The River Church Sermons

Think of someone in your life that you love. One of your good friends. Someone you could call in the middle of the night in an emergency. Someone who’s allowed in your house when your dishes aren’t done. Someone who’s witnessed a family argument or is safe with your emotion. Someone who holds you accountable. Someone who knows what you are praying about right now. Hold that thought! There's a man...

This weekend we looked at Martha, a friend of Jesus. We picked up the story and Martha’s sister Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus listening intently, caught up in this rare opportunity to have Jesus all too herself. Martha was busy preparing lunch. It’s recorded in Luke 10:38-42. She was bothered that Mary was not helping her. Jesus saw this and addressed Martha’s distracted heart. “One thing i...

Have you ever had such a crystal-clear idea in your head and heart about Jesus that you actually missed his work in some part of your life? This week we visited Mark’s ancient biography of Jesus and strolled through a well-trodden gallery featuring several prominent characters who, despite their insider knowledge and advantaged positions, totally missed Jesus’s biggest moment. Then, in the far win...

We are continuing our summer series looking at unheralded heroes of our faith. Unique men and women who show us what it looks like to follow God in their lives, and what we can imitate in ours. This week we will examine the conversion of Lydia. A woman who clearly had God work in her life as she heard the Word of God from Paul. God works in opening hearts and minds to receive his message. He did i...

What happens when the transforming power of a Jesus-shaped love collides with your reality? I’m not talking about the emotional fireworks of the transcendent mountaintop experiences we all love so much. I’m talking about the practical collision of Jesus-love into your every-day experience? What happens when Jesus-love collides with your daily protocols? Career? Love life? Recreation? Education? In...

Christine Caine has a saying, “Sometimes you are in a dark place and think you have been buried, when actually, you have been planted!” Too often our perspective becomes darkened with discouragement. We question God, doubt our faith, and wonder if we can go on. We feel like giving up. We feel powerless. Just like the early believers in Acts, we grow weary. We have doubt. We get distracted. We beco...

This Sunday we continued our look into interesting, but lesser known characters of the New Testament who show us what it looks like to follow the words and ways of Jesus. I want to introduce you to “the woman from Lebanon who has a name, but we just don’t know it” [my sermon title]. Her pleading persistence is met by Jesus’ puzzling resistance. Some neat and tidy boxes we stuff Jesus into will be...

Have you ever skipped over a name in the Bible because you couldn't pronounce it? Well I have one for you... Sosthenes. Difficult to pronounce? Probably. But definitely not a name to skip over. This troublesome name is mentioned only twice in all of Scripture, so it is easy to miss, but we don't want to! Sosthenes played an important role in the growing church. One of the times his name appears is...

Your life, like mine, could be turned into an interesting film. Good book and screen writers look for the inciting incident, that episode, plot point or event that hooks the reader/viewer into the story. This moment is the event in your life that thrusts the protagonist [you] into the main action of the story. We often experience an inciting incident as an interruption in the trajectory of our lif...

Do you feel connected to The Church…? Do you value it...? Love it…? Do you know why or why not? Do you serve The Church…? What does that even mean for you…? ……What is your relationship to The River Church of the South Bay? There’s a woman Paul entrusts with the only copy of the book of Romans because she is so critical to The Church. She’s all the way in and I bet it wasn’t drama free, but it sure...

Our New Series for the Summer: Characters of the New Testament Living Out the Words and Ways of Jesus. Shorter Version? "Show Me!” Show me Timothy, show me Priscilla, Philemon, Barnabas, Phoebe, Mary….What’s it look like to walk with Jesus? Show me! For Timothy, it was learning the words and ways of Jesus through his adopted spiritual father, Paul. Paul treated Timothy as a beloved son. He believe...

We are all familiar with the pastor who says that he is "landing the plane," but then proceeds to make five more points about tangential material to the topic. "This is my last point" (subtext: there are 10 more things I would like to say...). In defense of the pastor, who does not serve at the River.., he may argue that he is landing the plane, just in a long, slow descent. In some ways, this is...

