Church on The Rock Homer

You’ve heard me talk about God dealing with my hard heart toward my younger sister. The hypocrisy and unforgiveness that I held onto in my relationship with her was a burden. He refused to leave unaddressed. I remember the relentless onslaught of people in my life, sermons and teachings I listened to, and the Scriptures He brought to my attention. One of the main texts God used to address my heart was 1 John 4:20, “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

God led me to a fork in the road and called me to task, either I would hold onto my sinful unforgiveness or I would choose to love, by laying down the debt I held against her.

I’ve come to this fork again and again in my life, being faced with the same challenge. God will not allow me or us to say we love Him and refrain from loving others. The choice is ours, to live in His light is to walk in obedience of loving others or to live in the darkness of self deception and refusing to love.

This weekend we will look through the rest of 1 John at God’s command to love one another.

Pastor Matt McCarter

I don’t know what is happening to me but it is getting more and more difficult to hold it together during weddings. My son Damon got married last week and I was doing pretty good until I saw my son see his bride in white for the first time. All of the joyous celebration of love touches something deep in my heart and triggers of wave of gratitude for the beauty of love and the God who sources it all.

This Sunday we jump into a quick 2 week series on I John. It’s a book about love and light, two related concepts that are meant to teach us about the character of God. It’s a short book that packs a punch.

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

Eight kids in and I still have never succeeded convincing a young child of mine of their future love of naps.  A good nap seems to be the bane of childhood existence.  Even once they resolve that it is definitely happening and there will be no negotiation, they want to express their displeasure in some form. 
Then I tell each one the truth; some day you are going to love a good nap.  Also, without a good nap now, you are a very different kind of child.  The nap is good for you NOW and you’ll appreciate that later on.  You don’t have to believe me, it’s still true.
This is how I often feel explaining the beauty of life in Christ to the immature believer; you depend on it now in ways you do not comprehend, and you’ll grow to appreciate it in ways you cannot imagine. 
This Sunday we wrap up our study in Paul’s letter to the Colossians.  Paul gives a brief run down of the implications of Christ’s life in us.  It is so simple and so stunning. 

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

I have heard on many occasions that at some point I will miss the phase of childrearing that I am currently lamenting. I can say that I have not missed changing diapers, nor do I anticipate missing it. In a couple days my oldest hits double digits. It’s hard to believe and I do have the sense that how I interact with my older kids is changing. They no longer need me to assist them in the ways I did when they were little. They know how to clothe, feed, and bath themselves…mostly. I am not chasing them around the house wondering if they will eat something they aren’t supposed to. I’m not holding their hands as they awkwardly take their next step forward in attempting to walk.

I am however teaching them to navigate life in new ways…relationally connecting with friends in appropriate and healthy ways, building skills, gaining an education, but most importantly to me growing in their understanding of God.

Many of us learn about God and how to follow Him in similar ways. We learn the rules, what He likes and doesn’t. What we should and shouldn’t do, but as we mature in Christ we begin to understand that there is something deeper to walking with God. Our existence isn’t about getting the next step we take correct, but about taking that step with God, actively communing with Him and experiencing all He is. Life lived with God is not the same as learning about God.

This weekend we take a look at Paul’s encouragement to the Colossians to walk with God and to experience His fullness! It’s my prayer, our prayer that we would all experience more of Him!

Pastor Matt McCarter

This week our family took a little trip down the Diamond Creek trail. When I arrived home from work, the car was loaded and ready to go. Once on the beach, we gathered up some wood to start a fire. Jenny handed me a lighter, a bottle of lighter fluid and a bunch of old newspapers to make my job easier. She then spread out some blankets to make our seating more comfortable.

Once the fire was crackling, Jenny brought out several different kinds of hotdogs and brats for roasting along with our metal campfire hotdog skewers. There was a bag of buns and condiments to go along. Once my bacon and white cheddar bratwurst was sizzling, Jenny handed me a paper plate, a napkin, a Coke Zero that was on ice, and offered me several options for chips to go with my gourmet entrée. She even brought Chicharron. Because the brat was so good, I decided to try one of the cheddar jalapeno dogs as well.

After cleaning my plate, my wife handed me a chilled slice of watermelon and warned me that it wasn’t the best tasting. It was delicious.

After our meal, she brought out a can of cherry pie filling, a can of apple pie filling, a loaf of white bread, a stick of butter, and a couple of pie irons for the fire. We each buttered our iron, laid in the bread, loaded up the pie filling and then grilled it over the coals. Just before eating my perfectly golden cherry pie pocket, Jenny pulled out a can of whipped cream!

After dinner, the kids swam for a bit then toweled off with the stack of towels from the house.

It was a lovely evening.

And here is my dumb confession: for many, many years, I complained almost every time we would do an outing like this. Why? My lack of foresight. “Why are we hauling SO MUCH STUFF down to the beach?!?”

I’m wired differently than Jenny. To avoid the hassle of carrying anything extra for our ten-minute walk, I’d prefer to show up woefully unprepared for our three hours on the beach. I know. It’s silly.

