Riverbluff Church Sermons

FLOURISH part 4 - FROM FAILURE TO FLOURISHING Have you ever done something or said something that greatly disappointed someone you loved?  Perhaps promising to be somewhere at a certain time and you weren’t.  Or said, “You can count on me” and they did, but you failed to do your part. Or, said “I’ll never tell”, but you did. Failure, and the disappointment that comes with it, are part of what it m...

One of the many spaces in our lives that has changed significantly in this Pandemic, has been where and how we work. Many began working from home for the very first time. Some businesses and organizations have actually reported increased productivity from employees in these environments. Some cultural scientists who focus their attention on workplace environments are telling us that those environm...

FLOURISH - part 2 - How a Masterpiece Flourishes ______________ Recently, one of the big stories in the news, was an unexpected scientific discovery of life flourishing beneath Antarctica’s floating ice shelf. NBC news reports that finding life thriving in such a harsh environment “has biologists baffled”. Jesus told those who followed Him that they would find themselves living in “harsh environme...

Flourish - part 1 - Our Father's Hand in our Flourishing ___ FLOURISH! That is such a great word that is filled with hope. Everyone that I know, in some way, longs for a life that flourishes. If we have children and grandchildren, we have great hope that life for them will flourish. At Riverbluff we often pray for human flourishing in our city. No one takes greater delight in our flourishing than...

JESUS MISUNDERSTOOD – Part 6: HOW JESUS BRINGS “ORGANIC” CHANGE Vegetable gardening can be hard work; but some fresh slices of a vined ripened tomato, between white bread with some Dukes mayo, on a warm summer day, is a great reward for the labor. Though we haven’t had a vegetable garden in years, I’m still amazed at the beauty and wonder of “organic growth”! It is a process that defies the natura...

JESUS MISUNDERSTOOD – Part 5: HOW JESUS BRINGS LIFE TO WHAT’S DEAD IN YOU When you hear the word “Resurrection”, what first comes to mind? Is it Easter? Or, maybe the 2nd coming of Christ? While those must be the greatest of earthly events; when we think “Resurrection” our first thought should not be of an event, but of a Person, the Person of Christ. In trying to clarify the truth about Himself a...

JESUS MISUNDERSTOOD – Part 4: How Jesus Becomes the Good Shepherd for Our Souls ROBBED! If you’ve ever been robbed, you know the feelings of personal violation and the concerns for personal security. Kathy and I have been robbed twice in our nearly thirty-eight years of marriage. Though the circumstances were very different each time, the aftermath of feelings were very similar. Jesus knows how th...

JESUS MISUNDERSTOOD - Part 3: How Jesus Overcomes Your Darkness “DARKNESS”! That word can often bring fear to our hearts. As children, we’d need a night light to give us peace so we could rest. As adults, though the “darkness” of night can still stir fear; other kinds of “darkness” bring us greater concerns. In our broken world, we see the “darkness” increasing at alarming rates and we fear for ou...

JESUS MISUNDERSTOOD part 2: How Jesus Heals Your Harried Heart January 17, 2021 As I have had opportunity to visit in many homes over my nearly 40 years in ministry there’s a phrase that I’ve seen time and time again. Sometimes it is on a refrigerator magnet, or embroidered on a pillow, or cross stitched in a picture frame. The phrase is “GOD BLESS THIS MESS”! That’s a prayer I find myself quickly...

JESUS MISUNDERSTOOD - Part 1: Bread of Life, John 6 Have you ever felt misunderstood, felt like a person or a group of people really didn’t "get" where you were coming from? 2,000 years ago, a man walked among us named Jesus. Ever since, people have debated, “who this Jesus really is”. In His day, Jesus was often misunderstood; even by those who followed Him. 2,000 years later Jesus is still very...

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I continue to pray for you, the prayer I prayed over you on Christmas Eve. I pray you that you will have a Romans 8, No Condemnation, No Fear, No Despair, No Withholding, No Abandonment 2021! The last message that I shared with you in 2020 came from the Revelation that Jesus gave to the Apostle John, while he was isolated on the Isle of Patmos. Like John’s isolation, we too are beg...

Christmas. HIS Coming... Raised Satan's Rage. part 6 - December 27, 2020 by Riverbluff Church

Christmas Eve at the River. Candlelight, Carols, and Communion.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! The GOD of Christmas and of all Creation longs for people to know HIM. HE desires that we know the truth about HIM, so HE revealed HIMSELF, since we could know HIM no other way. When GOD took on flesh in Jesus, HE befriended a man we know as the Apostle John. Through his writings, we know that John wholeheartedly loved Jesus and knew that Jesus deeply loved him. Inspired by GOD, J...

