Church on The Rock Homer

17 years! For almost two decades we have experienced God's faithfulness as a church. As we say yes to Him, He keeps leading us into greater and greater grace and truth.

Every year, on Covenant Sunday, we settle in and consider our yes. This coming Sunday is our chance as a church to collectively say yes and pursue God's promises and will as a family.

God is doing amazing things in our church, community, nation, and around the globe. I can’t wait to see what He does in us and through us over the next year!

Pastor Matt McCarter

To the Men of Church on the Rock,

I want to speak to you this Sunday. This is a message I have not shared. I would ask that you would come prayerfully, humbly, and prepared to take action. Do not be like the one who looks in the mirror and then walks away unchanged. 

I am praying for our time together,

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

Over the past several years I have been on a personal mission. Maranatha and I got married in our early thirties which meant that we were combining the lives of two self-sufficient adults. Our wedding registry didn’t include the typical newlywed items. Many of those items we already had, like pots and pans.

Last year I noticed that our sauce pan was two different colors and shortly after my mother informed me that the pan I’d inherited from her used to be a nonstick pan. All of the nonstick was completely gone on the bottom half of the pan. Since then I've been working to remove all nonstick pans from our house in favor of other long lasting pans such as my great grandmother's cast iron pans.

I see this same exchange happening in other areas of my life, the long lasting but more difficult choice is set aside for a quick fix.

Many of us approach politics the same way. Our hope is that the latest political candidate will offer us a quick fix, and yet the older I get the quick fixes seem to fade away faster than they came.

This Sunday I want to call to our attention the eternal rewards that God offers us and remember that there is only one true king, the King of Kings, the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ our Savior and the everlasting peace He offers us, and there is no quick fix that will replace Him.

Pastor Matt McCarter

I remember it like it was yesterday! For months my parents had been talking about a vacation. They’d heard about Destin, FL and were making plans for our family to go. We'd looked over the brochures, picked the best place to go, and booked the trip. My dad came home the evening before our 7½-hour drive with a rented minivan. I thought we were living in style! We crammed it full of our stuff and tried to get some sleep. The night flew by, and waking up at 3 AM felt like being in a whirlwind as we climbed into the van. The soundtrack for the entire drive to Florida was Brooks & Dunn’s album Hard Workin’ Man, and as much as I love me some Boot Scootin’ Boogie, it didn’t take young Matthew very long to start asking the question, “Are we there yet?” “How much longer?” “What is taking so long?”

Many of us ask this same question of the Lord and His return. How much longer is this experience of a broken world going to take? How much longer is God going to keep us waiting? Didn’t He say He’d return soon!

This weekend we wrap up our series in Revelation by looking at the final chapters and God’s words through John, who says that soon He will arrive! I can’t wait for that day, but until then we will join together in saying, Come, Lord Jesus!

Pastor Matt McCarter

As we walk further into the chapters of Revelation, it can be easy to get trapped in the weeds of imagery and imagination. Dragons, beasts, harlots, and everything else tend to distract us from the true purpose of the book, though it was never intended to. From the beginning of the book, the Holy Spirit is revealing to God’s servants (us) the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1). If we forget God’s intent in giving this revelation, then deciphering any of it will become a mess, full of confusion and misunderstanding. We, however, have the opportunity to see what God’s purpose is in revealing Christ to us. This is by understanding what is said to the seven churches of Revelation 2-3. The two common themes among all of the churches are “repent” and/or “hold fast.” Christ is calling these churches to repent of what is evil and hold fast to what is good. The rest of the book shows us why this is so vital to us as God’s servants.
As we walk through Revelation 17-19, we will see how desperately important it is for us to repent of all evil and only hold fast to the truth. Babylon the great is more than just a city that was long ago; it is also a way of life that stands against God. As we read in the coming chapters, Babylon the great will fall, and Christ will reign. May those of us who call on Him be found in Him when He comes.
Revelation 19:11-13 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
Pastor Forrest Smith

