The Rock Church

Remain

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” — John 15:4-5

I recently read through The One Year Bible and found these verses in John; they are perhaps among my favorites. These words come from our Savior Jesus. They remind me, quite simply, that “fruit” produced in our lives comes through abiding and resting in Him. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin

Live by the Spirit

“For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other.” — Galatians 5:14-15

The Fruit of the Spirit is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Paul explains the fruits to the Galatians right after these verses. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These virtues are interconnected and essential for our spiritual growth.

However, we can easily cultivate the opposite virtues. They entirely oppose the working of the Holy Spirit. Responding in our flesh leads to negative consequences, such as hate, despair, anxiety, impatience, cruelty, wickedness, unfaithfulness, harshness, and impulsiveness.

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

The Walls of Self-Control

“A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.” — Proverbs 25:28

This verse likens us to a city. It’s certainly a powerful metaphor; we don’t often see it used in the Bible. I think a few themes from this verse are worth spending some time on. They’ll help us understand what can happen when we don’t exercise self-control.

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

Seasons

I certainly love the different seasons of the year in Utah. This year, we had record-breaking heat, and it seemed like the hot summer would never relent. Now we anticipate the fall leading into winter. They say, “A hot summer leads to a cold winter!” I like and dislike many things in every season. As a young man (with a bit of wanderlust), I tried to escape the cold winter by living in Arizona, California, and Florida. Those are all fine places, but I yearned for a more dramatic change of seasons, similar to my Midwest upbringing.

We moved our family to Utah in the spring of 1999. It wasn’t for the remarkable topography and weather; we wanted our lives to bear fruit. In retrospect, it was a sweet season for our young family of five. I honestly believe it was a pretty simple plan. We raised our faith-filled sails, and God (the Holy Spirit) billowed us along.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin