The Rock Church

Diamond in the Rough

It’s always a joy to find something of value in an unexpected place — a diamond in the rough. Over the last few years, my family has discovered that one of our favorite things to do together, is to go to yard and estate sales. We look for paintings my wife loves, furniture from the 1800’s, rare musical instruments, and any kind of electronic device that uses tubes. Most of the time we clean the items up and re-sell them. Sometimes, (not very often), we find something we want to hold onto — something worthy of taking to the Antiques Road Show (true story).

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All Things New

Happy New Year! It always amazes me how quickly one year comes to an end and another one takes its place. It’s a never ending cycle. A few days ago, I was reading in the Bible (the book of Revelation). What really stood out to me was that 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 come to know in this life.

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Tradition

Every year, the pastors of The Rock Church go to our National Pastor’s Conference. There’s a tradition, one night during the week of meetings, when we go to a grocery store (or a gas station), get some snacks, and head to the hotel lobby to spend time together. We’ll play games, joke around, and laugh a lot. It has become something I really look forward to each year. 

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Eclipse

“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” — Psalm 19:1

Eclipse glasses? Check. Moon pies? Check. Last week, we all saw something incredible take place. We saw the sun, the moon, and the earth, perfectly align— creating a solar eclipse. Other than destroying the sun, moving the earth, or moving the moon, there was nothing that was going to stop the eclipse from happening. I read that “According to NASA, experiencing a total solar eclipse where you live happens about once in 375 years.” So, no matter how hard we try, or how hard we want it to happen, there is nothing we can do to align the sun, moon and earth to force an eclipse.

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Harvest

While on vacation this summer, my family and I stayed with relatives who live on an Ohio farm of over one hundred acres! One morning, the kids were out playing in the yard and the farmer asked if we wanted to take turns riding in the tractor while he fertilized the crops?

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Legacy

“I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.” — 1 Peter 1:13-15

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Good Works

I was cleaning out the basement a few weeks ago and found an old journal of mine. After reading a few pages, it would seem that all I ever did back in 2007 was think about Jesus, talk about Jesus, read about Jesus and write about Jesus. A lot was going on in my life back then for sure: I had just married Ashley, I was a first year apprentice electrician, I was cranking through the Bible and deciding where I stood on heavy theological positions. I was also writing down prayers, leading people to Christ, and playing in one of the worship bands at The Rock.

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Pray

Most of us would say we have room to grow in the area of prayer. Ask any Christian (who has a great relationship with God) if they pray much. I guarantee you they’ll tell you that they do. That’s because there’s no other way for us to communicate with God except through prayer. Yet, for some reason, so many of us fall terribly short in our prayer lives.

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

Changes

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17

A few weeks ago my youngest daughter’s life changed forever and my family experienced something very exciting! On September 4, at 12:52 p.m., she was warm, safe and comfortable in the womb, completely content with the only way of life she had ever known. At 12:53 p.m., she was cold, uncomfortable and feeling very unsafe. It was bright and loud and all of her senses were peaked. Every single thing she was experiencing was brand new. She didn’t welcome this change; in fact, she was so upset about it that all of the nurses and doctors were commenting on how loud her screaming was!

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