Christmas is a time of joy! We certainly rejoice during times of parties, gift giving, opening stockings, singing Christmas carols, and gathering with family. As Christians, we rejoice in a much deeper way as well. We rejoice that Jesus has come to save us! We rejoice that just as God has kept all of His promises in giving us Jesus, He will keep all of His promises in the promised hope of heaven. This week in we will look at how Israel will rejoice in the future and compare it to how we rejoice at Christmas! Also, this Saturday is The Rock’s annual Christmas party. Click to go into full article to see the invite and what you can bring.

I’m excited about this Sunday! First and foremost, like any Sunday we get to worship our God through song, prayer, Word, and fellowship. Second, it is the 2nd Sunday of Advent - we anticipate the coming of the Baby Jesus with a reading from Luke and lighting of the 2nd Advent candle. Third, we will welcome 8 new members to the church! Fourth, we will take communion together remembering what Jesus has done for us on the cross, in His life, and in our hearts. Fifth, we will eat a communion meal together (provided by the church) immediately following the service. Finally, we will watch the Manhattan Beach Christmas firework show together. After church, plan to park somewhere on 11th street west of Sepulveda and walk to the top of the hill to watch the firework show together. Wow!

Next Thursday America will celebrate Thanksgiving. A holiday designed to give thanks. To many people it will simply be a commercial holiday surrounded by family, turkey, pie, and football. To others, it will be a genuine day to give thanks for their good fortune. For the Christian, it is both of these combined with the greatest reason to give thanks - God’s goodness to us in Jesus! This Sunday I will preach on the radical thanksgiving one woman showed to Jesus. It was humble. It was heartfelt. It was a little bit weird. But it might be the best example we have in the Bible of how we are to celebrate Thanksgiving!

There are four important things we will do this Sunday in our weekly worship service: 1) We will sing to the Lord with hearts full of thanksgiving; 2) I will preach a short devotional message from Psalm 107:1-2; 3) There will be a time of testimonial thanksgiving from the congregation. I want to encourage you to think of a few things you are thankful for in your life. Then consider sharing them with the church on Sunday. It will encourage others and bless you to speak these truths in front of others; 4) Enjoy a Thanksgiving style meal together! Please click on link to full article to sign up to help with the meal.

Above all else in I Timothy, the Apostle Paul wanted the people of God to know how they ought to behave in the church. This was important to the Apostle. Paul knew that the church in Ephesus (like all Christian churches) was the church of the living God. This church was a “pillar and buttress of the truth.” The Ephesian church was a part of upholding the structural foundation of God’s truth. The truth of Jesus. The truth of the Bible. The truth of life itself. We, at The Rock, are also a “pillar and buttress of the truth.” We are called to know and live like Jesus.

The function of Deacons in the New Testament church is not as clear as the function of Pastors. We are giving limited direction of what exactly the Deacon’s role is in the church. We DO know that the role involves meeting material needs of the congregation. We also DO know that Deacons free up Pastor/Elders to do the work of spiritual rule in the church - preaching, teaching, prayer, and spiritual care. In relation to this, we DO know that the Deacon’s role does not involve the spiritual side of leadership. This week I will continue to unpack the leadership roles in the church and apply it to The Rock.

We are entering into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season! I know it seems early, but I wanted to get dates out so you would block them off in your calendars!

November 3 - Communion Sunday

November 17 - Thanksgiving Service and Meal Following Service

December 1, 8, 15, 22 - 4 Sundays of Advent

December 8 - Communion Sunday with Meal & Manhattan Beach Fireworks Following Service

December 14 - Rock Christmas Party

December 22 - Rock Final Sunday of Advent Christmas Service

December 24 - Combined Christmas Eve Service with Harbor Covenant Church

Are you tempted to skip over Bible passages regarding church leadership structure? I admit, these passages are not the ones people want to talk about most. This does not mean that they are unimportant. It also does not mean these passages don’t mean anything to your everyday life! I believe passages on church leadership help us to establish proper foundations for any church. If church leadership is operating properly, churches can avoid many struggles and problems. Also, if church leadership is operating properly, ministries of love, mercy, teaching, and prayer will thrive!

I will preach part II of my sermons on I Timothy 2:11-15 this Sunday. This passage is often used to answer the question; “Can women lead in churches?” There is disagreement over the conclusion, but there is little disagreement over the difficulty of this passage! If you missed last Sunday, I want to encourage you to watch or listen to last weeks sermon. Click to read full article and a link will be provided. This sermon on how to interpret difficult passages will help understand this weeks sermon.

I Timothy 2:11-15 is a passage on women in ministry that many in the church disagree on the modern application. One thing we can all agree, it is a difficult passage! Interpreting this passage requires an understanding of the rules of interpreting the Bible (the theological word for this is hermeneutics). Before we study the actual text of vv. 11-15, I want to preach on how to approach any difficult passage in the Bible. I believe this will help us understand and love God better! A worthy goal for any Christian.

There has been much discussion in the church throughout the centuries about I Timothy 2:8-15. The topic of men and women leading worship has been contentious, confusing, and divisive. Paul writes to Timothy advising him of 3 key practices in the church in chapters 2 and 3 of I Timothy. Who we pray for in the church and why (2:1-7). The manner in which men and women lead in public worship (2:8-15). And, finally, how the church leadership is structured and who is qualified to lead (3:1-16). This middle section on men and women in public worship is going to be our focus in the next 2 weeks.

Some classic questions of any religion are: Who will go to heaven? Who does God love? Who do we welcome or reject? Who should we pray for? The Christians in Ephesus, where Timothy was a pastor and receiving instruction from the Apostle Paul, wondered similar things. Specifically, they wondered what kind of people they should pray for. Only Christians? Only Jews who had become Christians? Only those in their church? In this section of 1 Timothy, Paul begins instructing the church on how to live. In I Timothy 2:1-7, Paul instructs the church on who to pray for and why. In short, Paul teaches that they should pray for “all people.”

Fighting is not my thing. I was never a fighter in my youth. I would prefer to let things go than to fight for my rights. I prefer peace over conflict and fighting as a rule. But, like Timothy in I Timothy 1:3, 18, I am called to fight for sound doctrine in the church. Pastors and church leaders must engage in “good warfare” (I Tim. 1:18) with those who have rejected sound doctrine. It is part of the job. It is necessary for the church to prosper. The sound doctrine that is found in the Bible must be protected at all costs. So I fight. But how I fight is important to God.

The Old Testament law found in the first 5 books of the Bible can be a stumbling block to people. For some, it is simply too bizarre for our modern minds to apply. For others, it is difficult to reconcile laws we no longer are called to obey, and others that we still must obey to please God. Finally, the Old Testament law can be a difficult way to evaluate God as a loving Father. We know from the New Testament that the Old Testament law is still valid if understood properly. Jesus says; “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17) Paul says; “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully.” (I Timothy 1:8) The false teachers in I Timothy are not using the law lawfully. They have swerved and wandered away.