This Sunday we look at I Corinthians 15. Paul discussion on the resurrection follows the same theme: difficult now, infinitely worth it later. Take a read before Sunday,

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

The concept of love changes over the course of life. At an early age, love is represented by various entities. Disney portrays one sense where love leads us to a place of “happily ever after.” Our parents' marriages, whether for good or bad, teach us the ins and outs of what a loving relationship is or is not supposed to be. As we age, our experiences in the world teach us about love through our communities, close relationships outside the home, and media. We learn about love from so many sources because love is such an essential part of what it means to be human. It is core to our identity. We need to be loved. Everyone wants it, but so few know how to truly deliver it.

As I have gotten older, the concept of love has taken one major shift from pleasure seeking and receiving affirmation to making a choice to give up myself for the betterment of someone else. I do not always get it right, but I can look back and say I now understand love more in light of what Christ has done for me on the cross than I did before.

This weekend, we look to Paul’s flaunting of Christ’s better way, the way of love, in 1 Corinthians 13. Take some time and read the passage, and let's have a little fun this weekend as we explore the concept of love in light of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Matt McCarter

It is our routine every Tuesday to gather as a leadership team and eat pizza with chicken salad, celebrate what God is doing, and talk about what is ahead. Although this is primarily a staff meeting, our elders and board members are always welcome to attend.

A while back, my uncle Kerry, one of our elders, dropped in to attend our little powwow. He also had the mannerisms of a robot. Because of the extreme pain in his neck, he was having to turn at the torso in order to change the direction of his gaze. I’ve had the same kind of experience with my neck and it makes everything more difficult.

After sitting for a few minutes on one our staff lounge club chairs, Jordan Tutt quietly brought him a swivel chair from behind one of our desks. It was the sweetest thing ever. With the slight push his his toes, he could now see the whole room without wincing.

Honestly, at the time, it made me think of our passage for this week. On Sunday, we dive into 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. Take a moment and read through it ahead of time.

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser

I’ve been to prison…

…and there is a difference between prison and jail. Jail is a place where you wait to be moved to your final destination. Prison is where you go to stay, to be confined…where you go to rot. I was recently reminded of a trip I took to San Francisco. While there I visited Alcatraz and I distinctly remember refusing to stand inside one of the cells. The thought of the door closing behind me was too much to bear, my freedom was worth far more to me than experiencing the interior of a 9' x 5’ cell.

That tiny room is not the only prison cell I have been faced with. Throughout life, we find ourselves trapped not by physical boundaries, but ideas, words, beliefs, thoughts and other immaterial walls that are much more frightening than a prison cell.

This weekend we continue our series in 1 Corinthians, focusing on chapters 8&9 and Paul’s call for us to exchange immaterial prisons for freedom in Christ!

Pastor Matthew McCarter

You know that moment when your brilliant idea suddenly reveals itself to be... not so brilliant? Mine came on our first vacation as a family. We were camping in Estes Park, down to our last few dollars before payday. When the kids wanted candy at the grocery store, I proudly stood firm: "No candy. Put it all back." Father of the Year material, right?

Then I turned to my wife Renda, and her body language said, “What are you doing? It’s vacation. Give the children candy, and give me candy!" But I couldn’t imagine my wife actually wanting to spend our last few dollars on the kids eating candy. So, I innocently suggested, "But honey, YOU can pick out some candy if you want, just for you."

The look I received could have melted the Rocky Mountains.

Turns out, marriage isn't just about the rules or about having your own way. It's about sharing life's sweetness and bitterness together. In 1 Corinthians, Paul reminds us that "Marriage is not a place to 'stand up for your rights.' Marriage is a decision to serve the other."

This Sunday, we'll continue our series "Church with People Problems, People with Church Problems, and Problems with church People," by exploring how Christ calls us to sacred servanthood within marriage. We'll examine how marriage reflects our relationship with Christ and how sacrificial love transforms our homes.

In this message, we unwrap God's sweet design for marriage (with considerably more wisdom than I showed on that camping trip).

Dr. Edson Knapp

It gets messy. And complicated. “What about this?” “What about that?” And “Oh wow, didn’t expect that!” Look around, take a poll, everyone seems to agree, the world is broken and is inhabited by broken people. But few agree as to why. 

According to the Proverbs, “Where there are no oxen, the stalls are clean.” You want a clean home? Get rid of the inhabitants. Scrub until every surface shines and make every effort to ensure that nothing is soiled by the careless presence of other people!

Over the years I’ve heard many express the sentiment, “I prefer church on the Bay.” Or the beach, or the woods, or the mountain tops, somewhere away from everyone else. “I prefer family reunions… without the family.” Some feel this way because of past hurt. Some feel this way because other people are just too much. And some feel this way because of self-righteous pride. 

Paul didn’t feel this way. His church family in the city of Corinth was a hot mess. And yet he consistently refers to them as his brothers and sisters, his family. He expresses genuine love and affection for this young little church full of people problems. And they had PROBLEMS. 

This Sunday we will tackle chapters 5 and 6 where Paul addresses church members who were celebrating sexual deviancy, suing each other, and practicing prostitution. Like I said, a hot mess. But there is something so hopeful in Paul’s message, a grace that is profound. My heart has been encouraged by his words and look forward to studying further with you.

Pastor Dr. Aaron Weisser