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.