The River Church Sermons

Introduction to Acts 2 and a reading of the chapter in preparation for Sunday's sermon.

On August 6, in the year 1651, Francois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fenelon was born in a small village in France. He would have been unknown to us if it were not his bold, tenacious, and magnetic faith in Christ which earned him the highest honor in the Louis the XIV's court. He lived out his faith in France with such dignity and eloquence that one would write, "His eloquence was winning rather than...

The Church over the ages has been through more remodels than most of your homes. We’ve experienced the high church. We've seen the new fad worship style church. We dropped Sunday school hour for adults. We’ve updated from donuts and coffee to croissants and lattes. We’ve added smoke, banners, flag wavers. We even tried painting in church. That was short lived. Why would someone paint in the corner...

This weekend, I would like to speak to you about what I learned this summer. I went into the summer pretty much toast and can honestly say I feel refreshed. From toast to refreshed. How did that happen? By the way, if I still felt like toast, I would honestly have told you that as well. I'm not sugar coating this. How do we go from 0 to 60 or 55? By acceleration? Or gradual? I felt like my friend...

If you've lived a bit, it doesn't take long to realize that life has a way of bringing unexpected challenges, or opportunities as some would say. They come in all shapes and sizes! As you look at this season, have you faced something insurmountable? Perhaps a task or situation felt bigger than you? Gideon, from Judges 6-8, is a great example of this, and what he does to face his own situation is s...

Doubting Thomas. Not a great nickname for a disciple of Jesus, but this is usually the nickname we associate with Thomas. However, there is so much more to Thomas. As I hope to show this weekend, Thomas was a radical follower of Jesus; so radical in fact, John's gospel account highlights his confession as the ultimate confession of faith amongst all the disciples. And like all radical followers of...

This summer we have received an up-close look at the people that God puts to work. I hope you have been surprised, encouraged, and intrigued at the character of our God and the nature of God's work in the world. This week we will look at Elizabeth. She only appears in the first chapter of the gospel of Luke, but she plays a hugely significant role in God's Kingdom. Therefore, do not be misled by h...

It is one thing to stand on the shore at Torrance Beach and dream of surfing big waves, or stand up paddling, or sailing off to Catalina and beyond. It is a very different experience to actually move out into deeper water where we are confronted with bigger surf, bigger wind, and bigger fish. This is the call of Jesus to Simon Peter in Luke 5. The invitation of Jesus consistently prompts us to mov...

Last year, I saw the coolest thing at one of the millions of Redondo Beach 5K's: while the masses ran in one direction, three people dressed in trout costumes were running in the opposite direction through the crowd of joggers. Ha! What a cool shenanigan! Running upstream; against the grain; defying the agreed-upon marathon mores. This weekend as we meet a few of the fascinating folks in the Apost...

We know him as St. Paul; the first followers of Jesus to meet him knew him as the paramount threat to the strange and socio-politically vulnerable movement that would eventually be described as "Christianity." You can hear them now: "Him?! He's going to be the one used by God to bring about perhaps the greatest quantum leap forward in the Jesus movement since Jesus' own resurrection?! ...it can't...

Are you able to rejoice when others succeed and you don't? How about when someone takes your place in the starting lineup, a colleague gets the promotion you've longed for or a good friend gets into the college you've dreamt about for years? How do you respond? In my senior year I distinctly remember being moved to second chair (by a sophomore) in concert band, and Tommy being moved up to drum maj...

You know that little feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know something’s right or wrong and you know what you need to do? Have you noticed that over time as you make choices you know you need to make the sensitivity in your spirit grows a little greater? And that when you get in the habit of making the choice you know you shouldn’t make, after a while the sensitivity dims? Why is that? An...

