ANTICIPATE: A Vintage Response to the SCOTUS Ruling

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From day one, Vintage Church has existed for Gospel Multiplication. That will never change, no matter what the Supreme Court, cultural influence, or other churches and denominations decide. We describe Gospel Multiplication in this way:

We are committed to Living the Gospel (Truth), Loving the City (Love), and Being the Church (Community) by multiplying individuals, community groups, and gatherings in New Orleans and beyond.

Some of what we are going to discuss and pray about is reactionary to what is going on in our church, city, and world. At some level, our pastors want you to know that we are sorry that we have not prioritized some of these things earlier. However, we are a new church that faces the challenges of building. Much like this series “Money Talks” being our first series ever on money, there are some topics and issues in Scripture that we have yet to address. We can’t wait to one day tackle end times truth in Revelation. We can’t wait to one day walk through the book of Nahum. We’ll get there. We are on a marathon not a sprint. Regardless of the book of the Bible or issue of the day, we have been committed to truth, love, and community and we forever will be. Let’s keep multiplying the Gospel.

For the next three weeks we are going to ANTICIPATE an even greater future. This series is going to walk us through a time of teaching and praying about REAL TRUTH, REAL LOVE, and REAL COMMUNITY. These are our core values:

  1. Real Truth
    • This main truth is alive and thriving in the world today: Jesus has been, Jesus is, Jesus will be completely victorious.
    • The Vintage elders met and included some important doctrinal stances to our statement of beliefs and bylaws. We have included statements about 1) Baptism & The Lord’s Supper 2) Heaven and Hell 3) Last Things 4) Family 5) Religious Liberty. We will share more with you in the next few weeks about these statements.
    • God’s Word is absolute truth and the entirety of God’s Word will always be preached at Vintage. When you remove the Word of God you get anarchy. We truly believe that people are already growing weary of opinions, and we will be a stronghold through the storm where people can always trust that they will receive God’s Word.
  2. Real Love
    • “Love Wins” has kind of been hijacked in today’s society to mean something that isn’t completely true about love. Speaking on the issue of tolerance, pastor and bestselling author Rick Warren observed: “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear them or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.” We agree with this statement.
    • Vintage Church loves everyone, because Jesus loves everyone. True love is found in Jesus who always loved the sinner but never loved the sin. In John 8, Jesus went to the woman who had committed adultery, loved the woman who had committed adultery, stood up for the woman who had committed adultery, and then told the woman to go and sin no more. We are praying that the most intense sinners would feel welcomed and loved through the ministry of our church and that our love would reflect how Jesus loved.
    • The way we will love will require, at times, a strong stance or word. Every person is welcome to journey with us at Vintage Church in our gatherings and community groups, but we will not participate nor perform anything that is outside of the framework of God’s Word. For example, because it is right now the main topic of the day, we will love and accept anyone in the LGBT community, but we will not endorse nor perform any same sex or even future plural sex wedding ceremonies.
    • But let’s also be careful here: we are also going to raise the bar on all the requirements of God’s Word that speak about the purity and standards of marriage. God’s Word has high standards for marriage in the areas of purity, fidelity, covenant-keeping, conduct, and honor. We will love all people by calling heterosexuals to honor God in marriage as well. This is one of many examples of clarity for how we will be about real love to all people. Let’s make sure that our truth is always saturated in love by always loving the sinner but never tolerating the sin.
  3. Real Community
    • There will be two communities who will become dead and ineffective today and in the future: those that have no conviction and in the name of love allow anything and those who show no love as they yell out their conviction. We still believe that these two extremes are the minority in our country and world. The majority of this world believes in truth and love or is wanting to believe in truth and love. This community is who we will continue to be, and this community is who we are trying to reach.

How are we going to be a REAL COMMUNITY?

  • Remain Faithful – At the end of the day Jesus is our Savior, Lord, and leader of the church. We all will answer to Him for our faithfulness.
  • Remain Loving – There is so much damage being done in the world today that the world doesn’t even realize. We need to be careful not to burn bridges on Facebook, at work, etc. When you walk according the ways of this world you will be hurt. Let’s stay ready to love all people as they return to the ways of the Lord.
  • Reach Out in New Ways – An ever-changing world is going to require an ever-changing way of reaching the world. These changes are never changes to the Word of God. These changes are a reflection of the beautiful mission in the book of Acts. Paul never ministered in the same way in each city. He was creatively led by the Spirit of God to preach the never-changing Good News of Jesus. We will do the same, and we’re excited to share some of these new plans for our future.
  • Unite in Even Greater Ways – We need each other now more than ever. Community is no longer going to be a club, but will instead become a lifeline. Let’s unite together around the power of the Gospel, believing that Jesus wants to use Vintage Church to multiply the Gospel in New Orleans and around the world.

Rob Wilton
Lead Pastor

Matt Brichetto
Executive Pastor

Robert Hargrove
Arts Pastor

Dustin Turner
Equipping Pastor