Rice Community Church

Today we continue in our series "the invisible war," When we identify where the battle front is, we need to remember that you can’t just run away from problems, there is internal stuff inside of you that needs to be dealt with, its not just a geograpical issue its also a heart issue, and today we are going to dig into Romans 8, and start to see how my biggest enemy may just be me.

There is a heavenly battle going on for our souls and when you try to please God by your own strength 2 things happen you get "frustrated" and eventually you want to "give up." The battle is real, so today we are talking about the emotional cost of the battle and 6 effects and finish with 3 ways to start winning the battle and living a victorious Christian life. Our text today is Romans 7:15-25

Happy Father's Day. Today we talk about what it looks like and the importance of being having a Father's heart for the next generation.

Have you ever noticed that life seems to be a series of problems? It seems we are either coming out of a problem, going into a problem or in the middle of one. There is "always something." Today we are going to look in Hebrews 11:35-12:4 and see some ways God teaches us to keep moving forward. To never give up and not quit. Because He has a reward waiting for us in eternity.

This morning we talk about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. As we spend time in the presence of God, He desires to give us His gift of the Holy Spirit for power so we can live out our purpose loving others and seeing Jesus move in our lives as well as those around us.

This weekend as we celebrate Memorial Day let us remember that our freedom came with a price. We celebrate as a church because of Jesus sacrifice which cost Him His life, so that we can have freedom from our past, our guilt, our shame and be forgiven.

Today we continue on our journey talking about the "Fruit of the Spirit," how it should be progressing in our lives.

Each one of us have been giving by God, gifts and talents, our personalities and strengths to be used for Him. Spiritual gifts are not something weird or freaky; in fact, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:1 – “'Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. ' If you are a believer in Christ, the Holy Spirit will equip you with spiritual gifts to minister to believers and to make a difference!

Sometimes we forget how important mother's can be and are to the family, if the father is the strength of the family, Mom is the heart. Today we talk about how we can bless and appreciate our mothers.

When we look today at Christians around the world, what you so often see is believers in Jesus, but people who look no different from the rest of the world. They say they believe in Jesus, yet our lives have no real Power. Why is that? Because so many people today are living what I call a Spirit-less life; when God wants his children to live a Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered, Spirit-led and Spirit-equipped life of victory to please God the Father.

Have you ever asked yourself the question, "Is there more to the Christian life than this?" the answer to that question is YES! To often we work hard and acting like a Christian but the Bible says this, and this is amazing; “To those of you who believe in Christ, you have access to the very same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the grave.” Today we take a few moments to remind ourselves of the purpose and the power of the 3rd person in the Trinity. The power of the Holy Spirit.

As we celebrate this Easter season, we discuss how the resurrection will give us the strength and hope to live and fear less. God loves you extravagantly, He will never stop loving you, but the problem is this love is worthless if you don’t accept it. So today we all get to start a new life a resurrection life.

If you want to read a good rescue story, the greatest book is the Bible. It is just one rescue story after another. It’s fascinating reading if you actually get into it and read it. Ever since Adam and Eve messed it up and blew it, God has been bailing us out over and over and over. But the greatest rescue story of all of course why we celebrate Easter – the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ; because Easter is the story of the greatest rescue mission ever.

As Christians we need to mature to become all that God has created us for, too often we stay where we are because of comfort and fear of change, today we discuss how God is calling us to grow and in the process of growing bring others along with us on our journey to become all He has called us to be.

Spending time with God doesn’t happen by accident, its not normal, its not easy, so in order to maintain and grow we have to become intentional about seeking His face continually. Sometimes we can get so busy with all the right spiritual activities—church, reading the Bible, witnessing, serving the needy, etc.—that we forget the importance of simply being with Jesus. Today we talk about seeking His Kingdom first and keeping proper priorities.

January is Sex Trafficking Awareness Month and today we are joined by Aliyah Ewing who shared with us how sex trafficking is not just an issue confined to other countries, its not only the fasted growing industry in the United States but how Minnesota is one of the top states in the US for number of human trafficking cases. Today she shares ways to know how it occurs and how to help restore victim-survivors in order to be better at preventing it.

This year as a church I want us to seek to grow more in in our understanding of faith, God, Jesus, search our thoughts and minds, to seek to know Jesus better and our friends and family, to seek that one more that may need hope, to go into “Search Mode” and take our faith journeys to another level.

Think of it. Of all the places for the Messiah to be born, God chose Bethlehem. One would have thought it might be in a much more prominent place, like Jerusalem. Bethlehem reminds us that in God’s economy the small shall become great, and the last shall be first. Bethlehem was a place of potential, and even though you may feel insignificant, like Bethlehem, so are you! As the Lord looks at you, He doesn’t see you for what you are, but for what you could become.