Death on SermonAudio

Due to recent events in the life of our congregation, Pastor Trey elected to take a break this past weekend from our sermon series through Genesis 12-25 to preach a sermon from Psalm 90 entitled, "On Mortality". In this prayer of Moses, we are reminded to "number our days" and so gain a heart of wisdom. Ultimately, we are driven to lift up our heads and to find our comfort, assurance, and hope in Jesus Christ—whether in life or death. For more information on River Community Church and its ministries, please visit https://www.rivercommunity.org

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

Romans 8:1-4 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Paul identified the church in Thessalonica as a model church. The testimony of their faithfulness was spreading throughout the region and encouraged other suffering churches. However, even this model church was not immune from the devastating pain of loss. Even though they knew that the resurrection was true, in the moment of grief, some members of the church were shaken. Paul wrote these words to remind those who had lost loved ones that they could find comfort in the certainty of their hope. Hope in Christ's return is the source of Christian comfort. The death of loved ones is a tragically common part of life. Death is inevitable in a fallen world. Whether because of a sudden disaster like a car crash, the gradual encroachment of cancer, or slow decay of age, death comes to us all. When death invades your life, where will you find comfort in the midst of grief? The answer is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. Our passage presents two promises that fix our hope on the return of Christ so that we can be comforted in times of loss. 1 - The Promise of the Resurrection that Fixes Our Hope (13-16) a - Grounded in the Gospel (14) b - Realized by Christ's Return (15-16) 2 - The Promise of Reunion that Focuses Our Hope (17-18) a - Reunion with One Another b - Reunion with Christ

sorry end was not taped

last 11 mins of last sermon

Continuing his series on Romans 8, Pastor Robert McNutt takes up Romans 8:14, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God," insisting that the Apostle's aim is assurance: the believer's confidence of salvation rests on being led by the Spirit. But what kind of leading? Not force, not compulsion, not divine browbeating. Setting Luke 4:1 beside Mark 1:12, where the Spirit "drove" Jesus into the wilderness, McNutt works through the Greek, the lexicons, and parallel uses of the same word elsewhere in Matthew and Acts to show the term need carry no violence at all. There is such a thing as the force of persuasion: the love of Christ constrains us, yet never assaults us. The Spirit enlightens the mind and persuades the will so that we actually desire the things of God. Just as the prophets were "carried along" by the Spirit without mechanical dictation, so the Spirit sanctifies without coercion, and any interpretation that makes Him a bully contradicts the New Testament. Turning practical, McNutt asks how the Spirit leads, and answers: primarily not by private guidance about callings, but by the daily putting to death of the deeds of the body, and always in and through the written Word. Because the Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and because false spirits abound, every claim to revelation beyond Scripture, whether Roman traditions about Mary or zealous elders legislating where the Bible is silent, must be rejected. Sola Scriptura. The great test is not visions or ecstasies but an enlightened mind that knows God, feels conviction of sin, treasures Christ, reads the world through creation, fall, redemption, and recreation, and waits for His return as its only hope.