Harbor Rock Tabernacle

100 million followers...700,000 "likes". Identity is often now defined by who and what you follow. But what does it mean to "follow" Jesus? That was His call to Matthew the tax collector, and how Matthew responds in Matthew 9:9 shows us the decisions needed and the ways our lives are completely changed once we trust in Jesus.

In sports, players often try to insult and intimidate their opponent as part of the game. Spiritually, we face an even greater effort to demoralize us from trusting in the Lord. King Hezekiah of Judah faced this type of attack from the Assyrians, who launched a spiritual and psychological campaign declaring that God was powerless to defend Judah. How Hezekiah prepared and responded, and what the L...

He was wise, respected and had great authority in standing against the early Christian Church...but he became an unlikely defender of the disciples. Gamaliel recognized the danger of opposing God, and his words helped the disciples to spread the Gospel more effectively throughout the world. In this study from Acts 5, we see the importance of our reputation, the need to warn others about spiritual...

Manasseh was the most evil king of the nation of Judah. He was defiant toward God and sought to replace God in as many ways as he could. The Lord warned Manasseh but he "paid no attention", so God brought the Assyrians to take him captive. Then, Manasseh made a wise decision--to humble himself before God and entreat Him for help. The Lord was "moved" by this and changed Manasseh's life. God's amaz...

A man once approached Jesus, asking Him a question with a faulty premise: "Whave do I have to do to obtain eternal life?" He was grieved when Jesus told him that it required a full sacrifice of whatever we value more than the Lord. This was illustrated in a profound way during this year's Vacation Bible School at Harbor Rock, so in this message Pastor Rhoads tells the story that highlights the "po...

Timothy was a believer who was discouraged and feeling defeated, because of spiritual warfare, cultural decline, relational opposition and weakness in his spiritual walk. His mentor Paul wrote to him to be strong in God's grace through Jesus Christ, and then to invest into the lives of others by depositing the Truth of God's Word into their hearts. In this study from 2 Timothy 2, we learn the impo...

This Sunday we celebrated our graduating Seniors. We asked two of them--Sean Daniels and Jacob Rhoads--to teach the Word of God. Sean speaks about "growing up" from Luke 18, with a focus on having the mindset of a child as we trust and serve the Lord. Jacob speaks from 1 Samuel 1 about the example Samuel set, which encourages us to look forward to how we should walk by faith.

All throughout the New Testament, the Holy Spirit teaches us about living a holy life. Because "the days are evil", there needs to be a sense of urgency in our hearts to live in the transformation that God has provided through Christ. This study from Ephesians 5 reveals that there are two factors that will lead to a demonstration of our faith: Repentance and prayer.

As we approach the end of the school, many students are concerned about the grades they will make. Ultimately, those grades don't have eternal significance, but how we live spiritually does. Israel had every advantage to know and serve the Lord, but by 2 Kings 17, they had brought captivity back on themselves because they had failed to love, trust and obey the Lord. Their actions give us the oppor...

What do we do when we are in situations beyond our control--situations that are unfair, painful and without answers? For Jochebed, instead of giving up, she trusted the Lord and carried out a wise plan. But that plan required her to let go of what was most precious to her. The moment she did that, 5 supernatural transactions took place in which the Lord provided and blessed her beyond her imaginat...

The battlefield of spiritual warfare is in our minds, so the enemy attacks us by accusing us with words that make us feel worthless. Even though our Lord has complete victory, and promises that we are overcomers, these words can damage us unless we turn them around and use Scripture to give us strength. This study from Revelation 12 identifies 7 statements of warfare, and the Bible passages that o...

When the Holy Spirit empowered the apostles in Acts 2, there was the sound of a violent, rushing wind. Why not a soft gentle breeze? In this important study from Prayer Meeting, we define the characteristics of a violent wind, and the important spiritual parallels that are so needed for every believer and every church.

When Jesus intentionally stayed behind in Jerusalem at age 12, He wasn't being rebellious or disobedient. He just had a greater purpose--to be in the house of the Lord and teach His Word. This study from Luke 2 calls us to evaluate our priorities and our commitment, and to follow the example Jesus sets.

In speaking to the last of the 7 churches in Revelation, Jesus has very convicting words to Laodicea, where people who said they were believers were instead spiritually indifferent and passionless. Satisfied in the apathy, they were unmoved and unchanged by Jesus' resurrection and the call to conviction and commitment. This final study in our series looks at the direct correlation between His word...

The resurrection wasn't an illusion or a conspiracy--all the evidence points to it being reality. Because it is true, the implications are eternal. By dying and rising again, Jesus overwhelmingly defeated the 5 problems that sin creates, ensuring that all who trust in Him are saved forever.

It's not always comfortable for us to hear, but it was our sin that puts Jesus on the cross. He chose to take our place because we had no hope of saving ourselves. In this study from Acts 26, we see the 5 reasons why our sin puts us in an impossible, irreparable position, and how Jesus' sacrifice and victory provides the assurance that we can be freed from sin's penalty.

There was only 1 church of the 7 in Revelation 2 that received only positive commendation from the Holy Spirit--the Church in Philadelphia. They exhibited 4 spiritual characteristics that should characterize every Christian and every congregation. In this study, we examine the open doors of ministry the Lord provides when we walk with Him, and the promises He makes to those who are faithful to Him...

In this study from Luke 23 and Matthew 26, Jamie speaks about passionately seeking, finding and walking in the will of God. There is no better place to live than in the center of His will.

This morning, Harbor Rock welcomes Jon from Feel The Power for our Spring Special Service.

When a church or Christian is not careful to guard Biblical doctrine, it leads to moral compromise. The reverse is also true. The fourth of the 7 Churches in Revelation 2 was Thyatira. They had allowed a woman to contradict Scripture and teach that Christians can be immoral and worldly while claiming to know Jesus as Savior and Lord. In this study, we see the parallels to our time, and learn pract...

When the Word of God is treated as subjective instead of as fixed truth, doctrine is negotiated and conviction gets compromised. The Spirit's warning to Pergamos in Revelation 2 is very relevant to us in 2017, because the American Church especially has increasingly de-emphasized the Bible and distorted it's literal truth. Our third study in the "7" series offers a sobering challenge to examine our...

The Lord promises He is the Rewarder of those who seek Him...but how fully do we really believe that truth? In Matthew 20, we see Jesus' response to two blind men who cried out for His help. When we truly understand God's compassion--which was proven by Jesus coming here and experiencing all we do--we will then know that He is also ready to open the storehouse of His blessing to us.

When the church and Christians face cultural opposition to Biblical convictions, how are we to respond? The Church in Smyrna was under heavy pressure to conform and comply to actions that contradicted their beliefs. In this second study of our "7" series, we see the Spirit's call to be fearless, steadfast and nonconformist, while also seizing the fresh opportunity from the Lord to influence our cu...

Does God's church, and the believers who comprise it, still have a hunger, zeal and fire for the Lord? Or, have we "left our first love", becoming spiritually apathetic and ultimately unfaithful? In our new series "7", we study Ephesus, the first church mentioned by the Spirit in Revelation 2. and the message the Lord gives when our hearts lose their passion for Him.

When you face difficulty, how do you react? What is your default response? Our words and our actions during those times not only teach us about our character and convictions, but they have a lasting effect. In this study of Absalom and David's family, we see the escalating path of sinful reactions, and learn how to respond in ways that are pleasing to the Lord.