Vida Church Santa Maria

An Upgraded Faith: Repentance

Faith that doesn't grow will just stop working. It becomes useless. So God's word tells us to add to our faith — or upgrade it. And the first upgrade that's needed is goodness, because faith alone doesn't make us good. And to upgrade to a faith that's good requires us to walk in repentance.

An Upgraded Faith

Did you know your faith needs upgrading? Just like your smartphone will stop working if you never update it — or worse yet it'll be hacked — Peter says your faith will become ineffective and unproductive. Dive into this new series about faith upgrades, and discover how they can cause us to thrive. Click this link for message notes: https://bit.ly/upgradedfaith-1

The Circle of God’s Will Part 5

The book of Jude is just one chapter long but is packed with powerful truths about how we're to live as God's people. In Jude we learn to defend the faith and walk in God's mercy.

A Tale of Two People

Psalm One presents a vivid picture of two types of people, the choices that they make, and the destinations they reach. Our key thought for this week will be the delight the righteous man has in reading, meditating, and applying the truths of Scripture, and the blessing that brings into his life.

Questions at Jesus Feet

There are many times when we get caught up or stuck in a place that we do not understand as we learn and explore more about God and His word. And often times when we get stuck, we choose to stay stuck because we do not want to ask questions. But, without questions there will not be a gaining of new knowledge or enhanced knowledge.

3 Critical Errors

Have you ever had a "critical error" pop up on your computer? No fun. It can totally shut you down. As frustrating as they are, what's even worse are critical errors in our lives. And they can happen all too often in the areas of our faith. Today we're looking at three errors we can make that shut our faith down.

The Circle of God’s Will: Breakthrough Moments

Do you need a breakthrough? A defining insight or event that puts you on track for the seasons ahead? What if you didn't have to wait for one of these breakthrough moments to strike from out of the blue, but could cultivate a life that grows them? Let's look at several practices of those who seem to have more breakthroughs than others.

The Circle of God’s Will – Why do I still hit roadblocks?

One of the most frustrating things in our lives — especially when we're committed to following Jesus — is continuing to run into roadblocks. Who likes running into brick walls? What purpose could they serve? Why would God allow them? Today we're diving deeper into the conversation about God's will, and exploring what He may be up to in our lives.

The Circle of God’s Will - Part 2

How do you view God's will? Like a target, with his "perfect" will as the bullseye? Or like a wide-open field where you can run and be free? How you think about God's will has vast implications for how we live as followers of Jesus. Dive with us into this critical conversation.

The Circle of God’s Will - Part 1

Many people think God's will is a mystery or even unknowable. But that's not what the Bible shows us. We can absolutely know we are living in his will, doing just what we were created to do — and today we're discovering how that's possible.

Gray Areas: Following Jesus When Things Aren’t Black & White

So many things in life are "gray areas" — things about which good people (even Jesus-following people) have different opinions. How can we follow Jesus when the right answer isn't immediately clear? In Romans 14, Paul gives us four important lessons about navigating life through these gray areas while pleasing God and those around us at the same time.

Up & to the Right Part 5

As we have been talking about this unique name of this series, we’ve been using a graph in the process of identifying where we are — both as individuals and as a church. And whenever you’re tracking something good it goes UP & TO THE RIGHT. Maybe you find yourself somewhere in the middle of the graph. You may be asking, “I guess I’m pretty good, right? At least I’m not all the way down and to the left! What’s the big deal about moving up and to the right?” Well, today we learn that in Revelations we read Jesus' words that remind us that he wants us to be either hot or cold — never hanging out in the middle — what Jesus calls being LUKEWARM.

Natural Conversations about God

Have you ever thought: "I can't share my love of Jesus with a friend. I just wouldn't know what to say. I haven't learned enough Scripture." Those are pretty normal thoughts. But what we're learning is that we can always share what we've experienced — and we don't need to know all the answers. Just keep it natural, and keep it salty!

Men’s Summit — Session 3

Pastor Jon Tyson from the 2022 Central Coast Men's Summit — an incredible gathering of men from 20 churches throughout the Central Coast of California. Session 3 — the Intentional Faither (plus Q&A with Pastor Jon). 

Men’s Summit — Session 2

Pastor Jon Tyson from the 2022 Central Coast Men's Summit — an incredible gathering of men from 20 churches throughout the Central Coast of California. Session 2 — Josiah. 

Men’s Summit — Session 1

Pastor Jon Tyson from the 2022 Central Coast Men's Summit — an incredible gathering of men from 20 churches throughout the Central Coast of California. Session 1 — Soldier, Athlete, Farmer. 

Up & to the Right - Part 4

Up and to the right doesn't just describe our personal journeys to get to that place where we thrive, it's for our church as well. Today we talk about what it means to be a "Foursquare" church, and some of the unique parts of our church's DNA and mission. NOTE: follow this link for a handout to go along with today's message: https://bit.ly/upandright4

Up & to the Right - Part 3

The Bible tells us that it's not enough to simply believe the right things (sorry!). If we're to have lives that are thriving and fruitful, we also have to go through a renewal process of both our thinking and our acting. How do we do this? One step at a time. Today Pastor Tim talks about four faith practices that will help us keep moving up and to the right while staying anchored to Jesus.

Up & to the Right - Part 2

Even as Jesus calls us to fruitful, full living, life has a way to drag us downward. There seems to be a gravitational pull that's both natural (the normal bumps and bruises we experience in life) and supernatural (hell's strategic work against us). Today we're looking at how we can break free from this pull downward so we can move up and to the right. NOTE: For a handout to accompany today's message, click here: https://bit.ly/upandright2

Up & to the Right

Whenever we're tracking something good in our lives, whether it's our bank accounts or our productivity at work, we want it to go "up and to the right." But for many reasons, life doesn't always go that direction! In fact after the past two years of global trauma, many would say their lives have settled into a "down and to the left" slide. But we're not stuck. And Jesus is inviting us to chart a new life-giving course. Today we're looking at a model to help us identify where we are now so we can point ourselves in a new direction — up and to the right. NOTE: Get the handout for today — bit.ly/upandright