Podcast
Harvest Sermons
Hosted by Harvest Vineyard Church of Ames · EN
All the sermons from our services at Harvest Vineyard Church in Ames, IA. If you want to learn more about Harvest, visit us online at Harvestvc.org or download our mobile app.
293episodes
Episodes
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Different Now | Free to Serve
May 3100:40:23Tap to summarizeThis sermon explores how Christian freedom is radically different from worldly freedom. Rather than freedom being the right to do whatever we want, Paul demonstrates in 1 Corinthians 9 that followers of Jesus are free from the things that keep us from becoming who God sees us becoming, and free to serve God and others. The Apostle Paul models this by voluntarily laying down his legitimate rights—including his right to be paid as an apostle—for the sake of advancing the gospel in Corinth. True Christian freedom means being so secure in our identity in Christ that we no longer need to be self-protective, and can instead sacrificially love others. Paul's principle of becoming "all things to all people" demonstrates deep identification with others while maintaining Christian distinction. Like Jesus who fully identified with humanity by taking on flesh and dying on the cross, we are called to enter into others' worlds for their sake, laying aside our rights, preferences, and need to always be right, so that people can clearly see Jesus and experience His love.
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Different Now | Love Builds Up
May 2400:40:03Tap to summarizeThis sermon explores 1 Corinthians 8, addressing how early Christians navigated living faithfully in a non-Christian culture. Using the case study of meat sacrificed to idols, Paul teaches that knowledge without love is destructive, while love builds up the community. The sermon emphasizes that Christian maturity is not measured by how much freedom we can claim, but by how willingly we lay down our rights for others. Just as Christ entered into our weakness to restore us, believers are called to restrict their freedoms in love, preferring others and meeting them at their point of need. The core theological truth is that every person is someone for whom Christ died, and this reality should shape how we use our freedom within the family of God.
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Different Now | The Married Life
May 1700:39:30Tap to summarizeThis sermon explores Christian marriage as a sacred covenant under Christ's lordship, contrasting cultural views of marriage with biblical teaching. The pastor addresses 1 Corinthians 7, emphasizing that Christian marriage is fundamentally different from secular marriage—it's not merely a contract for personal fulfillment but a covenant that reflects God's unconditional love for His people. The message acknowledges the pain of divorce and marital struggles while presenting marriage as a training ground for holiness and a living sermon that preaches the gospel to the watching world. The sermon also addresses spiritually mismatched marriages, encouraging believing spouses to influence through Christlike service rather than abandoning the relationship.
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Different Now | The Unmarried Life
May 1000:34:47Tap to summarizeThis sermon explores the biblical teaching on singleness as a positive gift from God, challenging cultural assumptions that marriage is necessary for completeness. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 7 and Matthew 19, the message emphasizes that both singleness and marriage are equal kingdom gifts that enable undivided devotion to the Lord. Jesus, through His own unmarried life, modeled a fully flourishing human existence that doesn't require marriage, sex, or children. The sermon calls the church to honor both vocations equally, recognizing that true completeness comes through relationship with God and life together in His family. The vision is for a church where no one feels more whole because they're married or less whole because they're single, and where all members—regardless of relationship status—belong to each other as the integrated family of God.
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Different Now | Sacred & Given
May 300:39:07Tap to summarizeThis sermon addresses how the gospel transforms our understanding of sex and marriage within the context of 1 Corinthians 7. Pastor Josh emphasizes that following Jesus means learning to live differently in every area of life, including sexuality and relationships. The message challenges both cultural extremes—making marriage/sex everything or making them nothing—and returns to the biblical foundation of Genesis 2 where sex is presented as a covenant sign of whole-life self-giving between husband and wife. Paul's instruction to the Corinthian church navigates between sexual indulgence and body-denying asceticism, calling married couples to mutual submission and honor. The sermon stresses that we are "different now" in Christ—our bodies belong first to Jesus, and in marriage, spouses yield themselves to one another in covenant love that reflects Christ's sacrificial love for the church. Throughout, the message balances the need for God's word (providing boundaries and protection) with the need for God's grace (offering redemption and healing for all brokenness).
