Fatherhood is not simply about providing for your child’s physical needs. It is about providing for their [...]]]> Fatherhood is an amazing gift from God. But it is also a great responsibility. If God has called you to be a dad then he has called you to raise your children to know and love him.

Fatherhood is not simply about providing for your child’s physical needs. It is about providing for their spiritual needs, namely, leading them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The ultimate God-given purpose for Fatherhood is not simply that our kids would come to know how much they are loved by their earthly fathers, but that they would come to know firsthand the love and compassion of their Heavenly Father.

In this week’s message Pastor Rick challenges fathers to submit their lives completely to the Lord. Because before we can lead our children to follow the Lord, we must learn to consistently and faithfully follow him ourselves.

The song clearly puts [...]]]> One of todays most powerful entertainers recently released a new album.  In its debut week it sold over a million copies.  The name and title track of the Album is: “Baby, you were born this way!”  It is a song about sexuality and many are calling it the “New Gay Anthem.”

The song clearly puts into words our cultures emerging understanding of sexuality.  The argument goes like this: people don’t choose their sexuality, they are born with it, and if they are born that way nothing should stop them from pursuing the sexual lifestyle that fulfills them.

In this class, Pastor Rick examines this emerging cultural understanding from a Biblical perspective.  What we discover is that the Bible has a great deal to say about the desires of the human heart.  The Bible warns us:

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it.”

Jesus himself made it clear: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean’. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”

As followers of Jesus we are not instructed to “follow our hearts,” which have been clouded by sin, but to follow the Lord, submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives including our sexuality.

Surprisingly the sexual ethics of the ancient world were radically [...]]]> Some people believe that since the New Testament was written so long ago it could not possibly speak to the social and cultural issues that we face today.  Nothing could be further from the truth, especially in regards to questions about sexuality, relationships, and marriage.

Surprisingly the sexual ethics of the ancient world were radically more liberal than our contemporary standards.  The ancient Greeks and Romans would consider modern American viewpoints on sexuality prudish compared to what was permitted and even socially institutionalized in their day.  And yet it is in the midst of the sexual promiscuity of the ancient Greek and Roman world that the Jesus, the Apostles, and the New Testament writers clearly proclaim a biblically grounded sexual ethic.  An ethic that uplifts the sanctity and significance of marriage between a man and a woman and rejects any form of sexual activity outside the bounds of marriage.

In this session, Pastor Rick takes a look at the ancient worlds view of sexuality form Mesopotamia to Greece to Rome.  He explores how Paul’s words to the church in Corinth, a city in which the temple to the goddess Aphrodite enlisted 1,000 temple prostitutes, and the church in Rome can inform the modern church as it faces a cultural that increasingly condones sexual lifestyles that God’s word has called believers to repent from.

In fact, when Jesus was confronted with questions regarding the nature of [...]]]> Today it is often claimed that Jesus was silent on issues of human relationships, sexuality, and marriage.  The Gospels accounts claim just the opposite.  Jesus spoke plainly regarding God’s intentions for marriage and not surprisingly he radically challenged the assumptions of his day.

In fact, when Jesus was confronted with questions regarding the nature of marriage and sexual fidelity by his contemporaries he unashamedly pointed them back to God’s word.  Using Genesis 2 as an authoritative statement on God’s design for marriage, Jesus made his position on sexual infidelity clear.

In this message, we will explore Genesis 2 and see how Jesus’ response to his contemporaries informs us regarding questions concerning sexuality, marriage, and relationship that are being raised today.

We will also look at some of the more “controversial” statements on sexuality that are found in the Old Testament asking the question: Do the Lord’s commands to the people of Israel regarding sexuality still apply to us today or can we set them aside as out of date and culturally conditioned?”  Here we will look specifically at Leviticus 18 and the sexual ethic that the Lord laid down for Israel as they entered into one of the most sexually immoral cultures of their day.

In this series we will be looking at what God’s word teaches about sexuality, marriage, [...]]]> Our culture is deeply confused regarding sexuality, the nature of marriage, and what makes for healthy relationships.  We all know people, whether family members, friends, or colleagues, who are pursuing relationships that the Bible teaches are unhealthy and even destructive.

In this series we will be looking at what God’s word teaches about sexuality, marriage, and relationships.  We will address some of the most challenging questions of our day head on from a biblical perspective:

1. What’s wrong with living with someone before you get married?  With all the marriages that end in divorce nowadays, isn’t it better to learn if you are personally and sexually compatible before you get married?
2. Some people say that they were born attracted to members of the same sex.  If they were born that way doesn’t that mean that God made them that way.  And if God made them that way shouldn’t they be able to pursue same sex relationships if that is what fulfills them?
3. If the church teaches that the only place where God authorizes sexual activity is within the bounds of marriage between a man and a woman, won’t that make people who are engaged in homosexual, bisexual, and transgender relationships feel unloved and even rejected by God?
4. Why would God give us sexual urges and desires and then restrict us from acting on those feelings?

In addition to this biblical examination of sexuality, we will be addressing the recent decision of our denomination – the PC(USA) – to remove the sexual ethic from the ordination standards of our ministers, elders, and deacons.  We will look at the expressed reasoning behind this decision and test that reasoning against the biblical statements on sexuality.

In this week’s message, pastor Rick looks at a crisis in the early [...]]]> Have you ever pretended to be someone you weren’t? When little kids dress up and pretend to be someone they aren’t it’s cute. But once you’re grown up, if you are still pretending to be someone you’re not something is wrong.

In this week’s message, pastor Rick looks at a crisis in the early church when a few people who pretended to be what they weren’t nearly sabotaged the God-given mission of the church.

While it is true that we should not force our ideas or beliefs on others, [...]]]> Truth is a rare commodity nowadays. Our society warns us against making claims about what is true. We are told, “People are entitled to their own beliefs and ideas. You don’t have the right to force your thinking on others.”

While it is true that we should not force our ideas or beliefs on others, it is not wrong for us to share what we believe with heart felt conviction and clarity. In fact, Jesus has commanded us as his disciples to boldly share the good news about who he is with everyone we meet.

In this week’s message, Pastor Rick investigates the boldness of the early church. How this upstart group of disciples prayed diligently for the ability to share their faith boldly in a culture that demanded that they remain silent.

Names [...]]]> Names are important. Our name tells us where we came from. Our name tells us that we belong. Our name has the power to shape our lives. It can color how others see you. The first thing you ask when you meet another person for the first time is, “What is your name?”

Names are significant. In fact, there is one name that has the power to change our lives forever. The bible tells us that the name of Jesus is a name filled with power, salvation, and hope. Literally, Jesus’ name means, ‘The Lord saves.” It was a name given to him by God the Father. The angel Gabriel appeared to Joseph and told him to name the virgin-born child Jesus because he would save the people from their sin.

Standing before the religious leaders of his day the Apostle Peter declared that of all the other names in the history of the world only the name of Jesus has the power to save. Peter boldly asserted, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

In this message, Pastor Rick looks at the name of Jesus and the power, hope, and salvation that is found in him alone. We are not limited to simply knowing Jesus’ name – who he was in history and what he taught and accomplished in the past – we can know Jesus by name today. In fact, the scriptures tell us that Jesus knows us by name and that the reason that he gave his life for us was that we might know he by name as our friend, as our Lord, and as our God.

“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21)