Rock Springs Church

Larry Sundin

Neighborhood Group Foundations: Our Shared Salvation, Part 2

November 13, 2017

God wants you FREE of fear so that you’ll LIVE with confidence. He doesn’t want anything holding you back from living out the good news. That’s what fear does. Fear keeps you from living the life God intends for you to live. Fear makes you hide. Fear causes you not to trust. Fear is connected with punishment, not acceptance. And if you still fear the judgment of God, then you do not yet truly know the God of love.

Neighborhood Group Foundations: Our Shared Salvation

November 7, 2017

Our Problem: We come into Christianity by receiving Jesus Christ by faith, but then we try to live this new life OUT OF OUR OWN ABILITY and STRENGTH. And when we do that we fail. We try to love but we can’t. We try to be kind but sometimes we don’t really feel like it. We try to not get angry, but we lose our cool. And then we feel like we’ve let God down; so we try again. But we fail again and again and again. And eventually we find it’s TOO HARD to live this new life, so we stop trying. Oh a part of you still wishes you could live this new life, but you’ve figured it’s just not worth the aggravation or disappointment. And if that’s where you find yourself this morning, then I have some good news for you. You are right! You can’t live this new life, but Jesus can.

Neighborhood Group Foundations: Our Shared Identity

October 31, 2017

If we see ourselves as works in process, GRACE will always characterize our relationships. You, see the one thing the world doesn’t see enough from us is grace. Sure, they expect us to judge them, they expect us to moralize them – but if this identity begins to shape how you live, you will never judge nor moralize anyone, because when you are following Jesus, when you keep your focus on Jesus… you will know that you are far… far… far from perfect.

Rock Springs Family Values: A Kingdom Mindset

October 24, 2017

So when Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” – for those who knew they had nothing to bring to the table spiritually – this was good news.   For to be blessed by God meant that God wanted to pour out His favor on you. This was good news because anyone who is spiritual bankrupt knows that they are totally dependent on the mercy of God. And so Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” “Favored are you who know you are spiritually bankrupt, for God is giving you life as it was meant to be. Life under the loving reign and rule of God.” How cool is that? God rewards the humble, not the proud, with His kingdom.

Rock Springs Family Values: Mutual Inclusivity

September 26, 2017

Our love must be sincere. It must be genuine, real. Our deepest need is to receive real love, not token love. That’s why God put us together in His body. That’s why we need each other. The world will not love this way. The world only loves to get something in return. But God’s love is not like that. God loves with no strings attached. He loves us when we are not lovable. He loves us when we are rebellious. He loves us when we are at our worst. And that takes real love. So God’s Word tells us to not fake love – but to take off our masks and be real with one another. For when we give real love, that’s when others will see Jesus in us.

Rock Springs Family Values: Extravagant Generosity

September 21, 2017

There is only one true motive for extravagant generosity, and God has shown us what that is: Out of the abundance of love in His heart, God gave His all for us. That’s why love is at the heart of extravagant generosity. That’s why love must be the motive for why we give of our time, or our treasures or our talents, or ourselves.   All other motives are temporal. They won’t last. But love never fails.

Rock Springs Family Values: Radical Inclusivity

September 13, 2017

What Jesus does for this religious expert, he does for us: He tears down the barriers we so often use to keep people out. There are no “ins” or “outs” with Jesus. There are no boundaries in his kingdom.  Everyone is equal in his eyes.   Everyone needs love, and acceptance and mercy. Go and do likewise!

The Story of God: Family Reunion

August 20, 2017

God who formed your heart, wants to be reunited with you. The Father wants you to know Him. The Father wants you to be with Him in an eternal relationship. Your relationship with Him is the number one thing on His heart. Like Joseph, we were lost and He’s done everything in His power to bring you home to Him. That’s why He sent Jesus. This is the gospel in a nut shell: For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3:18 Nothing heals a broken heart more than being reunited with the one you love.