The River Church Sermons

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...

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...