Thrive Harbor

Michael Bouterse, Thrive Harbor's local director, closes out the last section of the climactic eighth chapter of Romans. In Romans 8:28-39 Paul reveals God's purpose for humanity: not conformity to a set of moral principles but to a person, Jesus Christ; His aim is for the very life of God to be woven into the warp and woof of our personalities. To this purpose God adds a promise of assurance that...

Dustin Polley, director of Thrive Kitsap (our sister ministry in Kitsap County), continues Thrive's ascent up the "Mount Everest" of Scripture, the glorious eighth chapter of Romans. In Romans 8:18-27 Paul announces that Christians await a glorious future, when at Christ's return God's people will be glorified, resulting not just in their renewal but in the renewal of all creation. Meanwhile, Chri...

David Shohradov, one of Thrive's own, continues Thrive's exploration of the "Mount Everest" of the Bible, Romans 8. In Romans 8:12-17 Paul takes up themes at the heart of the Christian life—the relationship between the flesh and the Spirit, our adoption as God's children, and the redemptive value of suffering.

Jake Chambers, pastor and church planter of Local Church , kicks off the first of several weeks focused on the "Mount Everest" of Scripture—the magnificent eighth chapter of Romans. Romans 8 is one of the firmest statements in Scripture that in Christ we are free of condemnation, even though condemnation is exactly what we deserve! Yet because of what Jesus has done, God has liberated us from livi...

A Q&A panel with local pastors and their spouses wraps up Thrive's two-week miniseries on pornography and sexual addiction.

Periodically in Thrive's Romans series, we're pausing to take up a "hot potato in Romans"—a topic that is culturally "hot" and hard to handle. In this talk, Josh Mann, pastor at Fox Island Alliance Church , shares part of his powerful testimony to conclude a two-week miniseries on “Jesus, Sex, and Secrets” confronting pornography and sexual addiction.

Periodically in Thrive's Romans series, we're pausing to take up a "hot potato in Romans"—a topic that is culturally "hot" and hard to handle. In this talk, Michael Bouterse, Thrive Harbor's local director, opens a two-week miniseries on “Jesus, Sex, and Secrets” that confronts pornography and sexual addiction, springing out of Romans 6 and 7. This first talk deals with the devastation of porn, th...

How does God change us? How do believers grow amid the ongoing, ever-present battle with sin? Whereas Romans 6 gives Paul’s explanation of the right way to fight sin and seek change, Romans 7 gives the wrong way. It shows us that despite human beings’ inherent tendency to improve ourselves through our own effort, sin can’t be defeated through simply trying harder. Sanctification is God’s work, acc...

If Christians are saved by faith, what keeps us walking in obedience to God’s commands? In this message on Romans 7:1-13, Tim Cedarland, Thrive’s regional director, expounds Paul’s teaching about faith and the law. Through what Jesus has done, Christians are no longer under the law, which never could stop us from sinning anyway. Just as a mirror can tell you that your face is dirty but can’t actua...

David Shohradov, one of Thrive's own, preaches on Romans 6, one of the Bible's great chapters about how the gospel changes us. Why should Christians no longer sin? Is it because of fear of punishment or to impress God? According to Romans 6, the answer is that dead men don't sin! When Jesus died, our sinful self died, meaning that we no longer have to do what sin tempts us to do. The result is fre...

D'Vante Rolle of One Hope Church continues Thrive's series on Romans by looking at Romans 5:1-11. Justification by faith is the taproot of joy, hope, peace, and all the blessings of the Christian life. It also gives believers the power to persevere through life's darkest trials.

How do faith and works go together? In this message on Romans 4, Tim Cedarland, Thrive’s regional director, zooms in on two Old Testament figures who discovered justification by faith long before Paul did. Abraham is famous for his many moments of obedience, but behind that obedience was his trust in God. Faith was the root, and good works were the fruit! Then there’s David, a man rich in sin and...

