The Rock Church

Live Worthy of the Gospel

I have had many people (of other faiths) try to challenge my belief in Grace. They say things like, “Pastor Bill, it seems like many Christians claim they just pray a prayer, and even if they live like hell, they go to heaven. That doesn’t seem fair.”

It’s an honest question. And if Grace simply meant “say a few magic words and do whatever you want,” I’d agree. That definitely wouldn’t seem fair at all.

But that’s not the Gospel.

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Your First Love

“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.” — Revelation 2:4-5a


I read this verse recently, and it brought some deep conviction to my heart. The Lord sets the context of these verses when He speaks to some Believers in the final days. In this particular example, He praised them for their “hard work”, “patient endurance,” and “protection of the Truth.” But He complained that the Church had lost its first love — Jesus Himself.

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The Best Gift You’ll Ever Receive

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16  (NIV84)

Hi, Rock Church Family! As we step into this new year, I wanted to take a moment to remind us of something. We talked about it a couple of weeks ago during our Christmas series. And honestly, for me, reminders are always a good thing (especially as I’m getting older :-)).

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Lord, Have Mercy

At times, our world can certainly seem like an unending cloudy day. We long to catch a glimpse of the sun, or at the very least, a silver lining in the clouds. Evil lurks everywhere, and the news of it is like unwelcome rain. The world leaves us outside with no shelter in sight. Then comes the thunder and lightning, maybe even hail. Typically, we react in one of two ways to the evil around us. I think a couple of biblical examples will help me explain.

The first is found in the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. The prophet Habakkuk sees confusion and suffering. Specifically, the problem of evil in the world around him. He grapples with why wicked people prosper while the righteous suffer. “Been there, done that” in my own walk of faith. So I appreciate how honest Habakkuk is with God.

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Rescued By Grace Alone

We all love that feeling of accomplishment. Knowing we’ve put in some hard work and can see the good results. It’s true whether it’s a big win or just a job well done. Feeling good about our achievements (and even a little pat on our own back) is totally fine in many parts of life. But, when it comes to our salvation, the Bible makes it crystal clear. There’s absolutely nothing we contribute that gives us any room for our boasting. 

The Latin phrase “Sola Gratia” (Grace Alone) often captures this core truth. It means our salvation is entirely a gift of God’s amazing grace. It’s certainly not a reward for anything we’ve done.

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Uncut Stones

“At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings.” — Joshua 8:30-31

While studying the book of Joshua this year, these verses caught my eye. Why would God command the Israelites to create an altar of uncut stones? Perhaps there is a reason it matters? Nonetheless, if the Israelites wanted to have a nice altar for God, why would He care?

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Wait and Pray

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.” — Psalm 62:5-7

Reading through Psalm 62 recently was convicting for me. In particular, verse five stood out to me. In my opinion, our world (myself included) doesn’t like to be silent — especially when something bothers us. Because of this, we text or call friends to complain about the lousy customer experience we just had at a store. We also hop on social media to tell the world our opinion about the news story of the day. Without a doubt, we sure love to make our views heard. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

Out With The Old, In With The New

Happy New Year! Once again, one year ends while another one takes its place. It’s a never-ending cycle. As I was reading through Revelation, something really stood out to me. When Jesus comes to make all things new, it will be the end of the “out with the old and in with the new” mentality we’ve all known.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” — Revelation 21:1-3

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An Amazing Covenant

“When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram…” — Genesis 15:17-18

Genesis 15 shows an amazing covenant ceremony between God and Abram. God directs Abram to bring a heifer, a ram, and a goat. He is to cut each of them into two pieces and lay the sides opposite each other. This was a traditional covenant ceremony in the days of Abram. When two parties were about to enter into a contract, they would cut an animal (or animals) in two. Next, both parties would walk between the halves. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

God Works for Good

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” — Romans 8:28 (NIV84)

My mom died a few weeks ago. We didn’t expect it. It happened suddenly.

Without a doubt, death is never easy. Grieving the loss of a loved one is not something we look forward to. Neither would we describe such experiences as “good.” They are really hard. They hurt.

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