the founding team of the Evanston Vineyard. Bill served as the [...]

One of the most meaningful activities we do together is take communion. Through communion, we remember the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus, our Savior – who died on the cross to rescue us [...]

Death tries to tell us all sorts of doomed stories. Jesus came so that we might have life. Life with Jesus is about flourishing through formation! Formation requires us to show up, clean house [...]

How do we lay hold of the Life Worth Living? The Greatest Commandment: Love the Lord your God. Jesus knows that our lives are ruled by our loves and desires. Order and direct them rightly and we [...]

On this week’s Coping With COVID podcast, Ted Kim is joined by Pastor Gary Dawkins of the Syracuse Vineyard for a discussion on systemic racism. To learn more about the Coping With COVID [...]

Life with Jesus is the height of human flourishing. It’s the treasure that the man found in the field. It’s life to the full, as Jesus tells us in John 10:10. In short, it’s the good life. What [...]

All through the Bible and in the lives of men and women following Jesus all through history, the response to a call from Jesus to follow him always comes with a decision point: to say yes to the [...]

This summer, Ted Kim and others are hosting a series of conversations called COPING WITH COVID on Tuesday nights at 8:00pm. Learn more and register at vcce.org/coping.Today we’re sharing a [...]

Steve Nicholson- When we are faced with pressure will we grow anxious or cast our concerns upon Him?

This summer, Ted Kim is hosting a series of conversations called COPING WITH COVID on Tuesday nights at 8:00pm. Learn more and register at vcce.org/coping. We’ll be releasing each of these [...]

Suffering because of your love and commitment to Jesus is expected at some point in the life of a Christian. We are called to rejoice in those experiences. Renee unpacks how joy and hope might be [...]

This summer, Ted Kim is hosting a series of conversations called COPING WITH COVID on Tuesday nights at 8:00pm. You can learn more and register at vcce.org/coping. We’ll be releasing each of [...]