Harbor Rock Tabernacle

The Lord gives believers power to actively advance in maturity, so when He opens doors of opportunity, we need to go forward. Inactivity inhibits growth and usefulness, while advancing brings discernment and blessing. This is shown in the example of Peter in Acts 12, when the Lord miraculously releases him from jail, so the work of ministry can continue. It reveals that the Lord is ready to do gre...

Our mind is a place of great conflict, battling between holy and unholy thoughts. This determines how feel and function, especially spiritually. In Romans 12, Paul calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, which only takes place when we passionately and purposely develop and nurture what brings spiritual life. We have to understand what the voices in our mind are leading us to belie...

In the middle of Ephesians, between praise of Jesus Christ and the Gospel, and a call to live sanctified lives, there is a powerful promise of the unlimited potential of God's work. This is available to anyone who trusts Jesus as Savior and is walking in the power and leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit. But we need to be careful not to "quench" the fire of His work, because the Lord is able and...

The wise men are unexpected participants in the Christmas account--they weren't Jewish, didn't have any connection to anything surrounding Jesus, and didn't have a vision prior to arriving in Bethlehem. But their hearts were stirred, and that brought them to find Jesus, Whom they fell to the ground and worshiped. Their sensitivity to God and obedience provide a strong example to us about getting c...

Joseph and Mary experienced tremendous pressures and challenges in being at the center of the birth of Jesus, both before, during and after. And yet, they are calm and at peace living in God's plan. As we experience the chaos of our culture and an uncertain future, do we have the same peace and confidence in the Lord? We can...because Jesus came to be our Peace and to bring peace to our lives.

The message the angels gave in announcing Jesus' birth addressed all the problems of mankind: Fear, lack of hope and joy and peace, and the need for a Saviour. Every person needs true peace, but man's solutions to find it all fail miserably. So Jesus came to be peace and bring peace...but why is He the Only One Who can provide it? This study examines 5 convincing truths which verify that because J...

Many Christians have little sense of God's calling and little expectation of being used in a significant way. Every believer has a general calling to be witnesses and make disciples, and a specific calling unique to them. But do we understand and embrace it, especially when it changes our plans and requires deep trust? Both Joseph and Mary exemplify an immediate willingness to follow God's calling...

When the multitude of angels announced the birth of Jesus, the declared "Peace on earth". This not only indicated that Jesus as the literal embodiment of peace, while offering the peace of a restored relationship with God. Knowing Jesus this way changes our perception of God and brings peace and purpose amid the noises and stresses of life.

When Jesus healed the blind man in John 9, he immediately started to testify about how the Lord had changed his life. The Pharisees doubted this because they wanted to try to discredit Jesus, but the man kept pointing them back to the facts. Unlike his parents, the man wasn't worried about losing his "standing" by standing for his convictions. Instead, he gave a strong, logical defense of Jesus. T...

How we respond to Who God is and what He does shapes everything we do. Whether we're hostile and resentful, or passively compliant, or yielded with contentment will determine where we fit in the "bell curve" of conviction. Every Christian should move out of the middle ground and have a supernatural faith, as illustrated by the blind man in John 9. He pushes aside any objections he might have had t...

Suffering can cause us to drift into discouragement, blame and distance from God, or we can see that the Lord utilizes it to refine us spiritually. In John 9, Jesus' interaction with a blind man gives insight into the role of sin in suffering. His teaching also challenges incorrect presuppositions about dealing with difficulty. Through this, we see the God's authority, and how He utilizes sufferin...

Psalm 1 shows that the believer is put in a wonderful position--saved and adopted through Christ, and blessed by the Lord when we walk in righteousness. In this last study of the series, "1 Way To Live", we see that the Lord also promises that He knows everything about us, and is focuses on strengthening us spiritually, and on leading us to what is best for us. This protects us from the destructiv...

