The Rock Church

God’s Power

Recently, I have been thinking about God’s power. Mainly, I think, because our world is in desperate need of healing and the only one who can do that is God. In fact, one of His names is the God Who Heals, or the Great Physician.

It’s important to pray for healing and to grieve for people around the world who are in all kinds of horrendous situations. By praying, I think we wield more power to help change the world, and individual lives, than we can even grasp or imagine. As Christians, we are incredibly blessed to be connected to the only true Power Source of the universe. You might think Rocky Mountain Power has some authority, but they ain’t nothing… let me tell you about the real deal… Jesus! These verses say it all: “Tell everyone about God’s power. His majesty shines down on Israel; his strength is mighty in the heavens. God is awesome in his sanctuary. The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!” — Psalm 68:34-35

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Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin

Destroyed

Have you ever thought about how easy it is to destroy something compared to creating it? I was reminded of this during a recent house project. 

We decided to replace our old, wooden, patio stairs as part of a backyard project. The stairs were about 10 years old and the bottom boards were starting to rot. One evening, I decided to demo them. I took a circular saw, pry bar, and hammer; I destroyed and removed the old stairs in about one hour! After I finished my demolition work, I was struck by how quickly I was able to do that.
 
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God’s Love

During my final teaching of our David series, I talked about the amazing love of God. It made me think about, dwell on, how much God loves me. It says in 2 Thessalonians 3:5, “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” God gave me two thoughts regarding this verse.

First, my heart can be directed. And second, it should be aimed toward the fact that God loves me. Seems simple, doesn’t it? But, somehow, it was profound for me. I’ve tried to lead my heart into this amazing truth. One way I’ve found to do this is to take time to review Bible verses on God’s love. Even singing hymns and songs about His love during my morning quiet times has been so good.

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Burdens to Bear

Last week, I was absolutely crushed to hear of a 30-year-old man who committed suicide in California. I know it is the extremely tragic and unfortunate truth that this sort of thing happens daily, but reading this particular story hit really close to home. This man was very close to my age, he was a husband, a father of three boys, and he was also a pastor at a church. The more I read about his story, the more my heart broke for him, his family, and his church. Thinking about the whole situation has brought to mind some thoughts I’d like to share.

The first thing I’d like to acknowledge is that this life is NOT easy. I don’t think we should sugar coat it. I’m not saying that it’s all bad, but it sure ain’t all simple. The daily pressures of just being a contributing member of society alone can be awfully heavy. Then, on top of those forces of life, we as Christians, have to pick up our cross daily and choose to follow Jesus (against the flow of culture around us). Again, I’m not saying it’s bad, in fact, I’m convinced this is best thing in the world. But, I think we are remiss if we try to brush it off as just a nice stroll in the park.

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Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

Something to Think About

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” — Philippians 4:8

The Apostle Paul reminded the Philippians that it was a good thing for them to regularly think about the things that would inspire worship and thankfulness to God. I wanted to remind us of that, too!

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Consult with the Lord

“So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord.” — Joshua 9:14

There is a lot we can learn from this verse… Joshua was confronted by a group of people (basically, neighbors of the Israelites) who were wanting to negotiate a treaty with them. Their intent was to deceive Joshua because they had heard of the destruction that was going to come upon them. So, they went to him and said, “we are from a city far away.” They brought moldy bread, worn out clothing, and wine skins (to help in their deception). Joshua kept asking questions, but eventually granted them their request — and made an alliance with them. There was one thing, however, that Joshua didn’t have the Israelites do. They didn’t consult with the Lord. Because of that, they made a treaty and were deceived.

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Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Tony D'Amico

Misunderstanding

Every once in a while, I get myself into a situation where I know I’ve been misunderstood. There are also times when I realize that I’ve misunderstood what somebody was trying to tell me. We all experience this, don’t we? I was recently struck by a story in Joshua (22:10-34). There was a misunderstanding that could have ended in disaster… if one group of people hadn’t been able to explain themselves to another group.

When Israel was moving into the Promised Land, one group of people were given the land on the East side of the Jordan river. They built “an altar of imposing size.” One that looked identical to the altar God had them build for the Tabernacle. They shouldn’t have done this as it was “unauthorized.” God had been very clear with them when He gave them instructions about where and how He wanted the altar built.

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In the Pocket

I’ve been thinking about my walk with the Lord lately. I’m happy to report that I think I’m “in the pocket” with Jesus.  

I’ll tell you what I mean by this. There is a sweet spot musicians call being “in the pocket”. It means singing in time and being in the “groove” with the rhythm of the song. You can be in pitch, but if you’re wavering ahead or behind the beat it won’t feel right.…you aren’t “in the pocket” unless it’s all coming together as it should be. As I write this, I’m feeling in rhythm with my Creator. It might help that I’m enjoying two cups of good coffee and a good night’s sleep. I’m also looking forward to a relatively peaceful day. As far as I can tell so far, I’m “in the pocket”.

The early church experienced something like being “in the pocket” of faith at a specific time in Acts. 
“So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase” — Acts 9:31. We live in a country today where we have the freedom to pursue our faith freely. Like the early church, we enjoy peace, being built-up, and “going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.”

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Run to the Lord First

“In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me,’Flee like a bird to your mountain?'” — Psalm 11:1

I really love this verse. The reason I love it is because it is a reminder that we, as Christians, are to be vigilant to run to the Lord, first. We are to be vigilant to find our joy in the Lord.

David was wrestling with some difficult life circumstances when he wrote this Psalm. When others were encouraging him to “flee to the mountain” to find rest, David reminded them that his rest was in the Lord. David was vigilant to turn to Jesus first, he was vigilant to find refuge and joy in Him.

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Deep Underground

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheo, you are there!” — Psalm 139:7-8
 
Recently, my family and I had a chance to hike up to Timpanogos Cave National Monument. The hike was fairly steep, hot, and pretty exposed in some areas. Once we made it to the cave entrance, however, we entered a very different world. 

The cave was 50 degrees colder than the outside air temperature. We had to put on coats in the middle of summer! Plus, the cave air was humid; it was a stark contrast from the hot, dry, summer air outside. We spent an hour hiking through the cave. At one point, the ranger tour guide made everyone turn off their flashlights. It was so dark that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. You couldn’t tell if your eyes were open or closed. The ranger said our eyes would NEVER adjust to the complete darkness. My kids and I later discussed being deep in the cave without any lights.  
 
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