Riverbluff Church Sermons

I grew up in the era when Muhammad Ali became the world heavy weight boxing champion.  If you were around at that time, you might recall that he nicknamed himself "The Greatest".  This desire to be known as “The Greatest”, is not limited to professional athletes.  It impacts people from every walk of life and every culture in the world, even those who closely followed Jesus.  And Jesus, had some v...

To be truly seen, and truly known, and truly loved and cared for is a great longing in every human heart. That is GOD’s design for us. Yet, the world in which we live, seeks to withhold from us that which we so deeply need. It trains us to falsely believe this could never be true for us. So, we stuff that need and we medicate those feelings until our lives one day erupt and spew our fear, frustrat...

“Cancel-Culture” is a destructive movement that has actually been around for a very long time, but recently rebranded with this new title. It is the act of publicly shaming someone so they’re cut-off from community and ostracized by the mass of people who do not even really know them. In our day, it has been weaponized using social media platforms! JESUS gives His followers a stern warning about t...

In Shakespeare’s work, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, we find that famous quote: “The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” The context of that quote is a main character Portia, urging another character Shylock, to have mercy on Antonio’s life. Portia appeals to Shylock based...

Anyone who begins to seek after GOD will eventually face difficult questions on that journey. In JESUS’ earthly ministry, He never avoided those. In fact, JESUS masterfully addresses the most difficult questions in life in His everyday encounters with the people he met. Even those who set themselves against Him! One of those tough questions is: “Is there an unforgivable sin; and if so, what is it?...

This July 4th, we celebrate our nation’s 246th birthday. Throughout these years GOD has truly blessed these United States. We have so much for which to give HIM thanks, and we should! Even though HIS great blessing has been poured out on our nation, we live in a time of great division and chaos. Our land is in need of healing. While GOD’s plan is for HIS people, the Church, to be HIS instruments o...

It’s been an incredible week at Riverbluff’s 2022 VBS! GOD has done some amazing things in the lives of many children, teens, and even the ministry partners! This week’s theme verse for VBS is Ephesians 2:10. The entire week was all about how GOD, the Master Artist, is working to redeem, reclaim, and transform us, His creation, to the original design He planned for us. We are HIS “Masterpiece” in...

The history of Father’s Day is interesting. The first known celebration was proposed by Sonora Dodd who had the idea come to her while sitting in a Sunday service on Mother’s Day in 1909. She desired to honor her father, Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, who as a single parent, raised six children. The first celebration took place in the YMCA in Spokane, Washington, in 1910 with her father...

In this life, everyone experiences some discouragement and disappointment. But what do you do when those bring you to the brink of despair? In this message, Pastor Joe Still follows Elijah through his greatest discouragement and disappointment and discovers how he found the Kindness of GOD on the other side.

One of the great lessons that life teaches us is that failure is certain if you attempt anything, but failure doesn’t have to be fatal! Failure never has to be fatal if you find the pathway to restoration. In one of the last encounters the Risen Jesus has with his disciples, Jesus reveals the path for restoration in the Kingdom of GOD. He does this in an intimate encounter with the ever-zealous, b...

I write this on Friday morning seated in our sunroom as a thunderstorm is rolling through. Our sunroom faces into our backyard, and there, stands a large wooden swing set that I built. Our grandchildren love to play on that swing set. As I look outside at those swings, that just yesterday held the joyful bodies of my grandchildren, they are now empty, hanging in a torrential downpour, in the midst...

Have you had doubts? Have you ever struggled with unbelief? Have you ever thought, if God really loves me then why? Why am I facing this circumstance? Is God really good? If we are honest, there have been moments when we doubted. I know the Sunday School answer “I’m too Blessed to be Depressed” “I’m too Anointed to be Disappointed”. But on the inside I have some doubts, I have some questions. And...

With great detail, God’s Word provides us multiple accounts of the “First Encounters” Jesus’ followers had with Him after His Resurrection. These accounts are filled with paths of blessings for our lives today that are rich and incredibly relevant! Though we continue our First Encounters teaching series, this Sunday we have a special treat. Pastor Curt Bradford will be here leading us to explore o...

