Waterbrooke Church

Starting this Sunday morning, we are going to begin a new sermon series in the New Testament letter of 2 Peter, entitled “Called to Share in His Glory.”  

One of the big questions that we struggle with as Christians is: “Can people really change?” I mean really and truly change for the better! 

The epistle of 2 Peter is God’s answer to that question in the affirmative. Not only can people change and change for the better, but God has guaranteed it!

This week’s message is entitled “Union With Christ: The Common Ground of Glory.” Have you ever thought that as a Christian some of us are starting at a big disadvantage? Some people were born into Christian homes and were raised with “normal families” that taught them about Jesus and brought them to church. When it comes to being a Christian, they seem to have a “head start”. Some of us carry brokenness and deep baggage and it feels like we must catch up with the others. It’s like trying to take up a sport when everyone else has been playing for 3 or 4 years. Can we really learn and grow? It’s common for Christians to have to fight self-defeating hopelessness when it comes to believing real, deep, and lasting change can happen in our lives.

Here’s the good news. While there are obvious blessings to having been raised to know Jesus, every Christian has the same starting point when it comes to our standing and our potential in Jesus Christ. The gospel places every Christian on common ground and with the guarantee of a glorious outcome. If you have Christ, glory is guaranteed. Do you have that hope and assurance? Do you believe that God can truly change your life for the better? Do you long for deep and lasting change in key areas of your life?

Come this Sunday as we begin to learn not only that God can change us but how we can begin to take the first steps forward in a life of glorious transformation. Looking forward to praising God with each of you this Sunday at 9 and 11! Invite a friend or family member to join you! Let’s encourage each other and share the hope!

Our sermon this Sunday is from Psalm 141. It’s called “Do Not Return Evil for Evil.”

As Christians, we don’t get a pass from life’s deepest disappointments and harshest injuries. There are times when we a Christian don’t know how we ought to respond, especially when we are wronged. But… we know how we are tempted to respond! Too often, our natural inclination is to return evil for evil. 

In Psalm 141, King David, who foreshadows Jesus, is praying that God would restrain him from returning evil for evil. He is praying over his heart (see vs. 4). We can hardly doubt that Jesus must have known and prayed this psalm as he was betrayed, beaten, and crucified. 

One of my favorite descriptions of Jesus is from the book of Hebrews where it is says that “He learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8,9). I like that because it helps me realize that the Father wanted the Son to know deeply  and experientially what it is really like to live in a broken and a sinful world. Jesus knows the temptation to avenge ourselves. Jesus could have responded to evil with incredible evil when he was mocked by soldiers, humiliated publicly, betrayed by friends, and cruelly crucified like an uncommon criminal. Yet, he learned and modelled the heart of Psalm 141.

Some of you need this psalm right now. We all will at some point in our lives. Would you pray as you prepare for worship this week that God would teach you and grant you a heart that would rather suffer wrong than to respond to evil with more evil? Would you pray for those who are struggling with injustice that God might use this Sunday’s worship to magnify the forgiving, merciful life of Jesus and bring peace and comfort to their hearts? 

This is a beautiful Psalm to study together on a Sunday when we are taking communion together. Prepare your hearts for God’s Word. Pray for God’s grace and mercy for each other. Invite a friend to join us in the worship of our God. See you Sunday, Lord willing.

Do you ever wonder if there is anyone who even knows you exist? Or cares? There is a moment in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel when the prophet Samuel is sent to Bethlehem to anoint one of the sons of Jesse to be God’s king. When Samuel meets with Jesse and his sons, he soon discovers that none of the seven sons that Jesse brings are God’s chosen king. So, he asks Jesse if there are any other sons out there. Jesse reveals that the youngest son, David, wasn’t invited. He was out shepherding the fields. So, Jesse sends for David and David is anointed to be God’s next king over Israel.

