God's Word preached.

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:17 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- Why do some people—sometimes even professing believers—seem to wreck their lives long before their time, while others grow into full maturity in Christ? There is a danger in willful, habitual, unrepentant sin. It invites catastrophic consequences, both in this life and in the life to come. The solution is the fear of the Lord—a true, saving, grow...

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:16 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- What does real Christianity look like, and what does true spirituality consist of? While man-made standards and external add-ons might seem spiritual, they can't change the heart. In fact, most of the time, externalism does far more harm in the believer's life than good. It hinders our growth in Christ-likeness, robs the authority of Scri...

Text: Matthew 1:18–25 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- The claim that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin is one of the hardest pills for the natural human mind to swallow, and rightly so. If God is not God, then it's both impossible and unreasonable. Of course, in that case, Jesus is just another religious teacher, and sinners are without a Savior. But if God the Son was miraculously conceived by th...

Text: Romans 1:1–6 Speaker: Steve Black -- Much confusion and mystery surrounds the origins of Christmas. Even so, what has always stood at the center of Christmas as we understand it is the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas is not merely about a baby in a manger. It's about the Savior who was born to die to reconcile God and sinners. In the coming of Christ—promised beforehand and declared in...

Text: Isaiah 9:6 Speaker: Don Sharp -- Seven-hundred years before Christ ever walked the earth, Isaiah foretold the birth of a Savior who would bring light into a dark world. This promise found its beautiful fulfillment in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem—the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Through this precious gift we have hope, peace, and redemption. --...

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:16–18 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- Life is rarely “balanced.” But God never called us to balance—He called us to be centered. In today's message, we learn that Solomon warns everyone to avoid two spiritual ditches that run alongside all of us: on the one hand, unbelief, and on the other, defective righteousness. In a culture filled with counterfeit versions of Christianity, the...

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:13–15 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- It's common to hear Christians say that “God is in control”—but what does that mean? Does it mean that God controls inanimate objects, and possibly the weather and the animals as well? Does it mean merely that God reacts better than any human being to the unexpected? Or is it possible that God is actually the Planner and the Architect behi...

Text: 1 Timothy 2:3–4 Guest Speaker: Brett Nelson -- When fear, awkwardness, or feelings of inadequacy keep us silent, how will those around us ever hear the only message that can save them from eternal judgment? God’s answer to that question is not gimmicks or a watered-down, man-centered message, but a renewed love for the lost, a clear grasp of the Gospel, and a willingness to share the truth i...

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:11–12 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- Is money really the answer to our biggest problems? Or, could it be that it's the root of our problems? Society seems to believe that the answer to both of those questions is 'Yes.' But could it be that our entire perspective on money is wrong? In today's passage, Solomon rejects the assumptions that money is evil and that mate...

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:7–10 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- Why are we so quick to let anger get the best of us, and why do we long for the “good ol’ days,” imagining that they held more joy than what the Lord is doing today? In this second of two messages on the 'four wise and better pearls' found in these verses, we consider Solomon's assaults the roots of bitterness and nostalgia—and how...

Text: Romans 1:16-17 Speaker: Steve Black -- How can anyone be made right with God? Paul declares that the Gospel alone has the power to save—revealing a righteousness that comes not by moral effort or good works, but by faith in Christ alone. In today's message, we consider Paul's uncovering of how justification is a gift from God, received through simple trust in Jesus, and how salvation...

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:7–10 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- True wisdom refuses to put a price tag on integrity, and the wise person plays the long game instead of calling it quits before things develop. These two truths are the first of four in a "string of pearls" found in Ecclesiastes 7:7–10. They remind us that true wisdom stays the course when temptation presses in on us, and that biblica...

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:2–6 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- Ecclesiastes 7:2–6 confronts our pleasure-driven culture with a stark truth: Wisdom grows not in laughter and entertainment, but in sorrow and sober reflection. Solomon reminds us that funerals are better than parties because the house of mourning teaches lessons no feast ever could—lessons about mortality, eternity, and what truly matters befor...

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:2–6 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- In an age dominated by endless amusement and instant gratification, sober-mindedness is not only wise, but urgently necessary for anyone who wants to live for Christ. In this message, we will consider how a culture obsessed with entertainment has lost its capacity for clear thinking, meaningful relationships, and spiritual focus—a trend visible...

Text: Ecclesiastes 7:1 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- Solomon opens Ecclesiastes 7 by turning our usual thinking on its head by forcing us to ask two surprising questions: Why is having character worth more than all the money in the world? And how can death possibly be better than birth? The answer is found in a transformed life and then eternal life after—both of which only come through faith in Chr...

Text: Ecclesiastes 6:10–12 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- Life under the sun confronts us with the hard limits of our knowledge, our mortality, and our inability to control life. However, in the midst of these sobering limitations, Solomon points us past our aimless, arrogant striving toward humble faith in the One who alone can redeem us from the bondage of ignorance, impotence, and death. -- Woodla...

Text: Ecclesiastes 6:7–9 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- In today's passage, we see a man who appears to have it all—money, wealth, fame, a long life, and even many children. But in reality he's a man who has nothing, because he's spent his life living for himself and sacrificing everything and everyone around him—including his own soul—on the altar of his own selfish agenda. To the mind o...

Text: Isaiah 29:20–21 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University, just outside of Salt Lake City. This seemingly watershed event marks the most significant assassination of its kind in the United States in half a century. In today's message, our aim is to think biblically about the murder of Charlie Kirk and, more broad...

Text: Ecclesiastes 6:1–6 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- In today's passage, we see a man who appears to have it all—money, wealth, fame, a long life, and even many children. But in reality he's a man who has nothing, because he's spent his life living for himself and sacrificing everything and everyone around him—including his own soul—on the altar of his own selfish agenda. To the mind o...

Text: Selected Scriptures Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- How much should I give? Does Scripture command tithing, or giving 10%? Is it biblical to give online? Why are so many churches doing away with an offering? These are just some of the questions that many Christians have about the matter of giving. In this fourth and final message in our "Basics" series, we'll consider the what, the...

Text: Selected Scriptures Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- According to God's Word, there is a direct connection between spiritual growth and the church. Christians do not grow in Christ-likeness through mysticism, self-effort, or even "personal devotions," but through the means that God himself has appointed for our growth. Those means are found in the ordinary aspects of body life in a...

Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 Guest speaker: Pastor Lloyd Murphy of Firm Foundation Bible Church in Prescott Valley, AZ -- The most vivid and common analogy for the church in the New Testament is the body of Christ. Pregnant with meaning and implication, this analogy reflects God's profound and intentional design of the members of Christ's body. Each follower of Christ is uniquely positione...

Text: Selected Scriptures Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:2 that "It is required of stewards that they be found faithful." A steward is someone who has been entrusted with something, and it is essential that he or she be a person who can be trusted and who is faithful with what has been placed in their care. As New Covenant believers who are saved by grace alon...

Text: Selected Scriptures Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- When it comes to the local church, church leadership is a foundational matter. It is crucially important that Christians understand what elders are and what their responsibilities are. In this first message in our summer "Basics" series, we look at the matter of pastoral leadership and what the Bible has to say about it. -- Woodland P...

Text: Ecclesiastes 5:18–20 Speaker: Tony de la Riva -- Eating, drinking, working, and virtually every aspect of normal human life is good. That is because God is good, and he gives good things to his creatures, and his will is that we enjoy them. Why then are so many people so dissatisfied with life? The answer is not in their circumstances, but in their perspective. Miserable people are focused o...