The Rock Church

Gratitude and Hope by Tony D'Amico

Ephesians 1:15-21 is a set of verses that really encourages me. We glimpse Paul’s heart and his thankfulness for the church in Ephesus! He speaks with gratitude and hope. On top of that, he deeply desires the saints to continue their spiritual growth.

First, Paul starts by expressing his gratitude for the Ephesians’ faith in Jesus. At the same time, he also expresses thanks for their love for the saints.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Tony D'Amico
Tags: alone, body, Change, encourage, enlightened, Ephesians, eyes, faith, gratitude, Hope, jesus, Know, knowing God, knowledge, perspective, power, Prayer, Purpose, relationship, Rest, seeing, strength, thankfulness, the church, the rock church, the saints, Tony, tony damico, Wisdom, work

Navigating Life With Self-Control by Tony D'Amico

Many factors contribute to messing up a person’s life. Lack of self-control is a significant one. You might be on top of your finances and then wreck them by buying things you don’t need. Not to mention, you could excel at controlling your temper until something gets under your skin and you snap. Without a doubt, self-control is an essential and crucial characteristic of a Christian.

Put very simply, having self-control is sort of like driving a car. If you let go of the wheel, there’s a good chance you will run into another vehicle (or possibly off a bridge). But holding onto the wheel gives you the ability to drive defensively. Along with that, holding the wheel allows you to reach your destination. Paul certainly drove this point home (pardon the pun) when he wrote to Titus; he told him to teach everyone self-control. In fact, his instruction wasn’t just for pastors. It was for everyone who calls themselves a Christian. Indeed, he wrote about it five times in both chapters one and two.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by Tony D'Amico
Tags: Church, control, God, gps, jesus, life, navigate, pastor, Rock, self-control, the rock, the rock church, Tony, tony damico, trc, truth, Word

The Power of God by The Rock Church

A few Sunday evenings ago, we gathered together and heard Paul’s entire letter to the Romans publicly read out loud. For over an hour, sixteen different people read sixteen different chapters of a two-thousand-year-old text. After the reading, people weren’t falling asleep or bored. On the contrary, they were excited and encouraged! Imagine sitting down after a long weekend, listening to people read for an hour out of any other book. Before long, people would no doubt fall asleep and be ready to go home. They certainly wouldn’t be smiling ear to ear and talking about how amazing God is. 

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church
Tags: amazing, Billy, billy johnson, body, commands, community, God's word, gospel, group, hungry, letter to the romans, listen, living and active, need, obedience, power, promises, public reading, read, reading, Romans, strength, sword, the rock church, weak, Word

Fishing Hole – Kid-Friendly Park Activities by Brent Kendall

What an incredible way to end the week! The park was full of people from the neighborhood grilling food, playing games, and running around the playground. At least 100 kids were all over the park. Many of the kids and families were familiar faces from the work that had been done in preparation for this moment. The Lord provided a well stocked fishing hole for our team.

On Friday afternoon, while the men were shopping for home repair supplies, we came across a hobby shop or craft store. I wanted to purchase water-based paint to replenish what our kids had used throughout the week. While we were at the store, I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to bless Sarah with supplies to help start the youth ministry that she has been praying for. So, I sent John and Sawyer around the store to help find crafts that pre-teen girls would enjoy. We found kinetic sand, playdough, window markers, and paint bottles. 

Posted in Missions by Brent Kendall
Tags: fishing, Kids, missions, Sweden, the rock missions

Existence of God by Brent Kendall

I have been challenged so much this week to share the existence of God. During the coffee table sessions, there have been many opportunities to direct conversations to eternal matters. It’s been convicting to think about how I live my daily life without attempting to share more about God. 

There was a conversation yesterday afternoon with a man who had lived under Sadam Hessian and escaped with his life. He had doubts that a God could even exist. It was challenging but rewarding to share God, defend his existence, and talk about the evidence of His presence in the world. These experiences only help to confirm and strengthen my faith as I share Jesus and his love.