Mercy forgives the guilty, while justice refuses to let the guilty off the hook. How can these two important principles coexist? In this message on Romans 3:21-31, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, explains how according to Paul there is exactly one place where these seeming opposites collide: the cross of Christ. On the cross, God upheld judgment by punishing sin, while also demonstratin...

Why is it so easy to feel dogged by a sense of shame and inadequacy? Is there a way to shut off the inner monologue that says, “You’ll never be enough”? In this message on Romans 3:21-26, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, expounds Paul’s teaching on justification by faith, the cornerstone of Christian theology. Human beings are self-justifying creatures, always searching for new ways to s...

In this message on Romans 3:1-20, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, unpacks the conclusion of Paul’s argument that all humanity is guilty and in need of salvation. Already he has argued that religious people need the gospel (chapter 2) just as much as non-religious people (chapter 1). Now, to conclude his argument, Paul considers some challenges someone might make to his case, before driv...

There are people who sit in church every Sunday, who serve the homeless, clothe the naked, and care for the sick—but who are on their way to hell. In this message on Romans 2:17-29, Michael Bouterse, Thrive's local director, unpacks the Bible's astonishing teaching that even the most scrupulous religious observance is insufficient to save us. Whereas religion often leads to self-righteousness and...

Why are human beings so good at destroying relationships with those we love? According to the Bible, the answer is that the human heart is hard-wired to justify itself. In this message on Romans 2:1-16, Michael Bouterse, Thrive's local director, unpacks Paul's profound teaching on human hypocrisy, its deadly results, and the cure we desperately need. Scripture passages cited in this message includ...

Periodically in Thrive's Romans series, we're pausing to take up a "hot potato in Romans"—a topic that is culturally "hot" and hard to handle. In this talk, Michael Bouterse, Thrive's local director, takes up Paul's controversial words about homosexuality in Romans 1:26-27. According to this passage, is God homophobic? Is Christianity bad news for those who experience same-sex attraction? The answ...

Michael Bouterse, Thrive Harbor’s local director, continues Thrive's series on Romans by looking at the second half of Romans 1. Like a prosecuting attorney, Paul in 1:18-3:20 constructs an air-tight case that all humanity is guilty and in need of a savior. In this section, Paul first tells us why humanity is guilty, and secondly he shows us how God responds to our sin—by giving us over to the ver...

Tim Cedarland, Thrive's regional director, opens a several-month journey through the "cathedral of the Christian faith," the book of Romans. Besides teaching on the first half of chapter one, Tim takes us on a whirlwind, high-flying overview of the entire book, in order to show how all the different pieces of Paul's letter fit together into one big picture.

Dennis Fuqua, director of International Renewal Ministries and special speaker for Thrive's 2018 Christmas Formal, looks at the classic Christmas word "Immanuel" (meaning "God with us") in order to show that the Christmas story is actually far more than what that word implies. It's amazing enough that in being born as a human, Jesus is God with us. But because of His life, death, and resurrection,...

Often it's assumed there's a tension between a community that is inwardly focused—concerned with the needs of insiders—and outwardly focused—concerned with the needs of outsiders. But Christian community is both at the same time. When Christians love, serve, and build each other up, the result is a community that showcases the love of God to a lost and hurting world, or in other words, a community...

Christian community helps answer the profound longing of the human heart to be deeply loved and deeply known at the same time. It's a space where it's possible to really tell the truth about your deepest struggles and yet still be loved and welcomed—a community not just of truth but trust. What does that kind of community look like? It looks like a band of believers who pray for each other, confes...

Salvation by grace is the crucial foundation of Christianity, distinguishing it from all other world religions. But how does grace affect community? The famous parable of the prodigal sons shows that sin and self-righteousness inevitably destroy community but that the grace of God creates community—a community marked by love, diversity, and humility.  Scripture passages cited in this message...

What gave such vibrancy to the early Christians? It wasn't fancier worship or slicker preaching. All that the early church did was a fresh, organic explosion of awe at Jesus and what He had done—creating a new kind of community that the world had never seen. Passages cited in this message include Acts 2:42-47.