One of the significant memories I have of my high school Jesus days was going to Calvary Santa Ana for concerts and evangelistic rallies. Jesus was my high and the afterglows remain a highlight. It was such a big part of my life, my parents sat me down to find about more about these Jesus rallies. I remember that a hyped anticipation of the Lord returning was in the air like a crisp cold morning t...

I don’t have a proper sermon blurb. (This is on purpose; not a procrastination thing) Instead, if you’ll allow me, I’m inviting three embarrassingly-simple, grammatically-challenged questions to percolate into your week: 1) Where is creative wisdom in your world? 2) How is your quiet? 3) What do you hope? Let’s explore some ancient wisdom (1 Thessalonians 4) and merge these potent preguntas into y...

Everyone wants to win at life. Whether it’s in your marriage, your relationship with your kids, your friendships, or in your job, we want to win. It defines who you are. It sets the course of your life. What’s that look like to you? For Paul, first Thessalonians chapter 3 tells us that it’s about your faith. Five times he mentions faith. One commentator says faith isn't everything but it most cert...

“Leadership is influence,” said the professor when asked to define leadership. My conclusion: if we influence others, we are leaders. You and I, whether we admit it or not, are leaders in our own sphere of influence. How might we refine the positive influence of our life in those we love? Our River Church community is learning from the followers of Jesus in the coastal town of Thessalonica; and th...

I wonder what it was like to go to church in the fist century. There were no buildings, no loud speakers, and no smoke machines. People showed up in homes, hosted by followers of Jesus who shared the letters of Paul, circulated by Paul’s runners. Oral accounts were told of Jesus and the disciples. There was a sense of excitement as people gathered to learn of Jesus and share what they had with one...

Did you see River Runs Through It? It’s based upon a book by Norman Maclean about his family, one of two sons of a Presbyterian pastor. At the end of the book, he looks back on his life. His parents and brother are all gone. He is alone standing on the edge of the river he spent his childhood, fishing. He says he is haunted by the waters. They hold the mystery of his life. They tell the story. I a...

Most people who haven't had much of a background in attending a church or hearing sermons have at least heard of the “golden rule” (a term not found in the Bible, but certainly taught in the Bible), or quite possibly, the sermon on the mount, (“blessed are the poor in spirit”), but for sure they've heard the story of the Good Samaritan. He is called” good" because he stopped and cared for a comple...

Generosity is much more, but not less, than giving of your money and resources. Generosity is regarded as a virtue. Furthermore, we resemble God in His goodness when we are generous. If you desire to grow in generosity, you can learn more about the Biblical meaning of generosity through this podcast and the additional resources and curriculum provided here.

Your life is a series of short stories forming a larger narrative. This fascinating narrative is the sum total of your reflection on, and reaction to, the multitude of experiences rushing toward you every day. Your testimony to the world, to quote Luke Schroeder, is your personal reflection and reaction to your experiences with the living God [listen to Luke’s excellent podcast on Testimony here.]...

A testimony is a personal story of how God has interacted in your life. This is the story of how Jesus entered into your life, and how you have been changed through knowing him. This story is your story and it is powerful and beautiful; it has the power to change others journeys with God around you.

We are planing a very exciting time together this Sunday as we celebrate the most important historical event that has literally rocked this world; The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The resurrection is the account of God coming down to earth to die in our place so that we could live. From death to life so that we could experience new life. It is the most hope filled message of the yea...

What comes to mind when you read the words, share the gospel? For me, in light of my history as a Christian and my quasi-neurotic personality, I’m immediately struck with a handful of rather negative impressions. Brace yourself, this is going to start off on a downer, but I promise, the message won’t be. My feelings and thoughts at the prospect of “evangelism” probably begin with shame: “I don’t s...

Throughout the Bible we see God's people, over and over again, share the story of God's redeeming and transformative love. The theological word for this is evangelism and it is the act of sharing with others about God’s story and the nature of God’s kingdom. This is something we do with our words and with the actions of our lives.