River City Church

What if the key to finding your life is actually losing it? This week's message dove into the story of Gideon in Judges 7, where God deliberately shrunk an army from tens of thousands down to just 300 men — not because of weakness, but to make one thing clear: the victory belongs to God, not to human strength. Pat Riley once called it "the disease of me always results in the defeat of us...

What does it look like to truly lose your life for Jesus -- not in some dramatic, distant way, but right here, right now, in this season? This past Sunday, our first gathering in a new space, we heard from our own church family through prophetic words, visions, and testimonies about healing, treasure hidden in unexpected places, and the miraculous that comes when we follow God even into hard in-be...

What if the biggest moments in your life started with a simple "wow" instead of "how"? In our final service at Belford, we reflected on 21 years of trusting God with the impossible -- a church built not on certainty, but on obedience and faith in a God who dreams bigger than we do. From Jeremiah 29:11's promise of hope and a future, to Jesus' words in John 14:12 about...

What if your greatest spiritual blind spot is expecting God to work the way He worked before? In Luke 5, Jesus uses three vivid pictures -- a wedding celebration, a patched garment, and new wine in old wineskins -- to reveal a stunning truth: He did not come to improve the old system. He came to make everything new. New righteousness. New life. New covenant. Not earned, but received as a gift thro...

Before Abraham was born, I am. Three simple words that shook the religious elite of Jerusalem to their core and changed everything. This week we explored one of the lesser-known but deeply powerful "I Am" statements of Jesus in John 8:48-59, where Jesus claims the very name God gave Moses in Exodus 3 as his own. If Jesus is the great I Am, that changes the question we ask. It is no longe...

What if the most outrageous claim anyone could ever make turned out to be the truest thing in the universe? In John 11:25, Jesus looks a grieving woman in the eye and says, "I am the resurrection and the life." Not I bring resurrection. Not I teach about resurrection. I am it. Through the story of Lazarus, we see a Jesus who weeps with those who weep, who enters into real human grief, an...

What kind of shepherd lays down his life for the sheep? Not a hired hand. Not just a good leader. The Good Shepherd. This Sunday we explored John 10:11-18, where Jesus makes one of the most profound claims in all of scripture. He does not merely manage the flock from a safe distance. He walks into danger, absorbs the threat, and lays his life down willingly so that his sheep can live. As he says i...

Who's guarding your life? In this week's message, we explored Jesus' powerful declaration: "I am the gate" (John 10:7). Just like a shepherd who literally sleeps across the entrance to protect his sheep, Jesus positions Himself as the only way in and the only way out of true life. Here's the beautiful truth: Jesus doesn't just save us and leave us to figure thing...

We all have things we keep hidden in the dark—struggles, addictions, shame. But here's the truth: Jesus declared "I am the light of the world" not to expose us in judgment, but to heal us in love. The enemy wants you isolated, convinced that bringing your struggles into the light will destroy you. But it's the darkness that's destroying you. When we step into the light, so...

What if the person you're holding captive through unforgiveness is actually you? This week we explored a powerful truth: "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and to realize that the prisoner was you." Like Leonardo DiCaprio's character in Inception, we often trap ourselves in the prison of unforgiveness, thinking we're holding others accountable when we're really hol...

We're in a season of transition at RCC, stepping out before our new building is ready. It feels uncertain, maybe even uncomfortable. But here's what God keeps reminding us: "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Just like Joshua stood at the Jordan River, facing the unknown after Moses died, we're at our own crossing point. God told Joshua three times to "be strong...

Whether you had the best dad or the worst, we all carry wounds from our earthly fathers that sometimes spill over into how we see our Heavenly Father. The truth is simple but profound: we're hurt in relationship, and we're healed in relationship. You can't do it alone. The younger son had to face his shame. The older son had to name his pain. The father had to extend grace that wasn...

We're in a season of transition at River City Church, and honestly, it can feel a little unsettling. We know where we've been, we know where God is leading us, but the in-between? That's where faith gets real. Just like the Israelites standing at the Jordan River, staring at the Promised Land, we're learning that God is more concerned with our obedience than our understanding....

We live in a world obsessed with finding the right diet, the perfect health regimen, the magic supplement that will transform us. But Jesus offers something far more radical and sustaining. In John 6, Jesus declares, "I am the bread of life." He doesn't just feed our bodies—He feeds our souls. When He tells us to eat His flesh and drink His blood, it's not about cannibalism; it...

Ever wonder what happens when our deepest convictions collide with the risen Christ? Paul's Damascus Road encounter wasn't just a conversion—it was a complete inversion of his moral universe. The man breathing threats and murder against Christians became Christianity's greatest ambassador. Why? Because he met the resurrected Jesus, who asked one piercing question: "Why are you...

What if God's greatest gift wasn't just being WITH us, but being IN us? This Pentecost Sunday, we explored an incredible progression: God's presence moved from the ark, to Jesus walking among us, to the Holy Spirit dwelling within every believer. That's not just theology—it's transformation. When Jesus told His disciples to wait for power from on high, He was preparing the...

Ever feel like you're working hard for God but somehow missing Him in the process? Jesus met His disciples after a long, fruitless night of fishing and asked them to throw their nets on the other side. When they obeyed, they couldn't haul in the catch—153 fish that should have torn their nets but didn't. Here's the powerful truth: Peter had denied Jesus three times. Yet Jesus d...

Have you ever felt that low-grade heaviness that won't seem to lift? You're not alone. This week we explored how God wants to break the chains of depression and oppression that have held us captive—sometimes since childhood. Here's the truth that sets us free: God calls things that are not as though they are. Just like Abraham's impossible promise became the foundation of our f...

This sermon centers on the story of the Road to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke, where two disciples unknowingly walk with the resurrected Jesus. Pastor Jared highlights how they initially fail to recognize Him, even as He explains the Scriptures, until their “eyes are opened” in the breaking of bread. This moment—described as a kind of “holy heartburn”—illustrates how Jesus can be present with peopl...

What an incredible Baptism Sunday we celebrated! Watching 12 people publicly declare their freedom in Christ was a powerful reminder of God's transforming grace. In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul reveals three enemies we all face: the world, the flesh, and the devil. But here's the beautiful truth—through Christ, we are SET FREE from the enemy's grip, SET APART to live differently than the...