The Rock Church

Jesus in the Middle

As a pastor, I am for sure not immune to feeling overwhelmed by difficulties. Also, whether it’s physical, mental, or emotional, life can sometimes make me feel like I’m drowning.

Perhaps the disciples felt this way. In fact, in the gospels of John, Mark, and Matthew, we are told how these fishers of men were overwhelmed with fear at the sight of their teacher walking on water through a storm. As a result, it says they were “terrified” because they thought they saw a ghost!

Isn’t it good to know we are not the only ones who experience fear and anxiety?

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church

Don’t Be Troubled

John 14:1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”

In John Chapter 13, Jesus gave His disciples shocking news. He informed them that He would be betrayed by one of their closest friends. Additionally, He would soon leave them and go where they couldn’t follow. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Caleb Yetton

East Troublesome Fire

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” — Ecclesiastes 4:9

Some of my family and I hiked to Fern Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park this summer. It was a beautiful hike, and we had a fantastic time. I had been curious to hike to Fern Lake, given that a terrible fire had destroyed it three years ago. It was appropriately named the East Troublesome Fire. Additionally, the fire burned 193,000 acres (making it the second-largest fire in Colorado history). 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin

Grafted

In his last published book, “The Excellency of a Broken Heart,” the great puritan author John Bunyan wrote:

“Conversion is not the smooth, easy-going process some men seem to think . . . . It is wounding work, of course, this breaking of the hearts, but without wounding there is no saving. . . . Where there is grafting there is a cutting. The scion must be let in with a wound; to stick it on to the outside or to tie it on with a string would be of no use. The heart must be set to heart and back to back, or there will be no sap from root to branch, and this, I say, must be done by a wound.”

Many blessings come with God’s gift of salvation. However, there are also many troubles and pains. There is the breaking down of our earthly bodies, the desires and temptations of our sinful flesh, and satan (the prowling lion) wishing to destroy us and ruin the joy and goodness in our lives. Additionally, hate and venom are directed toward us from a world the unregenerate part of us so longs to please. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin

Hurting

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” — John 12:27

These were Jesus’ words before He was betrayed and crucified. If anyone knows about suffering, it’s Jesus. His suffering was foretold in the book of Genesis. In fact, the prophet Isaiah even called Him the “Man of Sorrows”.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by admin