What topic would you start with in an instructive letter to a young pastor on how to lead a church? The Apostle Paul could have started the letter to Timothy with a number of crucial topics. He chose to start with a charge to the young pastor; “not teach any different doctrine.” Paul knew that the biggest existential threat to the church in Ephesus was false teaching that could lead them astray. So he begins with opposing heresy. Not motivated by anger, punishment, or retribution. But motivated by love according to I Tim. 1:5. Love for people. Love for God. Love of truth. Love of salvation. Love!

What topic would you start with in an instructive letter to a young pastor on how to lead a church? The Apostle Paul could have started the letter to Timothy with a number of crucial topics. He chose to start with a charge to the young pastor; “not teach any different doctrine.” Paul knew that the biggest existential threat to the church in Ephesus was false teaching that could lead them astray. So he begins with opposing heresy. Not motivated by anger, punishment, or retribution. But motivated by love according to I Tim. 1:5. Love for people. Love for God. Love of truth. Love of salvation. Love!

This Sunday is the beginning of our new sermon series: “I Timothy: Access to the Apostle.” It is exciting to start a new series in God’s Word. We will have I Timothy workbooks for everyone as a gift and I will start with an introduction from I Timothy 1:1-2. After the service we will have a BBQ to kick-off the series and enjoy our outdoor service. Since we are meeting outside, bring your beach chair and come ready for our outdoor vibe! Sign-up for what to bring to BBQ by clicking to go into article.

If this world ever seems like a mean place to you, imagine if you were to run for public office! We see an ever-increasing meanness during election season. This week I will preach on how to love God and neighbor during election season. Christians are never called to be mean to those who think differently from them politically. In fact, we are called to the opposite of meanness - to love. To love one another. To love our neighbor. To even love our enemies.

I’m back! Not quite as dramatic as Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing his return in Terminator. Or Michael Jordan’s two word fax (a fax! haha) upon his return to basketball after a year off playing baseball. But I’m back from my sabbatical rested and ready to get back to ministry at The Rock! I look forward to sharing this Sunday what God taught me during the sabbatical. I plan to share not only what God taught me, but how it was a gift from Him.

After 2 years and 68 sermons, our Romans sermon series will come to a close this Sunday! It will be a Sunday of endings and beginnings. We will end our time in Romans, which is cause for celebration to conclude the most influential theological letter in the New Testament. We will celebrate the beginning of new life in Jesus with a baptism after church. And we will prepare our hearts for the beginning of my sabbatical. This will be my last Sunday before I take 3 months to rest and renew! Immediately after church, we will go to the Grimes’s house for the baptism and to share a communion meal together!

I’ve often heard from other pastors that they feel alone in ministry. Through a series of events, these pastors feel like much of the work of the church falls on them. This has never been the plan of God. In the New Testament church, the Apostle Paul regularly comments on the work of others in ministry. In the book of Romans, he mentions 34 people who have helped and partnered with him in ministry! These workers in the Lord range from pastors and deacons to who Paul simply calls “hard workers.” Part of the intention of the New Testament letters is to encourage people to use their gifts in ministry. As Paul concludes the book of Romans, he further greets and appreciates his team.

Stranger danger is a basic warning for children given by their parents. The warning is to help them understand that there are certain people they need to avoid. Parents give all sorts of warnings to their children as they grow up. It is natural, kind, and helpful in the development of children. God also warns us of dangerous people as Christians. People who will be a detriment to our Christian growth. In Romans 16:17-20, Paul says these people will cause divisions and create obstacles for us as Christians. The simple answer Paul gives as a warning to us is to “avoid them.”

Of the twenty six people the Apostle Paul greets in Romans 16:1-16, nine of them are women. The significance of this is that Paul greets them as “fellow workers,”, “servants,” and “hard workers.” There is a clear emphasis on the work these women do for Jesus. For gospel ministry. For their churches. A few observations that I will highlight in this Sunday’s sermon: 1) These women engaged in important ministries in the early church, 2) In an extremely male dominant culture, the Apostle Paul was not afraid to publicly acknowledge their work in the church, and 3) These women held positions in their churches at the top levels of leadership. Paul’s practical, real-world greetings help us understand the role of women in the early, New Testament church.

