The River Church Sermons

When I was at my deepest, most darkest moment in life, I felt all alone drenched in sadness and despair. One of our children was fighting for their life. Thankfully I wasn’t alone. Members of the church came around me and filled me with hope. Do you have a church like that? If you don’t I pity you. Find one. You can’t do life alone. Life is hard and filled with ups and down, joys and tragedies. It...

If we were to ask everyone in the South Bay to give the top few words that come to mind when they hear the word "church," it's not likely the word "freedom" would be near the top of the list. And yet, Paul wrote his letter to the network of churches in Galatia to call them to a life with God characterized by freedom in Jesus. So what are we to make of the disparity between this biblical vision for...

It is always strange to preach a message about the importance of church to a crowd of folks at church! Nevertheless, if you are like me, it's easy to become so familiar with something that I forget its majesty, magic, and meaning. It's like distracted driving on the Esplanade forgetting to even glance over at the breathtaking body of water 30 feet from you. Sometimes you just have to pull over to...

There are many ways to describe the church according to the New Testament. The church as a building, a flock, vine and branches, and possibly most significant, the church as family. You may have a lot of emotion around the idea of church and even family. To bring the two of these together can be explosive, yet what Jesus did in uniting people is very different. And what he did to turn them into a...

When lived faithfully, the church community is among the most life-giving and counter cultural realities of the good news of Jesus. Yet, many of us have been deeply wounded in a church community. Still others of us struggle to see the relevance of church--we feel fine with a personal relationship with God and maybe a few Christian friends. Given the negative experiences and skepticism toward the c...

Our family dog is a tall, 100-pound Rhodesian Ridgeback named National. (Named after our favorite band, not the baseball team) He’s two years old, in his physical prime, and originally bred to run and hunt alongside horses in the verdant plains of southern Africa. Leashed strolls in the paved paradise of Redondo Beach are nice, but hardly position this dog to do what he’s made to do. About once a...

This Christmas Eve we were together to celebrate the advent of Christ, the night Jesus came down to earth to rescue us. The bottom line is we all needed to be rescued. Every single one of us. Christmas is God’s rescue plan, Jesus coming to earth as a babe, becoming a man, and taking our place, paying the ultimate price for our crimes and misdemeanors, restoring our relationship with God. This year...

Jesus is two days old. He is doing all the things babies do when they are fresh in the world - crying, eating, sleeping, more crying, pooping, and just flat out being adorable. Mary and Joseph were doing all the things parents do when they have a baby two days old - crying of joy, eating a little, holding their baby, not sleeping a wink, crying from pain and recovery, staring at the gift and myste...

Sometimes the most profound truths can only be communicated in song. This Sunday, we are going to continue our “Simple Christmas” series by opening our hearts and ears to song. We’ll sing a carol or two, we’ll experience our incredible “River Kids Christmas Sing” (a ridiculously-cute and powerful children’s performance), and finally we’ll open up the scriptures to the oldest and perhaps most-overl...

John the Baptist introduces Andrew to Jesus, and then Andrew introduces Simon Peter, Simon introduces Philip, and Phillip introduces Nathaniel. It’s all in John 1. How did you meet Jesus? How would you describe the first time you encountered Jesus and discovered he’s real? Somebody introduced you. Hold onto that. I’m also guessing that when you met him you learned something unique about him. Maybe...

It’s beginning to look like Christmas. Do you know why? Not because of the lights, trees, glitter and some annual Christmas brittle. Why? Because this is the time of year that we celebrate the truly unique, awe inspiring, miraculous, God coming to earth in the form of a child. We celebrate a birth. Not like any other birth though, not like any other child. This one has spoken to the depth of our b...

We live in a moment of profound anxiousness. It's an anxiousness that spills over into every area of life--our relationships with ourselves, our relationships with others (especially those we disagree with), and even our relationships with God. In this moment of anxiousness, what should the coming of Jesus mean for those who would follow Him? Listen in as we start our Advent series, Simple Christm...

