Here’s an interesting question. So what’s the difference between the Christ follower and the non Christ follower as it relates to our work? Is there such a difference as a Christian baker, a non Christian lawyer, a Christian plumber, and a non Christian surgeon? I hope not. Especially when it comes to law and medicine. John Wesley said, do good, and do no harm along the way. Maybe the one mark that someone is a Christ follower? Martin Luther believed that God’s loving care comes to us largely through the labor of others. Work in other words is a major instrument of God’s providence. Someone tried to make his own sandwich, literally. It took him six months and $1,500. Think about the implications of that. In creation, we were given the honor to perfect what God has made. For what ends? That’s what I want to look at.

Restoring the Garden Through the Well at the Table - A Biblical View of Work

I love trees. Their grandeur as they reach for the sky paints a beautiful picture of how we, and the whole creation, were made to worship the Creator. Two trees stand out among the many described in our Scriptures. They are both called “the tree of life,” and one starts the Bible story, and the other emerges at the very end, both in a Garden. We can tell and begin to understand the big arc of our story by learning from these two trees. They anchor our place in the future unfolding drama of what the prophet Isaiah and the apostle John in the Revelation called a “new heaven and a new earth.” What will life be like for those who follow Jesus in the renewed creation? Specifically, what will our work be like after Jesus returns to make all things new? We might wish the Bible were more specific, but it chooses to give us tantalizing sign-posts along the trail that call for us to exercise a communal sacred imagination. Let’s do that together as we consider our calling in work in light of the declaration, “No longer will there be any curse.” [Revelation 22:3]

Two Trees

This work series has been one of my all time favorites, but it felt like something was missing for me. What about the work I do that takes my greatest focus, the most patience, the longest time, all of the energy, and has the highest stakes? RAISING KIDS.

For many of us, there's a big old chunk of life that (has been, is, or will be) spent waking up in the middle of the night, making lunches, mediating arguments, managing drop offs and pick ups, teaching babies and kids and teenagers and adult children how to live... and this is work too.

If you’re a parent, this. is. for. you. If you’re not a parent but you’re a part of our church community, this is also for you! What does it look like to dedicate our lives to the work of raising the next generation to know and love Jesus?

LIFE Work

It’s Mother’s Day and we don’t want to miss the moment. We plan to honor our moms that make us all who we are today. Count on that. As we talked, it might be nice to have one of our women teachers focus on motherhood, but we are not sure if we can pull that off. I had planned to teach introducing us to the life of David, King David, the young David who became king. He was described as a person after God’s own heart, not once, but twice. I planned to talk about what made him that kind of a person. It was in the interior of his life he formed the kind of person he became and his influence was the outcome. This is true if you are a person who works outside the home or if you are a mom or dad who cares for kids in the home. Thinking of mom’s, it could also apply to their role as well. A mom’s desired outcome is launching emotionally and spiritually healthy kids. The way to that goal is through the interior of their lives, much like David. So, even if we don’t pull off a mother’s day message, my message will apply to you moms and all women. Rest assured.

How to Develop a Heart for God

So, we have established that David is a man after God‘s own heart, yes, the David that swayed from the path. Let’s talk more about the heart. Are our hearts, corrupt and get a complete makeover when we meet Jesus and then everything is hunky-dory? Or are there factors that contribute to a healthy heart? Heart disease is the number one killer in America. Take care of your heart is the word of advice. Your actual heart and your spiritual one as well. David is a study of heart health.

David - A Heart for God

We live in an age of punditry and “posting” that encourages us to evaluate everything in real time. Is this decision good or bad? Is this person right or wrong? Is this effort worthwhile or wasteful? Kendrick or Drake? Tell me! Quick! Make up your mind! Opine! Post! Now before the news cycle/trend/fashion/cause-of-the-day changes!

