The Rock Church

Do Not Lose Heart by Tony D'Amico

Have you ever prayed to God and seemingly nothing happened? How about praying 10 times? 100 times? Maybe you felt like you didn’t even deserve the gift you asked for? I recently read the first chapter of Luke and empathized with Zechariah. God spoke to me in a new way — to not lose heart when I pray. I had three takeaways I wanted to share with you.

Remember These Things:

1. Be faith-filled and pray continually.

Think about how long Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for a child. Being advanced in years and well beyond the age of having children (Luke 1:18), they must have prayed thousands of times to have a child. They continued to have faith and pray even though their prayers seemed unanswered (Luke 1:6).

2. Gifts from God are good.

When God answered their prayer for a child, Zechariah didn’t believe it. I can certainly empathize with that feeling! There are times I feel like I don’t deserve a blessing from God. In fact, it leads me to doubt the prayer will be answered. God shook Zechariah a bit by removing his voice until his son was born. It was as if God needed to get his attention (in a drastic way) for him to understand the depth of the gift he was about to receive. Being mute drove Zechariah to an even closer relationship with God than he had before (Luke 1:67–79). Take heart, even when things seem like they are “bad”, God is working it for good.

3. God loves us and will answer us.

He hears us and answers according to His will for our lives (Luke 1:13). Certainly, our prayers aren’t always answered the way we want. That’s because our Father knows what’s best for us. I know there have been times I’ve specifically prayed for something and it didn’t happen the way I wanted. But God knew what was best.

When we faithfully pray, we are heard and loved by Him. He will answer us according to His will for our lives. With this in mind, don’t lose heart while you’re waiting. Sometimes, just like for Zechariah, God needs to grab our attention during the process. Take heart.

Learning to pray continually,

Tony

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Tony D'Amico
Tags: answers, Elizabeth, endurance, faithful, Gifts, God's gifts, God's work, heart, Luke, Patience, Perseverance, Prayer, praying, Running, silence, suffering, the rock church, tony damico, Zechariah

Memorize It by admin

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” — Psalm 119:11

Over the last few months, I’ve helped my kids memorize the Ten Commandments and the Apostles’ Creed. I tried to mix it up so it wasn’t mechanical and repetitive; I wanted to make it fun for them. I’ve been amazed by how quickly and easily they’ve memorized both of them! It was a testament to how much the human mind can absorb (and retain) when we have the goal of memorizing. In fact, I know people who have memorized whole chapters (and even books) of the Bible! They read it out loud over and over. They remember little bits at a time until they reach their goal.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin
Tags: armor, billy johnson, daily, God's word, Holy Spirit, knowledge, living, memorization, memory, preparation, prepared, ready, remember, study, the rock church, Wisdom

Selah by admin

Selah is a Hebrew word of unknown meaning — you’ll see it at the end of verses in the Psalms. While perhaps a musical direction, it’s traditionally interpreted as a blessing meaning “forever”. Whenever I encounter the word Selah in the Bible, I can’t help but think it has been carefully (and intentionally) placed there to catch my eye. Like the conductor of a great symphony, the Lord looks at me intently. He directs my very soul with His baton. 

“Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men!” Selah — Psalm 9:20

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin
Tags: comfort, covid, eternity, forever, harmony, intentional, Mac, Music, pause, Psalms, Steve McInroy, the rock church, Time, timing

See to It by admin

As a church, we have been studying the robust book of Hebrews. If you’ve listened to any of the sermons, you will have noticed that Hebrews comes with a ton of encouragement. But at the same time, it also has many warnings. Consider Hebrews 3:12: 

^“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”

Over the years, I have found that this “turning away from God” isn’t always sudden. In my experience of following Jesus (for the better part of my life) I have found that it certainly CAN BE sudden. It can be something devastating to our life of faith, like adultery or addiction. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin
Tags: apathy, blessings, comfort, fruitful, habits, hebrews, Hosea, pleasure, Rich, Steele Croswhite, the rock church, Unbelief, warnings, watchful

Easter at The Rock Church by The Rock Church

Easter is the most significant day in all of Christianity. On that first Easter morning, death was defeated, and eternal life was secured by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Join us and hear about the hope and confidence followers of Jesus have because of an empty tomb.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Service Times and Location:

Our two-week Easter series will be April 9/10 & 16/17 at The Rock Church. (11630 S 700 E Draper, UT 84020) Saturdays at 6:00 p.m., Sundays at 9:30 & 11:15 a.m.