When was the last time, while reading, watching, or listening to the news you became overwhelmed with joy?  That isn’t a common occurrence for most of us.  Sometimes news may bring joy to some people while simultaneously bringing sorrow to others.  Like the news during election coverage. So, when was the last time you learned of news that was broadcast that brought joy to everyone? Is that even po...

Christmas – HIS Coming Guides Us in the Way of Peace December 6, 2020 In this message by Pastor Dave Hardin, we continue our Advent Journey through our Sermon Series, “HIS COMING…”! This week as we light the Candle of Peace, we turn our attention to how HIS COMING BRINGS US PEACE! One of the many people Matthew introduces in his account of the Christmas story is Joseph, Jesus’ adopted earthly dad....

ADVENT is simultaneously a journey into the past and into the future of our Christian Hope. Through it we celebrate a truth about GOD, “For GOD was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself…” (2 Corinthians 5:19) The word ADVENT means “coming” or “arrival” and central to our faith is the “double-Advent” of Jesus. His First Advent occurred in a stable in Bethlehem and His Second Advent could occu...

A Day to Give Him Thanks November 22, 2020 We are filled with gratitude for all that GOD has done on our 40 DAYS OF PRAYER Journey! I’ve had many conversations with so many in our River-family who have given testimony that ABBA-FATHER has truly begun a good work in their lives and that they are communing with HIM in prayer in new and fresh ways. Even in this “unprecedented” year of 2020 we have so...

40 Days of Prayer - Part 6: HOW CAN I ASK GOD FOR HEALING? November 8, 2020 Throughout our 40 DAYS OF PRAYER journey, we’ve seen GOD tell us in HIS Word that HE greatly desires that we make our requests known to HIM, asking HIM for what we need.  We’ve also seen in many passages GOD promising to hear our prayers and that HE will answer our prayers.  We see this promise to answer, in Jeremiah 33:3,...

40 Days of Prayer - Part 6: HOW CAN I ASK GOD FOR HEALING? November 8, 2020 In Exodus 15:26 GOD’S people are instructed to “listen carefully to the LORD your GOD…because I am the LORD, who heals you.” Our GOD is a GOD who heals. This is who HE is and it is what HE desires to do in the lives of HIS people. Our great frustration in knowing HIM personally as HEALER is rooted in the false belief that...

40 Days of Prayer - Part 5: PRAYING MISSIONALLY November 1, 2020 As Jesus taught His disciples to pray, one of the things he told them was to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”. The overall story of the Bible shows that from before creation God has always had a plan to put the world right and receive the glory that He so wonderfully deserves by re-establishin...

40 Days of Prayer - Part 4: FINDING A GREAT RHYTHM FOR PRAYER October 25, 2020 So much of life is lived in rhythm. Sunrise has a rhythm. Our moon has a rhythm. Tides have a rhythm. Ocean waves have a rhythm. Music has rhythm. Walking has rhythm. And even our heartbeat has a unique rhythm. When most things in life are working well, they are in rhythm. The same can be said about prayer. A prayer lif...

40 Days of Prayer - Part 3: HOW TO TALK TO A GREAT-MULTIFACETED GOD October 18, 2020 I remember hearing somewhere that “diamonds are a girl’s best friend”.  Wasn’t that a line in a song?  If so, I’m sure it predates me.  (Yes, I could google it to find the details, but my focus is more about diamonds than the song.) All the world over, diamonds are thought of as a rare and beautiful commodity. In...

40 Days of Prayer - Part 2: Knowing the God You're Talking To October 11, 2020 I am told that when “The Wizard of Oz” hit the big screen in 1939 it was thought to be a visual masterpiece. Not only were the visuals great, it also had many memorable lines in it, such as “We’re not in Kansas anymore”! I think we can all relate to that right now.  Another great line from the movie is “Pay no attention...

40 DAYS OF PRAYER KICK-OFF! October 4, 2020 Everyone I know loves getting gifts from time to time. Things like new clothes, new tools, or new electronics. What most of us don’t like is the “USER MANUAL” you often must read before you can quickly enjoy your new prize. Manufacturers discovered our frustration, and fearing that we might be harmed by our new possession, resulting in legal action again...