The Rock Church

Gratitude and Hope

Ephesians 1:15-21 is a set of verses that really encourages me. We glimpse Paul’s heart and his thankfulness for the church in Ephesus! He speaks with gratitude and hope. On top of that, he deeply desires the saints to continue their spiritual growth.

First, Paul starts by expressing his gratitude for the Ephesians’ faith in Jesus. At the same time, he also expresses thanks for their love for the saints.

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

The Power of God

A few Sunday evenings ago, we gathered together and heard Paul’s entire letter to the Romans publicly read out loud. For over an hour, sixteen different people read sixteen different chapters of a two-thousand-year-old text. After the reading, people weren’t falling asleep or bored. On the contrary, they were excited and encouraged! Imagine sitting down after a long weekend, listening to people read for an hour out of any other book. Before long, people would no doubt fall asleep and be ready to go home. They certainly wouldn’t be smiling ear to ear and talking about how amazing God is. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church

Musings on Miracles

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” — John 20:30-31

What is a miracle? One dictionary defines a miracle as an event that is an addition to the established laws of nature and attributed to God.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church

Prayerful

Are you a prayerful person? Most of us would say we have room to grow in prayer. One of the most encouraging aspects of believers’ lives is pouring out our hearts to God and watching as He responds. There is absolutely no better way for us to communicate our thankfulness, adoration, desires, or grievances with God than through prayer. Yet, for so many of us, it becomes an afterthought. We can also be robotic or neglect to pray altogether.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church

Do You Fear God?

“If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” — Psalm 130:3-4

The fear of God (or the fear of the Lord) is definitely a big theme in the Bible. But, when we think of fear, we often think of, you know, FEAR — or being afraid. Like the fear of spiders or the fear of clowns. Other times, fear is why we don’t do certain things. For example, you might fear flying for fear that the plane might crash. And the reason you didn’t eat the boss’s last donut was for fear of being caught. However, all this is to say that this is not what it means to fear God.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin

Miracles of God

In a recent sermon of mine, I mentioned four of my favorite displays of God’s power (found in the Old Testament). They were: Creation, the Flood, parting the Red Sea, and making the sun stand still. 

I’ve had a good time going through Jesus’ New Testament miracles, relating them to miraculous events in the Old Testament. There are a lot of similarities between His miracles and those found in the Old Testament. One thing that has undeniably stood out to me, is how personal all of Jesus’ miracles were. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin