Thrive Harbor

Jake Chambers, pastor and church planter of Local Church , gives four talks at Thrive’s Fall Retreat on the theme of “learning to be with Jesus together.” Who is the God who invites us to be with Him? In this first talk, Jake unpacks four amazing statements about who God is, and what that means for who we are. God is great, so we don’t have to be in control. God is glorious, so we don’t have to be...

Tim Cedarland, Thrive’s director emeritus, wraps up Thrive’s series on Romans by reviewing the book in its entirety and preaching on chapter 16. In this final chapter Paul shows how personal and pastoral he is, remembering to greet a host of people from a church he had never even visited—besides offering a number of other closing remarks.

Chris Rogers, assistant pastor of Discovery Baptist Church , unfolds Paul's explanation of his mission to preach the gospel to the Gentiles in Romans 15:14-33. From our modern-day vantage point, it is easy to overlook how controversial it was for the early church to welcome Gentiles into the people of God. In this passage Paul boldly and winsomely reaffirms that  God has accepted the Gentiles...

David Shohradov, one of Thrive’s own, presents Paul’s teaching in Romans 14:1-15:13 about not causing another believer to stumble. Believers have different weaknesses, areas where they may be more vulnerable to temptation. Our response ought to be to lay down our rights in order to be a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block to those around us.

Alan Jones, pastor of Firebrand Church , takes up what Romans 13 says about how Christians should engage in politics and relate to human authorities. Because God Himself has modeled what submission to authority looks like, Christians, too, should respect the offices of human authority that God has established, even though it can require great care and nuance to do this in a God-honoring way when h...

Tyson Lash, pastor of Harbor Life Church , takes up Romans 12, the part of Paul's letter that asks, "In light of what God has done, how should we live?" Paul's answer is that a transformed life arises from a deep, heart-level grasp of God's grace and goodness. Only then can we rightly walk through life doing what Jesus did, loving as He loved, and glorifying God with all of our lives.

Mac Davis, one of Thrive's own, wraps up Paul's explanation of the gospel in Romans 1-11 by unfolding his great doxology in Romans 11:33-36. This great hymn of praise exalts God's worthiness of worship and shows that worship is our only reasonable response to all that God has done in Christ.

Periodically in Thrive's Romans series, we're pausing to take up a "hot potato in Romans"—a topic that is culturally "hot" and hard to handle. In this talk, Michael Bouterse, Thrive Harbor's local director, addresses what Romans 11 says about Israel—a nation and people group never too far from political and theological controversy. The story of Israel as told in the Old Testament revolves around G...

Periodically in Thrive's Romans series, we're pausing to take up a "hot potato in Romans"—a topic that is culturally "hot" and hard to handle. In this talk, Michael Bouterse, Thrive Harbor's local director, takes on the topic of predestination based on Romans 9. Far more than just a doctrine to be grasped cognitively, predestination is both personal and practical, providing believers with a joy, a...

David Baumgaertel, one of Thrive’s alums, launches Thrive into the next part of Romans by giving an overview of Romans 9-11, a critical section of Scripture that helps unlock a big picture of the entire Bible. In these chapters Paul demonstrates that God is perfectly righteous in how He has dealt with Jews and Gentiles, and that in different ways each group is the object of God’s mercy. Along with...

Michael Bouterse, Thrive Harbor's local director, closes out the last section of the climactic eighth chapter of Romans. In Romans 8:28-39 Paul reveals God's purpose for humanity: not conformity to a set of moral principles but to a person, Jesus Christ; His aim is for the very life of God to be woven into the warp and woof of our personalities. To this purpose God adds a promise of assurance that...

Dustin Polley, director of Thrive Kitsap (our sister ministry in Kitsap County), continues Thrive's ascent up the "Mount Everest" of Scripture, the glorious eighth chapter of Romans. In Romans 8:18-27 Paul announces that Christians await a glorious future, when at Christ's return God's people will be glorified, resulting not just in their renewal but in the renewal of all creation. Meanwhile, Chri...

