Pastor Curt’s weekly thoughts on God, The Rock Church, and our faith.
Jesus’s commentary on anger in Matthew 5:21-22 is incredibly relevant for us today. Anger is all around us in life. People are angry on social media, podcasts, and news programs. People are angry discussing politics. And people are angry in everyday life situations in family, work, and marriages. Jesus speaks to us. I’ve spent the last few weeks speaking on different issues regarding anger. I will continue this Sunday on righteous anger - being angry with the same things God is angry about.
We will have a normal service with a sermon in our Sermon on the Mount series. Come worship in the morning then enjoy your afternoon whether you are watching the big game or not!
We will have a normal service with a sermon in our Sermon on the Mount series. Come worship in the morning then enjoy your afternoon whether you are watching the big game or not!
I am excited to get back to the Sermon on the Mount Sermon series! We have enjoyed Thanksgiving sermons, Christmas sermons, and New Year sermons. Now we continue with the words of Jesus that cut deep into our hearts and souls. Words from what many call the greatest sermon of all time. The Sermon on the Mount is clarifying, hopeful, and full of love. We enter into a section this week that clarifies what Jesus meant by “your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees” (Mt. 5:20) We begin a series of extremely practical and challenging exhortations of Jesus that reach directly to our hearts.
The word “new” can evoke feelings of hope & relief. Something new is coming to replace the old. For some this can be scary. For some, “new” is not welcome - they are perfectly satisfied with the old. But for the spiritually minded, the old mainly refers to our lives before Jesus. Before grace. Before mercy. The “old” person in the Bible is the one who is dead in their trespasses and sin. The “new” person is cleansed by Jesus and now has life abundantly in the Spirit. So when we hear “new day” we think of God’s mercies being “new every morning!” And when we hear “Happy New Year,” we can be hopeful for a year full of new mercies for us.
This Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Advent! It means we are close to Christmas Day! The wait is soon over - Jesus has arrived! This is the message of Christmas. Our long awaited hope is here in Jesus. We, as Christians, celebrate that Jesus has come - Jesus lived, died, was buried, and rose again so we might have life in Him. What a celebration. We also look forward to the 2nd coming of Jesus. The time when Jesus will come again and make all things right. The final redemption!
This Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Advent! We will gather for our normal worship service at 4:30, followed by a pizza dinner after the service (provided by the church), and then meet at the top of the hill on 11th Street and Pacific Ave. in Manhattan Beach at 7:00 pm to watch the fireworks. Come and celebrate the birth of Jesus and fellowship with our church community!
I recently watched a group of people recount what they love the most about Christmas. They shared the joy of family, food, games, decorations, and, of course, gift giving. It was sweet and sentimental. I’m sure, if pressed, the panel would eventually get to Jesus as the greatest gift of all in Christmas! This Advent season I’m teaching through various passages concerning the gift of Jesus this Christmas. This week I will look to the past in the book of Micah at the gifts of Jesus as our Hope, Jesus as our Shepherd, and Jesus as our Peace. Also, this Saturday is The Rock Christmas Party at 5:00 pm at the Wiley’s house. Click on Full Article to get to invitation and sign up for food to bring.
I’m often asked for a verse to equip someone for a conversation or prepare someone for an event. The Bible helps us think clearly about God. We are reminded how God thinks about situations and wants us to think, feel, speak, and react to life. This Sunday I will preach on my “Thanksgiving Top Ten.” Top ten verses on how to give thanks this Thanksgiving Day (and really any day!). May our hearts be drawn to God in thanksgiving!
I’m often asked for a verse to equip someone for a conversation or prepare someone for an event. The Bible helps us think clearly about God. We are reminded how God thinks about situations and wants us to think, feel, speak, and react to life. This Sunday I will preach on my “Thanksgiving Top Ten.” Top ten verses on how to give thanks this Thanksgiving Day (and really any day!). May our hearts be drawn to God in thanksgiving!
