The River Church Sermons

One of the best parts of camp were our conversations around the book of Daniel. We studied the book of Daniel and asked the question: how do we live faithfully in a culture that is against our beliefs? What does faithfulness look like in exile? This fits perfectly into our sermon series on Scripture. We are using Scripture to ground our lives in learning how to act in this cultural moment. We need...

If you received a text with each thought that passed through your mind today, what would you see? Would you say that your mind is a place the Lord rules or does it feel like a free-for-all up there? The last few months I’ve been inviting the Lord to do some housekeeping and it’s kind of changing my life. The truth is, if I keep what’s in my heart and mind to myself and don’t trust the Lord with it...

The end of this movie, Jesus Christ SUPERSTAR, 1973 VERSION, which was first a play back in the middle of hippy world, is how the disciples felt in Luke 24:13-35. Jesus died and he wasn’t coming back. The show’s over. They were all getting back on the bus. But there, Jesus was in their midst. And here’s the point. They lost their entire perspective until Jesus explained the Bible to them. Then the...

Psalm 19 crescendos with a surprising statement--the poet declares Scripture to be more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey. Now, those of us who are Christians know and believe that Scripture is important, but it’s something else entirely to say that it’s more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey. If we’re being honest, many of us think of and experience Scripture more like a child th...

I am intrigued and fascinated by stories of wagon trains crossing the country and the Rockies, in order to get to California to find a new home. Some stopped in Nevada, and that’s their bad. Their journey usually took months or longer, and included babies born and family members dying. Contrast that with the ease of jumping on a plane and in a few hours flying to New York City, with nothing but a...

There is something about music that captures us. We all can think of that one song that brings us back to a favorite childhood memory, or the song that got us through a break up, or perhaps "Leaning on the Lord's Side" is on repeat in your house all day long. Music plays a central role in our lives, and I think it should. Music has a powerful way to help form us into the people we want to be, or s...

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. He gave them what we now call, The Lord’s Prayer, but then invited them to pray to their Heavenly Father with “shameless audacity” [Luke 11:8 NIV]. That phrase has ignited my imagination, but also challenged my practice of praying… feeble, inconsistent, unworthy, and on it goes. By the way, there is almost no one I talk with who feels like their “pr...

How would you start a teaching on prayer? Don't worry--I have a plan for how to start off the teaching. But, where would you start? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus doesn't begin his teaching on prayer with a definition of prayer, a guide for how to pray, or instructions for what a praying life should look like. Instead, Jesus begins his teaching on prayer by teaching us how to relate to God. So...

We begin a four month journey studying and experimenting together, four primary new spiritual practices the help us be more successful in achieving our goals as Christians - practices that shape us. We all want to mature in Christ, but how? By doing something regularly over a long period of time until it becomes who you are. That’s a spiritual practice, or spiritual discipline. James Clear says in...

Last week, James and Brae brought us an exposition of Psalm 23, God is our shepherd. God is inviting us to sit quietly with him as He fills us up. The future of you is that of growing majestically like a tree in the forest or in a meadow. They gave us ways to connect personally with God. This week, I want to look at not you, but us, the church. We are not one, but many. We are not a single tree in...

Let’s talk about the future. Your future. Are you thinking through a transition in life, work, health, finances, family, ministry? This can be as small as making summer plans or changing up your fitness routine or as massive as a huge career change or entering into a new stage of life and family. How do you walk boldly and beautifully into that sometimes-scary thing we call the future? How do you...

It’s Mother’s Day and we are going to land our series exploring “transformation” by soaking in the first Psalm that my mom taught me when I was a little kid. I also want to ask a question: What do you think truly good moms want from their kids? Let’s ask a few and find out. It just might be the case that pondering this question will teach us something about the mother heart of God! This will also...

How do we really change the shape and formation of our lives for good? I’ve been pushed often to just try harder, or pray or read my Bible more. I’ve tried “white-knuckling” it, trying to exert more will-power to stop doing the stuff I know doesn’t please God. I’ve also fallen into the temptation to make and follow more rules, to build a religious-boundary hiding my broken insides. I’ve been a Chr...

