Vineyard Christmas: Communion Homily :: Pastor Donnell Wyche, December 27, 2015

The Communion meal is a celebration that's meant to draw all Christians together, to remind us of what we hold in common, and to unite us. It's an enactment of a story that hopes to sustain and impart something powerful to us. And communion was anchored within the Passover meal, the annual retelling of the exodus, the liberation of the people of God from bondage, captivity, and slavery.

Advent #4 - Love - Forgiveness: Love’s Litmus Test :: Pastor Donnell Wyche, December 20, 2015

Jesus has something to say to us about our enemies, those who hurt and harm us, something that at first blush seems so utterly laughable, so ridiculous, so out of left-field, many of us just flat-out ignore him. (Luke 6:27-31)

Implicit in the command to "love your enemies" is the command to forgive them as well.

Forgiveness for many of us can feel like it's entirely in the domain of God. Only God is able to forgive his enemies, certainly not us. When we enter into the text and we hear Jesus says, "Love your enemies," our first thought might be, "Okay, well, exactly who is my enemy?" We offer this objection because when we are hurt, we try to figure out the limits of our call to forgiveness. Is there anyone I can withhold forgiveness from?

Advent #3 - God, the God who Forgives :: Pastor Donnell Wyche, December 13, 2015

From Shame to Joy: As we continue our Advent journey together, today let's reflect on the "great joy" that was announced by the Angel of the Lord to the shepherds who were out tending to their flocks: "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." (Luke 2:10)

Advent #2 - Forgiveness Produces Peace :: Pastor Donnell Wyche, December 6, 2015

Saint Paul, the reformed new testament church planter writing to the church in Rome calls us to try to live in peace with each other (Romans 12:14-19).

In all of this, there is an implicit recognition that we don't already live in peace with each other. This is tragic. Theologians, seminarians, and pastors all have answers for this reality. For many, the simple answer is sin. We are all sinners and that's why we don't live in peace with each other. Of course they are correct in their assessment, but I think it's an incomplete assessment of the problem.

Advent at Vineyard: Week 1: God-With-Us: Hope Through Vulnerability:: Anna Hillaker, November 29, 2015

The God of Second Chances: The Book of Jonah, Part 4 :: Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor :: Nigel Berry, Youth Pastor, November 22, 2015

The God of Second Chances: The Book of Jonah, Part 3 :: Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor :: Rev. Donnell T. Wyche, Senior Pastor, November 15, 2015

As we continue to spend time in Jonah, we are hoping to highlight and expose the story of the God of Second Chances.

Having received a prophetic message to preach against the wickedness and sinfulness of the Assyrian Empire, Jonah decides instead to flee from God by hopping a ship to Tarshish, clear on the other side of the world. God sends a storm to disrupt Jonah's plan to thwart God's mercy and compassion. The sailors trapped on that ship with him, under distress and out of options, realized that Jonah was the cause of the storm. After many failed attempts to reverse their fortunes, they resign themselves to toss Jonah overboard. God acting in his mercy and compassion sends a large fish to sallow Jonah. Jonah spends three days and three nights trapped in this whale before offering a prayer of thanksgiving. His expression of gratitude for life and connection to God, not to be mistaken for repentance or some kind of key to unlock his time-out, was a counter response to the bitterness that Jonah wrestled with. After all of this, Jonah is vomited on dry land. That's where we will pick up the story.

The God of Second Chances: The Book of Jonah, Part 2 :: Rev. Donnell T. Wyche, Senior Pastor

Jonah flees because he believes that God is unjust. If Nineveh is evil, it should be destroyed. What's the point of delivering the message in person, except for giving the Ninevites a chance to repent? Did you happen to notice that the original prophetic message doesn't include a call to repentance for Nineveh? It's just a prophetic judgement against their wickedness and evil.

Jonah may very well be happy to go to Nineveh to preach against it, to announce their impending destruction, but Jonah had no interest in creating space for Nineveh to repent. How did Jonah know that God would forgive Nineveh if it repented, because all Jonah had to do was look around. He was a prophet in Israel during the rule of an evil king, and God was still blessing Israel in spite of its sin, so it didn't take much for Jonah to assume that the same mercy and compassion could be extended to Nineveh.

The God of Second Chances: Jonah Sermon #1:: Pastor Donnell Wyche, November 1, 2015

This morning, I'm launching our four-part sermon series on Jonah, the story of the God of Second Chances. Jonah is the fifth in the collection of the minor prophets. Yet Jonah stands as one of the most familiar and popular books of the Bible--often finding its way into most children's bibles. Any familiarity with Jonah shouldn't cause us to quickly dismiss Jonah assuming its just a kid's story ignoring the rich complexity this story offers with notes of compassion, mercy, and second chances, all of which together nudge us towards reconciliation with ourselves, each other, and God.