One of the most persuasive arguments to the accuracy and authority of the Bible is that Jesus believed that the Bible is true. Jesus proclaimed in John 17:17; “Your word is truth!” In one sense, I can say; “What more do we need?!” And in another sense, I could support the truth of the Bible in a myriad of different ways. In our Sermon on the Mount passage this Sunday we get to hear from Jesus about His belief in the Bible. And based on His belief, arguments for our belief, obedience, and willingness to teach the Bible as truth.
The Old Testament Law can be confusing. Do we have to obey all of the Old Testament? Some of the laws seem outdated. Some of the laws seem weird. Some of the laws seem narrow-minded. These statements have been spoken throughout the centuries. How do we make sense of the Old Testament Laws? Jesus helps us in this section of the Sermon on the Mount. His simple statement; “I have not come to abolish them (OT Law) but to fulfill them,” explains everything. This Sunday I will continue to teach in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament Law gives us hope! And leads us to the communion table.
Sunday is always fun day! It is the Lord’s Day! This Sunday is especially fun in that we have a couple of guests who are family at The Rock. Josh Kaufman is joining Paul for worship which is always a treat. And Chris Cannon is preaching. These friends who are family are a great blessing to us at The Rock! Also, this is the first Sunday where the Jr./Sr. High teens are starting their own class!
In the Bible, light is connected to knowledge, truth, revelation, and love. The Old Testament prophesies that an ultimate light will come into the world. The New Testament records Jesus saying, “I am the light of the world.” And then in a stunning proclamation, Jesus says to Christians; “You are the light of the world.” This is a lot to unpack! And we will this Sunday. In the meantime, I pray you would be encouraged by this reality - you are light! I pray it would affirm your great purpose in this world - to be light! And I pray you are built up in Jesus regularly - you are light to others!
In v. 13, the Sermon on the Mount moves from what a Christian looks like in the Beatitudes, to how a Christian should live in the body of the sermon. It is a significant shift. We must turn our hearts to how we live our lives for Jesus. Jesus uses the metaphors of salt and light to begin to guide us. Ultimately, salt and light impact any society. Salt impacted life in the ancient world by preserving and purifying foods. Jesus uses this metaphor to teach us how we can impact our world today. Can how we live our lives to actually preserve and purify the world around us? Yes!
The last Beatitudes Jesus preaches in the Sermon on the Mount are Matthew 5:10-12. The end result is to “rejoice and be glad.” This sounds great until we understand that we are to “rejoice and be glad” because; “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” This does not sound like something I might rejoice in! In fact, I have questions. I will answer some of my questions, and probably yours, this Sunday! And after service we have 2 celebrations at the Milewski’s house after church. First, we have a baptism! And second, we will celebrate Lori and my 10th anniversary at The Rock!
The last Beatitudes Jesus preaches in the Sermon on the Mount are Matthew 5:10-12. The end result is to “rejoice and be glad.” This sounds great until we understand that we are to “rejoice and be glad” because; “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” This does not sound like something I might rejoice in! In fact, I have questions. I will answer some of my questions, and probably yours, this Sunday! And after service we have 2 celebrations at the Milewski’s house after church. First, we have a baptism! And second, we will celebrate Lori and my 10th anniversary at The Rock!
At what point in history would the following quote make sense? “Our world is a mess. The violence and hatred have become out of control. We need to fight back against our enemies!” Would it be our world today? Or would it be the world Jesus lived in when He preached the Sermon on the Mount? Either answer would be correct! So Jesus’s words should make sense to both modern and ancient people. But both have struggled with Jesus’s words. And both have benefitted when they have taken Jesus’s words seriously and made them a part of their lives. The specific words are, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
We are continuing in our Sermon on the Mount sermon series this Sunday. I look forward to gathering for worship, communion, fellowship, and after church communion dinner. We will also continue our discussion on Children’s discipleship at The Rock. On August 17th we introduced our new ministry to Jr. High/High School age students. The first step is a separate class for this group led by teams of two people. This Sunday I will continue to ask our adults who have a heart to invest in these kids lives to form teams. Who do YOU want to team up with? Let’s keep talking this Sunday! We have pushed the start up date back - It is TBD when we will start, but it will be in the next few weeks.
