Church on The Rock Homer

"People don't leave their jobs, they leave their supervisors."  This is a paraphrased version of the Gallup Organization's findings after a massive study on workplace managers back in 1999.  They found people are more likely to cite relational tensions with direct authority  as the reason for moving on. To be honest, my workplace relationships with my bosses deteriorated in nearl...

I was born in the 80’s when toys were made to last. My first memory of being on a playground was at McDonalds climbing up the cylinder body of the Hamburgler to access the jail between the cheese and the top bun. That playground was made to last, and caused some kids serious injuries. If kids saw it today, they’d have nightmares about it. It was amazing!  As soon as I became a teenager, all of tho...

As we continue our journey through Scripture, we’ll be looking at Numbers 11-12 and a struggle that touches every one of us: complaining. God had delivered Israel from slavery, continued to lead them, and faithfully provided food in the wilderness. Yet their desires led them to despise His provision and look back, longing for what was in Egypt. One question we’ll consider is: What does my faithles...

It's time for our Annual Mission Conference! As we approach this event, I have one request from you. Would you take some time to sit before the Lord in a quiet space and ask Him the question, "How can I be a part of your plan in far-away places?" God has a plan for your life, and for the entire world. Missions Conference is a chance to invest in what God is doing OVER THERE all while...

Every day in this little hamlet by the sea, there is the hustle and bustle of people moving to and fro between jobs, tasks, and activities. Some are shuffling kids from school to home. Some are doing their weekly grocery shopping. Some of us are opening our storefronts to welcome in the day's customers. All the while, there is a smaller group of people, a busy group of workers who have devoted...

Wedding bells are ringing loudly in my home this week. My beautiful daughter Talia and her very tall Canadian fiancé are to be wed Saturday and our house is bustling with preparations. Talia’s new and wonderful in-laws are here from Saskatchewan and have brought the party vibe. We are eating lots of good food, spending time together, each one of us helping with our respective parts. For those of y...

Often times in life things don't go the way we expect. This can lead to questions about why God isn't acting in the way or time we think He should. Choosing trust in the unknown protects our hearts from offense. Come learn about the blessing waiting for us on the other side of this choice. Philip Licht

Have you ever gotten caught with your hand in the cookie jar? Do you remember the feeling? Mom told you not to eat cookies before dinner, but that jar full of goodness is so tempting. We respond with comments like “I just wanted one” or “I am so hungry”. The problem is that Mama said, and you didn’t listen. I mean, I didn’t listen. The book of Exodus closes with a similar warning as the cooking ja...

It’s September already. Before I know it there will be Christmas decorations adorning my home, Mariah Carey’s voice filling the air along with the smell of a freshly baked sheet of Christmas cookies. Whether you like it or not your life is ruled by a calendar. Days and dates that inform your life from anniversaries, to birth days, to national holidays. There are events scheduled throughout your ye...

What do you say? What do you do? How do you move forward when a relationship has been deeply strained, when your mistakes have been costly and trust has been shaken? We are in a series titled Worship of a Holy God. It is God’s holiness that adds another layer to the relational repair needed in light of the harm we have caused. In my other human relationships I might be able to relieve the burden b...

Camping in Alaska is always a fun adventure. We finally got to go a few weeks ago and it always takes some work to gather your camping supplies and pack them up just to hit the road. The excitement builds as we hit the road and find our spot and set up camp. Now the fun begins! Fires, time in the woods, getting wet in an ocean or river, and then fire pit desserts, all under a seemingly never setti...

What is rest? But actually, do you feel like you know what true rest feels like? Jenny and I have always distinguished between different ways of needing rest. There is sleepy, which is that feeling of about to doze off. And then there is tired, which does not always mean sleepy. We also describe different levels of tired. There is “I need a nap” tired. There is crisis and drama tired. There is “I...

There are many times during my preparation process for a Sunday morning teaching that I will find myself thinking, "This is going to be a fun study." This is not one of those weeks. Sunday we will dive into the story in Exodus 32 and it is a rough one. As we prepare for Sunday, take a minute to read through this chapter. As you read, don't fall prey to the moralistic interpretation which concludes...