I wonder how that felt. I wonder what David experienced as a young man living a life where no one, not even his father, gave him much notice to his existence.  What was it like to have no one in his family have any high hopes for how his life will turn out.? In the next chapter of 1 Samuel (ch.17), when David is sent by his father to bring food for his brothers, his eldest brother scornfully chides David for speaking out against Goliath’s taunting of the armies of Israel. He says “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?” In other words, go back to the fields where you belong, punk! David is not seen. David is not valued. David is not needed.

In Psalm 139, we see why and how much David delights in the Lord.    God knew him, cared about him, and God had a detailed plan for David’s life. To David, this is mind-blowing. David is in awe of God.  Our sermon this Sunday is called Living in Awe of the Lord.

What an amazing thing it is to think and to know that while we may feel invisible to the world around us, we are seen, known, and loved by God. In the gospel, we discover that while God is about the work of redeeming His people and making the world new again, God is also intentionally and attentively pursuing every one of His children.

Come this Sunday. It’s a special service. We will listen to the testimonies of  friends from Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. We will also contemplate the glorious truth that God sees and persistently pursues each one of us who belong to Him. God sees us when we are forgotten by others. May the beautiful truths of Psalm 139 cause us to be filled with overwhelming awe for such a great and gracious God and may that completely transform how we live. It’s a special Sunday. There’s a barbecue after the second service. We hope that you will come!

One of the blessings of being a deeply rooted Christian is the God-given ability to have deep joy and increasing confidence in the Lord when the storm clouds of life begin to surround us. Praising God in hard and uncertain moments is a supernatural gift of faith that makes God’s people stand out. 

This Sunday, we are studying Psalm 138. In this psalm, David is praising and rejoicing in God with all his heart while he is yet in the midst of unresolved hardships and difficulties. The psalm begins with the words: “I will give you thanks, o Lord, with all my heart;”. The last sentence reads “Do not forsake the work of your hands.” It is one thing to rejoice because our troubles are removed. It is quite another to have a genuine heart of worship and faith when the storm clouds are just forming on the horizon. 

This Sunday’s message is called "The Wisdom of Gratitude". Whether or not you find yourself in a hard place or in days of comfort and peace, this psalm teaches that the Christian’s joy is not conditioned upon our circumstances. Rather, our joy is in the God who is faithful to carrying us through it all and delivers us safely into His eternal joy! 

Come this Sunday as we learn to rejoice and give thanks when life is hard. Can you sing in the storm? Hope you can join us and that you will bring a friend! See you at 9 and 11.

In Plato’s Republic, he tells the Allegory of the Cave. In it, we are to imagine an underground world, where people are chained in a cave for their entire lives. They can only see shadows on the wall cast by a distant fire. In the lesson, Plato has Socrates ask his student Glaucon if the people who have been living all their lives chained in the cave would think the shadows are reality. The student replies ‘Yes.’  But then the wise teacher says: “Now imagine what would happen naturally if the prisoners were released from their shackles and cured of their ignorance. Right after they are released and suddenly forced to stand up, turn their necks around, walk, and look towards the light, these activities will cause them pain; because of the bright glare they would be unable to see those things which they previously had seen only as shadows. Now what do you think they would say if one were to tell them that what they saw before was fooling them, but that now, when they are closer to what really exists and when they face that which more truly exists, they see more clearly, in a straightforward manner? What if that person pointed to the objects as they passed and asked the former prisoners to tell him what they were? Don’t you think they would be baffled and think that the shadows they formerly saw were truer than the objects that are now being pointed out to them?” The allegory goes on to discuss more deeply the path to discovering wisdom and virtue but I think it is a powerful picture of life as a Christian. 

The Christian, once they have been given spiritual eyes to see, can no longer pretend that the shadow world of living for sin and pleasure and riches is actually life. Conversion is a radical discovery that what you thought was life was only the shadows. True life is found only when you are living in the reality of Christ and the heavenly world of gospel grace.

In our study of the Wisdom Psalms, this week we are going to continue in Psalm 119:33-40. The sermon is entitled “Give Me Life!” Twice in this passage, the psalmist says “Give me life.” It is clear in the Bible that what often purports to be life is actually death and what actually seems like death to many is life.  How many people live their whole lives unaware that they no nothing of real life? How tempting is it for us to live in the old familiar shadows of a dark world that only casts reflections of the real life of God’s Word. Wisdom is a God-given determination to live in the Real World… anything less is death. 

