Harbor Rock Tabernacle

 When Israel complained yet another time in the wilderness, the Lord gave them what they wanted...but with a cost. In contrast to all the people standing in their tents complaining, He told Moses to gather 70 consecrated men to His Tent of Meeting, where He put His Spirit on them. He responded to Moses' self-sufficient thoughts by asking, "Is My power limited?". This was a call to an intrepid fait...

 The call to sacrifice is central to our faith and discipleship, and a powerful expression of trust in the Lord's provision and obedience to Him. Sacrifice is not to get, but to give back to the Lord, and when our hearts are stirred, giving is the natural response. In Exodus 35, the people brought a variety of offerings to finish the work of the Tabernacle. Their gifts weren't equal, but their sac...

When Israel constructed the Tabernacle according to God's specifications, everyone worked to make it happen. Led by two Spirit-filled men named Bezalel and Oholiab, they al  used their gifts and skills to assemble at least 42 components needed for the place where the Lord would come and abide with them. This is a parallel of the ministry of the Church, where believers are called to always be prepa...

Sacrifice is inherent to the life of a believer--not only because we have been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but also because we are called to surrender our lives to Him in response.  Ephesians 5 tells us to be "imitators of Christ", and nowhere will that be more evidenced than by walking in love.  This isn't just about being kind and gracious.  It becomes powerfully real when it is p...

Because salvation is completely based on the amazing sacrifice Christ made, there is a risk that believers will take it for granted and become somewhat ungrateful and fall back in our praise. Hebrews calls us to continually offer a sacrifice of praise...and it does require sacrifice on our part. It begins with being humbled, which Pastor Rhoads personally details from a recent trip to Utah. Experi...

The author of Hebrews addressed the problem of Jews who had been delivered from their sin but were falling back into their old ways. Any believer can be inclined to just go with the flow, becoming dull of hearing God's Word and then careless spiritually. When we allow our hearts to be hardened and insensitive, it makes us sluggish and even embarrassed to mature in our walk. So it is vital to be di...

It's easy to compartmentalize prayer into requests for help and what we need, or interceding for someone. But there is much more--the gift of being able to abide in God's presence. For the Jewish audience in Hebrews, that was an unfamiliar concept, because the Holy of Holies had only been accessible to the High Priest once a year on the Day of Atonement. But Jesus changed that, opening up the veil...

It is an awesome fact that God has offered every person eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. When we trust in Him, our sins are completely forgiven and cleansed. From that moment on, we are made holy, indwelt by His Holy Spirit, and given us a holy calling to be a holy sacrifice to our Lord. So holiness is the believer's daily standard, and we need a fresh resolve to be zealous about pursuing p...

The Lord has made Himself known through creation, through His actions and especially through Jesus Christ. So as we ask Him to "shake" us out of fear and spiritual apathy, the first place to be stirred to action is to know Him more fully, and be filled with wisdom and understanding. During a time of widespread confusion and lack of logic, Proverbs says that wisdom cries out to be heard and used to...

As we live in these Last Days, the Spirit is calling believers to hear His voice, and be stirred to be bold for Him. But for that to happen, we must first be shaken. The temptation will be to be shaken by how the world is raging against Jesus Christ, similar to what the disciples experienced in Acts 4. But God is in control and Christ has already won victory over the world, so believers need to fi...

Just as insecurity can do internal damage, it can also be a weapon that harms our relationships--with the Lord and others. King Saul continuously made bad decisions but passed the blame, hurting the nation and even his own family, Looking at the second half of his life brings out five important spiritual principles about obedience. When we trust the Lord fully and do what He says, we will be humbl...

With the uncertainty, stress and fear in the world, it is easy to think that there is nothing more important than life here on earth. But a believer in Jesus Christ has eternity secured in heaven, which means this is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven, so in Colossians 3, the apostle Paul urges us to keep seeking what is from above. This means to direct our minds toward Who and what we lov...