Humans love stories. We do. We love to be captivated and motivated by the stories of sages, of poets, and of comedians (Siendfeld for me!). More than this, we love to use stories to communicate morals and what the "good life" looks like. This is the core of childhood. As the holidays are fast approaching, this is no more clearly portrayed than in the story of Santa. Want a present? Be a good kid!...

On my walk today I was listening to the Psalms. Ps 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing... Ps 24, The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it... Ps 25, In you, Lord, my God, I put my trust... Ps 26, Lord, I love the house where you live... Then in Ps 27, the last verse got me. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. That’s what I want to...

Sometime ago I got sued for a bike accident on the Strand. It went to a jury trial in the Torrance Courthouse. My home insurance lawyer represented me, but I was my only witness. The woman suing me hired a lawyer and multiple expert testimonies. I won, the jury believed that my testimony was valid, hers a stretch. I knew the truth in my heart, and swore with hand raised to tell the truth, and so w...

When was the last time you were in a street fight? I’m not talking about a family argument, or social media beef, but a full-on physical altercation? There’s an old military-strategy saying: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” I like Mike Tyson’s version better: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” What you or I think we are or would do in a fight is often very...

Two foundational questions that consistently percolate in our brains, and even more if you are young, are: 1] who am I? and 2] what can I do? These questions get at core rumblings in our soul. What is my identity, and what is my purpose or mission? Why am I taking up space on this planet? Are you, today, in your quiet moments, settled or unsettled in answering these strategic questions? We might g...

What does it mean to love God? How do we love God? I wonder if I asked 20 people this question, I’d probably get 20 answers. Read his word. Meditate. Be kind to others. Pray. Talk to him. Serve in church. Go to church. So what does Jesus say about this? What does it really mean to love God? And secondarily, Jesus tells us in Matthew 22 that loving people is right up there with loving God. How do w...

Whether we realize it or not, each of us is shaped by a story we tell ourselves—a story of who we are, who God is (or isn’t), and of our place in the world. As a church committed to the words and ways of Jesus, our question is, what does it look like to be shaped by the same story that shaped Jesus? As we look at Jesus’ life we see that He was saturated in the Old Testament. So what was His approa...

We live in a cultural moment caught between the desires (and often pressures) to "find" ourselves on the one hand and "better" ourselves on the other. But in a world full of so many messages about how to "find" and "better" ourselves, what does a process of real maturity look like? What path does Jesus invite us to walk on? And what would taking the next step even look like? Join us as we finish o...

Hebrews 4 could be considered the Christian manifesto for the church. Elrond in Lord of the Rings once said, “Every path you’ve trod, through wilderness, through war, has led to this road.” Which road is that? The writer of Hebrews indicates that road is the road that leads to God’s rest. Many of us have been taught the exact opposite. That road leads to greater effort, more output, obligation. Ye...

When I hike, I look at the path in front of me. I’m looking down carefully navigating the terrain on the path in front of me. I trust the path. It’s been laid out for me. I don’t question it. It’s well worn. I just need to pay attention to where I am stepping. That’s what Hebrews 3 is about, there’s a path, and Jesus is one leading us along that path. Will you trust him? In fact, faith can be defi...

Hebrews 12 says we are in a race and the only way to compete is by keeping your eyes on Jesus. OK. How? That’s what the whole book is about, keeping our eyes on Jesus. The early part of the letter gives us 4 ways to keep our eyes on Jesus. Drop an Anchor. Use a compass. Refine your purpose. Develop a plan. Whether you are young or old, you need all four to stay the course and finish well. Doesn’t...

Are you experiencing extended periods of stress resulting in exhaustion, detachment, feelings of ineffectiveness, chronic fatigue, increasing pessimism, self-isolation, or irritability in the face of otherwise small problems? If so, you may be looking down the barrels of burnout--the psycho-somatic-pneumatic crisis; not the surf spot. Let’s look at one of the most fascinating stories in all the Bi...

None of us have got to the place we are today alone, but instead we stand on the shoulders of those before us. My parents were influential, but two great men have had a powerful impact on helping me be the man I am today. Jerry Johnson was my goofy youth pastor who modeled unconditional love and taught me to be a leader. Garry Poe was my tough baseball coach who modeled the courage of manhood and...