It's not difficult to think of ways that community can be an important ingredient for transformation into maturity--encouragement, accountability, support, etc. But what if the role of church community in transformation is more spiritually powerful and personal than simply providing some necessary encouragement and accountability for growth? What if obeying Jesus' command to love one another is ac...

We are in a new series, The Big T... Transformation. Change for the better or as Bill MacPhee said the other day, change for good! I like that. How to change for good. Well, this week is step one - what you believe will change you. We are what we believe. John 1:1-17 - believe that God sent Jesus and your world changes with it.

We are starting a new series called Transformation - How to Change for the Better. This is the year of growing deeper in our faith. If we want more out of our walk with Jesus, we’ve got to make some changes. There are things you are doing right now that maybe you need stop doing. There are things you are not doing that might be a good idea to start doing. And that goes for your thinking as well. S...

Let's celebrate not just an incredible moment in human history, but let's celebrate the reality that God has not only entered into our suffering, but in the resurrection, worked out a majestic solution to the human predicament. We will open the windows and doors of our lives to hope!

Cat Stevens wrote the song, Wild World ages ago. "Oh baby baby it's a wild world It's hard to get by just upon a smile…" A smile is not enough but it sure helps after a break up, news of a layoff, 3rd quarter disappointing results, feeling rejected or misunderstood, or being persecuted for being a Christ follower. But is it enough? Distressed, tested by fire, an inexpressible joy. How do those go...

I have discovered that people will anchor their lives to something temporal or what is eternal. It is revealed most clearly through suffering. A bad situation won’t keep a good man or woman down. But have you ever asked yourself why that is? I Peter 1:1-9 reveals the answer. It’s living a Christ-centered life by fixing your hope to the eternal reality of the resurrection. Let me challenge your thi...

Our new series is entitled “Why Jesus is the center of becoming a mature follower of Christ.” Not the catchiest title we've ever come up with, but don't let the title take away from how important this series really is! Jesus and the resurrection are at the center of everything for us as believers. Last week Bill did such a beautiful job of bringing home the Truth that for those of us in Christ, li...

As we journey closer to Easter, our next four Sunday gatherings will focus on how Jesus' cross and especially his resurrection are not only the center of all history, but the indispensable cornerstone to life that is hopeful, non-anxious, confident, loving, and purposeful. A disciple or follower of Jesus who is on the path toward maturity keeps growing in a life that is shaped by Jesus' cross, and...

I am speaking on a very controversial topic this weekend from the life of Elijah: depression. Did Elijah fall into depression? Was it severe? How do we know? Lots of questions. One of the problems is we are trying to diagnose a 9th century BC patient with 21st century medical knowledge. All we really know is Elijah got kicked in the butt. He went down hard. Jezebel wanted him dead after slaying he...

If you’ve ever been in a conflict or conversation about a tense issue (which, duh, you have—welcome to planet earth), then you’re well aware of how frustrating and unhelpful it can be when someone responds with defensiveness and blame shifting. And if we’re all honest, we’ve each done our fair share of defensive and blame shifting responses ourselves. But beyond being frustrating and unhelpful, de...

Did you ever go to a Billy Graham crusade and hear George Beverly Shea sing Victory in Jesus? OK, maybe that was before your time. But the moment was electrifying as thousands and thousands of people gathered. The Billy Graham crusades highlighted victory in Jesus. Billy Graham would get up and talk about the cultural problems we face, idols, and then launch into a gospel message. Jesus is always...

Ready set wait. A runner hears the gun and does not lift her head to her ascent. She remains in a four point sprint start waiting position. Her head bowed. Her feet firm ready to bounce. She’s in a race but does not move. It’s so counterintuitive we can hardly imagine the scene. A runner that doesn’t run? What is she waiting for? Unless she is running a different race. From a biblical perspective,...