Guest Preacher, Thomas Amos, teaches from Luke 22:54-62 on the denial of Christ along with the grace and forgiveness that comes afterward.

The Gospel of Mark shows us how Jesus' baptism and his temptation are intertwined in Mark 1:12-13. Pastor Dustin Daniels teaches how they are both two sides of the same coin. He also asks some interesting questions regarding our own temptations.

What's the big deal about baptism? Where did it come from? Why do Church people get so worked up over it? Does it really matter if you're sprinkled, poured on, or immersed? Pastor Dustin Daniels walks us through Mark 1:4-11 and explains the significance of baptism.

Have you ever wondered why three out of the four gospels are similar? Why is that? Do these gospels contradict each other? In this message, Pastor Dustin Daniels introduces the new verse by verse study on the gospel of Mark and teaches the differences and the importance of each one.

Today is Resurrection Sunday. 

We are celebrating the First Fruits of Jesus Christ and His resurrection.

It is the greatest celebration in all history.

Some people thought that this day was canceled because of the Coronavirus.

Do we really think that His Church is not going to gather and worship on the most significant day of human history?

Today is the day that Jesus walked out of His own grave, just like he said He would.

"Our churches may be empty but have no fear, so is the Tomb!" 

It's interesting because as you read the Gospel accounts of the Resurrection, Jesus' disciples were all quarantined together—out of fear. 

Is it possible, that maybe, just maybe, God planned to have more people hear the Gospel message than ever before using technology today? 

Church is not canceled! It is just a bit different today.

Well, we are going to finish up our study of 1 Corinthians today. 




We started this book back in July last year, and we've been in and out of it for the past nine months.

And it just so happens that 1 Cor. 15 is about the resurrection, what a coincidence!

As a reminder…

We've learned how the Resurrection of Jesus is essential to the Gospel and faith.

Paul tells us how the Resurrection of Jesus guarantees our personal resurrection—

Finally, how the Resurrection of Jesus is victorious over sin and death.

Which brings us to our text today.

Is God using pestilence, also known as the Coronavirus, to punish or judge the world right now?

Maybe the better question is, "Why would God punish or judge the world right now?"

Let's look over our shoulder and see how America’s been living for the past 100 years or so.

We experienced the first sexual revolution back in the 1920s.

Our second sexual revolution was in the 1960s.

Our third sexual revolution is happening right now.

We started legally murdering people through the facade of abortion in the 1970’s.

We've taken prayer out of schools.

We've taken prayer out of the workplace.

When we do try to pray, we are mocked, shut down, and fined.

We've modernized the abuse of women through Internet pornography, that nearly every channel, every ad, every newscast depreciates the value of women who are made in the image of God.

We've legalized sodomy and lesbianism, under the guise of modern marriage.

We've twisted and deformed the image of God through transgenderism.

We've redefined truth to mean whatever it is that we desire at the moment.

We watch murder, rape, and pornography as entertainment on a daily basis.

So how do we make sense of the Coronavirus using an open Bible?

The fear of not eating was not the issue, with the Israelites, and it’s not the issue with us today.

The issue is always comes down to trust.

Is God really going to take care of me? Or am I going to take care of myself?

How I respond—what I do— reveals the answer to this question.

When you wake up tomorrow are you going to turn on news so you can be blasted with the fear and insecurity of the world.

Or, are you going to tithe your time, open up the Word of God and be still in His presence.

Learning to trust in God means that we have to give up our illusion of control.

The things that you’re most afraid of losing, are many times, small “g" gods in our life.

Is it that fear getting sick, or is that you worship your health?

It’s a legitimate question.

Do you fear losing your job, or is that you worship the stability that it brings?

Do you fear losing your retirement in the stock market or is that you worship security?

We don’t really fear the Coronavirus. It’s just a symptom of a deeper disease.

The disease is called sin. We’ve all inherited it.

Fear is a part of our sin nature.

What we fear most is losing imaginary control over our lives.

“It will be over soon. We will contain it.”—These people act like they're in charge.

With all due respect, they’re not in charge.

Jesus is.

Wanna know a secret, it’s not really a secret, more of a reminder.

Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. (The beginning and the end and everything in between.)

Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone. (That means you either believe Him to be God or your don’t.)

Jesus is Faithful and True.

Jesus is the KING OF KINGS and the King of Ages.