Watch online at trc.life/live, Facebook live or The Rock Church app.

Baptisms on Easter Weekend! (April 16/17)

Baptisms will happen Easter weekend (Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17) and we’re so excited! Why? Because it really is the first step of obedience for a Christian. It’s an outward expression of what has happened in your heart as you’ve accepted Jesus as your personal Savior.

Interested in getting baptized? Contact Pastor Steve McInroy at mac@trc.life. You can pick up a Baptism Packet at the Connections Booth or visit http://www.experiencetherock.com/resources/baptism/). Sign up to get baptized at www.trc.life/baptism. Deadline to register is Sunday, April 10.

If you have any questions, please email our office!

Posted in Events, Series by The Rock Church
Tags: Celebrate, Church, Draper, Easter, Resurrection, the rock church, trc

Though The Earth Gives Way by admin

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” — Psalm 46:10-11

Do you realize that it has been over two years since COVID entered our reality? Our last regular church service (before we temporarily closed) was March 8, 2020. Undeniably, the two years since then have been unlike anything I’ve ever known.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin
Tags: anxiety, chaos, covid-19, crisis, end times, fear, Hope, jesus, Josh Whitney, Martin Luther, nations, Rest, Russia, the rock church, war

Excited About Heaven by admin

“…set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” — Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV84)

Not long ago, I taught about the reality of heaven. It reminded me how amazing heaven will be compared to this earth. We have such a blessing waiting for us. This truth hit home for me during a particularly powerful experience a few years ago. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin
Tags: Bill Young, Eternal, eternity, fragrance, Heaven, imagine, joy, perspective, the rock church, waiting

Finding Rest by Caleb Yetton

One of the more frustrating things for me in life is not being able to fall asleep. I don’t often have trouble with this, but I have gone through spells of it. Sometimes, it happens when I first get in bed. Other times, it’s when I wake up in the middle of the night (and can’t fall back to sleep). Instead of finding rest, my mind races, thinking about all there is to worry about in life. 

In the still of the night, it’s so easy to reflect on those things that scare us or give us anxiety. Or, perhaps we go through items on the to-do list that we missed that day. Health, relationships, finances, parenting, news of war, what does the future hold? Admittedly, it can all feel paralyzing. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton
Tags: caleb yetton, Children, danger, disciples, driving, Father, Gospels, jesus, journey, resting, sabbath, storm, the rock church, tired, weary

Jesus Holds Me by admin

Without a doubt, I am convinced that Jesus holds me. This truth permeates the Bible (from Genesis to Revelation). Here’s a snippet of verses:

• “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” — Isaiah 41:10

• “Though they stumble, they never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” — Psalm 37:24

• “He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.” — Colossians 1:17

I love, love, love these verses!

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin
Tags: cancer, comfort, doubt, enemy, help, helpless, hold, Mac, promises, satan, Sickness, Steve McInroy, the rock church, trust

Take Out the Trash by Tony D'Amico

Every once in a while, I go through all the “stuff” in my house. I take inventory of things that are useful and decide what things are just taking up space. Then, I’ll put anything useless into a big pile and take it out to the trash. If we’re honest with ourselves, we all have “stuff” we need to take inventory of, don’t we? We need to know what’s useful and what’s not.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Tony D'Amico
Tags: clean, full, heart, inventory, junk, mind, potential, Resolutions, Romans, spiritual, stuff, the rock church, tony damico, transform, trash, useful