Waiting as a Way of Life

This Sunday we're glad to welcome Dave Meyer-Rieth, Pastor of Riverside Vineyard Church. He's opening Acts 1:1-14 with a message called "Waiting as a Way of Life" — the disciples, stalled between promise and Pentecost, told to wait.

This teaching invites us into a radical reimagining of what it means to wait. Drawing from Acts chapter 1, we discover that waiting isn't the passive, frustrating holding pattern we often experience in airport security lines or traffic jams. Instead, waiting on God is our primary calling as believers—an active posture of faith that prepares us to receive what He has promised. The apostles were commanded to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a promise rooted centuries deep in the prophecies of Joel and Ezekiel. What's striking is that these promises don't have expiration dates. God's commitment to pour out His Spirit on all people, to empower us to follow His ways, remains as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. The challenge we face is avoiding two extremes: becoming so heavenly minded that we're no earthly good, or becoming so action-oriented that we burn out trying to accomplish God's work in our own strength. True waiting means focusing on the promise rather than the timeline, trusting that Jesus is always good on His word, and allowing the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts for what's coming. When we shift from asking 'are we there yet' to embracing 'what are You doing right now, God,' we discover that we're always exactly where we're supposed to be.