In our battle with insecurity, there are times when our self-focus and weakness become internal weapons that damage our life and relationships. King Saul fell into this trap. Rather than finding confidence and strength in the promise of God to bless him as a leader, Saul hid from the responsibility and made a series of bad decisions. His impatience and impulsiveness revealed that he was working in...

Even to the disciples, and especially Peter, Jesus confronted the self-focus and self- sufficiency that triggers insecurity…but He also worked to transform their thinking. He does the same with us to fill us with His strength and confidence, because insecurity strips us of spiritual power. 35 years after Jesus' resurrection, Peter affirms that the Lord has generously given believers "everything we...

Rather than increasing community and feelings of acceptance, the rise in technology has ironically done just the opposite--divide and discourage. When we feel insecure in this way, we respond in different ways--from isolating to having a victim mentality to proving people wrong. But the best response is to humble ourselves and ask the Lord to change and renew us. A Roman centurion who came to Jesu...

If someone was to describe your spiritual life, what characteristics would be unmistakable? For the believer in Jesus Christ, the presence and power of His Holy Spirit is the main distinctions. It is the Spirit Who points us to Christ and calls us to love Christ. But we can become focused on being filled with knowledge--which is needed...unless the desire of our heart is lacking. In this study fro...

The apostle Paul had experienced a radical spiritual transformation in his life. It didn't come from the abundance of good works or his own strength, because he realized he had been spiritually dead because of his own sin. But God didn't want him--or us--to stay that way. Once Paul met and trusted Jesus Christ, he looked at his former life and knew his life was far different. He was now alive in C...

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus' disciples are instructed to fight against spiritual attack, through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is essential, because even the most convicted, committed, called servant of God can struggle with insecurity and doubts. John the Baptist, who had 12 unique confirmations from the Lord, and who fulfilled his role as Jesus' forerunner, briefly wrested with this...

While most of our insecurity is a result of internal uncertainty or external obstacles, there is a dangerous form that comes from entitled self-focus. It is subtle, so we often don't realize we're doing it, but the parable of the Prodigal Son draws attention to it by taking just as many verses to detail the angry hostility of the older brother. His frustration with the mercy shown to his sinning b...

Jeremiah was called "the weeping prophet" because he was so grieved by the coming discipline of Judah for their sin, and because he faced tremendous opposition for serving the Lord. Alone in his ministry, he was scorned, rejected, beaten, thrown in a cistern and eventually stoned. But he remained faithful to his calling, because he knew the Lord empowers and defends us when we do. So he was willin...

Hidden beneath Samson's muscles and arrogant persona was an insecure need to be liked and approved. Marked by unique points of distinction from the Lord, Samson nevertheless was driven by what looked good to him and pleased him. This caused him to pursue what was impure and dangerous, as well as contradictory to his direct calling. When he became careless with his character and his assignment, rat...

Just as sports teams are notorious for creating subtle strategic advantages, the devil works to keep us unstable & emotionally discouraged by trying to undermine our faith. The account of Gideon in Judges shows how thoroughly insecurity and fear can infiltrate our thinking, but also how the Lord convincingly shows His sufficiency. Gideon seemed an unlikely leader, full of feelings of inadequac...

Just as sports teams are notorious for creating subtle strategic advantages, the devil works to keep us unstable & emotionally discouraged by trying to undermine our faith. The account of Gideon in Judges shows how thoroughly insecurity and fear can infiltrate our thinking, but also how the Lord convincingly shows His sufficiency. Gideon seemed an unlikely leader, full of feelings of inadequac...

Feelings of inadequacy, sadness and hopelessness are pervasive in every culture and society, even among believers. But the Lord equips us with a different mindset--one of victory and purpose. When Moses was called by the Lord to lead God's people out of Egypt, he responded with 5 objections, all self-focused...even though the Lord had given His promises that He would be with him and provide in eve...

Joseph is an interesting case study because we can relate to what he went through. He didn't do miracles, but he did experience alot of resentment and rejection. His brothers hated him, his overseer's wife falsely accused him, and he was forgotten in jail. But Joseph's life shows us that experiencing rejection provides opportunities to get insight into what Christ went through and love God's grace...