– Tim Fleury

Posted in Missions by Brent Kendall
Tags: coffee, existence, missions, Sweden, the rock missions

Forgiveness Through Jesus – Illustrated Stories and Park Outreach by Brent Kendall

We started our day with breakfast, worship, and team time, during which Sarah taught us a conversational tool for sharing the gospel using a Bible story about Jesus. She asked us to fold a sheet of paper in fourths and told us the story from Luke 7:36-50, broken into four parts. Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner at his home, where a sinful woman entered, weeping and washing Jesus’ feet with her tears. Jesus challenges Simon to think about forgiveness in the story he tells Simon about the canceled debt of two men. Jesus says to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” Finally, Jesus tells the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Posted in Missions by Brent Kendall
Tags: forgiveness, missions, park outreach, sins, Sweden, the rock missions

Even Me? by The Rock Church

Then Jesus said to her, “I am the MESSIAH!” – John 4:26

Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite encounters in the entire Bible. You remember the story. In the Gospel of John, Jesus passed through a region called Samaria on His way to Galilee. As the reader, we should by all means know that (at this time in history) the Samaritan people were despised by the Jewish people. The Jews considered the Samaritans to be inferior economically, racially, spiritually, and socially. In fact, they were “the dogs” and often even hated.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church
Tags: adulteress, adultery, alone, bondage, depressed, dirty, freedom, jesus, Jewish, Jews, John, JOhn 4, light, living water, lonely, messiah, miracle, outcast, Race, racism, refuge, sad, SAmaritan, SAmaritan Woman, Savior, see, sight, sin, sinful, slavery, steel, Steele Croswhite, suicide, the rock church, unclean, unfaithful, unworthy, water, well, Witness, Worship

15-Second Testimonies — Parkour, Coffee, and House Church by Brent Kendall

Today, we woke up and felt mostly adjusted to the time zone.  With that, we started the day with breakfast and team time.  We sang a few songs accompanied by Alicia on the piano and prayed for the day; Sarah had an activity to help us share our testimony in 15 seconds. It was a super easy one with only five steps! Even the kids had it down after a couple of times practicing with one another.  This proved to be very helpful later in the day.  We wrapped up team time and headed for prayer walking, prayer parkour, and lunch.  After lunch, Brent had the opportunity to pray for the new restaurant owner we had just eaten at.  After this, we returned to Sarah’s place to prepare for the afternoon activities.

Posted in Missions by Brent Kendall
Tags: Church, coffee, house, missions, Prayer, Sweden, the rock missions

Arrived — Church Service and a Sunday Stroll by Brent Kendall

We made it to Sweden! Praise God our day of travel was light, easy, and stress-free. Our flights were pleasant, and the connections were short yet restful. We arrived looking like zombies, but most of the team caught a second wind in time to go for a walk and get acquainted with the neighborhood. We shared a dinner with Sarah’s good friends, Stefan and Ingrid. Our team enjoyed listening to ministry stories from a sweet couple running hard for Jesus for over 40 years. Some of these teary-eyed stories were compelling testimonies of committing their lives to Jesus, trusting in His ways, and falling in love by God’s timing. What a blessing to Sarah to have a solid couple to do life with! They have also graciously opened their home so that Carmen, Scott, and Alicia can have a place to stay.

Posted in Missions by Brent Kendall
Tags: evangelism, Mission, Stockholm, Sweden, the rock missions

King Jesus Series by The Rock Church

Unity in a Divided World

We live in a polarized age. We all know it. And election years make it worse. “You have to vote, this is the most important election in the history of our country!”, “You can’t vote for him, he’ll ruin our country!” Sound familiar?

Posted in News, Series by The Rock Church
Tags: christian, Church, community, disunity, election year, elections, God's word, jesus, king, king jesus, political topics, politics, rock church, sermon, Sermon Series, the rock, the rock church, topical sermons, trc, truth, United, unity, unity in a divided world