Psalm 1 sets up a contrast between the righteous, who are blessed by God, and the wicked, who are guilty of sin and hostile toward God. Their lives and works are described as "chaff", which doesn't have foundation and is carried around by the wind. This has a spiritual parallel in terms of the impermanence and destablization of our culture, but there is an ultimate cost: Judgment. This doesn't hav...

Scientists are spending billions searching for any tiny biosignatures of life on Mars. In contrast, as Christians, it should be unmistakably clear to everyone that we have life in Jesus Christ. Psalm 1:3 describes how that will look--like a tree planted deeply by streams of water. Each detail of that description is a call to examine our spiritual "DNA", to determine whether we are showing life and...

As culture has changed and become more hostile to Christianity, there is a temptation to become bitter or numb about reaching people with the Truth. We may become entrenched as "Truth" Christians or "grace" Christians, rather than both being fully and equally present in us. This is why it's important to look at the example Jesus set, because He wanted people to stop living without value and hope....

To live in God's blessing, there is a way to learn how to walk in righteousness. Psalm 1:2 says we are to "delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night". God's Word brings life, so we have to see it as our tutor, inclining ourselves toward it, thoughtfully spending focused time studying it and receiving it's counsel. When it permeates our heart and mind, it becomes a tremendous s...

Psalm 1 details a chasm between someone who is blessed by God because of a redeemed relationship and someone who lives for themselves and rejects His salvation. In verse 1, being blessed is attached to three actions which believers are to zealously avoid, because each one is designed to progressively ingrain acceptance and practice of a lifestyle that pushes us farther away from the Lord. So the L...

Surveys show that man's definition of success is largely characterized by self-fulfillment: More prosperity, more comfort and less responsibility. But God defines it differently in Psalm 1: He says we can be "blessed" by Him. We can experience this by being in the right position spiritually--saved and declared righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. Then, we have a responsibility to put that posi...

One of the latest trends is the rise of "social media influencers", everyday marketers who promote places and products. Their success is due to social identity theory, in which people see value and connection based on the opinion of peers. When that message is true and the persuader is authentic, people are happy to be convinced. As Christians, the message of the Gospel is the ultimate Truth, so w...

It's easy for Christians to feel insecure and inadequate about our commission to have a spiritual influence on those around us. But when two spiritual characteristics are present in our lives, we will be effective in fulfilling that calling. In Acts 11, there were a group of Jewish men who boldly took the Gospel to the Gentiles, at a time when many Jews weren't willing to do so. The Lord blessed t...

Everything we are and do as believers should communicate to the world that salvation through Jesus Christ is real and life changing. Knowing and serving such a great God means that we have a great calling to have a powerful impact. This is what Solomon realized when he built the temple. He had a strong purpose to glorify and worship the Lord, and to sacrifice to Him. As disciples, we are declared...

It is somewhat normal to gravitate toward what doesn't challenge us or push us beyond what is reasonably comfortable. But when the Lord is the one calling us out of our "comfort zone", do we defend it or follow His leading? Because being a Christian is not about us but about Christ being pre-eminent, our thinking and priorities need to change. The account of Barak and Deborah in Judges 4 details h...

Fall is a time of change--kids go to school, the weather changes, and schedules go back to normal. But when the changes are more significant--a job transition, health problem or spiritual trial--how do we deal with it? The Bible is full of example of people experiencing change, including the disciples, whose convictions, perspective and responsibilities were all radically transformed in just 53 da...

A recent hiking trip in the mountains of North Carolina reinforced some vital truths that serve as spiritual metaphors. The difficult process of going up the trail to the summit parallels the essence of our lives as believers. These truths call us to important decisions about whether we will just walk where things are easier and comfortable, or whether we will progress by faith, in the power of th...

The Bible tells us that our spirit and our flesh are in constant opposition to each other. Sin wages a constant assault on us, so it is essential that we are walking by the Spirit. Adam Lopez teaches that rejecting sin not only gives us victory in that battle, but empowers us in our calling to share about the grace of God with others. (Note: Due to copyright restrictions, we cannot post the audio...