This weekend starts off the Christmas Season in a big way at The Rock:
Women’s Cookie Exchange - Fri., Dec. 1, Mack House
Rock Christmas Party - Sat., Dec. 2, 5:00 pm, Wiley’s House
1st Sunday of Advent Communion Service - Sun., Dec. 3
Many of us are planning our travel, meals, and family gatherings for Thanksgiving. Our thoughts and efforts can be consumed by the details of the holidays. My prayer is that we would also be consumed in our thoughts about what we are thankful for this year. This Sunday we will take a look in the Bible to see how God desires us to be thankful. In some ways we are given reminders of how to be thankful. But there are other ways in the Bible that might be new. Let’s gather together and explore them!
This Sunday is The Rock’s Annual Thanksgiving Service. We will sing songs of thanksgiving then hear a brief sermon & testimony. After the service, we will join together for a Thanksgiving Meal! Please invite family, friends, and neighbors to give thanks with us. Please CLICK HERE to contribute to the meal. (You may have to go to full post to click)
It’s the time of year to mark your calendars for exciting upcoming dates at The Rock:
Nov. 5 - Communion Dinner after church
Nov. 12 - Rock Thanksgiving Service
Dec. 2 - Rock Christmas Party (5:00 pm at Wiley’s)
Dec. 3 - Communion Dinner after church
Dec. 16 - Family Promise Christmas Party
Dec. 24 - Christmas Eve Sunday at Harbor Church (Joint Service - Curt Preaches)
Get these dates on your calendar NOW!
In our Romans sermon series we have been in a mini-series on Christian love. This kind of love is love that Jesus has modeled for us in His life & death. Christian love is not easy. This week in Romans 12:11-12, Paul gives encouragement on how to love when loving is difficult. Difficult because we become lazy in our faith. And difficult when life is simply hard due to tribulation. I find these verse to be helpful because they give instruction in real life, which is often difficult and confusing.
In the past 2 weeks we have been horrified from the reports and images from the Gaza Strip and Israel. I would like to take the sermon time in church this Sunday to preach; “A Christian Response to the Israel/Hamas War.” I hope to give us tools on how to biblically think about this issue. Please come with humble hearts prepared to listen, consider, and act. If there are any people in your life that are confused, troubled, and/or in despair about this point in history please invite them to hear what God’s Word says about Israel.
In the past 2 weeks we have been horrified from the reports and images from the Gaza Strip and Israel. I would like to take the sermon time in church this Sunday to preach; “A Christian Response to the Israel/Hamas War.” I hope to give us tools on how to biblically think about this issue. Please come with humble hearts prepared to listen, consider, and act. If there are any people in your life that are confused, troubled, and/or in despair about this point in history please invite them to hear what God’s Word says about Israel.
Last Sunday we did an impromptu Q & A Sermon. So following is happening this Sunday:
Most of us are taught from a young age that we shouldn’t hate. We learn that hate is a harsh word and that we should find other ways to express our dislike for things. So it can be confusing when the Bible talks about hate in a positive way. Paul writes in Romans 12:9; “Hate what is evil…” This is a command. This is how we know our love is genuine. What gives? The idea is that we are to hate the things God hates. Wait, what? God hates things? Yes, He does. Actually, the Bible is full of things God hates. And if we are to genuinely love, we are to hate these same things!
Last Sunday we did an impromptu Q & A Sermon. So following is happening this Sunday:
Most of us are taught from a young age that we shouldn’t hate. We learn that hate is a harsh word and that we should find other ways to express our dislike for things. So it can be confusing when the Bible talks about hate in a positive way. Paul writes in Romans 12:9; “Hate what is evil…” This is a command. This is how we know our love is genuine. What gives? The idea is that we are to hate the things God hates. Wait, what? God hates things? Yes, He does. Actually, the Bible is full of things God hates. And if we are to genuinely love, we are to hate these same things!