Engage #5: Connect, Grow, Serve: The Hero's Journey::Pastor Donnell Wyche, September 13, 2015

Engage #4: Connect, Grow, Serve: Listen :: Donnell Wyche, September 6, 2015

Engage #3: (Connect, Grow, Serve) - The Towel, a Sign of Service :: Donnell Wyche, August 30, 2015 

Life Groups - What Do I Bring To the Table? :: Linsay Balazer, August 23, 2015

Engage: Connect, Grow, Serve #1 - Connect :: Donnell Wyche, August 16, 2015

Stories of Us - Parable of the Great Banquet :: Nigel Berry, August 9, 2015

The Story of Us: The Unjust Steward, Part II :: Donnell Wyche, August 02, 2015

 The Unjust Steward, Part I (The Story of Us #3) :: Donnell Wyche, July 26, 2015

Rediscovering the Parables of Jesus - Our Foundations (The Story of Us #2) :: Nigel Berry, July 19, 2015

The Compassionate Employer - Matthew 20 (The Story of Us #1) :: Donnell Wyche, July 12, 2015

Discernment & Prayer (Mirror, Mirror #10) :: Donnell Wyche, July 5, 2015 

Failure before Restoration (Mirror, Mirror #9) :: Donnell Wyche, June 28, 2015

You are Fierce with Reality (Mirror, Mirror #8) :: Donnell Wyche, June 22, 2015

Lord, Save me! (Mirror, Mirror #7) :: Donnell Wyche, June 14, 2015

Lose Yourself, Find Yourself (Mirror, Mirror #6) :: Donnell Wyche, June 7, 2015

Reclaiming our Divine Image in the Company of the Other (Mirror, Mirror #5) :: Donnell Wyche, May 31, 2015

The False Self(ie) - Reclaiming our Divine Image (Mirror, Mirror #4) :: Donnell Wyche, May 24, 2015 

A Church that Works :: Donnell Wyche, May 17, 2015

Sunday, May 10, 2015 :: Luke 5:1-11 :: Speaker: Donnell Wyche 

We're continuing in our series, "Mirror Mirror, The Art of Being Yourself." For this series, we are using Simon (Luke 5:1-11), who later becomes Peter, as our guide as he and others have powerful encounters with the living God who reveals to them and us that we aren't who we think we are. In this series, we are getting to know Peter: he's very passionate, yet genuine. As we follow Peter through all his ups and downs, bad choices and good ones, his authenticity, his realization of who he really was, we get to know and understand Jesus and ourselves too. 

Sunday, May 3, 2015 :: Luke 5:1-11 :: Speaker: Donnell Wyche 

For this series, we will hang out with Simon in Luke 5:1-11, who later becomes Peter, as he and others have powerful encounters with the living God who reveals that we aren’t who we think we are. As we wrestle with this series, we are having a blast getting to know Peter, as revealed in scripture, he’s quite a character. He is the only other fully formed character in the Gospels next to Jesus. He was the first to be called by name. We find him passionate, yet very genuine. By following Peter through all his ups and downs, bad choices and good ones, his authenticity, his realization of who he really was, we get to know and understand Jesus and ourselves too. This gets us started on our own journey of self-discovery, which intersects with a good and beautiful God who sees us, accepts us, loves us, and forgives us. 

Sunday, April 26, 2015 :: Luke 5:1-11 :: Speaker: Donnell Wyche 

For this series, we will hang out with Simon in Luke 5:1-11, who later becomes Peter, as he and others have powerful encounters with the living God who reveals that we aren’t who we think we are. As we wrestle with this series, we are having a blast getting to know Peter, as revealed in scripture, he’s quite a character. He is the only other fully formed character in the Gospels next to Jesus. He was the first to be called by name. We find him passionate, yet very genuine. By following Peter through all his ups and downs, bad choices and good ones, his authenticity, his realization of who he really was, we get to know and understand Jesus and ourselves too. This gets us started on our own journey of self-discovery, which intersects with a good and beautiful God who sees us, accepts us, loves us, and forgives us.

Space at the Table: A Disorderly Inclusive Table :: Donnell Wyche, April 19, 2015

Space at the Table: Sacred Meals :: Donnell Wyche, April 12, 2015 

On the Cross and Under the Cross: Love Dies and Love Wins :: Donnell Wyche, April 5, 2015

Simplify: Making Room for God #6: Surrender Your Expectations :: Donnell Wyche, March 29, 2015

Simplify: Making Room for God #5: Investment Strategies from Jesus :: Donnell Wyche, March 22, 2015

Simplify: Making Room for God, Sermon #4: Fruit from the True Vine :: Anna Hillaker, March 15, 2015

Simplify: Making Room for God #3: Giving Up a Good Thing :: Donnell Wyche, March 8, 2015

Simplify: Making Room for God #2: Encountering God in our Pain :: Anna Hillaker, March 1, 2015

Simplify: Making Room for God, Sermon #1: Resist the Empire, Seek the Kingdom :: Donnell Wyche, February 22, 2015

Simplify: Making Room for God, Sermon #1: Resist the Empire, Seek the Kingdom :: Donnell Wyche, February 22, 2015 

A New You for the New Year: Sermon #7 - Faithful in the Mundane :: Donnell Wyche, February 15, 2015

A New You for the New Year: Sermon #6 - More Than Enough :: Donnell Wyche, February 8, 2015

A New You for the New Year: Sermon #5 - Faith that Walks on Water ::  Donnell Wyche, Feb 1, 2015

A New You for the New Year: Sermon #4 - Let's Take One Step Closer :: Donnell Wyche, January 25, 2015

A New You for the New Year: Sermon #3 - Better Together :: Rev. Donnell T. Wyche, Jan 18, 2015 

A New You for the New Year: Sermon #2 - Renewing Our Image :: Donnell Wyche, January 11, 2015 

A New You for the New Year: Sermon #1 : Entrusting Ourselves to God :: Donnell T. Wyche, Jan 4, 2015