Riverside Church

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Are you praying audacious, problem altering, demon chasing, people drawing prayer; prayer that delivers, comforts, heals, rescues and brings heavenly help? John 1:1-4Isaiah 9:2-7John 12:32 The post We Pray Audaciously appeared first on Riverside Church.

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The answer to the question in this scripture is simply that many people do not perceive it or receive it. God is ready to do new things in your life and continue your process of becoming a new person in Christ. This process is still in your hands. If you won’t believe or allow God to make changes in you, you will not see the changes in your life.  This message is a good one for those of you who are carrying too much weight from experiences of your past. That guilt and doubt can keep you from believing that God wants to make your life better, happier, and more productive. The logical biblical truth in these scriptures could possibly tear down the walls that are keeping you from enjoying your faith and excitedly anticipating God’s next “newness” to be bestowed upon you.  This is my next-to-last message as your pastor, and I hope to BRING GOD’S WONDERFUL AND EXCITING HOPE in these next two weeks.  The post Will You Let God Do Something New? appeared first on Riverside Church.

Isaiah 43:18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” There may be things in your past you would like to forget. God is willing to forgive and forget them. Because of this, you can be rid of your guilt, while still retaining the lessons you learned by making the mistake. Also, because of this, we are reminded that the good things we did in the past are noted, but life is not over and there are new good things to be done today.  God would have us to focus on the future, while appreciating the past. He is not finished using you to make life better for those around you. Neither is He finished blessing your life. As we ask forgiveness for the wrongs in our past, He gives it. As we express appreciation for His blessings of the past, He inhabits our praise. But as we move forward, it is our true act of worship to discover His present direction and be an effective worker in that mission. This week’s message will bring relief to those who are wrongly carrying guilt for things that God wants to forgive. It will give inspiration to those who are living in the past and motivate them to move into God’s current mission. Finally, it will cause us to be grateful and aware that God is not finished with us yet. The post HOW TO MAKE A FRESH START appeared first on Riverside Church.

The anticipation that something MIGHT happen in our lives can cause us to experience stress and discomfort as though it IS happening. The other side of that is that sometimes we suffer for days about a negative thing never happens. That is called “living in fear” and many people do that. They wake up in the morning in dread of the day, rather than in anticipation of the blessings and victories that God has in store. The scripture makes it quite clear that God doesn’t want us to live in paranoia and fear, but the reality is that many of us do that anyway. This message will speak logic and hope to those of you who live in fear of failure, finances, rejection, health, death, relationship breakups, and all of those other things that Satan likes to bring to us. We can march into this new year as a child of God whose Father has our future in His hands. The post A Year Without Fear appeared first on Riverside Church.

When the impossible becomes possible, one of three things are true. Either it wasn’t impossible in the first place, new technology and developments have MADE something possible that didn’t used to be… or GOD DID IT! When God does it, it is called a MIRACLE! This Sunday’s message will celebrate the greatest miracle of all time. Why the greatest? Because this miracle affects every single person in existence insofar as their power-to-become more than they are now. That means YOU! Come and you may experience the greatest miracle of all time. John 14:12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The post The Impossible Becomes REality appeared first on Riverside Church.

How does a person know that he or she is lost? Many people go out in the woods and just wander. They aren’t aiming at a destination. They are just exploring. Yet, even the early explorers took a compass with them or gauged their journey by the stars. Today, a lot of people are just wandering with their lives. They have no plan or goal for their future, they don’t aim at a career and apply themselves to preparation. They are just wandering in life without direction and wonder why they end up in a place they don’t want to be. Well, our spiritual life is like that. We need direction and a goal to make right choices toward those goals. If not, we are just wandering and perhaps we might realize we are LOST! So we can be lost and not even realize it until we end up in a place we don’t want to be. Maybe even hell. Jesus says He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except by Him (John 14:6). The question is, do you want to eventually go to the Father… home… in heaven? If not, you may be surprised by ending up in a place where you don’t want to be. This message will help you to determine whether you are lost or on track toward a destination that you get to choose. The post Coming Home appeared first on Riverside Church.

Did you know that Jesus existed long before Christmas? Did you know that He was there at the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth? This Sunday we will go back-to-the-beginning to see how God created man and then pursued His rebellious and sometimes selfish creation in order to have a right relationship with mankind. As we study, we’ll realize how diligently God has pursued us through the ages, in spite of our rejections and unfaithfulness. When we arrive at the final plan, when the “word became flesh”, we will better-understand the enormity of God’s love for us and the fact that heaven celebrates our new birth, even as we celebrate Christ’s birth. The post Back to the Beginning appeared first on Riverside Church.

From First Corinthians 13, the Word says that all the miracles and gifts, sent to bring people to Christ, will pass away and three things will remain. Those three things are faith, hope, and love. Come and discover what kind of love this scripture is talking about, how to develop a great faith, where hope comes from and how our example of hope during trials ministers to others. This message will be really practical as we enter the Christmas season. The post Faith….Hope….and Love appeared first on Riverside Church.

It is fortunate that it is our salvation experience and our walk with Him that bring us into fellowship Together. It is NOT our complete agreement on every doctrinal issue. The Holy Spirit is an important teaching of the word, but we know that many different churches perceive the Holy Spirit in different ways. At the same time, the bible makes it clear what the Holy Spirit empowers us to do. It is not the issue of how the Spirit makes us “FEEL”, but how the Spirit motivates and empowers us to accomplish His mission that matters. The “FEELING” is a wonderful fringe benefit that we enjoy. In this message, we will look at what the Bible says, what Jesus says about the Holy Spirit and His roles in our life. The post THE HOLY SPIRIT IN YOU appeared first on Riverside Church.

