The River Church Sermons

Challenge Ideas: Quick Dip - Listen to the podcast "Worship" on The Art of Following Jesus page. Buoy Swim - Listen to the podcast and go through the worksheet, "Worship the Lord". Pier to Pier - Listen to the podcast, go through the worksheet, and use one of the additional materials listed on the podcast description. I remember riding up a lift at Mammoth with a wild-eyed, bearded-awesome-outdoor...

"God’s word is our personal handbook, His love letter to us, and our True North as we navigate life. God’s Word sharpens us, and firmly roots us in our faith, fortifying our foundation. The Psalms say, His Word as a follower of Christ, is “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path”. Psalm 119:105" View the worksheet and other resources for The Art of Following Jesus on our website: https://rivers...

Challenge Ideas: Quick Dip - Listen to the podcast called Experience the Word (God's Word) on The Art of Following Jesus page (https://riversouthbay.org/jump-in/the-art-of-following-jesus). Buoy Swim - Listen to the podcast and go through the worksheet, "God's Word", under the "Resources" tab. Pier to Pier - Listen to the podcast, go through the worksheet, and go through the entire gospel of Matth...

"Prayer is not a duty to be performed but a privilege to be enjoyed, says E.M. Bounds. Prayer is about connecting our heart to His through conversation. Mother Theresa describes prayer as, not asking, but putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depths of our heart." View the worksheet and other resources for The Art of Following Jesus on our websi...

Challenge Ideas: Quick Dip - Listen to the podcast called Talk to The Father (Prayer) on The Art of Following Jesus page (https://riversouthbay.org/jump-in/the-art-of-following-jesus) and pray The Lord's Prayer. Buoy Swim - Listen to the podcast and pray The Lord's Prayer in steps, "chewing" on each verse and engaging with the scripture. Pier to Pier - Listen to the podcast, pray The Lord's Prayer...

We are living in a time experiencing a tremendous leadership void. Questions like, “Where are the good leaders?", "Where are the men and women of character to lead the way?", "Who should we follow?", are gnawing on our souls. We desperately want to put our faith and trust in someone who can lead the way forward. I want to suggest we look to the one who is the source of all strength, the source of...

This Sunday morning, we come to a powerful conclusion to our series, “5 Words from Jesus to the Modern Jesus-Follower.” Do you remember the first four words? Love, Hardship, Identity, and Hold On. The final and fifth word turns the screws pretty tight on the church in Laodicea, and probably for us as well. The word from Jesus to us is “hot,” referring to a white-hot faith. All the words so far pro...

“2020. I like the sound of that! It’s gonna be my year!” These were the words floating from my lips on January 1st. That beautiful day I went on a scenic beach run, I nostalgically listened to a “Hit Songs of the 2010’s” Spotify playlist, and I playfully pondered the excitement and promise of 2020. Goodness gracious did this year take a detour! [Note: my original draft of this blurb included a sho...

This week at the River, we are exploring yet another word from Jesus to our River Church families and friends. That word is “identity". It comes out of Rev. 2, the letters to the church in Pergamum and the church in Thyratira. Who you are and whose you are make up the two components of identity. Everyone has one. We have an online identity. We have emojis that look like us or how we want others to...

"Jesus knows." Growing up as a church kid in a couple old-school, fundamentalist-style churches I've heard this phrase used plenty of times. Normally it was deployed by a well-meaning Sunday school teacher, youth pastor, or camp speaker to set up a spiritual surveillance apparatus aimed at behavior modification. Don't be naughty..."Jesus knows." This Sunday, however, we are going to re-encounter t...

In Revelation 2-3 Jesus speaks to Christians at 7 different churches in the province of Asia and has 7 words for all followers of Christ. Word #1- First Love. Jesus tells the church of Ephesus that they lost their first love. You gotta get your love back if you lost it. It’s easy to be in and out of love. Often, we are afraid to let someone love us. Sometimes we don’t even realize when our heart i...

One of my greatest privileges in life is to be the one who introduces my friends to Jesus- Jesus, my Lord and Savior. I’ve been doing it for years. I have never stopped to describe what that’s like, why I really do it, and whether I should or shouldn’t. I have always approached life from an inner core reality that who I am on the inside is what I live on the outside. Telling people about Jesus is...