Wisdom, and biblical wisdom in particular, warns against such haste. When it comes to understanding and learning from a leader, we often cannot fully evaluate such a character until history patiently proves his or her legacy. We will close off our micro-series on the life of King David by considering his life from the perspective of Israel’s subsequent kings. What really distinguished David from these many Israelite leaders? What about his long life and legacy distinguished him as one after God’s own heart? And how might we posture and prioritize our own lives for a truly meaningful legacy?

A Legacy of Loyalty

Whether we're conscious of it or not, each of us lives from a story on the nature of things--a story of what is true and good and worth living for. Which begs the questions: What story am I really living from? Is that story true? The 66 books of the Bible form a unified true story of creation, fall, redemption and coming new creation all centered on Jesus and the process of following Jesus is a lifelong journey of internalizing that true story more and more. Each Sunday this summer, we'll be taking a look at each chapter of that unfolding story and learning how each section of the Bible fits together to tell a story centered on Jesus. And along the way we'll learn some tools from The Bible Project to help us navigate Scripture and read it more confidently ourselves so that over a lifetime, the freeing story of Scripture becomes the story we truly live from.

A Better Story

What is really, really, real (ultimate reality)? Is there a Creator and, if so, what is that Creator like? What is that Creator into? Why did the Creator create? Who are you? Why are you? Where are you? Why does any of it matter? Questions like these have been asked and answered by humans for tens of thousands of years with almost every generation asking them afresh. This Sunday we are going to ponder a strange and fascinating inspired literary masterpiece from the ancient world—Genesis 1. As we continue our summer series seeking to wrap our hearts and minds around the big narrative of the Bible, we will begin our journey at the most fitting starting point—the beginning. Join us as we resituate Genesis 1 into its native ancient-near-eastern habitat and consider its main messages for God’s people through the ages.

Creation

We have started a very fast pace through the Bible narrative. We are telling the grand story of the Bible, from creation, to the fall, and God’s plan of redemption. We are in phase two, the fall, on Fathers Day of all days. Dads, do not despair, it’s not all your fault. So the fall. A traumatic sob story of utter failure. All that God created as good now has been lost. Milton is right, paradise lost, but not for long. What we did in 7 short verses, God reverses in the remaining biblical narrative starting at Gen 3:8. In one sense it was all part of the plan in order to get Jesus. I’m not saying God did it or wanted it to happen this way but knew something in his unfashionable wisdom that we could never see. Free choice brings out our rebellious sportiest but not to worry, Jesus will make all wrongs right again. So the fall. It was inevitable.

And please remember our church as you pray about how to use your resources for God’s good. Consider this: God expects us to give because he knows the benefits that come from giving. Give and it will be given to you.

We have raised about $500k of a $1.7k budget, so far. We are reaching families and friends in our community for Christ. It’s our purpose and mission. Join us.

From Good to Bad to Good

We are continuing our fly-over look at the unifying story of the Bible, in a series we are calling “You Are Here.” Join us in Genesis 12, location... Abraham.

If we trace our ancestors back far enough, each of us will likely find a pivotal moment when a decision was made to uproot the family, leave behind the familiar, and venture into a land they knew little about. Their decision had consequences for us. My great-great-grandfather made the voyage, in the 1800s, from Scotland to eastern Canada, then down into upstate New York, and eventually across into Oregon. My grandfather distributed tires in Portland. He also joined with four buddies to form an evangelistic team, occasionally venturing up the Alaskan Yukon River. My dad left home, went to grad school at Berkeley, then took a job starting Cal State Palos Verdes, which became Cal State University Dominguez Hills. If not for the cross-ocean voyage of my great-great grandfather, I would not have grown up surfing the beaches and point breaks of the South Bay. I might be a sheep-farmer in the Scottish Highlands.

Abraham made a journey that literally impacted the entire world. He got a mission from God, and Jesus told us it is our mission too.

“Hey Abraham… Through You, All Peoples”

We are a church that experiences life giving community, walks in Christ together, and cares about all people.

A Legacy of Loyalty

The River Church of the South Bay

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