Central Vineyard Church Sermon Podcast

This week at Central Vineyard, Alisha Wiseman continues our series The Gift and the gifts by exploring encouragement — the gift that puts courage into another.

Biblical encouragement is more than positivity or saying something nice. It is the Spirit-empowered gift of coming alongside someone, seeing where God is at work, naming what is true, and inviting them further into the life of Jesus.

We apologise for the low audio quality at the end of the talk, we had a technical difficulty.

Before the eigth part of our The Gift and the gifts series, Ella shares a story of recent healing for their little girl, and then Strahan Coleman contributed to our series by speaking on how the gift of prophecy is first and foremost the testimony of Christ, and a word that is to encourage, strengthen and care for the Church.

This week Dan continues our series The Gift and the gifts by exploring one of the most beautiful, hopeful, and complex gifts of the Holy Spirit: healing.

Healing is one of the places where hope and disappointment often meet. Many of us carry stories of God’s surprising power breaking in, and many of us also carry stories of waiting, groaning, and unanswered prayer. So why do we still pray for healing?

In this talk, Dan explores healing through the Vineyard lens of the Kingdom of God — the now and the not yet — where Jesus’ ministry reveals God’s future wholeness breaking into the present. Every healing is a signpost of resurrection, a glimpse of the world as God intends it to be, and a foretaste of the day when all things will be made new.

The talk also looks at the gift of faith, the gift of healing, and the simple Vineyard five-step model for praying for the sick. It finishes with an invitation to be a church who pray with expectation and humility, asking the Holy Spirit to give us a taste of God’s future wholeness now.

To watch the Vineyard USA "5 Step Healing Prayer" video, do so here.

This week at Central Vineyard, Dan continues our series The Gift and the gifts as we turn from the Gift of the Holy Spirit to the gifts the Spirit gives.

Exploring the New Testament’s teaching on spiritual gifts, Dan frames the gifts of the Spirit as “gracelets” — little manifestations of God’s grace, given for the common good. These gifts are not labels to possess, platforms to build, or performances to admire. They are graces received from God, practised in love, developed through use, and matured in the way of Jesus.

From words of revelation, to works of power, to acts of mercy and service, the Spirit gives gifts widely across the whole body so that everyone can participate in the life and ministry of Jesus. The invitation is to ask, “What grace is God giving me, and how can I pass it on?”

The talk closes with a simple prayer practice, inviting us to behold someone in love and ask the Holy Spirit what grace might be needed for them — a word, a prayer, or an act of service.

In this fifth part of our series, and on Pentecost Sunday, guest speakers Mel and Kirk Beyer share on the Pentecost effect then and now, with Mel framing it up with some theoloical thoughts, and then, Kirk sharing a recent story of how it looks in reality.