River of Life Church - St Joseph

This week we finish off our Gifts of Christmas series by talking about probably the greatest gift that Jesus brought when he came: love! This is a family service for us, so we have the kids in our normal service. Because of that, the message is geared for BOTH kids and adults. Each point starts with Pastor Tyler talking to the kids and ends with Pastor Tyler bringing the point home for adults. 

This week we explore what it means that Jesus brings us the gift of light through his coming on Christmas. This idea has so many wonderful layers to it and beautifully expresses what Jesus does in our lives through his presence. With Jesus, we can have light even when things seem dark. 

This week we continue our Gifts of Christmas series talking about the gift of peace. This sermon focuses on the idea that we can truly experience God's peace in us. Because of Christ, we no longer have to live in inner turmoil or conflict. Instead, we can experience his peace deeply in our souls and then join his mission to spread peace to the world around us. 

This week we begin a new series entitled The Gifts of Christmas. Obviously, the greatest gift of Christmas is Christ coming, but with is coming he also provided us with secondary gifts that are a part of the Christmas story. This series will focus in on those gifts and we will start with the gift of joy!

This week we wrap up our Family Matters series by talking about how to begin pursuing healing from a dysfunctional family history or a difficult family situation that someone is currently going through in their life. We explore the story of how Jacob, who had a very dysfunctional family history, was able to receive healing and a new identity from God from an unexpected situation. 

This week we continue our series on God's plan for the family by discussing parenting. Scripture is clear that there is one over-arching priority that all parents should have: to help their children grow spiritually. In this sermon, we discuss that idea and four things that can get in the way of parents prioritizing the spiritual growth of their kids. 

This week we cover the topics of singleness and marriage. Both are important! We start by talking about how singleness is a blessed state where we can experience a special connection to God and freedom to operate in his kingdom. From there, we move to the topic of marriage. Marriage is the foundation of the family and the closest earthly relationship we are supposed to have. God has massive plans...

This week had a guest speaker Kelli Patrick come and share a powerful word about reaching our city for Jesus. Kelli works with students to help empower them to share their faith in their schools, and the word she brought this week is a timely one for us to consider as we look to reach those around us with the gospel. 

This week we being a new series on God's plan for the family. We begin this series by looking at what the Bible says is God's purpose in creating families and also what God wants families to accomplish. It doesn't matter if you are married with kids, single with no kids, come from a great family background, or have a tragic family story, understanding God's plan for the family can help you underst...

This week we are doing a standalone sermon about the idea of being dependent on God. It's not comfortable to live where we are forced to depend on God, but spiritually that is how we should be living all of our lives. This sermon talks about how we should embrace true dependence on God and that powerlessness is an invitation to go back to seeking the Lord. 

This week we hear from St Cloud Chi Alpha missionary, Erin Olson, as she speaks on the topic of being an admirer of Jesus versus being a follower of Jesus. (Hint: we need to be followers, not admirers!) Erin shares some of her personal story that highlights when this change occurred for her while also showing how scripture drives home the truth of what our spiritual lives should look like. 

This week's sermon is a standalone sermon asking this question: what is your first response when you are faced with adversity or opposition in your life? The answer according to scripture is that our first response should always be prayer. When we want to take ground, we pray first. Where do you need to take ground in your life? Your first step should be to pray about that area. 

This week we cover the outward-facing goals that God has given our church. These goals all stem out of our mission to have one more person growing in Christ. We want that happen locally, globally, and in the next generation. This sermon discusses these goals while also laying out scripturally why they are important.  **The file for our Vision week 3 sermon got corrupted and we were unable to salva...

This week we move forward with our vision series talking about what we consider the "lifeblood" of our church: discipleship. Every body needs blood to function and exist. In the church, we discipleship has to be the core of who we are. We discuss what discipleship looks like and how the church helps with the discipleship process of its members. 

This week we spent some time talking over the vision that we believe God has for our church. This sermon covers where we are, where we could be, and what needs to happen for us to get there--including the mindsets that we need to adopt as a church for us to grow to where God wants us to be. 

This week we close out our series on the Gospel of John by talking about Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension. While the story may be familiar to you, John emphasizes certain portrayals of Jesus during the final days of his earthly life that bring out some beautiful truths for us today. Jesus is the Saving King and because of him, we have eternal life with God that starts now and lasts foreve...

This week we turn our attention to the Holy Spirit, who Jesus repeatedly brings up in his final words with his disciples before his death (John 14-17). Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as our comforter, advocate, and guide who will lead us more clearly to him. Too often the Holy Spirit's name is misused in the name of weirdness or worse, but that is not how Jesus presented him. If it was important...

This week we shift to the second half of John. From John 12 on, the book switches to covering the final week of Jesus's life including four chapters covering Jesus's final discourse to his disciples at that Last Supper. This week we look at what Jesus felt he needed to communicate in these vital final moments, including him starting off this final meal with a shocking twist: washing the disciples...

This week we go to John 11 where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Throughout the story, even though people in the crowd believe in Jesus, they put artificial limits on him and his power. They did not believe that Jesus could fully fix the situation once Lazarus died. In our lives, we have to be careful that we do not put artificial limits on Jesus that cause us to resist him when he tries to mo...

This week we continue our Gospel of John by covering John 8 where Jesus tries to correct some of his followers, but they reject his leadings. We talk about the fact that our lives have to directionally be moving towards Jesus rather than trying to check off some religious benchmarks. The word for this is repentance, and it's a lifestyle of moving towards God and his ways. This sermon is about how...

This week we venture into John 6 and talk about Jesus being the bread of life. This story highlights the miracle-working power of Jesus, the power of a small sacrifice, and the importance of responding to Jesus positively. This sermon highlights all three point as we work through the entire chapter of John 6. 

This week we are back to the Gospel of John and looking at what to do when we experience spiritual frustration. All of us have moments where we are frustrated with God and our spiritual growth. How do we respond in that? We look at the story of Jesus healing the invalid man in John 5:1-9 for some great answers on how to respond in those moments.

This week features a guest speaker: Bobby Loukinen. Bobby served as a youth pastor for 18 years before transitioning to being a US home missionary. He serves by helping organize missions trips for MN churches and by helping with Youth Alive that reaches teen students on middle school, jr. high, and high school campuses throughout our state. He gives a great message from Acts 8 about Philip and the...

This week we venture into John 4 where Jesus has his famous conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well where he chooses to defy cultural expectations so that he can offer this woman the soul-quenching help she desperately needed. Just like in this story, wherever we find ourselves Jesus is already there waiting for us! 

This week we dig into John 3 which covers one of the greatest conversations ever recorded. We key in on the idea of coming to Jesus the same way that Nicodemus does in this chapter and how that can be difficult for people who don't know Jesus yet, but it's always worth it!