When I was single and living in Columbia I had a buddy named Jimmy. Jimmy was a punk teenage kid that showed up to our church. He had been kicked out of his home and at first when you heard his story you’d be very angry at his prior caregivers. He appeared to be a very sweet and innocent kid who also had intellectual disabilities. His demeanor was always happy go lucky when you first met him, but if you stuck around and got to know Jimmy, you’d eventually start to empathize with those who had cared for him before. Jimmy didn't want to follow any of the basic rules for living. He pitched fits when he didn’t get his way. He didn’t care about his hygiene. Jimmy was living in his own world, playing by his own rules and when you didn’t go along, he let you have it. 

Over time our niceties fade and our true colors come out. 

This weekend we continue our series in Revelation and wade into the warnings of an enemy that seeks to deceive us by proclaiming peace and harmony, while actively seeking our destruction. Jesus, through John’s letter, is wanting us to hone our skills at discerning the truth. This Sunday, let’s lean into God and His provision to give us eyes to see and ears to hear! 

Pastor Matt McCarter

Have you ever walked into a place and felt the heeby jeebies?  You couldn’t put your finger on it exactly but something about the space kinda creeped you out or filled you with a sense of dread?  Confession; abandoned underground tunnels kinda do that for me.  Especially when they include giant balls of clustered daddy longlegs overhead.  Eek.  I’m getting creeped out just thinking about it.  Get me outa here!
This Sunday we continue our study of Revelation into chapter six.  The question at hand, what does a world look like that has completely shut out the light of Christ?  Turns out, it is a very dark and dreadful place. 
But we have a greater hope. 
Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

At our church in SC I lead a men’s house church. It was full of young men who had recently decided to follow Jesus. Every week we sat around a table and discussed life and what Jesus was doing. In that group was a young man named Dustin. He was from sticks and even to my trained southern ear, he spoke “uniquely”. He was rough around the edges, no frills, his military experience taught him to call it as it is and to not back down. As a group, our house church attended a Hillsong concert. At that concert, Dustin let it all out. Hands raised, volume at 110%, he wrapped his arm around me as far as he could and we began to sing in unison, if you can call it that. Our hips even synced for a few moments as we worshiped our King!

After leaving the concert he wouldn’t stop talking about Jesus. The whole way home, everyone in the car, every car that passed us, everyone at the gas station got an earful. I loved seeing Him love Jesus.

This weekend we lean into one of the most important passages regarding the worship of God and Jesus. If you have the chance, read Revelation chapters 4-5 a few times before Sunday. Take note of the descriptions, don’t just read the words but stop and ruminate on what John is seeing.

Pastor Matt McCarter

I want my kids to do well. I want them to see how growth now leads to a reward later. Some bad habits die only painfully. But there is a promise of something good, something better, something more permanent. And I realize this is always a hard sell for kids, but “I PROMISE that you will be glad you pressed through the pain and pursued the good.”

In Matthew 7, Jesus says essentially “Given that you are corrupted by your own sinful nature and you still lead your children into what is good, imagine how committed and capable a perfect God is in leading YOU toward what is good.

This Sunday we will examine Revelation chapters 2 & 3. What we find is a beautiful example of a loving God who is deeply committed to the eternal good of his children. And there are some painful parts.

Earlier this summer we held our annual planning meeting for the coming year. In that meeting we lay out our teaching schedule and discuss what we’ll study as a church. We also have a pattern at COTRH to teach through the Bible sequentially, and laid out our return to Genesis. At the thought of skipping over the last text in Scripture, I insisted that we take the time to dive into one of my favorite texts, Revelation.

Earlier this year we discussed Eschatology, the idea of the last days, but now we will embark on a journey through the final Word. I can’t wait to wade into the waters with you and to set your expectations of meeting and seeing our glorious God face to face as high as I possibly can. I am eager for you to experience Revelation as a guide that leads us into the worship of a good good Father, and wonderful Savior, and powerful Holy Spirit.

Pastor Matt McCarter