In this message, we will be in Exodus 19–20, but primarily Exodus 20, looking at one of the most important moments in Scripture: God giving the Ten Commandments to Israel. At Mount Sinai, the people saw the mountain covered in smoke, felt it tremble, heard the trumpet grow louder, and then heard the audible voice of God declare His commands. This was not merely a private conversation between God a...

I recently attended a wedding at the Homestead. It was a beautiful Alaskan wedding, which means it's a little damp, a little rainy, but everyone is full of joy watching a man and woman come together in holy matrimony! Every time I witness a couple say their vows I am taken back to the moment I stood in front of my bride and made my covenant with her. Every wedding is a sobering moment to remem...

During the school year, Tuesday is pancake day. I make them from scratch every week, cuz I’m hardcore like that. But I don’t just make pancakes, I make CHOCOLATE CHIP pancakes! That wasn’t supposed to be the thing but I did it as a treat one time and now that’s the way we role every week. It is amazing what a few droplets of chocolate does to elevate a regular old skillet flat cake. One such morni...

Technology has significantly changed the world we live in. One of the areas it’s changed is sporting events. Back in the day, we watched teams battle it out on weary-looking grass under incandescent flimsy filament bulbs on pixelated screens with clunky rotary knobs. Overweight and out of shape, umpires and referees were forced to make split-second decisions with no backup, inevitably leading to t...

I've been painting for several years now, and I like to think I'm aware enough of the dangers in the workspace. And yet, despite being aware of the dangers around me, I am THE GUY who inevitably hurts myself on something I shouldn't have. Something I've warned everyone else about a handful of times. Something where honestly, I could have done differently to ensure my safety. There&...

My first year of college was a wild ride. Move-in day was interesting, deciding on what belongings to bring, setting a bed that wasn’t mine, meeting my roommate, and then meeting the guys on my hall. It was an excitingly odd experience. During orientation, the administration says to all the freshmen, “Look to your left and look to your right, one of you will not graduate college.” Fast forward a c...

I recently posed this question to several members of our staff, “When did you first imagine your life to be what it is today?” The answer that made me chuckle was, “Yesterday!” Maybe you feel the same, many unexpected twists and turns along the way. But either way, here you are. And what bends my mind is to think back on the thousands of details that conspired perfectly to lead me to what is my li...

“Hello darkness my old friend I’ve come to talk with you again”. How many of you remember "The Sounds of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel? We are showing our age on this one! Art Garfunkel (yes, that’s his real name) said, “the song is fundamentally about the inability to communicate and, consequently, the inability to genuinely love one another.” Joseph experienced his own “Sounds of Silence”...

Have you ever run into a kid who needed some sense knocked into them? I’ll never forget the first time I realized that my child’s hubris was out of control. It's that moment when your infantile child looks at you and what you’re doing and tells you that they know how to do it better. That statement was so utterly preposterous that words could not be formed in my mouth. I looked at my child, smiled...

In this message, we are going to jump into a three weeks series covering the life of one my favorite Biblical characters. We get to meet him as a teenager and my hope is that his story will encourage and inspire those who are in their teens and early twenties. But maybe not in the way you would expect... Our main character is Joseph, and he was definitely going to do great things. Right after some...

A couple of weeks ago, I was in the midst of our morning routine. Wake up, get dressed, breakfast, load up, choose the morning mix for our drive to school. Most of the time it’s kids' music on the way to school. After drop off, Dad does some reminiscing. I love going down the rabbit hole and finding old tunes and enjoying them again. Remember the classics Matchbox 20, Oasis, Weezer, Garth Brooks,...

This Sunday's teaching will focus on the life of Esau and the sobering reality of what happens when we allow our appetites to take the place of God. Esau’s story is more than a historical account; it’s a mirror. It reveals how easily we can trade what is eternal for what satisfies us in the moment. I’ll be exploring the concept of “irreversible moments”, those decisions that seem small in the...