Jesus is the Lord of Glory and LORD OF LORDS.

Jesus is the Son of God, which means that you have access to His Father.

And this means that if you have called on the name of Jesus to save you from your sins, you will be saved.

If you’re saved, this means that you have the same Father. You can call Him, Daddy.

If you can call God, “Daddy”, that means you’re in His family and you have nothing to fear.

If you have not called on the name of Jesus, Scripture says you have everything to fear.

This life your living is as good as it gets.

Takeaways from today:

God is sovereign. He is the one who is in complete control.

God has a plan.

The Coronavirus is a part of that plan.

Last week we looked at 1 Cor. 15:12-19 and how the historical facts about the resurrection of Jesus empower our faith.

These historical facts give us confidence in what we believe is true.

We learned that everybody has an opinion on the afterlife…

The big guy in the sky— (Dad) “the man upstairs”.

But as Scripture tells us, it doesn't matter what our opinion is.

What matters is what God says. This is His creation, His world.

Can you walk into the headquarters of Wal-Mart and start telling people what to do?

No, your opinion doesn’t have a voice.

And if our opinion doesn’t have a voice with something we can see—like a retail store,

How much less does our voice have with spiritual things?

But, God didn’t leave us to guess to have a relationship with Him.

By His grace, God the Father sent God the Son— Jesus from Heaven to tell us.

See, it’s Jesus who knows the Father, and the Father knows Him. (Jn. 10:4)

It’s not who you know, but Who knows you.

We learned that God didn't keep any of us this a secret. He told us about the resurrection through Isaiah, Daniel, Job, and the Psalms.

If you noticed last week, many other religions believe that mankind must make some kind of sacrifice to please God.

However, Scripture tells us that our good works are like filthy rags in the face of God.

Our good deeds— are like a bloody menstrual garment. (Is. 64:6)

This is why the Good News of Jesus is so good—because He is both grace and truth.

He has given us something we don't deserve—that’s called grace.

His grace by offering us eternal life—salvation.

He has also given us mercy—holding back painful things we do deserve.

And He also has given us the truth. The Truth about who we are and the truth about who He is.

Today, we learn how the resurrection of Jesus guarantee's us something as His followers as God's sons and daughters.

Several weeks ago, we started in 1 Cor. 15, where the Apostle Paul teaches us about the doctrine of the resurrection.


Doctrine -

A Christian's core beliefs. 


Our core beliefs here at River are grounded in Scripture.

Doctrine allows us to maintain the integrity of who we are as a Church by distinguishing what the Bible says on specific issues from what other people believe.

We just had a membership class several weeks ago, and we discussed the core beliefs of our doctrine.

I had somebody say, I've been a Christian a long time, and have been members of several different Churches, but I've never signed a membership document like that.

Meaning, it's a good thing. As Christians, we are to take our doctrine very seriously. Why? Because Jesus did.

Today we continue our study on the doctrine of the resurrection.

Resurrection:

"To stand again.” / Rising from the dead as from decay.


We discussed the facts about the resurrection. 

That Jesus walked out of His own grave—and it didn't happen in secret.

All kinds of people wrote about the resurrection of Jesus—not just Believers.

We also learned that the resurrection of Jesus was planned from the very beginning.

We looked at how we got ourselves into this mess with Adam and Eve in Gen. 3:15

We also looked at how God, by His grace, planned to get us out — Isaiah 53.

So we have the facts about the resurrection in 1 Cor. 15:1-11.

And this week, we look at how those facts will impact our faith in the resurrection.

Facts give us confidence in what we say we believe is really true.

Disclaimer: Sarcasm - some of you have this spiritual gift.  

It's not usually a mode of communication that I use often, but I'm going to be using it quite a bit today to make a point because the Apostle Paul does.

Today’s text ends Paul’s response from a report. 


The report came from a woman named Chloe, who we met in Chapter 1.


Paul finds out that there is a significant division over who the best preacher is in the Church.


Last week Paul taught us that preachers are merely servants. 


“Under-rowers” for Christ.


And today, Paul goes into much more detail on what it looks like to be an “under-rower” / servant/steward for Christ.


He emphasizes how the Christian life is to be lived, and he uses his life as an example.


We’ll see how his life, and the life of the Corinthians were drastically different.


Two Key Themes:

Human pride is a direct contradiction to the Gospel-centered life.

The Christian life includes a life of sacrifice.