In 1987 the song “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Rules The World” was released.  It was tribute to mothers, and the powerfully influential role they play in our lives.  Thousands of extensive studies from all branches of the social and behavioral sciences acknowledge this impact for good or for harm. The scriptures definitively point out the significant role that mothers and other women played in...

In our day, global peace is highly sought after and yet a most rare commodity. What the Bible calls “Peace”, also known as “Shalom”, is rarer still. It is not just about the absence of war or strife, but about holistic human flourishing. The Bible names Jesus the Prince of Peace. Jesus is the one GOD sent to bring peace on the earth, that holistic, shalom, kind of peace. As a group, the disciples’...

On that first Easter Sunday, and over the course of the next 40 days, followers of JESUS would have their FIRST ENCOUNTERS with HIM as their Risen SAVIOR and LORD. Those first encounters radically altered the lives of those early followers. They would never be the same! GOD purposefully captured these first encounters in HIS Word, so that our lives could be transformed by these eyewitness accounts...

This service is a meaningful and sobering prelude to the Easter weekend. It simply means we will focus on the Lord’s Supper and what happened the night before Jesus was crucified. It is indeed a somber time but we need to be reminded regularly of what it cost God to save us.

Over the course of human history there have been many great sentences heard by human ears. I know of none greater than the single sentence recorded in Matthew 28:6; “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.” It is the best news ever! I pray you will join us and celebrate the great news that “HE HAS RISEN, JUST AS HE SAID.” Pastor Joe Still

This Sunday as we gather, we join with hundreds of millions of Christ followers all around the world to celebrate Palm Sunday. It was that day over 2,000 years ago when JESUS first publicly declared to everyone that He was the long awaited Messiah of GOD. The day is also the first day of the Holiest week on the Christian calendar, culminating in the celebration of our risen Savior and King. JESUS!...

There was a line from a song in the 70’s that went “feelings whoa whoa whoa feelings, whoa whoa whoa feelings, again in my life”.  The song was all about feeling our feelings. (They just don’t write songs like that anymore.) Dr. Dallas Willard who has written at length on the subject of how our feelings shape our souls, points out that; “Feelings are a primary blessing and a primary problem for hu...

Every renovation project that I ever worked on with my dad in his construction business always had some great challenge to present itself.  It’s just the nature of renovation work. The same is true with the work of Soul Renovation that JESUS desires to do in us. One of those great challenges involves our minds! I pray you'll engage in this message as we look deeply at one aspect of GOD’s Plan to R...

I have been deeply impacted by the writings of Dr. Dallas Willard. Thus far, in the 21st century, I believe him to be the greatest writer and thinker on the topic of “what it means to be a Disciple of Jesus”! In his book, THE GREAT OMMISION, Dr. Willard writes, “Jesus brings us reliable information about who we are, why we are here, and what the humanly appropriate motives are for doing whatever w...

In “The Heart of the Matter part 2”, Pastor Joe Still explored Jesus’ first recorded miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, where He transformed water into wine. We said that as miraculous as that is, it pales in comparison to the miracle that Jesus continues to perform every day, the transformation of a human heart! In this message, we continue to see HOW JESUS PERFORMS A MIRACULOUS WORK OF HEA...

I don’t think anyone has ever accused me, to my face, of being an “art snob”. Most would probably never describe me as “artsy”. In general, I’d not use those descriptors in a “bio” of myself, but that doesn’t mean I’m never moved or captured by a great work of art. There is a print of a great painting that hangs in my office, it is Rembrandt’s THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON. While it has hung ther...

The greatest opportunity, the greatest invitation, ever given to human beings, is to do life together with GOD. It would be a life, where the LORD is my shepherd and I can live without want. A life Jesus said, that would never thirst again. In His own words, Jesus says that those who would give themselves to Him would receive a “living water”, the Spirit of GOD Himself, that will keep them from ev...