Matthew 28 has become known as the impetus for the expansion of Christianity. But what did Matthew have in mind when he was writing this? This week, we will walk through these final words of Jesus and explore what they could mean for us. What if the Great Commission is not about expanding Christianity? What if power, domination, and proselytizing i…

In 2018, American evangelical Christian missionary, John Allen Chau was killed by the Sentinelese after illegally traveling to their isolated island to convert this indigenous group to Christianity. Chau, like many evangelicals, received his missionary calling from what has been called, the Great Commission, in Matthew 28. But is this what Jesus ha…

Bar Mitzvahs, graduations, weddings, and funerals all mark a significant stage in someone’s life. But what about Baptism? This ancient rite of passage has been given many meanings over the years. This week, we will look at some of those meanings. Can baptism still be a meaningful ritual for us today? What might it mean for us today?…

If you grew up evangelical, you know about, “The Sinner's Prayer.” Romans 9:10-11 is usually the prooftext for this prayer. Today, we are exploring this passage in its larger context of Paul's extended riff (9-11). It turns out, the very thing Paul is arguing for, salvation by faith not works, is the very thing the sinners prayer has become, a work…

Today we take a deep dive into one of the prooftext for original sin, Genesis 3. This story is typically described as a falling down but perhaps it can be better understood as a waking up. Just as the eyes of Adam and Eve are opened, so our eyes will be opened to the good news that lies at the heart of this story.…

Central to the evangelical notion of salvation is original sin. The belief that humans are born broken, flawed, and separated from God. One prooftext is Genesis 3. Turns out, just as Adam and Eve were lied to in the story, we were lied to about the story. Original sin is nowhere to be found. What can be found? The fundamental truth that the core of…

We are given three images in the Old Testament of salvation. The first is in Exodus. Here, Salvation is about liberation. The second is in Isaiah. Here, salvation is about return from exile. Third is in Psalms. Here, salvation is about enemies. All of these are about something concrete, real, literal, present, here and now. What does this mean for …

Have you been saved? Have you accepted Jesus into your heart? Have you trusted Jesus to be your Lord and Savior? If you grew up evangelical, you know these were the most important questions you could ever ask. So much so, that many people spent their days obsessively, anxiously, and frequently reciting a sinner's prayer to be sure they were saved. …

We sit down with author and speaker Felicia Murrell to discuss her new book, AND: The Restorative Power of Love in an Either/Or World. IN an election year where sides are being demanded, Felicia offers a third way. She proposes the way of Love that shatters all categories of left and right. Is it any wonder, Jesus said, narrow is the way that leads…

Ever heard the phrase, “Thoughts and Prayers?” Do you cringe at the sound of it? I am almost certain this expression began from a sincere place of sympathy. But overtime, it has become a trite, empty, and meaningless cliché. Why? Because it has become a substitute for responsibility. Today, we talk about prayer not as a substitute for responsibilit…

It’s easy to lose connection to the sacredness, depth, vitality, wonder, and meaning of life. Many of us unconsciously get caught up with everyday demands and lose sight of the magic and point of it all. But what if we could pull ourselves out of ourselves from time to time? What if we could regularly reconnect with source, sacredness, depth, and m…

What would it look like to think about prayer as a kind of listening, to the world, to one another, to the Divine? How can we let go of our small agendas and listen for a bigger story, what Thomas Merton calls the "general dance?" How can we learn to pay attention, as an act of prayer, rather than just thinking about prayer as using words to addres…

Everything is energy. All energy creates vibrations at different frequencies. When we speak a word, it vibrates at a certain frequency. This is not psychology but physics. Now, what if prayer was no exception to this reality. What if prayer is not just about the horizontal but the vertical? What if our praying has been facing one direction for too …

What if prayer could be a practice of lament? An intentional time of ripping our heart open and giving language to that which lurks inside your internal universe. What if prayer could be naming the anger, rage, joy, and pain within you. Perhaps this type of expression could get us one step closer to finding release. This week we examine the most co…

What is prayer? What is the purpose of prayer? How does it work? Do you pray? What do you pray for? Can prayer change things? If not, why do we do it? Does prayer change Gods mind? Does God answer prayer sometimes but not all the time? Have you ever prayed for someone or something and it didn’t happen? Are miracles dependent on prayer? If so, what …

Many of us grew up with a particliuar image of Mary. She appears docile, meek, mild mannered like she is posing for the cover of hearth & home as a voiceless virgin passively sitting amongst fluffy sheep. But this image is not the image we are given in the narrative. It appears we have Mary all wrong. Today we will begin the process of shattering t…

What were you taught about heaven? Many of us were taught that heaven is an ethereal, intangible, & immaterial place that sits somewhere above us. When we die a very small group of people will go there to live in their mansion forever. Once there, we will wear white robes, sit on clouds, play harps, and sing Chris Tomlin songs forever and ever. But…

Will there be a Judgement Day when we die? Will all the wrongs be made right? Will everything that was done in the darkness be brought into the light? There is a primal impulse within all of us for people to get what they deserve. But what about the litany of ways we have contributed to the heartbreak around us? Could the desire for judgement actua…

Jesus once said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Is Jesus talking about eternal conscious torment? Did He talk more about hell than any other subject? And what do we do about the part of tearing are eye out? Is thi…

The English word “hell” is used roughly twelve times in the New Testament. Almost all those occasions are exclusively by Jesus himself. In one place Jesus says, “If you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire” (Mark 9:47). What does Jesus mean by this? To get at it, we must know something about the valley of Hinnom. Never heard of i…

Is Hell in the Old Testament? Why do some translations have hell in the O.T. but others do not? What did the ancient Israelites believe about the afterlife? Were they concerned about life after death? Is there any evidence they believe in life after death? How did their Egyptians neighbors influence their understanding? This week we talk about Sheo…