The conversation on racism and ethnic inclusion in America and in the church is not comfortable. It’s a conversation that gets messy. It’s a conversation that can be all-too-easily co-opted or invalidated by various outside agendas to score quick political points. Nevertheless, as I will seek to show from the heart of our own sacred scriptures as followers of Jesus, it is a conversation I (we) can...

How do we get our heads around what is going on in our country? Seriously, this is a century of pain compressed in five months. The mishandling of the George Floyd arrest that led to his death has sparked a wave of protest and violence around the country. People are standing with their black friends, neighbors, community members, brothers and sisters to protest the systemic mistreatment of black A...

It’s a strange thing to think that a story never ends. Even the best stories come to a finality where the drama concludes either for bad or for good. But it does come to an end. Ever read a really really good book that you just wish it never ended? But they all do. And you're left thinking, "I wonder what happens next in the life of the characters of the story?" But the end comes and we are left f...

It’s happening! The beach is open for activity, more and more businesses are opening back up, folks are making summer plans, and L.A. traffic is making a comeback. We’re not out of the “safer-at-home” woods yet, but it’s starting to look like the beginning of the end of quarantine. Even as I’ve been chomping at the bit to “get back to normal,” a realization hit me this week—slowly but surely this...

This weekend at the River, wow. Another great service planned for you. Wait till you hear the worship, testimony, and the teaching. I hope you’re enjoying our online services as we continue to stay connected through worship and staying in God’s word. Resurrection life is about recalibrating the loves of your life. We all have deep loves, desires. They drive us. Jesus knew that. That’s why in Matth...

Disruptions are painful, but they can bring focus to our lives and to what matters. For me, I have been thinking about friendship these days. "Missing my friends" is the phrase I most commonly hear from our high school students. I picked up a book called Friendship by Lydia Denworth on the science of friendship. It is a good read and she highlights the new science showing how destructive lonelines...

I am sure we all have a “storm” story. You were probably out hiking or out on a boat or in the elements when out of nowhere a storm appeared. How did you feel? Did you feel in control? I’ve had many of those experiences. In one particular storm experience I can recall, the lightning was touching down all around us as we were completely exposed on the side of a mountain. Scary. Think of yours. Did...

Join us as we continue our sustained study of the spiritual supernova that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This Sunday we’re going to gaze into the enduring, multifaceted, and transformative implications of the resurrection for your otherwise normal, day-to-day life. Specifically, let’s meditate on two questions: 1) What happens/has happened to my individual life because of the resurrection?...

Easter comes and goes once a year, that is, as an event. But, it actually lingers on all year in our thoughts and our hearts if we really think about it. It’s all about the Resurrection of Jesus. Resurrection means new life. Jesus offers us new life in his death, burial and resurrection, now and forever. So how do we live it? Especially now, in the midst of this cultural angst? We are running the...

This Easter will be a first for all of us. Every segment of this service is from our homes to yours. We are truly living as first century Christians, huddled In our homes celebrating the Easter morning as family and friends. Jesus has risen. He brings hope even if things look or appear hopeless. With Jesus it is far from it. I was feeling pretty stressed about filming myself preaching the Easter m...

I have to say, none of us were totally prepared for this worldwide pandemic. Do any of us have everything we need professionally, emotionally, spiritually, and practically? Every day changes. Now, more than ever, we have to prepare our mind, as we attempt to walk with peace and courage. Daniel's life was threatened, fear beckoned him, his faith was challenged. His security and protection came from...

Times have really changed. I've preached the message before the blurb goes out! Ha! Crazy world we live in. We filmed our service today. It's a good one. This week we'll hear the message Sunday at 9am in our living rooms, our new church outposts. We are looking at Daniel 3, the three tests of true biblical faith. Daniel along with the rest of many other young Israelites found themselves in a diffe...

This week at the River Online, we will worship the Lord, hear a testimony and open God's word together. We are in the book of Daniel studying how Daniel handled the pressure when his world got turned upside down. What do you do when everything normal becomes abnormal? We have all been faced with tremendous change. Weddings have been cancelled. People have been let off work. School is over. Graduat...