The River Church Sermons

Whether we realize it or not (and mostly, we don't) each of us live our lives in an environment that forms us. We live as part of a culture and subcultures. We have relationships. We have habits. We consume information and entertainment. As we think about how to see God produce His kind of life in us by His grace through His Spirit, what kind of environment is best suited for the fruit of His Spir...

We're starting off the New Year asking an essential question: when it comes to following Jesus, what actually produces true, heart-level transformation? And, as we learned last week from 2 Corinthians 3:16-18, the burning core to the answer of this question is straightforward--we're transformed in and through the presence of God in the Holy Spirit. Yet, if you're like me, this raises even more que...

Even for those of us who don't make resolutions, each of us come into the New Year with aspirations for what we hope will come in 2025. And our social media feeds and favorite thought leaders are ready with helpful content for implementing new habits and accomplishing goals. But when it comes to following Jesus, what actually produces true, heart-level transformation? How does the life of Jesus ge...

Luke 2:11 says it all. Essentially God came near. In the city of David, the Savior of the world is born, Christ the Lord. A person. A particular individual, God in human form has come near to us. We could never find God, as hard as we look, without Jesus. You could spend your whole life searching for God and never find Him, unless you look in the manger.

More than any other holiday or season, Christmas is filled with singing! What other has its own genre of music where top artists put out the same 10 Christmas songs?! Christmas should be filled with singing! For there is no better way to respond to the Christmas narrative than to sing songs of joy and wonder! This is what Luke records for us in his Gospel account. In Luke's nativity narrative, key...

In Luke 2:1-20, the heavens become visible, angels, powerful heavenly beings appear to reveal the exact first time of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A heavenly message for an earthly realm. People say the gospel is a human fairly tale. Yeah sure. Watch manly shepherds, common to most dangerous terrain surrounding Jerusalem. These men were used to dangers we know nothing about. Armed with a staff, the...

It was C.S. Lewis who famously said, "It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased....

Confession: I have been listening to Christmas music since late July. Additional confession: I’ve actually been listening to Christmas music since March. As it turns out, the Scriptures have me beat by more than two millennia! Join us as we begin our advent season with a teaching series entitled, “Advent - Christmas Canticles and Carols.” As a church, we are going to devote the next four weeks to...

Can I just say... last weekend was POWERFUL! To get to know, to share, and to pray with each other was meaningful, encouraging, and holy. This week we'll continue talking about how this love of God in us overflows from the church to our neighborhoods, the South Bay, and beyond. It's another weekend you won't want to miss!

Graham Vermooten has been in missions for over 40 years. He speaks at conferences and travels consulting non profit mission start ups, to level up and become sustainable where possible. He has inspiring stories and will share from a passage out of the gospels that reveals to us what it takes to walk on water. Peter wanted to be like Jesus. Little did he know it would require him to take the next s...

We are all being formed into something. Spiritual formation is not a choice, it is a reality. We are all becoming someone through the sources we expose ourselves to, the people we are around, and the goals we direct our lives towards. So, if we are all being formed, the question then becomes who we are formed into? Executive coaches and psychologists have helpfully noted that we become the summati...

A recent New York Times piece detailed the goals and game plan of one young professional pursuing self improvement. It was the sort of immaculately strategized daily schedule that would make the most goal oriented among us giddy with excitement, the sort of thing one would assume to produce dazzling results. Except, the culminating line of a detailed list of personal goals, strategic planning, and...

We will look at one of the most famous passages of gospel Scripture ever spoken by Jesus to his disciples. "Abide in me. Apart from me you can do nothing". John 15. Read it. It’s good. Now you might be asking, why are we still talking about being with Jesus? Haven’t we beaten this with a stick? Can’t we please move on to becoming like Jesus, or doing as Jesus did? Let’s get practical. Let’s get af...

Greetings River Church, my brothers and sisters! On Monday I turn 70. This number is daunting to me; I’m certain that the whole Y2K computer challenge mysteriously added 10 years to my life. But a number of years ago, Cynthia and I decided that 70 would be an appropriate date to “retire.” Can a pastor every really retire? We can change our position, but we don’t give up our calling. I am called to...

Our community of curious and committed, and maybe even confused, people of faith are in the midst of a Fall exploration of the trails and tributaries Jesus leads us on as we choose to follow him. On a personal note, I am speaking the next two Sunday’s as I turn 70 and make a big transition from full-time pastoral ministry into a part-time role at The River. I intend to attempt to bring attention t...

This is the sermon for the overworked business person, the exhausted parent, the anxious student, the frustrated, discouraged, and hopeless. Have you ever felt stuck in your spiritual growth? Or how about in life in general? Life is busy. All my time and money and energy is accounted for. I want to grow and I want to love God and make changes but where do I even begin? I can’t add one. more. thing...

When it comes to the Jesus-following life, there are centuries of opinions, ideas, rumors, party lines, and long-held assumptions about what it looks like to apprentice Jesus of Nazareth. I want to preach a sermon I’ve entitled “Following Jesus: Two Truths and a Lie.” Join us as we ask those ancients who knew him best for their help in sorting out fact from fiction!

Vision Sunday. When the people have no vision they perish. I doubt they actually perish. But it most certainly leads to mass confusion as to the direction to go. We plan to present to you a well thought through path to take forward from here, meaning you, and us together as attenders of the River church. I have been leading this church now for over 17 years. We’ve had great vision. We’ve seen God...

Join us for part two as we continue our discussion on Matthew 4. Believing that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world should not be any different than coming to the conclusion that Jesus is your Savior. And, can I add, making a firm commitment to follow this Savior Jesus throughout the rest of this life and into the next. In other words, believing it is the same as living it. When Jesus walked a...

Believing that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world should not be any different than coming to the conclusion that Jesus is your Savior. And, can I add, making a firm commitment to follow this Savior, Jesus throughout the rest of this life and into the next. In other words, believing it is the same as living it. When Jesus walked along that shore in Galilee and saw those young men fishing with...

We live in the loneliest time and place on record--that was the conclusion of a study conducted a few years ago. The percentage of Americans who report feelings of loneliness is the highest on record and the number of those who report zero close personal confidants has tripled since the 1980s. Even many of those of us who are relationally connected live busier and more spread out lives than ever b...

Did you know that God did not send His son to live and die and be raised from the dead just so that we could believe and go to heaven one day? You read that right. God did not create us just to be with Him in the future. He created us and made a way for us to be with him now and forever. What does it mean to be in a relationship with God? What does it look like to live by His power? What does it f...

If our summer adventure through the story of the scriptures was an 80’s or 90’s sports movie (think Rocky, Hoosiers, or the cinematic masterpiece that is The Mighty Ducks 2)—we have finally reached the tipping point in the plot wherein the musical score changes from discouragement to hope. It’s that part where the protagonists courageously get to their feet with a look of resolve shining in their...

Draw near to God! Draw Near! We have confidence to enter into the very presence of God through the blood of Jesus, through his role as our High Priest. Confidence to enter the Holy of Holies, to enter the most sacred space, to enter into the source of all life, to enter into the presence of The Holy Other, to enter into the presence of Love Itself, to enter into participation within the very life...

"I can't believe I did this again." Has that thought ever run through your mind? That thing you swore you'd never do or say again, that thing you thought you had grown past, has reared its ugly head again. The Old Testament comes to a close with a glaring tension: God has promised redemption for humankind, but the same heartsickness of sin that has infected all of humankind is just as much at work...