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Be. Become. Do. | Do What Jesus Did
Apr 2600:36:04Tap to summarizeThis sermon concludes a mini-series on spiritual formation, focusing on the third goal of discipleship: doing what Jesus did. The message emphasizes that Jesus trained his disciples through a four-stage apprenticeship model (I do/you watch, I do/you help, You do/I help, You do/I watch) to equip them to continue his kingdom work. The core teaching addresses the misconception that Jesus performed miracles solely because he was God, clarifying that Jesus operated as a fully human being empowered by the Holy Spirit—the same Spirit available to believers today. The sermon encourages Christians to embrace their calling as "fishers of men," empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel, heal, cast out demons, practice hospitality, and demonstrate kingdom living in ordinary moments. The overarching posture is to "start with yes" to God's leading in all areas of life.
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Be. Become. Do. | Become Like Jesus
Apr 1900:40:06Tap to summarizeThis sermon explores the second aspect of discipleship - becoming like Jesus - as part of a series on spiritual formation. Drawing from Luke 6 and the ancient rabbinic model of discipleship, the message emphasizes that transformation into Christlikeness is a lifelong process requiring intentionality and cooperation with God. The sermon defines spiritual formation as "the process of being formed into a person of love in Christ" and addresses how we are shaped by stories, habits, relationships, and experiences. It challenges believers to examine who they are becoming and to actively participate with God in counter-formation against worldly patterns through Scripture, spiritual practices, community, and opening our experiences to God's healing presence.
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Be. Become. Do. | Be With Jesus
Apr 1200:36:54Tap to summarizeThis sermon explores the foundational practice of spiritual formation—being with Jesus. Drawing from John Mark Comer's "Practicing the Way," the message emphasizes that transformation begins not with doing more for God, but with simply abiding in His presence. The sermon challenges the cultural tendency to conform to worldly patterns and instead calls believers to be transformed through remaining (meno) in Christ. Like the disciples who asked "Where are you staying?" and received the invitation to "Come and see," Christians today are invited into a lifestyle of constant awareness of the Holy Spirit's presence. The message stresses that the fruit of the Spirit is not a to-do list but the natural outcome of abiding in the vine. True peace, joy, and transformation come from positioning ourselves to receive from God through intentional spiritual practices that keep our minds fixed on Him throughout ordinary daily activities.
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Easter 2026
Apr 500:38:07Tap to summarizeThis Easter sermon presents the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ as a "true, true" historical event that demands a response rather than just a religious preference. The pastor systematically examines the evidence for the resurrection through the empty tomb and post-resurrection appearances, establishing that this event is either true for everyone or not true at all. The sermon emphasizes that the resurrection is not an isolated miracle but the culmination of God's promise to restore broken humanity, representing the first day of a new creation. Through the transformative encounters of Mary Magdalene and Peter with the risen Jesus, the message illustrates how the resurrection turns brokenness into beauty, shame into worth, and fear into hope. The sermon challenges listeners to recognize that while Jesus forced his way out of the grave, he will not force his way into our lives—he knocks and waits for us to welcome him in.
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Different Now | You Are Not Your Own, Part 2
Mar 2900:39:44Tap to summarizeThis sermon explores 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, addressing the Corinthian church's struggle with sexual immorality in a culture where such behavior was widely accepted. The pastor emphasizes that followers of Jesus are "different now" and must view their bodies as holy temples where God dwells through the Holy Spirit. The message challenges the cultural notion that sex is merely recreational activity for consenting adults, instead presenting the biblical view that sexual intimacy creates a profound "one flesh" unity designed exclusively for marriage between husband and wife. The sermon calls believers to flee from sexual immorality (porneia), not to earn God's approval, but because they already belong to Christ and have been bought at the price of His broken body. The pastor emphasizes God's high view of the physical body, reminding listeners that Jesus died for the whole person—body, soul, and spirit—and that believers have an embodied future in the resurrection. The message concludes with invitations to surrender to Christ, bring bodies under Jesus' lordship, and receive healing from shame and sin related to sexuality.
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