Churches in the New Testament are much like our modern churches. Members have both joys and sorrows. The churches are most of the time doctrinally sound, but sometimes get things wrong. Sometimes people don’t get along with one another. Other times, people are willing to die for one another. One thing that all churches have in common is that our communities are rooted and grounded in Jesus. In fact, our main sense of unity is that each of us has been saved by Jesus. Each of us is sustained by Jesus. All of us look to Jesus for strength, guidance, and wisdom. When churches are operating in health, this community in Jesus becomes much like Jesus - loving, caring, kind, forgiving, and serving.

Easter Sunday is a celebration for Christians everywhere. We celebrate Jesus’s victory over sin and death. We celebrate the freedom in Jesus we receive when our sins are forgiven. We celebrate the eternal life that is given to us in Jesus. We celebrate the majestic statement, “He is risen!” Come at 9:00 am this Sunday to celebrate Jesus’s victory together at The Rock!

This Sunday is our annual Palm Sunday service. We will experience the whole range of emotions from ecstatic joy in the entry of Jesus, realization that Jesus will be betrayed, arrest, trials, mocking, and shockingly, death. We believe at The Rock that it is absolutely imperative that we fully understand the suffering and death of Christ to truly appreciate the Easter Sunday Resurrection. Come this Sunday to continue our preparation for the Easter Sunday celebration!

This Sunday at 4:30 pm we will experience and participate in a Seder meal led by Cyril Gordon. This meal gives us a greater understanding of the Last Supper, Communion, and prepares our hearts for Easter. Plan on joining us and inviting others! Go to “full article” to sign-up for food.

I think about the future. What will I preach on next? Where will we travel? What do we need to do to the house? What will my grandson be like? We all think about the future. The Apostle Paul is at a point in his life and ministry where he is thinking about the future in Romans 15. This week we get to not only look inside his thoughts and desires, but we get to observe what actually happened. We see Paul’s ministry desires and how they match up with our desires 2,000 years later. We see how Paul prayed about his future and how his prayers lead us to how we can pray about our future.

As we approach the end of the book of Romans we are filled to the brim with theological truths. Truths that inspire us. Truths that amaze us. Truths that ground us. Truths that draw us closer to Jesus. At the end of Romans we are reminded that these truths lead us to mission. The mission of making Jesus known and living out God’s truths in the local church. Romans 15 is a great reminder that Christians are a people on mission. As we gather this Sunday we have the privilege of reminding ourselves of this mission.

To be welcomed into something feels good. To be welcomed into something where everyone knows you feels like family. To be welcomed into something where everything about you, the good and bad, are known and accepted is grace. It is clear from Romans 14-15 that Jesus has welcomed all people who trust in Him. He welcomes us in our sin. He welcomes us when we have been enemies to Him. He welcomes us when we have flat out rejected Him in the past. Jesus is a welcoming God. And Jesus calls us to welcome others in the same way.

I am blessed and thankful that The Rock is sending me on a sabbatical rest. I look forward to rest and restoration that I pray will energize me for future ministry. Part of that sabbatical process is to prepare. I am preparing my heart for the rest ahead. The church also needs to prepare. This Sunday I have invited Tim Morey to share wisdom gained in his personal experience, as well as how their church prepared for his past sabbaticals.

The Rock’s church service this weekend is on SATURDAY at 4:30 pm.

The NFL celebrates Super Bowl Sunday this week. So we will celebrate with a Super Saturday worship service! Come and worship on Saturday at 4:30 pm. See you then!

The concept of freedom is glorious! It is utter joy that we are free from sin in Jesus. Being free from sin makes us free from guilt, shame, and condemnation. We are free to live a life in peace with God. Freedom is to be cherished and we owe God an eternity of thanks for our freedom. Freedom is also a biblical way to bless others - primarily when we give up freedom. Jesus gave up His freedoms as God to come to rescue us. Philippians 2:6-8 tells us that Jesus “emptied himself”, took the “form of a servant”, and was “found in human form.” He gave up the freedom of Diety to come as a human to live and die for us. And we are called to give up freedoms we have in Jesus to bless others.