David Shohradov, one of Thrive's own, continues Thrive's exploration of the "Mount Everest" of the Bible, Romans 8. In Romans 8:12-17 Paul takes up themes at the heart of the Christian life—the relationship between the flesh and the Spirit, our adoption as God's children, and the redemptive value of suffering.

Jake Chambers, pastor and church planter of Local Church , kicks off the first of several weeks focused on the "Mount Everest" of Scripture—the magnificent eighth chapter of Romans. Romans 8 is one of the firmest statements in Scripture that in Christ we are free of condemnation, even though condemnation is exactly what we deserve! Yet because of what Jesus has done, God has liberated us from livi...

A Q&A panel with local pastors and their spouses wraps up Thrive's two-week miniseries on pornography and sexual addiction.

Periodically in Thrive's Romans series, we're pausing to take up a "hot potato in Romans"—a topic that is culturally "hot" and hard to handle. In this talk, Josh Mann, pastor at Fox Island Alliance Church , shares part of his powerful testimony to conclude a two-week miniseries on “Jesus, Sex, and Secrets” confronting pornography and sexual addiction.

Periodically in Thrive's Romans series, we're pausing to take up a "hot potato in Romans"—a topic that is culturally "hot" and hard to handle. In this talk, Michael Bouterse, Thrive Harbor's local director, opens a two-week miniseries on “Jesus, Sex, and Secrets” that confronts pornography and sexual addiction, springing out of Romans 6 and 7. This first talk deals with the devastation of porn, th...

How does God change us? How do believers grow amid the ongoing, ever-present battle with sin? Whereas Romans 6 gives Paul’s explanation of the right way to fight sin and seek change, Romans 7 gives the wrong way. It shows us that despite human beings’ inherent tendency to improve ourselves through our own effort, sin can’t be defeated through simply trying harder. Sanctification is God’s work, acc...

If Christians are saved by faith, what keeps us walking in obedience to God’s commands? In this message on Romans 7:1-13, Tim Cedarland, Thrive’s regional director, expounds Paul’s teaching about faith and the law. Through what Jesus has done, Christians are no longer under the law, which never could stop us from sinning anyway. Just as a mirror can tell you that your face is dirty but can’t actua...

David Shohradov, one of Thrive's own, preaches on Romans 6, one of the Bible's great chapters about how the gospel changes us. Why should Christians no longer sin? Is it because of fear of punishment or to impress God? According to Romans 6, the answer is that dead men don't sin! When Jesus died, our sinful self died, meaning that we no longer have to do what sin tempts us to do. The result is fre...

D'Vante Rolle of One Hope Church continues Thrive's series on Romans by looking at Romans 5:1-11. Justification by faith is the taproot of joy, hope, peace, and all the blessings of the Christian life. It also gives believers the power to persevere through life's darkest trials.

How do faith and works go together? In this message on Romans 4, Tim Cedarland, Thrive’s regional director, zooms in on two Old Testament figures who discovered justification by faith long before Paul did. Abraham is famous for his many moments of obedience, but behind that obedience was his trust in God. Faith was the root, and good works were the fruit! Then there’s David, a man rich in sin and...

Mercy forgives the guilty, while justice refuses to let the guilty off the hook. How can these two important principles coexist? In this message on Romans 3:21-31, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, explains how according to Paul there is exactly one place where these seeming opposites collide: the cross of Christ. On the cross, God upheld judgment by punishing sin, while also demonstratin...

Why is it so easy to feel dogged by a sense of shame and inadequacy? Is there a way to shut off the inner monologue that says, “You’ll never be enough”? In this message on Romans 3:21-26, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, expounds Paul’s teaching on justification by faith, the cornerstone of Christian theology. Human beings are self-justifying creatures, always searching for new ways to s...

In this message on Romans 3:1-20, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, unpacks the conclusion of Paul’s argument that all humanity is guilty and in need of salvation. Already he has argued that religious people need the gospel (chapter 2) just as much as non-religious people (chapter 1). Now, to conclude his argument, Paul considers some challenges someone might make to his case, before driv...