Spiritual Formation: Scripture – Hebrews 4:12 - Martha Balmer - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

Summary:

In this second sermon of our Spiritual Formation series, Martha Balmer explores how Scripture can serve as a “structure” in our lives that enables the Holy Spirit’s transforming work. Building on Pastor Hannah’s message about surrender, Martha reminds us that transformation is ultimately about union with God—moving from separation to deep intimacy with Him. This is not merely about fixing what is broken, but about responding to God’s longing for us and allowing His presence to reshape us. Scripture, she explains, is not static words on a page; by the Spirit, it becomes living and active, drawing us into God’s story and shaping us from within.

Martha weaves her own journey with Scripture into the message—from memorizing the 23rd Psalm at her grandmother’s knee, to seasons of disciplined daily reading, to times of spiritual dryness when group Bible study sustained her. She notes that simply reading builds familiarity, while deeper study provides discernment tools, but that both can lose vitality without prayerful engagement. True spiritual formation through Scripture, she says, comes when we approach it as a conversation with God, allowing Him to speak personally into our lives. She introduces two historic practices—Lectio Divina and imaginative meditation—as ways to read slowly, notice what stirs in us, respond to God, and rest in His presence.

Through practical teaching, Martha explains how Lectio Divina’s four movements (read, reflect, respond, rest) and imaginative meditation’s sensory-rich engagement with biblical narratives can open us to God’s voice in fresh ways. Both methods require slowing down, noticing our assumptions, and trusting that the Spirit will meet us in the text. She encourages us to keep reading and studying Scripture, but to also adopt these prayerful approaches as “structures” that help us say yes to the Spirit’s work—positioning us, like the caterpillar in its chrysalis, for the kind of transformation only God can bring.

Spiritual Formation: Paying Attention – Romans 12 - Pastor Hannah Witte - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 10:45am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

Summary:

In her first sermon as a pastor at Ann Arbor Community Church, Pastor Hannah Witte introduced herself with warmth, humor, and a powerful testimony of God’s transformative grace in her own life. She shared her journey from a non-religious upbringing in Columbus, Ohio to a life devoted to Christ, sparked by an invitation to a youth group and a deep encounter with God’s love. Framing her heart for ministry, she emphasized a longing to see all people recognize their belovedness, to participate in renewal in Ann Arbor, and to co-create a diverse, Spirit-empowered church.

Rooted in Romans 12, Hannah invited the congregation to consider what it means to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Using vivid metaphors—a smiling God delighting in our spiritual growth and the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly—she challenged listeners to examine the rhythms shaping their lives. Transformation, she said, is not a matter of self-improvement but surrender, and the Spirit does the deep work as we create space through spiritual practices.

As the church enters a month focused on spiritual formation, Pastor Hannah laid the foundation for a series exploring four time-tested practices: self-examination, scripture meditation, Sabbath, and solitude. Rather than being conformed to the world around us, we are invited to arrange our lives—like a cocoon—for the Spirit’s renewing work, becoming the people God created us to be. With honesty and hope, Pastor Hannah encouraged the community to pay attention and open themselves to God’s loving transformation.

God at Work: When Justice Demands More – Amos 5 - Rev. Donnell T. Wyche - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 10:45am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

Summary:

In this final sermon of the God at Work in an Unstable World series, Pastor Donnell Wyche unpacks the powerful words of the prophet Amos, challenging listeners to reimagine justice not as courtroom judgment but as the flourishing of God’s creation. Drawing from Amos 5 and other prophetic voices, Pastor Donnell explains that God rejects worship when it is divorced from justice. Instead, true devotion flows from our participation in God’s passion for the marginalized, the oppressed, and the poor. Justice, in this vision, is not a religious add-on—it is the very heart of covenant faithfulness.

Pastor Donnell urges the congregation to replace inherited notions of justice as punishment with a biblical view of justice as gardening—tending creation so that life can flourish. He reminds us that justice is about proximity, mutual care, and restoration. Whether it’s standing with someone in pain, cultivating dignity in our relationships, or transforming public systems with wisdom and love, we are called to be co-laborers in God’s garden.

The sermon closes with a practical framework: immediate justice in our families and workplaces, proximate justice with our neighbors, and civic justice in the broader world. Rather than something reserved for the heroic few, justice is shown to be a daily, Spirit-led act of tending God’s creation—an essential, life-giving calling for every follower of Jesus.