Vista Community Church

The past is not what we leave behind so much as what we carry. How do we carry it well? We carry the past well when we carry it with gratitude, acceptance, and contrition – instead of nostalgia, denial, and shame.

Psalms takes us on a rollercoaster because that's what life is. But, Psalms ends with five psalms of joy and praise, because the rollercoaster of life ends on the highest note imaginable: hallelujah!

The gospel (when rightly heard and received) is a source of laughter. Because His promises exceed our expectations, we can't help but laugh when God comes through for us.

How can Paul write about having joy, despite his dire circumstances? And how do we find that kind of joy? Paul gives us insight into how to live joyfully in a broken world.

What happens at the end of Mark's gospel account? This Easter, we're examining why it ends the way it does and what we can learn about the resurrection story.

What happens at the end of Mark's gospel account? This Easter, we're examining why it ends the way it does and what we can learn about the resurrection story.

Jesus leaves Jerusalem after the palm procession, and we read about a rather odd account with a fig tree. This story leads us to ask, are we bearing any fruit? Or are we just leaves?

How do we enjoy life when it is so unmanageable and fleeting? By cherishing life's many provisional joys and remembering we are not entitled to permanence.

Although Solomon declares that much of life is vanity, he recognizes that it's better to live with wisdom. In Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon describes the difference between a life of wisdom and a life of folly.

God alone is who orders our life, and we can't predict outcomes of prosperity or adversity – still, how we live matters. Our response to adversity and how we handle prosperity can influence their effect on our lives.

When it comes to our work, we need to find a proper balance between laziness and pathological productivity. Paradoxically, many of us need to lower our expectations to have lives filled with gratitude and contentment – instead of entitlement and resentment.

Ash Wednesday is an invitation into a season of preparation for Easter, and an antidote for our temptation to have "Easter without Good Friday."

We should remember the past seasons and prepare for future seasons, but ultimately we should live in the season that God has us in right now so that we don't miss current opportunities. Life is a gift, so enjoy it and live with a proper fear of God.

Life can be mean. Given the injustice that fills the world, Solomon has a wise but challenging suggestion: stop waging war on reality, and surrender to the small but important work of being faithful with your little piece of the world.

Solomon recognized that the gifts from God are good and enjoyable, however they were never meant to bring ultimate satisfaction. Far too often, we settle for fleeting pleasures when infinite joy is available to us in Christ–we worship the gift, rather than the giver.

The writer of Ecclesiastes wants us to learn about life. In chapter one, the writer is frustrated and sees everything he's pursued as empty and meaningless. No doubt we have all felt this way from time to time, but the real question is "what's the solution?"

We're increasingly skeptical of authority, which can be a good thing. We also don't want to live in a world where we trust no authority but our own. Looking at an event in the life of Paul, we discuss embracing the tension between submission and autonomy.

We seem to be pushed to be either more conservative or more progressive – politically, socially, theologically, financially, etc. But how conservative or progressive should Christ followers, or the church, be? Maybe instead of being either conservative or progressive, we should seek to be conservative AND progressive in the right ways.

Do we have to choose between including people and judging people? No! Inclusion includes a healthy form of judgment, just as Christian judgment always happens in the context of inclusion.