Being authentic is one of the most sought after character traits of our age. Being real. Being genuine. Being sincere. Or on the other side of the coin, not being fake. Not being true. Being hypocritical. People can see right through us when we try and be something we aren’t. If we try and pass ourselves off as a surfer, the truth will come out once we paddle out into the waves. If we say we are a good cook, the truth will come out when we invite people over for dinner. If we say that we love people, the truth will come out when someone is in need. Romans 12:9 demands that our love be genuine, sincere, and not hypocritical.
One of my mentors, John Perkins, determined that there is one thing that he wants to define the last years of his life - love. Dr. Perkins declared that love is the final fight (depictied in Switchfoot’s song The Sound (John M. Perkins’ Blues)). Nearing the end of his life, Dr. Perkins is led back to the primary teachings of Jesus and the disciples - love. From the great commandment (love God, love neighbor), to loving enemies, to knowing Jesus’s diciples by their love, to the seminal chapter on love, 1 Cor. 13. Love is commanded. Love is emphasised. Love is central. Romans 12:9-16 is about love applied in our lives and in the church.
The third of the Summer BBQs is here! This Sunday stay after church for another epic BBQ. Everyone is welcome! Click Here (after you go into the main email text) for the invite and what to bring. See you Sunday!
This Sunday is the last sermon in our Mid-Romans mini-series on spiritual gifts. It is time to say; “Now you know the gifts, how are you going to use them?!?!” This is exciting. I will walk through some present and future ministries of The Rock and connect the spiritual gifts used and needed for these ministries. This is where we are called to obey. We are called to “use them (that is our spiritual gifts)!” In addition, we will take communion together. This is fitting for us to remember Jesus in a communal way while considering how to serve one another in the church!
Discovering one’s spiritual gifts is an exciting treasure hunt! God has given all Christians spiritual gifts to serve the church for the common good (I Cor. 12:7). Our discovery of those gifts is a God-ordained, worthy pursuit. We continue our discovery of spiritual gifts in our Romans Sermon Series this week. Are you one who is drawn to coming alongside people and encouraging and comforting them? Then you may have the gift of encouragement. Or maybe people naturally follow you and want you to lead them in ways to grow in Jesus. Maybe you have the gift of leadership! Or are you a person who is drawn to help the marginalized of society? If so, then perhaps you have the gift of acts of mercy.
The second of the Summer BBQs is here! This Sunday stay after church for another epic BBQ. Everyone is welcome! Click Here (after you go into the main email text) for the invite and what to bring. See you Sunday!
Just as God is always working on our hearts, it seems there is always construction at the school where we meet! (see what I did there?!) Don’t let that deter you! We have an ongoing issue with the gate/fence to the parking lot this Summer. We have to monitor so we don’t lock any Summer Concert in the Park people in after we are done with service. If the gate ever has cones in front of it, just move them and drive right on in. Sorry for the inconvenience. If you want to help with pre-service parking control let me know. Thanks!
There are many ways people determine if a church is thriving. What metric is best to measure whether a church is thriving? Size of the church is a popular one. Making attenders happy is another. How much money people give is one we don’t like to talk about, but is definitely used to measure thriving. In the New Testament one of the major ways the Apostle Paul measures whether a church is thriving is by how the church’s members use their spiritual gifts. The Bible measures a thriving church by how they serve one another for the common good (1 Cor. 12:7) by using their spiritual gifts. This can be true in big churches, small churches, rural churches, urban churches, etc.
This Communion Sunday we will worship, pray, and fellowship to the glory of God! Join in for worship, then join together at The Point for a communion fellowship meal!
The first of the Summer BBQs is here! This Sunday stay after church for another epic BBQ. Everyone is welcome! Click Here (after you go into the main email text) for the invite and what to bring. See you Sunday!
As we gather this Sunday in church we will continue in our sermon series in Romans. The main sermon theme this Sunday is the command to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” This happens in a number of ways that we will talk about this Sunday. One is to study the Bible together. At The Rock we do this in small groups. I want to highlight the start of a small group designed to “be transformed by the renewal of our minds.” This group will study theology together on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month beginning on June 26. I’ve found small groups are one of the best ways to transform ourselves to be more like Jesus. Please consider joining this small group. If you have any questions please ask me. Come this Sunday and be inspired to renew your mind!