River’s Edge Church

Even as the Word is becoming flesh, and God comes to "tabernacle" among His people, it begs the question, what will happen when God comes to His temple? Early in his account, John tells the events that unfold when Jesus enters the Temple in Jerusalem, as tables are turned and people and animals flee into the crowded streets of the city. But what was behind this act? And how it should it shape the...

Chapter 2 starts with Jesus' first "sign" - turning water into wine at a wedding. But why does John call it a sign and not a miracle? And what is the deeper significance of this moment that John wants us to grasp? 

In the opening chapter of John, we get to see the very first people begin to encounter Jesus and respond to Him in discipleship. What is involved in this encounter, and how are we to respond to the same Jesus today? 

As an oppressed nation waits with bated breath for their Messiah, suddenly a mysterious figure arises in the wilderness, and thousands flock to the desert to be baptized by him and sit under his teaching. The people believe he is a prophet (the first in 400 years) and the nation is stirred from top to bottom. The nation's leaders come to interview this man, and they start with the million-dollar q...

As John officially begins his narrative account, we get seven new titles for Jesus - only one of which appeared in the prologue. But the first is simply that Jesus is "the Lamb of God" come to take away the sins of the world. Why is this title significant? And why was it so difficult for John's original audience to receive? 

John describes the Word becoming flesh as "the Light of the world" stepping into the darkness. The true Light anticipated by all other lights has arrived. But what are the implications of this Light? How does it affect our dying world? And what does it illuminate as it comes?  

In John's opening verses, he challenges and overthrows the beating heart of Judaism, setting aside the Law and the Temple, and recalibrating Jewish faith and history around the person of Jesus. But in the process he does something equally provocative to their very concept of God. 

The Word (or Logos) of God was coming into the world. Light shown out in the darkness. But this was a moment of both joy and confrontation, an event that separated light from darkness, forcing a decision among all those who encounter the Light. 

Mark starts his Gospel account with the a full grown John the Baptist, making an announcement about Jesus. Luke starts with the birth of John the Baptist, and the birth of Jesus. Matthew starts even further back in time, with a human genealogy of Jesus dating all the back to Abraham. But John starts from a different place entirely, with the pre-existent and eternal "Word" or "Logos" of God, throug...

We often throw around the word "revival," but what do we mean? What does it look like? Join as we examine three revivals from recent history which speak to the cultural moment that we're living in. 

Jesus leaves His disciples with a directive to take the Gospel of the Kingdom to the very ends of the earth. But how are they to accomplish this and what role do healthy local churches play in the great call to be His "witnesses" in every neighborhood and nation on earth? 

What does Spirit-filled New Testament worship look like? What are we to bring as we gather to worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth? 

When the truth of God is blurred and the Spirit is quenched, worship begins to die, and as worship dies, something in us dies as well. Jesus says the Father is seeking those who will worship "in the Spirit and in truth." But what does it mean to worship "in the Spirit"? 

If you were born on a desert island, with a copy of Scripture to read, you would likely form a very different image of church in your mind than what we experience in the western world. How can we account for the difference? And what would it look like for us to become the fully functioning body that we read about the New Testament? 

Restoration churches are full of the Holy Spirit and the "stuff the Spirit does," which Paul breaks into three categories: gifts, roles, and manifestations. Everyone in the body is meant to experience and operate in all three, but how should we understand the difference? And what does it look like for us to pursue gifts, roles, and manifestations in our own lives? 

When you die, you will stand before God and give an account of your life. If you've trusted in Jesus, you will not face judgment as the rest of the world will. But you will be assessed, and Paul reminds us that our works will be tested with fire. How do we know which Kingdom activities are "living works" that will merit eternal reward and which are "dead works" which will be burned up? 

People come to church for many reasons, but they stay for only one... relationship. What is involved in genuine friendship, and why is it so hard to come by in the moment that we're living in? 

As progressive secularism takes the cultural hill, the church faces new pressure to conform, and with it a temptation to place ourselves in authority over Scripture as a form of cultural compromise.

As secular culture sweeps over the western world, we cry out for renewal and revival of both church and culture. But what does the renewed church look like? And how might we survive or even thrive in the midst of our secular storm?

Join as we start our series with three rounds of prayer: for the persecuted and displaced, for revival in our city, and for God to breath fresh life into His church. 

As Paul closes his letter, he gives us a glimpse of what the church is supposed to look like; a community of Spirit-filled people who are connected even beyond the boundaries of their own church. A community in which people are raised up and sent out, and also receive others from afar. Join us as we practice living out the "global apostolic partnership" Paul witnesses to by hosting Cameron Oliver...

As Paul talks about living out our identity in Christ, he takes on one of the most important relationships within any culture - the relationship between husbands and wives. 

The Gospel changes everything, and touches every square inch of our lives. Is it any surprise than the reality of the Kingdom should change the way that we work? 

Within the redeemed and Spirit-filled family, the Bible talks instructs parents to love their children and for children to honor (or respect) their parents. What does it look like when both parties do this? And how do we break out of the "crazy cycle" that ensues when both parties don't? 

As individuals, we are called to follow after Christ and become more like Him, setting aside the old and putting on the new along the way. But the real magic happens as individuals come together in Spirit filled community, to celebrate Jesus together through teaching, prophetic words, and "songs from the Spirit." Our Western vision of church can sometimes hold us back, but this is the church that...