In today's message, we explore Jesus’ surprising invitation to trust God in the middle of suffering, not in spite of it. We consider the real strength of faith, the reality that following Jesus will include grief and hardship and how sometimes that cost is actually part of discipleship. Rather than avoiding pain, we consider what it means to lean into grief as a necessary and even meaningful part of being human. We also name the cultural pull toward comfort and how easily we opt out when things get difficult, even when Jesus is inviting us deeper. Ultimately, we look to Jesus as the one who meets us in our grief, offering not just teaching but his presence as we learn to trust him more.

In this message we continue our journey through the final week of Jesus’ life, using a scene from The Chosen to help us step into the moment of the Last Supper. Just after Judas leaves the table, Jesus gives a simple but profound command: love one another just as I have loved you. Before we can live that kind of love, we first need to root ourselves in the love revealed in the cross, where God’s glory is seen in sacrificial love. From that place we learn to love others through the words, works, wounds, and welcome of Jesus. This teaching invites us to experience God’s love more deeply and to reflect that love in the way we live with the people around us.

In this message, we continue our journey through the final week of Jesus’ life, using scenes from The Chosen to reflect on his words in Matthew 24. Jesus speaks about wars, suffering and the love of many growing cold, but he also invites his followers to live with hope and watchfulness as God’s kingdom breaks into the world. Are things getting worse, or better? In the tension of the “now and the not yet,” we discover that both are true. Jesus’ call is not to panic or withdraw, but to stay awake, to yearn for his kingdom and to participate in what God is doing even now.

What does really means to be a “living sacrifice” in Romans 12? We reflect together, ask honest questions and discover how God meets us in both our strengths and our struggles. Through a scene from The Chosen and the story of Joseph of Arimathea, we wrestle with the cost of following Jesus and what we’re afraid to lose. We look at the things God invites us to lay down for healing and the parts of our lives he wants to use for his purposes. Ultimately, this conversation invites us to offer our ordinary, daily lives to God and trust that he transforms us from the inside out.

At the Vineyard-Chester Springs, partnership is based on honest intentions, grace, love and mutual respect. We don’t want to

micromanage each other’s lives. We trust one another to keep our commitments consistently, not perfectly. We celebrate the mystery

that despite our diversity and brokenness, it is by grace that we are all part of Jesus’ body. We believe commitment to a local church is

an important step in your spiritual journey: It’s our way of saying “this is who we are” and your opportunity to say “yes, I’m in!”

This message explores what trust really is and why it’s so much more than blind faith or “just believing harder.” Drawing from Scripture and Dr. Henry Cloud’s five essentials of trust, we look at how trust is built, broken and formed over time. We talk about what happens when our trust muscle is injured through betrayal, overload or chronic disappointment, and how those experiences shape the stories we tell ourselves. Instead of pushing ourselves to trust more, we’re invited to notice the inner narratives that keep us guarded or self-reliant. Ultimately, this conversation points us back to a God who is trustworthy and who gently heals us so we can receive love, connection and life more fully.

Trust is one of those words we use all the time, but rarely slow down to examine. In this episode, we explore Paul’s words in Galatians 5, where faith is described not as a set of ideas, but as trust that takes shape in love. We talk about how trust grows in real relationships, why love is the clearest evidence that trust is alive, and how fear and self-protection often reveal the places trust has been wounded. This isn’t about trying harder or believing better, but about learning to depend on a God who is good and trustworthy.

What does it look like to be a community shaped by the love of Jesus in this moment? In this Vision Sunday conversation, Amos and Alison Groenendyk share the heart, hopes and direction of our church as we seek to Love Like Jesus together.

We are invited into a shared vision of being a people of Word and Spirit—formed by Scripture, attentive to the work of the Holy Spirit and committed to integrated discipleship that touches every part of life. This is a conversation about who we are becoming, how we listen to God together and how our lives can bear faithful witness in our neighborhoods, families and world.

Whether you are new to the community or have been walking this journey for years, this episode offers a compelling invitation into the life and calling we share.