Come this Sunday, as we listen to the Psalmist prayer asking to be lead forward into all that is Life. Let’s learn together how to no longer live as we once did in the darkness of a world of sin and death. Let’s seek real Life together in Christ.

See you Sunday! Invite a friend.

When we look at the world today, it seems overwhelming.  Whether it be work responsibilities, family strife or geo-political events, it can sometimes cause us to think that we have to do something about it.

This Sunday, we will be walking through Psalm 146, which reminds us of who He is, so we can remember who we are!

Have a restful weekend and see you Sunday.

"Wisdom for the Sojourner" | Psalm 119:17-32

This Sunday, in our study of the Wisdom Psalms, we are going to continue in Psalm 119:17-32. Our message is entitled, Wisdom for the Sojourner.

As we welcome the Crown College students, I would like to challenge all of our students to use their time at college to form a “sojourner” mindset for all of life. A sojourner is someone who is not at home but living as a stranger or a foreigner. College is a time in life when you can feel like a sojourner. You aren’t where you came from and you haven’t yet arrived at where you are going.

All Christians are called to live as strangers in this world. The temptation for anyone of us is to settle in and to try to be at home in this world. Well, we can’t and we shouldn’t. It is part of your maturing as a Christian disciple to learn to live as someone who is a citizen of a kingdom that is here but is still coming. Wisdom is learning to live in this world as one who belongs to the world to come.

Come this Sunday, as we welcome new and returning students, and as we are all challenged to learn to live as sojourners.

"Battling Sin" | Psalm 119:1-16

 When someone becomes a Christian, some significant changes happen in their heart. First, the sin that has so long entangled them becomes repugnant. It is a genuine grief to them that they wasted such precious God-given time in such dishonorable ways. Second, they long to live for the glory and praise of Jesus. I received a text this week where a brother in the Lord who was travelling on business said that he was praying that his week would fulfill Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Third, a person longs eagerly for the new heaven and the new earth. They look forward to the day when the struggle against sin and the sorrow over sin, guilt, and death are forever in the rear-view mirror. What a day that will be!

This Sunday, this passage is for the battle-worn believer who is tired of sin and eager for holiness. It’s for the person who treasures Christ and is done with all the substitute gods that wage war against their soul. Our sermon this Sunday is taken from Psalm 119:1-16 and is called “Battling Sin.” We invite you to come and to drink of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that flows from Him to us through His Word in the power of the Holy Spirit. Do you long to be increasingly like Jesus? Let’s pray that God encourages us and strengthens us together this Sunday and may His joy and peace fill and flood our hearts together.

This Sunday, Andy Keppel will conclude his series on Jonah. If you'd like to read ahead, here's the text of Jonah 4:

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

This Sunday, we looked at a well-known Psalm, the 127th. Our sermon is called “The Redemptive Family.” We live in a world that has seen families decimated by sin and brokenness. That’s not new. We have experienced it! Family heartache begins in the book of Genesis and carries right on into the New Testament. Sin has shattered families and left a staggering and disorienting effect on many men, women and young people. Yet, there is hope. 

The good news that the Scriptures reveal to us is that God has come not merely to offer us a better way to live. God has purposed to adopt us as his own children. In his wisdom and grace, God has created a new family called the church. The mission of God advances as we proclaim the hope of the gospel as a community of brothers and sisters in Christ. The mission advances as the Father and Son welcome the broken, the wounded, the abandoned, and the lost into a new community -  a redemptive family – which is built upon the mercy and grace of a Father who loves the orphan and the widow and an elder Brother who redeems and rescues the prodigal. The church is God’s redemptive family. 

We hope that you will join us this Sunday as we gather not just as a group of people but as God's family. Pray that God might transform your vision of the church and its mission so that more and more people will not only hear but experience the joy of belonging to the family of God. 

Join us next Sunday at 9 or 11am.