Riverside Church

“Jesus came on a mission of mercy because he came to save us from our sins. God’s mercy has to do with saving us from our sins. We cannot understand or appreciate the meaning of the birth of Christ unless we understand this fact and unless the horror of sin and its consequences are real to us. Jesus came to live the life that we should have lived, and he came to die the death that we deserve so that our sins might be forgiven and so that the power of sin in our lives may be broken.”

— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

“A world in which everything is as it ought to be has been the longing of human beings for almost as long as the world has been around. But there are different visions for that and there are different perspectives on how that might be achieved. The birth of Jesus is at the heart of the biblical vision. And a key part of the biblical vision is that it is the only true vision – that is, the biblical vision is what will actually come into being at the end of the age.”

— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

“A world in which everything is as it ought to be has been the longing of human beings for almost as long as the world has been around. But there are different visions for that and there are different perspectives on how that might be achieved. The birth of Jesus is at the heart of the biblical vision. And a key part of the biblical vision is that it is the only true vision – that is, the biblical vision is what will actually come into being at the end of the age.”

— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

“The underlying truth here is that sin is the cause of all misery and salvation from sin is the cause of the greatest possible joy. The underlying truth here is that separation from God is the cause of all misery and reconciliation with God is the cause of the greatest possible joy. This is what Advent and Christmas are all about for the people of God who are waiting for the coming of the Lord – both those who were waiting for the first coming and those who are now waiting for the second coming.”

— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

“The underlying truth here is that sin is the cause of all misery and salvation from sin is the cause of the greatest possible joy. The underlying truth here is that separation from God is the cause of all misery and reconciliation with God is the cause of the greatest possible joy. This is what Advent and Christmas are all about for the people of God who are waiting for the coming of the Lord – both those who were waiting for the first coming and those who are now waiting for the second coming.”

— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

“Jesus says that we are to do this in remembrance of him. We remember so that we do not forget. But remembering in the Bible is much more profound than that. By remembering we are actually taking part in the giving and receiving of the gospel. The past becomes a reality in the present. Jesus himself is with us offering himself and we are with him in receiving him by faith. It is symbolism, but it is pointing to something that is very real and very present.”

— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

“Jesus says that we are to do this in remembrance of him. We remember so that we do not forget. But remembering in the Bible is much more profound than that. By remembering we are actually taking part in the giving and receiving of the gospel. The past becomes a reality in the present. Jesus himself is with us offering himself and we are with him in receiving him by faith. It is symbolism, but it is pointing to something that is very real and very present.”

— Rev. Jerry Hamstra

“Who is this God? He’s not a God who’s soft on sin. Absolutely not! He will by no means clear the guilty, but he’s a God of grace! A God who loves to forgive, who delights in compassion, a God who will forgive iniquity, and transgression, and sin, however you’ve disobeyed and sinned against God. He’s willing to forgive!”

— Rev. John van Eyk

“The success of our building, our watching and our sleeping is conditional on what the Lord has already accomplished. We must base our activities, the Bible is saying, on what God has already accomplished. The Lord must first build, he must first watch, and he must first grant rest, or our efforts are always futile. That’s the point of a condition clause like this, it’s always futile unless it is in the Lord. It is always futile, our efforts, all of them. It is a universal statement. Think about that. Everything that we do, every activity that we put our hand to, if it is not done in the Lord, will always, always, always be ultimately futile.”

— Rev. Robert Widdowson

“Who is this God? He’s not a God who’s soft on sin. Absolutely not! He will by no means clear the guilty, but he’s a God of grace! A God who loves to forgive, who delights in compassion, a God who will forgive iniquity, and transgression, and sin, however you’ve disobeyed and sinned against God. He’s willing to forgive!”

— Rev. John van Eyk