thisistheROCK

Philippians is all about helping us be brighter lights and witnesses for the Lord, but does this mean that we must doing grand geustures for the Lord? Sometimes, the best way to be a witness is to do the little things right, and this includes rejoicing in God, praying to Him, not worrying but trusting Him, and focusing on the Lord. Listen in to this week's lesson and hear all about how to let...

We just welcomed our new 6th graders to the Rock, and we could not be more excited! The Rock is all about knowing Jesus and making him known, and what we want to specifically see in our student's lives is for them to know confidently who God is, fall deeply in love with Him, and live fully in Him. To know him, love him, and live for him is a great summary of what it truly means to be a follower of...

If your life was a book with chapters, what would the last chapter of your life say was most important to you? Was it friends? Was it school? Was is sports? Was it Jesus? While we can accomplish many things in life, it is crucial that we rememeber that our whole lives are for God's glory alone, and our good deeds and works are garbage in perspective of God's grace and glory. Listen in to t...

Have you ever looked up at the sky on a dark night and seen the stars light up your whole vision? The glow from the burning spheres pops out starkly among the surrounding darkness. This is the picture Paul paints to illustrate how Christians ought to stand out among unbelievers and the world. Our character, our actions, and our lifestyle should preach the message that Jesus truly is our Lord and o...

When you play a game with a kid, you have 2 options: 1. You help them along in the game and guide them how to play 2. You completely dominate them, beat them, and win. The first option is kind, and the other option is just flat out mean. Instead of using your power for meekness and gentleness, you use your power for selfishness. This is not how God treats us. The One who has all power and authorit...

Are you someone who strives for perfection, and when something is not exactly as you want it to be, you crash out? Are you someone who your parents have to constantly remind to do your homeowork and chores because you love to procrastinate? Living worthy of the Gospel is a tall order. We are commanded to give our entire lives to Jesus. However, we are not supposed to do so expecting ourselves to b...

When we watch movies, we can often relate to the main character in the plot. We naturally put ourselves in the position of the main character and feel like we can relate to them. Maybe this is innocent, but maybe it shows how we naturally see ourselves as the main character in the story. God often reminds us how life is not about us--it's about HIM. Listen in to this lesson and hear how despit...

Have you ever looked out of a plane window and seen a lake or an ocean? The beautiful sight can leave you in awe. However, have you ever been able to swim under the water with goggles and see the vast swimming creatures, plant life, and underwater terrain? Both of these scenes are epic. In this series on Philippians, we want to take a deep dive into the book, and we need to take our time. Often, w...

In this new series, we are going to be talking about the book the Philippians! The book of Philippians sounds kind of like a coach's half-time locker room speech to his team. He wants to rally them around the cause of the Gospel. He wants them to get fired up. He wants them to live their lives totally sold out for the one goal in life: to live is Christ to die is Gain. Listen in to hear how we...

Love can be a hot topic in today's culture. While the Christian faith is grounded on the Love of God, many different voices in culture claim that God is not loving at all. After all, if He is truly loving, then why doesn't he let me live my life how I want to? Why does He have such a narrow mind on what's right and wrong? The community that often voices these questions is the LGBTQ+ co...

Have you ever been ridiculed or made fun of for something you did wrong? Have you ever felt like someone was just waiting for you to mess up--and wanted you to? Sometimes, we can feel like God is hovering over us eager to condemn us as soon as we make one wrong move. We can feel like God is ready to cast us away as soon as we don't uhold our end of the deal. In this week's lesson, we are g...

Joni Eareckson Tada was someone who knew what it's like to suffer. After diving into shallow water when she was in her teens, she hit her head on the bottom of the lake, and the impact has left her a quadrapalegic for the rest of her life--without the use of her arms and legs. How do we respond to suffering in this life? Why does it happen, and is there any purpose behind it? In this lesson, w...

If you were to ask the average church goers this question: "Are humans basically good?" What do you think they would say? What would you say? Although the answer might seem clear, 7 out of 10 church goers said they agreed with the above question. Listen in to this week's lesson about what Romans 3 has to say about this topic.

Have you wondered about who God is, and has it ever been confusing? - Who is Jesus? -Is the Father God? - Who in the world is the Holy Spirit?! Is this lesson, we will talk about how Jesus is God, how the Trinity is true, what proofs Jesus gave us to be confident in his divinity, and what does that mean for other religions.

If I were to ask you to prove to me that George Washington exists, what would you say? Would you bring up history? Would you bring up the dollar bill? Would you think this is a silly question? The reason why we know Jesus exists is because the Holy Spirit has revealed him to us through the Word of God. It is our book of history that tells us all about God's grand plan for creation and redempti...

Some questions are important: Is a hotdog a sandwhich? Is Taco Bell better than McDonalnds? Are the Lions going to be better next year? These are all big questions. However, there are bigger and more important questions we need answers to. In this series, we will be talking about some big questions that we can have in our faith. Often, these questions actually cause us to doubt our faith. Instead...

What if I told you that an 8-year-old became the president of the United States? Would you be baffled? Josiah became King of Israel at the young age of 8, and he was not just a king - he was an exceptional king, and there are some big reasons why. Listen to this week's lesson and hear how taking your faith seriously does not just start one day. It starts NOW.

Imagine being swallowed by a whale. That would be insane right? It would probably be one of the most memorable moments of your life. Jonah, a prophet of God, was swallowed by a big fish and was in its belly for 3 days! While this was probably one of the most memorable moments of his life, it surprisingly is not the most memorable moment in the book of Jonah. The story of Jonah is a lot less about...

Think about the time you felt most alone. Were you terrified? Was there a deep pit in your stomach? Did you feel a sadness you did not even know was possible to feel? There are times in our lives when we feel helpless, hopeless, and powerless. In these dark times of sadness and fear, we are supposed to seek God and not run from him because in his love is where we find our true purpose and home. In...

This week at the Rock, we are talking about what Oak Pointe's vision is for this year: to reach those across the street and around the world. When we think of a mission, we might think that missions are reserved exclusively to special agents and secret task forces. However, God has called all of his followers to a mission: the reach the whole world with the good news of Jesus' love. But ho...

In movies, there are main and side characters. The main characters often get more screen time, more lines, and more attention while the side characters support the main characters and get little screen, little to no lines, and little attention. For movies, main and side characters make sense. For our lives, they don't. We as humans try to be main characters when there is only one who deserves...

Think about the biggest gift you have ever received. How did you react? Think about the biggest news you have ever heard. How astounded were you to hear it? The biggest news of Zechariah's life is about to come to him...but what will his reaction be? Will it be awe? Will it be disbelief? Will it be disrespect? Listen in to this week's lesson and hear about a person who played an instrument...

What is Baptism and why should believers do it? This is the question we will answer in this week's lesson about Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch . When the eunuch is reading from the book of Isaiah, he is confused about what it all means. However, his confusion changes when Philip, an evangelist and a disciple of Jesus, explains to him that Isaiah is talking about a man who would come and die j...

What would you say is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible? I think one of your answers might be the story of a little shepherd boy with a sling and stone fighting a 9 foot mammoth of a human being--goliath. This story is awesome. It's an underdog story: the little guy winning against the big bully. However, what should we gather from this story? Is this story mainly about how we ne...

In this lesson in Famous and Forgotten, we are looking at a story you could say is quite...s pooooooky! When a guy named King Nebuchadnezzar starts to get a big head about how great and powerful his kingdom is, God humbles him in a spooky yet funny way: by turning him into a cow-man for 7 years. Listen in to hear about it! Note from Nate: In this lesson, I tell the story about the 3 men thrown int...