Verve City Church: Weekly Messages

Week 4The Gospels are full of stories where Jesus heals people: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed. These miraculous healings continue in the book of Acts and throughout the ministries of the Apostles. Are these stories credible? And if so, does God still heal today?Series OverviewDragons, sea monsters, fairies, gods, and… Jesus. How can our modern sensibilities reconcile myths and mystery, fantasy and faith? What if the world is more mystical than it seems? And what if that reality could change our lives for the better?

Week 3The New Testament speaks of spiritual gifts that God has given to his Church: evangelism, teaching, serving, leadership, wisdom, administration, healing, and many more. How are these spiritual gifts different from our natural talents? What is the expectation of individuals and churches to use these gifts? And what are some of the dangers and potential pitfalls of using your spiritual gifts as a Christian leader?Series OverviewDragons, sea monsters, fairies, gods, and… Jesus. How can our modern sensibilities reconcile myths and mystery, fantasy and faith? What if the world is more mystical than it seems? And what if that reality could change our lives for the better?

Week 2 Christians believe in one God who exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But what does that mean? And how are we to understand the Holy Spirit? Who is he, and what does he do? And what does it mean to be "filled with" the Spirit?Series OverviewDragons, sea monsters, fairies, gods, and… Jesus. How can our modern sensibilities reconcile myths and mystery, fantasy and faith? What if the world is more mystical than it seems? And what if that reality could change our lives for the better?

Week 1Not long ago, much of the world believed in dragons, sea monsters, fairies, and gods. The earth was filled with mystery: dark forests, endless oceans, unexplored lands. Today, these notions feel foreign to our modern sensibilities and endearing in their naivety. We have explored the globe, we have unlocked the human genome, and we have launched into outer space. So what are we to do with the worldview of Jesus — a worldview that included unseen spiritual realms, angelic and demonic beings, and the ability of God to miraculously intervene?Series OverviewDragons, sea monsters, fairies, gods, and… Jesus. How can our modern sensibilities reconcile myths and mystery, fantasy and faith? What if the world is more mystical than it seems? And what if that reality could change our lives for the better? 

This is part 1 of 2 of a discussion of the message from Sunday, September 17: The Dark Knight. For copyright reasons, we cannot livestream or publish these services, so through September we’ll share discussions like this about the movies and messages.Perhaps the most thought-provoking superhero film ever made, The Dark Knight was released in the aftermath of September 11 and the global war on terror. The questions it poses are as old as the biblical texts themselves: are people inherently good or evil? Do we live in a world of order or chaos? Does good win in the end, or are we destined for darkness to fall? In conversation with perhaps the oldest text in the Bible, the book of Job, we'll examine these questions.SERIES OVERVIEW:Movies often reflect our common struggles, hopes, and dreams. Join us for At the Movies, as we discover how these powerful stories intersect with profound truth for our everyday lives.Each week, our message will feature clips from a particular movie and draw parallels to stories and principles found in the Bible. We’ll also have a themed lobby experience each weekend, complete with free popcorn and other concessions, photo ops, and interactive surprises the whole family will enjoy. 

This is part 2 of 2 of a discussion of the message from Sunday, September 17: The Dark Knight. For copyright reasons, we cannot livestream or publish these services, so through September we’ll share discussions like this about the movies and messages.Perhaps the most thought-provoking superhero film ever made, The Dark Knight was released in the aftermath of September 11 and the global war on terror. The questions it poses are as old as the biblical texts themselves: are people inherently good or evil? Do we live in a world of order or chaos? Does good win in the end, or are we destined for darkness to fall? In conversation with perhaps the oldest text in the Bible, the book of Job, we'll examine these questions.SERIES OVERVIEW:Movies often reflect our common struggles, hopes, and dreams. Join us for At the Movies, as we discover how these powerful stories intersect with profound truth for our everyday lives.Each week, our message will feature clips from a particular movie and draw parallels to stories and principles found in the Bible. We’ll also have a themed lobby experience each weekend, complete with free popcorn and other concessions, photo ops, and interactive surprises the whole family will enjoy. 

This is a discussion of the message from Sunday, September 10: Ferris Bueller's Day Off. For copyright reasons, we cannot livestream or publish these services, so through October we’ll share discussions like this about the movies and messages.Weirdly enough, Ferris Bueller's Day Off mostly isn't about Ferris Bueller, but about his friend Cameron. Cameron has been swimming in so much fear and anxiety that he's become incapable of truly living his life. By the end of the film, the old Cameron dies, and a new one rises up out of the water, ready to own his choices and face his biggest fears. It's as he takes responsibility for his life that he realizes he has the power to change his life. Cameron's journey acts as a stand-in for the one Jesus invites us to take: seeing where our life is heading without him, and choosing to follow him instead. "Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."SERIES OVERVIEW:Movies often reflect our common struggles, hopes, and dreams. Join us for At the Movies, as we discover how these powerful stories intersect with profound truth for our everyday lives.Each week, our message will feature clips from a particular movie and draw parallels to stories and principles found in the Bible. We’ll also have a themed lobby experience each weekend, complete with free popcorn and other concessions, photo ops, and interactive surprises the whole family will enjoy.

This is a discussion of the message from Sunday, September 3, which highlighted Ford v Ferrari as part of the At the Movies series. For copyright reasons, we cannot livestream or publish these services, so through October we’ll share  discussions like this about the movies and messages.At its core, Ford v Ferrari is the story of how friendship can help us learn the value of acting while thinking of the consequences to others. We are each on a journey from selfishness to increasing selflessness, and Jesus perhaps encapsulated that best with his teaching that self-sacrificial love should be the norm for his followers.SERIES OVERVIEW:Movies often reflect our common struggles, hopes, and dreams. Join us for At the Movies, as we discover how these powerful stories intersect with profound truth for our everyday lives.Each week, our message will feature clips from a particular movie and draw parallels to stories and principles found in the Bible. We’ll also have a themed lobby experience each weekend, complete with free popcorn and other concessions, photo ops, and interactive surprises the whole family will enjoy.

This is a discussion of the message from Sunday, August 27, which highlighted Cars (2006) as part of the At the Movies series. For copyright reasons, we cannot livestream or publish these services, so through October we’ll share  discussions like this about the movies and messages.Released in 2006, Pixar’s Cars gives us insight into our egos: how they can be puffed up, painful, busy, and fragile. Reading from 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7, we’ll discover that as long as we are seeking validation from our accomplishments or the cheers of others, we’ll never be fully satisfied with the life we’re living.SERIES OVERVIEW:Movies often reflect our common struggles, hopes, and dreams. Join us for At the Movies, as we discover how these powerful stories intersect with profound truth for our everyday lives.Each week, our message will feature clips from a particular movie and draw parallels to stories and principles found in the Bible. We’ll also have a themed lobby experience each weekend, complete with free popcorn and other concessions, photo ops, and interactive surprises the whole family will enjoy.