Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro (Kevin)

Play “We Are Vineyard” video

Why this series

Many new people

Important to know one’s family history and roots because it says something about where we are moving

We are need to have our vision refreshed and re-ignited

There is currently over 2,400 Vineyards spread out through 95 different nations.

The U.S. has a little over 500.

The movement looks to John Wimber as its founder.

Wimber was a character.

He lacked all the credentials of a pastor or church-planter.

He was radically saved during the Jesus People movement in the 60s while managing a nightclub act called The Righteous Brothers.

When he was conscripted by God in the mid-60s, he was, in the words of a 1998 Christianity Today article, a “beer-guzzling, drug- abusing pop musician, who was converted at the age of 29 while chain-smoking his way through a Quaker-led Bible study.”

Auspicious beginnings!

But John was on fire for God.

In his first decade as a Christian he led hundreds of people to Christ.

By 1970 he was leading 11 Bible studies that involved more than 500 people.

He was so fruitful as an evangelist and pastor that he was asked to lead a new endeavor at Fuller Seminary Institute of Evangelism and Church growth where his classes I believe still holds the attendance records for anything ever done by the seminary.

In 1977, John re-entered pastoral ministry to plant Calvary Chapel in Yorba Linda, CA.

Throughout this next season, John’s conservative evangelical paradigm continued to grow and mature.

But during his time at Fuller he was introduced to George Eldon Ladd’s writings on the kingdom of God, and though this became convinced that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit should be active in the church today.

He began to teach and train his church to imitate Jesus’ kingdom ministry, which included the proclamation of the gospel combined with physical demonstration through healing and prophecy.

As John and his congregation sought God through intimate worship they began to experience powerful experiences of the Holy Spirit, a renewal of the spiritual gifts, and massive conversions.

However, it became clear that his church’s emphasis on the experience of the HS was not shared by the leaders of the Calvary Chapel movement, so in 1982 John’s church left Calvary Chapel and joined a small group of churches going by the name “Vineyard”.

Over time, the pastors and leaders of those handful of churches began looking to John for direction, and thus the Vineyard movement was born.

John has always been clear that the Vineyard is not better than other churches, and we have always had deep appreciation for other expressions of Christianity, while maintaining that we too are an important expression.

In the words of Wimber, “The Vineyard story is about ordinary people who worship and serve an extraordinary God.

The Vineyard is simply one thread in the rich tapestry of the historic and global Church of Jesus Christ.

But it is a thread of God’s weaving.”

The Vineyard as a movement adds to the tapestry that is Christianity, while offering a unique emphasis that we guard as a sacred trust.

This morning we want to share about three specific things that form the roots of Vineyard theology and practice.

We are Evangelical (Kevin)

When one hears the word evangelical often the most immediate recognition is as a voting block.

For many today, the designation “evangelicals” is more about how someone votes than particular religious beliefs.

Evangelicals are those who are politically conservative, against abortion, gay marriage, and open borders.

While these may be fine political positions to hold, this is not what it means to be evangelical.

Evangelicalism can be traced back to the Great Awakening in the early 1700s.

Three key beliefs mark what it means to be evangelical.

First, we believe the Bible is inspired.

“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”

(2 Timothy 3:16–17, NRSV)

We look to Scripture as God’s revelation to us and we hold it to be both true and authoritative.

Now, this doesn’t mean we can’t have differences in how to read and understand certain passages.

But we hold that the Bible contains God’s inspired revelation to us.

Second, to be evangelical is to believe everyone must experience personal conversion.

It is not enough to be born in a Christian country or even a Christian home.

That your daddy was a deacon or your grandma a praying woman is not adequate.

Every person must personally repent of sin and place their trust in Jesus Christ as their personal savior.

This does not mean Jesus becomes your personalized savior - as if you can now dictate who Jesus is or what he demands - only that each person must make this choice for themselves.

Finally, to be evangelical is to make a commitment to works of mercy.

This, unfortunately, has been lost in modern evangelicalism.

But this was a robust belief to the early evangelicals.

They believed this if the Bible is true and Jesus is who he claims to be, then it must make a difference in human lives.

From the early evangelicals came numerous movements to improve the lives of people for the glory of God, including healthcare initiatives, education reform, recovery programs, orphanages, and a host of other things.

This is why one of the major distinctives or the Vineyard movement, which we will talk about next week, is “remember the poor”.

With these three in mind, the Vineyard is unapologetically evangelical in the very best sense of what that really means.

We are Charismatic (Julie)

Tell story of Scott Baptist and knowing Jesus wanted to be my friend then Pioneer Bible Church where I learned to study the Bible and hear from the LORD in community then Vineyard where kids mattered and the poor mattered and people did the stuff.

Charismatic - that was a scary word to me - I heard “out of control for Jesus” The dictionary definition of charismatic is - exercising a compelling charm which inspires devotion in others.

Biblically, charismatic means the gifts of the Holy Spirit are in operation.

The church we came out of believed that all the gifts had ceased with the apostles.

Being charismatic in the Vineyard means we allow space for the Holy Spirit to move.

It means we recognise and cultivate the Presence of God in us and among us.

It means that we are naturally supernatural - no show.

It means that our focus is God’s power, not our words or actions.

Our simple prayer is just Come Holy Spirit.

We believe when we ask, He comes.

Paul says in I Corinthians 2:3-5: “And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”

Just like Paul did not put on a show, we won’t here.

There won’t be yelling or pushing.

Someone might put a hand on you and they might speak in tongues under their breath before they pray over you.

Someone might share a word they heard or a picture they saw in their mind.

But you will be compelled by the Holy Spirit.

We are Kingdom Oriented (Kevin)

John Wimber one wrote, “Only Bible, we dry up.

Only Spirit, we blow up, but Word and Spirit, we grow up.”

My experience of church up until the Vineyard was the first - dry, boring, without much meaning.

Knowing the present activity of the Spirit was instrumental in finding church a place to grow up and bear fruit.

The last thing I want to share about our roots is the importance of Kingdom Theology.

There are many paradigms that people use by which to view and understand the story of the Bible.

We believe the best paradigm is viewing it in terms of the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God was the primary message of Jesus.

The first recorded words of Jesus in Mark’s gospel say:

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.””

(Mark 1:14–15, NRSV)

The kingdom of God dominated Jesus’ teachings.

His parables, stories, illustrations.

Essentially, his claim was that the long-awaited kingdom of God was now coming to fulfillment in him.

The Jews up until this time has a very linear understanding of the close of history.

This present evil age would finally give way to the “age to come” ushered in by God’s Messiah.

There is a clear end of one age the the beginning of another (Not Yet image).

From Jesus’ teaching, however, we find a slightly modified understanding of how the kingdom of God comes (Already image).

With Jesus first coming, we say the kingdom of God has been inaugurated.

But we are waiting for its fulfillment, or consummation.

We will between these times of Jesus first and second coming.

While the “age to come” has broken in to human history, this present evil age is still here, and these two different ages are running on parallel tracks.

This age is still under the control and influence of Satan; the age to come is where God’s will and ways hold sway.

If you want the $50 word for this, it is called Enacted Eschatology.

Eschatology is the study of Last Things, and in Christ we see the beginning, or enactment, of the end.