Can a loving God send some to eternal torment? One response I’ve heard, “God doesn’t send anyone to hell, we send ourselves there.” Can you feel the strain in this response to absolve God of all responsibility. Why? Perhaps, it's because deep down in all of us, we intuitively know someone burning forever and ever in conscious torment is immoral no …

Vision is what you want to accomplish. Mission is how you will get there. Too many companies have vision but have no idea how to accomplish that vision. Today we will talk about how we intend to accomplish our ONE thing of creating a wake up space for the world. Join us for VL 17.0- How will we do this?…

In the past, our collective stretched itself thin trying to conform to all the expectations of what VL should be doing. As a result, we were unremarkable at many things. Over the last year, we have gotten clear on who we are and why we are here. Today, we want to show and tell you this ONE THING. All our energies are dialed in and we are unapologet…

In Acts 21, Paul is asked, "Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorist out into the wilderness some time ago?” Paul’s response… um no, where did you hear that? How great is that story? Paul then goes on an extended riff about who he is. In today’s sermon, we cut through all the ambiguity and give you as much church…

The worlds largest religion is declining on an epic scale. Religious organizations are doing everything they can to keep it all alive. Clever marketing, compelling language, good music, great coffee, and top notch kids programs are an attempt to turn the tide. But many religious leaders feel as though they are doing hospice work for the church. May…

In 1955, New Hope Baptist Church began on the outskirts of Atlanta. In 2006, New Hope Baptist Church became Vinings Lake Baptist Church. In 2008, Vinings Lake Baptist Church became Vinings Lake Church. We were a traditional Baptist church We were a contemporary Baptist church We were a non-denominational church We were a progressive christian churc…

Fear is the epicenter of the religious industrial complex. Remove fear and you bankrupt the business. Demolish many churches and you will discover it's built on the foundation of fear. Fear as a motivator is in more than just the religious realm. We see it in politics, click-bate tweets (now threads), and finance. Everyone knows the power of fear. …

Fear is the epicenter of the religious industrial complex. Remove fear and you bankrupt the business. Demolish many churches and you will discover it's built on the foundation of fear. Fear as a motivator is in more than just the religious realm. We see it in politics, click-bate tweets (now threads), and finance. Everyone knows the power of fear. …

Fear is the epicenter of the religious industrial complex. Remove fear and you bankrupt the business. Demolish many churches and you will discover it's built on the foundation of fear. Fear as a motivator is in more than just the religious realm. We see it in politics, click-bate tweets (now threads), and finance. Everyone knows the power of fear. …

Our own Katie Mair shares her thoughts with the VL tribe.

Our good friend, pastor, and author Josh Scott joins us at VL.

What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean…

What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean…

What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean…

What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean…

What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean…

What is faith? Is it something we think? Feel? Intuit? Apprehend? Is it a verb or a noun? Is it something that takes place in my heart? Mind? Soul? Can faith be strong? Weak? Can we have little faith? Big faith? Medium faith? No faith? Are there different kinds of faith? Is faith the same as belief? Is faith the same as certainty? What does it mean…

The first century writers use sacrificial language to give theological meaning to the death of Jesus. This week we are asking one question that requires contemplation: Outside of temple language like debt, atonement, sin, blood sacrifice, and forgiveness, what does Jesus’ death mean for us?

After Jesus was killed, his followers struggled to make sense of what just happened. Many in the first century began to make theological claims about the significance of Jesus’ death. One of those claims comes from a sermon found in Hebrews. The author writes, “Jesus was the once and for all sacrifice.” This week I want us to see how this revolutio…

What have you been taught about the death of Jesus? What were you told happened on that iconic cross? This week, we begin with the actual story of Jesus’ death. Before all the theological meanings there is the historical meaning. Why did Jesus die? Historical speaking, the cause of Jesus’ death is not a mystery. He did not die for sin, He died from…

The entire framework of waking up, growing up, and cleaning up is just an intentional way to become and remain a fully-integrated human. We practice these actions so that we will “show up” in all of our glory as a true emanation of the Divine Source. So that human flourishing will come to fruition in ourselves, our collective, and our world. This w…

We live in two dimensions. Some call this, the upper and underworld, the vertical and horizontal plane, or the conscious and unconscious realm. I call it the external and internal universe. The external universe is what is happening around you. The internal universe is what is happening in you. This Sunday, I want to share about my trips to my inte…

Swiss psychologist Carl Jung gave language to a part of our internal landscape he called “The Shadow.” Though this metaphor is contemporary, the concept behind it can be found in most wisdom traditions. Long before Jung, Jesus illustrated this very idea through Greco-Roman theatre and hyperbole. After his vivid presentation, he calls his audience i…

Part 3 of our message series on human flourishing.

Is there a difference between waking up and growing up? Is it possible to have seen the light yet remain spiritually undeveloped? Have you ever met an immature guru? In my experience, the greatest hinderance to our further growth can be our previous awakening. Said another way, waking up cannot substitute for growing up. This week we look at the se…

Have you ever had an awakening experience? How did it happen? Was it something you read, someone you met, somewhere you went? How would you describe this awakening? Was it disorienting, calming, affirming, terrifying? The very phrase “waking up" is a metaphor explaining something that has happened to us, in us, among us, through us. But what is it …

Our good friend, speaker, activist, and best-selling author Shane Claiborne joins us.

Our good friend Jonathan Findley shares a message for the New Year with the VL family.

Something new is being birthed in and through Matthew’s collective. We asked, what is the new thing that wants to come through our collective? Rest assured, with all new ideas, perspectives, and dreams there will be opposition. Someone (Herod/Empire) has a vested interest in keeping things just as they are. Matthew’s community knows this well, as t…