Heart of Flesh

Few things are more influential upon your Christian life than the local church to which you belong. In fact, the most important things about you... what you believe about God, about Jesus Christ, about the gospel, about eternity, etc... these things are largely shaped by the church that you belong to. So being part of a healthy church is very important. With that said, the million dollar question...

If I were to ask you the question, "Where do you think the glory of God is most evident in the world today?" I wonder what you would say. Of course, many people would point to things like beautiful sunsets, or great mountains, or the awe-inspiring galaxies that number in the trillions, but this text provides us with a very surprising answer to that question. In these verses, we see that God intend...

Throughout the Bible we often see the idea of "thirst" being used as an image of an intense desire. Jesus himself often uses this same description to highlight the deep spiritual longings and desires that we all have. If we're honest, all of us must admit that we long for lasting joy and satisfaction and fulfillment, and that it is this same desire that motivates all of our actions... Inescapably,...

All throughout the Bible we see this reality that there are only two types of people in the world. In Genesis 3:15 there is the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. In the book of Proverbs there is the wise and the foolish.  In the teaching of Jesus there is the sheep and the goats, the wheat and the tares, the good trees and the bad trees, those who enter by the narrow gate and tho...

The idea of Divine "mysteries" is something that we see scattered throughout the Bible, and very interestingly, this idea of a mystery (Greek: μυστήριον (mystērion)) is not the same thing as what we commonly refer to as mysteries today. What's also interesting is that the book of Ephesians has the most uses of this word "mystery" out of any book in the Bible (7x), and most of them are concentrated...

There are many rich images used to depict the nature of the Church in the New Testament. The Body of Christ, the Salt of the Earth, etc... One scholar notes as many as 96 of them! Part of the picture this gives us is that the church is so glorious, and the wonderful truths about it are so myriad, that it requires many different images to draw out all of its beauty. Sort of like the way in which th...

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells a parable about the kingdom of heaven and he says that, " the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." The point of this parable is that there is nothing more valuable than the kingdom of God, and that, like the man in the parable, we should not allow an...

Hundreds of years before Jesus came into the world, the prophets spoke of him as one that would bring peace. They said things like that he would be the " Prince of Peace " and that " of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end ." (Isaiah 9:6-7) Zechariah 9:10 said that " he shall speak peace to the nations." Micah 5:2 speaks of a ruler that would come forth from Bethlehem a...

This sermon was preached by James Kaczor at River City Church on 6/22/2025.

Abortion is without a doubt the greatest evil in our day. Since 1973, the number of babies killed by abortion in the United States is over 65 million. That's more than 80x the population of North Dakota and 10 times the number of Jews believed to be killed in the Holocaust. Even more tragic is how many abortions take place outside the United States. Some estimates say the U.S. accounts for as litt...

The concept of Covenants are very important in the Bible. They are central to the Bible's unfolding storyline, and they are central for a proper understanding of the relationship that exists between God and Man. Yet, in much of the church today, covenants are not often discussed and even less often understood. In this episode, James Kaczor gives a brief overview of Covenant Theology. He touches on...

In the last few weeks in North Dakota we've seen some very destructive weather, including a once in a lifetime storm that resulted in some devastating fatalities. And in addition to the loss of human life, this storm left in its path the destruction of many people's homes and much other valuable property. In many ways and for many people, this event, in the truest sense of the word, was a tragedy....

What is the role of good works in salvation? This is a huge question, and one that has caused a great deal of controversy. All the religions in the world (and some who profess to be Christian) say that, at least in some sense, we are saved by good works. However, the Scriptures teach that God "Saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washin...

Blaise Pascal once said: “ All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves....

The most important question in the world is the question of how people get saved. The question of exactly how it is that sinful humans can become right with a holy God. On this question hangs the eternal destiny of every person. In this passage in Ephesians 2:8-9, the Apostle Paul lays out some of the most foundational truths of the gospel message that set Christianity apart from every other relig...

In Ephesians 2:1-3, the Apostle lays out the hopeless plight of fallen humanity. He says that fallen humanity is dead in trespasses and sins, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air (Satan). He says that by nature we are children of wrath and that our lives were once dominated by the passions of our flesh (a reference to the destructive desires of our sinfu...

Many Christians today tend to have very low views of the Church. In fact, many people treat the Church like a pesky side effect of coming to Jesus. They want all the benefits that Jesus provides, without all the mess of belonging to the Church. But the Bible shows us a much different picture of the Church than we often hear. The Bible often makes reference to the Church as the Bride of Christ, and...

In Acts 11:19-30, we see the founding of the Church at Antioch. This Church, which seems to be the first Church to bring in many Gentiles, is a church that plays a major role in the book of Acts and throughout Church History. As we look at this passage we find some interesting developments of the church in Acts and also many things that are applicable for the life of the church today. Tune into th...

Throughout the Old Testament we find many promises of a great Messianic King who would bring about a great and everlasting kingdom. For example, in the book of Genesis we see in God’s promises to Abraham that there would be a king that comes from him. In Genesis 49:10 we see that this king would come from the tribe of Judah and that the scepter would never depart from him…  Elsewhere, in Isai...

When Jesus looks at the world he sees only two types of people. There are people who are blessed by God (see verses 20-23) and there are people who are cursed by God (see verses 24-26). Those who embrace Jesus by repentance and faith are the blessed recipients of God's favor, while those who do not are the cursed recipients of his righteous judgment. In this sermon by Jesus in Luke 6:20-26, he tea...

With Easter Sunday quickly approaching it is an appropriate time to discuss the all-important doctrine of resurrection. In this episode, which is originally a message given during River City Church's Thursday morning Bible Study by Jackson Hankey, he explores the remarkable teaching of the Apostle Paul that believers have become partakers of the same resurrection power that was at work in the resu...

This episode is a sermon on Ephesians 1:13-14 given by Jackson Hankey at River City Church on March 20th, 2025. The text that this sermon covers is listed below with the main phrases I focus on in BOLD: "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we ac...

In the church today there is much debate and confusion about the Holy Spirit, and while this short message on Ephesians 1:13 isn't intended to answer all of the questions we may have, it does make one very important point about the Spirit clear. That is that a person cannot be a Christian without the Holy Spirit . We see here in these verses that the sealing of the Holy Spirit is a spiritual bless...

This is episode is a message that was given by James Kaczor during River City Church's Thursday morning Bible Study on 2/20/2025. The passage that James covers is Ephesians 1:7-8, which is listed below: "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight..." - Ephesians 1:7-8 ESV

This episode is a message that was given by Joshua Molden at River City Church's Thursday Morning Bible Study on 2/6/2025. The text that Joshua covers in the sermon is Ephesians 1:5-6, listed below: "In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved" - Ephesians...