Archive for the ‘Bible Study’ Category

God Is . . . Our Shepherd

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

¹ The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
³ He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell^[a] in the house of the LORD
Forever.

In our continuing discussion this week of learning who God is we looked closer at the reality that He is our Shepherd. As we read through the familiar psalm of David, we gained a clearer understanding of what we can experience when we live as a sheep cared for by the Good Shepherd. But all of the realities that David unfolds in this psalm: the green pastures, the still waters, the table in the presence of our enemies, none of these are able to truly be experienced by us, if we don’t allow the Shepherd to shepherd us. In other words we must let Him lead.

Still, so often we are tempted to go our own path, find our own pastures for rest, even lead ourselves, but the end result is seldom for our good. When we truly embrace the truth that God is our Shepherd, then we can live a life that is secured by the care of the Good Shepherd.

Ours is to simply look to Him, and say, “Lead On!”

Join us this week as we study Judges 6, and discover that God is our Peace!

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God Is . . . The God Who Provides

Friday, August 27th, 2010

This past week at RiverChurch we discovered the reality that God Is the God Who Provides as we read through the text of Genesis 22:1-19. This passage brings us the story of Abraham being called by God to offer his son, his only son, as a sacrifice to God. As we read this story we discover that God provides a sacrifice for Abraham to offer in his son’s place, and we learn in such a powerful way that God is the God who provides.

In this powerful story, we see that God not only provides in our time of need, but He also provides for our GREATEST need, the need for redemption. According to God’s directive, Isaac was supposed to be offered as a sacrifice of worship, but a ram caught in a a thicket, is sacrificed in Isaac’s place. Similarly, because of sin in our world, we were also supposed to experience death, but Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God is offfered in our place. And in Christ, our need for redemption and forgiveness is provided.

The great news from this study is that if God is able to meet our greatest need of redemption, then He is also able to meet any other need we may have. He is the God who provides.

This week we will study Psalm 23 as we discover that God Is . .. . the God who is our shepeherd!!!

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God Is . . . The God Who Sees

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Two weeks ago we began a series called “God Is. . . “ in an effort to better understand the God we follow, by looking at the names ascribed to Him throughout Scripture.

This past Sunday we looked closely at the truth that God is the God Who Sees. We spent a great deal of time looking at the passage in Genesis 16, where Hagar literally calls God the God who sees ME! Its a powerful story, that brings powerful revelation when you fully grasp the truth that God knows where we’ve been and where we are going. God sees the pain and hurt we have experienced in our lives or that which we may be experiencing now. He sees when we’ve been mistreated, and in the middle of all of that He has a plan for our lives. A plan to bring us out, and a plan to ultimately open our eyes so we can see a new direction for our lives, even if the past doesn’t make sense.

God also sees what’s in our hearts, those things that we tried to hide, that we think no one else can see. Things that He wants us to let Him see, so He can heal us, change us, turn our attention from in an effort to change our lives permanently for the better.

If you missed this past week, be encouraged with the simple truth today, that God is the God Who sees YOU!

If you’d like to follow along with us, this week we are discovering the truth that God is the God who Provides. Read along with us ahead of time in Genesis 22, and take time to be with us this Sunday to learn just a little bit more about who. . .

God Is

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Talking In Church is Encouraged . . .

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Well it is at RiverChurch!

I know its out of the box, its even taboo to think that you should talk in some church’s but at RiverChurch we have found that we grow stronger as a community and individually as we discover truth together and share that truth, right here in church. In the middle of the sermon.

What does that look like? Well on any given week we will look at a passage of Scripture, or several passages and we engage in dialogue as to what the text is saying, and then we talk about how that applies to our lives. Our pastor guides the discussion with key questions, and ultimately the discussion leads to a time of soul searching application.

Here’s the deal. We’ve all heard enough sermons to last us until eternity. We’ve had intelligent folks stand in front of us tell us everything they know, and we walk out the doors, barely remembering what we’ve just heard. But in an environment where we hash it out, we talk it out, and apply it together, somehow what we’ve talked about sticks. Its how the early church did it. They didn’t have their own personal scroll, their copy of the torah. Jesus teachings hadn’t even been written down yet. So they talked about what He taught them, they applied it to their lives together in community.

So yeah, talking in church is encouraged here at RiverChurch. Its not for everybody, but its just what we do.

Come join the discussion. Discover truth with us.!

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God Is . . .

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Do you know who God Is? Sure you know He’s a divine being up there, out there somewhere. You probably know that He’s called Father, Jehova, Creator, and you can probably list all kinds of Sunday School answers about His character; love, merciful, gracious, forgiving, just. But do YOU know who God is? Do YOU know for yourself?

At RiverChurch we are looking into the pages of Scripture to discover truth for ourself, about who God is. As a community of faith, we’ve grown tired of having someone else tell us who God is, and we’re on a journey to find out for ourself.

We began the series by looking at the importance of understanding the name of God. As we understand the importance of His name, we understand His character and the power that is demonstrated with that character.

We’d love for you to join us this week as we walk through Genesis 16 as we discover that God is Jehovah Roi . . .

The God Who Sees

Why don’t you join us this Sunday @ 10a @ RiverChurch.

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