In Luke 2:1-20, the heavens become visible, angels, powerful heavenly beings appear to reveal the exact first time of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A heavenly message for an earthly realm. People say the gospel is a human fairly tale. Yeah sure. Watch manly shepherds, common to most dangerous terrain surrounding Jerusalem. These men were used to dangers we know nothing about. Armed with a staff, they protected the vulnerable. This is a man’s world upon which the message of “peace on earth” will reign. It’s easy to make war. Peace takes other worldly power. Men of peace have seen the heavens open and monstrous beings ascend and descend. Beasts more powerful than anything we could ever imagine. I love when people say the Christmas story is a wimpy message for weak people who need a prop. They will be peeing in their pants when Jesus returns with a heavenly army. For all you wimps who believe in a fairly tale, you’ve seen a touch of the heavenly realm and are among the mighty. Do not be ashamed. Do not be frightened. You have been given a future of the eternal future.

It was C.S. Lewis who famously said, "It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” Lewis' observation raises some important questions: What kind of desires were we made for? What is the sweet spot of life for our time and place? These are exactly the kinds of questions raised in the text for our next teaching in our Advent series. Join us as we together learn from Luke 1:67-80.

Confession: I have been listening to Christmas music since late July. Additional confession: I’ve actually been listening to Christmas music since March.

As it turns out, the Scriptures have me beat by more than two millennia! Join us as we begin our advent season with a teaching series entitled, “Advent - Christmas Canticles and Carols.” As a church, we are going to devote the next four weeks to listening to, learning from, and celebrating with the most ancient inspired Christmas songs! Let’s ponder and praise along with Mary’s “Magnificat.”

Can I just say... last weekend was POWERFUL! To get to know, to share, and to pray with each other was meaningful, encouraging, and holy. This week we'll continue talking about how this love of God in us overflows from the church to our neighborhoods, the South Bay, and beyond. It's another weekend you won't want to miss!

Graham Vermooten has been in missions for over 40 years. He speaks at conferences and travels consulting non profit mission start ups, to level up and become sustainable where possible. He has inspiring stories and will share from a passage out of the gospels that reveals to us what it takes to walk on water. Peter wanted to be like Jesus. Little did he know it would require him to take the next step.

This story is so famous it is repeated by three of the four gospel writers. (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21)

We are all being formed into something. Spiritual formation is not a choice, it is a reality. We are all becoming someone through the sources we expose ourselves to, the people we are around, and the goals we direct our lives towards. So, if we are all being formed, the question then becomes who we are formed into? Executive coaches and psychologists have helpfully noted that we become the summation of the 5 people closest to us. The five people in our inner circle, who we surround ourselves with day in and day out, affect our behaviors and character, or goals and dreams - it shapes who we are.

This all changes when Jesus enters the scene. It surely changed for the disciples when they started following Jesus. They were becoming more like him the more time they spent with him. And so too with us. When we are with Jesus, the more we become like him. The more we become what Jesus was defined by - LOVE.

A recent New York Times piece detailed the goals and game plan of one young professional pursuing self improvement. It was the sort of immaculately strategized daily schedule that would make the most goal oriented among us giddy with excitement, the sort of thing one would assume to produce dazzling results. Except, the culminating line of a detailed list of personal goals, strategic planning, and productivity hacks reads like this: "So far, she admitted, “none of this has stuck.”" This experience--one that many of us can relate to through the lens of religious burn out, anxious striving, and moralistic pressure--begs an important question for life following Jesus: How can we actually become like Jesus? Join us as we look at Matthew 11:25-30, continuing our look at the call to discipleship by seeing how the invitation to life with Jesus is simultaneously the path to becoming like him.

We will look at one of the most famous passages of gospel Scripture ever spoken by Jesus to his disciples. "Abide in me. Apart from me you can do nothing". John 15. Read it. It’s good.

Now you might be asking, why are we still talking about being with Jesus? Haven’t we beaten this with a stick? Can’t we please move on to becoming like Jesus, or doing as Jesus did? Let’s get practical. Let’s get after it. There’s so much we need to be doing and so much we need to learn from the Bible. Yes, that’s true if you are just a brain on a stick, filling your head with more truth.

Do you know you die of over drinking water? Over hydration? Well I suggest this: How about getting priority one clear first? How about doing what Jesus said? Abide in me for apart from me, no matter how many verse by verse bible sermons you hear, how many books you read, you will do nothing. Oh, and Jesus said, you won’t bear any fruit. That’s a dismal outcome. No fruit. A fruitless Christian life. But hey, you’re smart and very wise and have heard a lot of good sermons. Sorry for being so crass. The point is this: to abide is everything. How to stay connected to Jesus is the whole thing. Fruitfulness comes from this abiding.

I once read a book because of its title. It was something like, “It is impossible to live the Christian life.” Or at least that was the point. You can’t live the Christian life. I was intrigued by that statement. Are you not having a very fruitful Christian life experience? Are you finding the Christian life impossible to live? Let’s find how to change that. It’s about following Jesus as a way of life. It starts with getting abiding right.

Greetings River Church, my brothers and sisters! On Monday I turn 70. This number is daunting to me; I’m certain that the whole Y2K computer challenge mysteriously added 10 years to my life. But a number of years ago, Cynthia and I decided that 70 would be an appropriate date to “retire.” Can a pastor every really retire? We can change our position, but we don’t give up our calling. I am called to be a pastor for the rest of my life. But now is a necessary time for transition. I have been honored to be one of your pastors, and to partner with Todd and Denise and our whole team these last 10 years. But, it is time to pass on my part of the leadership of our church to a younger generation. The future is bright for the River; her best days are likely ahead, and we have so many gifted young leaders here!

I am going to attempt to share with you three big macro changes that Jesus is gently, but relentlessly, bringing about in my discipleship and pastoral calling. These have also turned into passions I have for the church, for our church. They will be framed as correctives to mostly unintentional swings in the broader evangelical church, but also in the specific ways we as individuals follow the way of Jesus. My hopeful prayer is that this will bring you encouragement and prompt questions and excitement about the future.

Our community of curious and committed, and maybe even confused, people of faith are in the midst of a Fall exploration of the trails and tributaries Jesus leads us on as we choose to follow him. On a personal note, I am speaking the next two Sunday’s as I turn 70 and make a big transition from full-time pastoral ministry into a part-time role at The River. I intend to attempt to bring attention to two parts of my own discipleship: the cost of following Jesus and how that cost has shaped my pastoral ministry over the last five decades.

I am going to tell a story about a trip when I was 27 years old, leading a public-school mountaineering class near Big Sur, and had a tragic accident. Every day since, this experience has shaped my understanding of what it means to pay a price for choosing to follow Jesus, including as a pastor in the local church. I share my story with the hopes that you will discover that even though following Jesus does not exempt us from pain, it does bring hope that Jesus is right with us in the midst of this journey. Every step of the way.