A radical is someone who affects the fundamental nature of something; it is profound, far reaching, and major. This week we are going to hear about a woman who fits this description. She takes a bold step of faith to affect the outcome for herself and her family. There is always risk and cost when we move out in faith. Why did she do this? How did it impact her future? And our future? Janie

Jeremiah was a rascal: outcast for speaking truth to power with his poems portraying impending doom. He was also a renegade: arrested, beaten, and imprisoned for allegedly trying to desert his people. Third, he was a radical: calling his people to turn from their idols and remember the Lord their God. Lastly, Jeremiah was a bullfrog! (Just kidding….though, he is a good friend of mine!) See you Sun...

God’s plan is to put people to His good work, whether you are a rascal, a renegade, or a radical. Whether you believe it or not, you are in God’s sights for ultimate good – for your flourishing, for your neighbors, your family, our nation, the world. God has a plan to put the world to rights, and He does it through people of character who have been spiritually formed through trial. This Sunday we...

My natural inclination is to walk around, by, or even over certain kinds of people. I don't want to do that. I know all people need one thing- Jesus. Then I read John 4 and I am humbled at the intentionality and the simplicity of Jesus' presentation to this woman who is alone at a well in the middle of the day. He simply offered her living water and she took it. Why did she take it? What do we lea...

The final scene fades out, the film overture fills in, and the credits roll. Most of us head for the exit in hopes of beating the crowd. This Sunday, we're going to ask you to just sit for a moment and drink it all in. The credit reel concluding Paul's letter to the Romans just might be the most powerful answer to the biggest question many have asked about this network/gathering/thing we call "chu...

If you heard the words, “I want to tell you what I really think of you”, what would be your reaction? Oh no, here it comes. I’m going to get it now. What if the next words were so encouraging, so uplifting, that you look behind you just to be sure this person was speaking to you. You talking to me? The Apostle Paul, in a rare autobiographical moment, shares his heart with the church of Rome. He af...

I remember being young and feeling powerless. I used to feel weak. I attended a private school during my early years of education and I remember being challenged by a kid half my size. There were a hand full of kids standing around watching. We all stood in a circle in our navy blue slacks and light blue shirts, dark shoes and sweaters looking at each other. He lunged at me and took me down. It en...

Romans 14 is the weaker brother/ sister passage. Paul is not implying that because one of us is weak in faith and the other is strong in faith that somehow one is superior to the other. We are not in competition with one another. Paul extends his concept of love to the one newer to faith. That's the weaker brother/sister. And in this case, this person is still learning to settle into walking in th...

We love the law when it catches the thief, but not so much when its red lights demand we pull over. Paul tells us in Romans 13:1 [our text for Sunday] that we are to “be subject to the governing authorities.” Two words stand out: government and authority. Questions are prompted. Why should we submit to authority? What happens if I just ignore authority? What is the proper role of authority? Are th...

Love—we want it bad! Our Spotify/Pandora/iTunes playlists are full of songs begging for it; for 21 seasons a Bachelor or Bachelorette have been narrowing down options in search of it; and every February 14 th we torment ourselves to get those flowers and restaurant reservations in celebration of it. Its flavors vary wildly from person to person and culture to culture, yet we all seem to be after i...

We begin a new series this weekend - Romans 12-16- Loving Well in a Culture of Pain and Hardship. Our world does not need a lecture. It needs love. People are divided, scared, and uncertain. What's it like to be Muslim in America? What's it like to be gay and desire to know what a relationship with God looks like? What about being single and wanting to be married, divorced and feeling alone, maybe...

The lesson of the cross is a profound paradox: the path to wholeness, growth, and glory is so often one of suffering. Put differently, the cross teaches us that God doesn't waste an ounce of our pain. God is in the business of turning our hurts into glory, our ashes into beauty, our dark nights into a brilliant sunrise. In the days leading up to Easter, we are going to explore this ancient wisdom...

The lesson of the cross is a profound paradox: the path to wholeness, growth, and glory is so often one of suffering. Put differently, the cross teaches us that God doesn't waste an ounce of our pain. God is in the business of turning our hurts into glory, our ashes into beauty, our dark nights into a brilliant sunrise. In the days leading up to Easter, we are going to explore this ancient wisdom...