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. I am hoping that the question in this sermon title will be well-answered when I have delivered this message. The same guy (Paul) who wrote this scripture in a letter to the church at Ephesus, also clarified God’s intent in several letters to other churches. At first glance, this scripture sounds like we can make a casual attempt to obey God and accomplish His purpose and that grace makes it OK. As the Ephesian church and others abused grace, Paul expounded to clarify that we are not excused from giving our best to the Master, just because we have grace. Neither are we to consider ourselves better than someone else because of our works, because without grace, there is no salvation. This message will emerge from scriptures that make it very clear that we are saved by grace, yet called to works. None of our works are great enough or pure enough to deserve forgiveness and salvation. Yet, God still calls each of us to our ministry in His kingdom. Grace is the reason that each one of us should live in gratitude and commitment to our Savior, Jesus Christ. The post WHAT IS SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE? appeared first on Riverside Church.

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If you were newly born, but didn’t change, people would notice. If you stayed the same in size, never learned to roll over, never laughed or cried… there would be something wrong. How much have your life, your behavior, you attitudes, your conversation, and your thinking changed since you accepted Christ? If you were honest, would you say that you’ve STOPPED changing? So many of us have said, in our lifetime, “I wish I could start all over.” Jesus offers a do-over to all of us from the inside-out. We can regret or even repent of the past, but we can’t change it. But, when we surrender to Jesus, the present and future destinations and behavior change. The outlook on life and the values and goals change. Why? Because God has a plan for your life and until you are born-again, you’re not FOLLOWING IT. In fact, you may not even KNOW IT! Read Jesus’ encounter with a good man named Nicodemus, in the gospel of John, chapter three, verse 1 through 15 in preparation for this message. Some other good scriptures to read before this message are 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Philippians 3:7-9. Has your life changed since you’ve been born again? If not, have you BEEN born again? Do you understand what Jesus is teaching in John 3? I truly believe you will have a greater understanding after this message. The post BORN AGAIN…..A NEW BEGINNING appeared first on Riverside Church.

Sermon One: The Why, Where, and How of Salvation Romans 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! Sometimes we feel so familiar with our relationship with God and our beliefs that we don’t take them out and look at them. As we spiritually mature, the basic doctrines and scriptures become more clear to us. In this first message of our new series, we will look at the Why, Where, and How of Salvation. If you are already saved, this message will remind you of the decision you made and examine how you’re doing on your journey with Christ. Some of you who may be in church every week, may find it is time for you to make that ultimate decision in your life to receive and live your salvation. Don’t miss the important, refreshing exploration of the basic doctrines and instructions of Jesus in the next few weeks. The post BASIC DOCTRINE – THE WHY, WHERE AND HOW OF SALVATION appeared first on Riverside Church.

When we us the word hero, it means different things to different people. To a football fan, Drew Breez or Tom Brady, two outstanding quarterbacks, may be heroes, but to someone else, they’re not. This week we’ll be talking about heroes like Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers? Yep, but you might be surprised and actually agree that this man was a hero to many. And Jesus? Definitely a hero… one who gave His life to save the lost… like you and me.  Now comes a thought that may have never occurred to you. Are we called to be heroes? I know you’ve never thought of yourself that way, but think about it. Many heroes are not acclaimed, but they have made major positive changes in the lives they have touched. Are you Mom and Dad heroes? Your grandparents? They are some of the most impactful people in your lives. So, what does Jesus call us to do as agents of change in the church and through the church, among Christians and those who don’t yet know that Jesus wants to save their eternal lives and make their present-life more abundant? Be with us this Sunday to explore how that together we can change the world, one person at a time. We’ll explore what our mission is, as we move forward together with purpose. Together we can change the world!  The post TOGETHER WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD appeared first on Riverside Church.

Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your mind; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. We are called to be His church, together, in spite of the fact that we are so flawed and so different from each other. Each of us bring our strengths to build the others and each of us bring our weaknesses to receive help from the others. So, together we are made strong. And God “fits” us together by bringing changes in each of us that make us more like Him and help us to become one body of Christ.  This message will speak to the strengths that God brings to and through His church… through and to us through the changes He encourages and enables within us and through us. I’ll see you this Sunday. Let’s all pray as we move forward in our “Together” study and move forward as God’s Church sent to bring His good news to the world. The post WE GROW STRONGER TOGETHER appeared first on Riverside Church.

LOVE is one of the most loosely-used words in our language. When people use it, they may be saying many different things. It can indicate that you make them feel good, so they love you. It can indicate that they want a more physical relationship with you. We talk about loving: peanut butter, our dog, football, our family, and God and we definitely are not talking about the same “love”. Love is not just a feeling, it is something that is demonstrated by our actions, and even then we demonstrate it in different ways (sometimes called love languages). Godly love is learned by God’s example. His love came first, before we loved Him. Godly love is experienced in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And Godly love is experienced, shared, and practiced in our relationship with others who are in the faith. In fact, we can love an unbeliever with a Godly love, just like God loves the world and its sinners with His love. The post LOVE IS EXPERIENCED TOGETHER appeared first on Riverside Church.