The Rock Church

Freedom

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” — Galatians 5:1

Wow! That is an amazing truth for you and me — ones who walk in faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. You are free, so live like it. We are sons and daughters of a Holy God, not slaves who have to work for the favor of our Master. Indeed, we stand firmly free before a God who looks at us and is pleased — because of what Jesus has done.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

On The Rock

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” — Matthew 7:24-25

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

God’s Timing is Not Our Timing

I’ve been reading through the Exodus story this past week. I was struck by this important idea — God’s timing is not our timing. This is a truth we often learn through difficult circumstances. Certainly, this was no different for the Israelites. Though they were enslaved and tormented in Egypt, God was at work, fulfilling His promises. 

“…the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” — Exodus 2:23-25

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

Different Opinions

My wife and I have recently had a number of conversations with people who hold different opinions than ours. These discussions have been equal parts challenging, encouraging and a little perplexing. 

Consequently, I have come to realize that it can be too easy to make assumptions from afar. I’ve found that most of us have been presuming what others are thinking or believing (many times based on narratives of the world) rather than respectfully asking questions and seeking to understand the other side. I have also come to realize that our enemy (the devil) loves to make us believe we are the minority and everyone else is against us. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

Walk by Faith

To walk by faith is not the same thing as merely being entertained by Jesus. Christian author Paul Tripp put it this way, “There is a radical difference between amazement and faith. Faith is a commitment of your heart to a reality that changes the way you live.” 

What will it take for us to go from amazement to faith? It can be so easy for our fickle hearts to forget the Lord’s faithfulness in our lives. We quickly forget what Jesus did just last week or even yesterday. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

Give to God What is God’s

“And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then He said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” — Matthew 22:20-21

As I see the election cycle starting to ramp up, I am reminded of one of Jesus’ interactions regarding the Roman Emperor, Caesar. We looked at it during our TLC: Political Disunity message.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

A Heart for the Lord

Having recently finished the book of Ezra, I was greatly encouraged and convicted by this Old Testament priest’s example. He clearly had a genuine heart for the Lord. 

Let me give you a little background on Ezra. While the people of Israel were in captivity in Persia, God put it on the heart of Persian King Artaxerxes to have the temple in Jerusalem rebuilt. How cool is that?! God can use anyone for His purposes. After the temple restoration was complete, Ezra was sent by the king to teach the people living in Jerusalem about the Law of God. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

Our Identity in the Love of Jesus

I was recently reminded of a teaching I heard about the disciple, John. When John refers to himself, as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” we see where John found his identity. Likewise, we can be encouraged that ours can be found there, too. 

There are countless ways that we can label ourselves. Even in saying we are “lovers of Jesus” we can put so much of the onus on our effort. As a result, we miss the mark. Instead, Christian, may we find our identity in the love of Jesus. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

In the Midst of the Chaos

This has certainly been an interesting couple of months in our history, am I right? Our typical routines were thrown out the window and we were forced to adjust on the fly. The Lord recently used my nearly two-year old daughter, Joan, to teach me a valuable lesson in the midst of the chaos. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

Tomorrow Will be Anxious for Itself

With all that is going on in our world right now, it can be easy to find a million things to be anxious about. If you’re like me, you can end up worrying about way more than you can handle. You try to plan out your next steps, days, weeks and even months — and you set your hope in those plans.

Christian, we don’t know what tomorrow holds — it will be anxious for itself. But, we should remember who holds our future. We should trust our Perfect Father. He will provide us with all that we need (not what we want) for the future.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton