Rivermont Evangelical Presbyterian Church (REPC) - Sermons

I love the beginning of a new year. It is like a fresh pad of paper. The possibilities of what you will do with it are endless. You haven’t messed up yet. Everything is clean and in order and all you must do is begin writing. I think this is why New Year’s resolutions are so popular. We want to make this year one in which life becomes fuller and more satisfying. We want this year to be the one whe...

In all the Christmas nativities I have seen, I have never run across one that included this particular character. Of course, there is always Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Often you will have the shepherds and a few sheep. Larger scenes will include the three wisemen and even their camels. I have even seen boys with drums, ladies offering eggs, and multiple angels included. However, I have never se...

What is your favorite part of Christmas? There are so many things to love about the Christmas season. There are the decorations, the parties, and the special worship services. There are presents and plays and concerts. I enjoy the food and the music and the anticipation. However, the best part of Christmas is the story of Christmas. The story of the Son of God born that man no more may die. Christ...

Advent: Joy Johnathan Edwards once wrote, “Self-denial will also be reckoned amongst the troubles of the godly… But whoever has tried self-denial can give in his testimony that they never experienced greater pleasure and joys than after great acts of self-denial.” On the third Sunday of Advent, we focus on the theme of joy. Yet we can often miss the biblical pathway to joy. We tend to think that j...

When you read our passage for this coming Sunday, you might ask yourself, “Why would Pastor Weber choose this passage when Sunday’s theme is peace?” In the first verse of the passage, Jesus says to his disciples,  “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”(Matthew 10:34 ESV)  How does this verse parse with the angels’ promise of peace...

The First Sunday in Advent: “Confident Hope in Jesus Christ” Giving thanks to God for His goodness to us in all things is always appropriate for Thanksgiving and Advent. I pray that each of you will ponder Jesus Christ in all His beauty and love as you walk through Thanksgiving Day. Enjoy God’s provision and celebrate His grace!  As we look to this coming Lord’s Day, we enter the Advent Season, pr...

Money can be a touchy subject, particularly in the church. Nevertheless, money plays a central role in our personal lives and in the advancement of God’s kingdom. Therefore, the Bible addresses financial issues head-on. In our passage for this Sunday, the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall is once again interrupted. This time, however, the conflict is not external but internal. Ungodly financial dea...

When things are going well on a project or something that needs to be done oftentimes opposition arises that will try to put an end to the good that is occurring. We should expect opposition and the cause can come in a variety of ways, it could be jealousy, pride, change, or being excluded. Whatever the reason, someone or something will find a reason to oppose the good work that is being done. How...

Inertia is the tendency of an object at rest to remain at rest. A boulder will not start rolling unless a large force is exerted to get it moving. It takes more energy to get a car up to sixty miles per hour than to keep it at that speed. In like manner, it takes a great effort to get people to move from inaction to action. There is an inertia toward inaction that keeps us doing nothing when we kn...

Rebuilding the Kingdom What do you do when you are overwhelmed? When the day is full, and the demands are heavy? What do you do when it seems that the tasks you are called to accomplish are beyond your ability and you are out of your depth? This Sunday we remember the great reformation of the Church led by Martin Luther. As we read about the work that Luther and the other reformers accomplished, w...

Rebuilding the Kingdom Several months ago, a sign appeared outside of our local Biscuitville which said that they would be closed for renovations. I assumed that these renovations would consist of a few weeks of work on the interior of the building. Following these cosmetic updates, I believed they would be back up and serving chicken biscuits. However, within a few weeks of the restaurant tempora...

Whenever my wife and I plan a family trip to Georgia, there are many things to prepare: washing clothes to pack, gathering toys for Ellie to enjoy, planning out how to entertain Ellie for a 9-12 hour drive, restocking pull-ups, as well as making sure our dog Beau has all he needs. The expectation of this great trip requires all of this preparation. This Lord's Day we will continue our series throu...

This Lord's Day, we conclude our Mission Conference. The theme of the conference has been "The Word Made Flesh," which is a reference to Jesus' incarnation from John 1:14. The Word that was with God, that was God, became flesh. The Word became human, which means the Word became touchable. The Word became vulnerable, even killable as one commentator put it. Think of it. The eternal God who created...

Rebuilding the Kingdom Three times in Ezra chapter seven the author tells us that Ezra had success because the hand of the Lord was upon him (verses 7, 9, 28). Throughout the Word of God, the image of a hand is of great importance. It is by the hand of the Lord that the people of Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt (Deuteronomy 9:26). It is by the hand of the Lord that we are saved from ou...

Rebuilding the Kingdom It seemed an impossible calling. The authority of the Catholic church had stood for centuries. Both the ecclesiastical and political powers stood against the reform of the Church. However, the Lord raised up a German Monk, Martin Luther, to lead the movement to return the Church to Biblical truth. At first, his work was mocked. The Pope said that they need only wait till thi...

Responding to inevitable opposition with resolute trust in Christ is a jewel that may take years to develop. Through His word, Christ by His Spirit teaches His people that opposition to our kingdom efforts should not surprise us. Christ also sustains us through developing steadfast faith within us to overcome the tensions of the world in which we live. As a gift, God often uses the pressures of li...

Rebuilding the Kingdom What is the number one priority in your life? We have all heard the illustration of the professor who challenged his students to fit a pile of rocks, pebbles, sand, and water into a jar. It seemed that all these items could not possibly fit. However, once they were put into the jar in the correct order everything fit. The first thing that needed to be added was the largest r...

It is no secret that the Church has suffered over the past two and a half years from all the fallout of COVID. There has been disunity in the body as members expressed their various opinions about the pandemic and the church’s response. There has been a drop in attendance across churches throughout the world. There has been great discouragement on behalf of leadership and volunteers. I have heard...

We are nearing the end of our summer sermon series, Missio Nexus, and this Sunday Pastor Brett will be looking at how God would call us to flourish in our workplaces. Given that we will spend anywhere from a third to a half of our life working, we need to know what God thinks about work, about our work, and how it can flourish our neighborhood and city. We return to the Scripture text that opened...

Over the years, all cities throughout the United States have increased in diversity as people from all over the world have moved into our neighborhoods. How do we live on mission in Rivermont and for Rivermont when we engage neighbors from different cultures and perspectives? Where do we begin the conversation and how do we build bridges for the Gospel? This Sunday we will explore Paul’s address t...

Missio Nexus This week we continue our study of connecting everyday life to God’s gospel mission. We have heard over the last several weeks of practical ways that we can connect with our neighbors in Rivermont, on the sports fields, and on college campuses. This week we turn our attention to pursuing God’s mission purpose in our homes. There is no place of intimacy and comfort like one’s home. Whe...

Missio Nexus: Where Life & Mission Connects Sunday we continue our summer sermon series entitled "Missio Nexus: Where Life & Mission Connects." As a church, we want to connect with God's mission in a) the places where we spend our time and energy and b) in our local Rivermont neighborhood. Our missional motto for this series has been "in Rivermont... for Rivermont." This week, we will consider how...

As you’ve heard from Pastors Brett and Shane, we’ve started a new summer sermon series entitled "Missio Nexus: Where Life & Mission Connects." As a church, we want to be connected to God's mission where it is happening, so we’re going to look at the people and places where God would have us connect our lives with his mission. This Sunday, we will look at the familiar Parable of the Good Samaritan...

Last week we began a new summer sermon series Sunday entitled "Missio Nexus: Where Life & Mission Connects." As a church, we want to be connected to God's mission where it is happening, so we’re going to look at the people and places where God would have us connect our lives with his mission. This Sunday we will look at connecting with his mission on the athletic field. Whether playing or watching...