Riverside Church Messages

Baptism is an important step of faith. Pastor Tom teaches on the history, symbolism, and significance of baptism as we prepare for our summer baptism opportunity.

An important part of living on purpose for God's purposes is positively influencing others, helping them develop a passion to live for God's purposes on purpose.

Having a mentor at some point in your life likely helped you get where you are today. God calls us to be mentors and we can learn from how Moses mentors Joshua in the book of Numbers.

The Israelites witnessed many plagues, some brought on by their own behavior, including poisonous snakes. In their repentance, God provided a remedy, but didn't take away the snakes. This is an illustration of God's judgment, grace, and mercy.

After 40 years of leading the Israelites, Moses' patience was gone, leading to anger. If controlled by anger, we're no longer controlled by God. If we are are living on purpose, we need to live for His purpose and glory through our lives

Moses and Aaron implore God to abstain from destroying the Israelites after their contempt and uprising. The ground opened up and a plague spread. Talk about a challenging week in Moses' leadership! Still, Moses & Aaron knew God was sovereign...

A hot temper can lead to broken relationships. We can learn from Moses in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament how to be God honoring in all that we say and do even when it's difficult.

Our choices have consequences. Sometimes other people's choices and those consequences affect us too. This is illustrated in Moses' life as he lead the Israelites through the wilderness.

In the darkness or in the storms, fear reigns. Unless we take hold of something or someone else - Jesus, the Prince of Peace! Say 'YES!' to Him and your life forever changes!

People talk about "the good old days." Moses was leading a couple million people reminiscing of Egyptian slavery when their destination (in freedom) was yet unclear to them. When dealing with the headaches of life, seek God for spiritual relief.

To be a good leader, we need to be a good follower. To be our best, we need to learn from God by studying His Word and growing closer in relationship to Him throughout our lives.

Leaders and followers, we're a bit of both at different times in our lives. It's a humbling privilege. If you follow the best leader, you'll be a great leader.

On the Israelites' journey in the desert, they got impatient waiting on Moses to return from his meeting with God and made a golden calf to worship. Their grave error was going back to what was familiar instead of waiting on God's direction...

God's ways are complex yet perfect, and we can see that when we take a close look at how He weaves everything together - for GOOD. We see His grace. We see how He created us for relationship. He shows us boundaries that He knows we need. He...

Moses was an amazing person, but he was just that - ONE person. He couldn't meet the needs of all of the Israelites. Someone gave him great advice about building a team. Everyone is different so that means we all have different things to offer...

Most likely you've already had to make yourself a meal today. God gave the Israelites manna for 40 years! Free food and they complained. We truly are blessed but often complain too. God gives us grace, and we need to do the same.

An attitude can become a rut and complaining is contagious. Even following miracles that blessed over 3 million people. Their lives were spared but the Israelites felt hopeless and questioned Moses at every turn. We can turn a critical attitude into...

Moses and the Israelites were between a rock and a hard place, namely Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea. God made a (miraculous!) way where there seemed to be NO way. An amazing example of God's patient love and protection.

We will look at how God's power was demonstrated during the plagues of Egypt, and we can connect to God's power in our lives.

Throughout our lives we have different fears from being afraid of the dark to anxiety about paying the bills. At Christmas Jesus came to bring light and to make a way for us. An easy way steeped in humility and grace.

God gives us many gifts, but the greatest, most expensive gift you can EVER receive is the reason we celebrate Christmas. And this gift just keeps on giving!

Everyone has hopes and dreams, but they don't always come to fruition. Often, it's a lot tougher than we expect to succeed, or even to just keep afloat. God keeps His promises. Live on purpose, and live trusting Him.

Does life sometimes feel harder than it should be? Maybe your plans just aren't working out. God has a plan for you but it might not be quick & easy. It certainly wasn't for Moses! In the hard times, even when we struggle and feel like a...

To become a great leader, you need to be a great follower. There may be unimaginably long seasons of waiting on God's plan for your life, but He's not giving up on you, He's preparing you. Just look at the life of Moses!

We all make mistakes. Period. We do not need to hide, nor let them define us. Moses tried to hide his mistake, and then ran away. But God used his past and his present to affect his future - and the future of the Israelites. He never wastes anything!

Your purpose is not determined by your background, physical attributes, or culture; but by God who is beyond time and societal norms. It is through God's grace YOU were made and you are a part of His PERFECT plan. Choose to live ON purpose for...

Sibling rivalry is one thing, but just imagine growing up in Jesus' family! We know even they had doubts about Him being the Messiah, and they were closer to Him than anyone. We're going to look at their story from family to faith.

No matter our background, from preacher to new believer, we all have times of doubt. We will see and learn from Jesus' response to those in His sphere (in his family even!) who doubted.

It's always hard to wait, especially when life is turbulent. We can see in the Bible that most people have to wait for His timing, even Jesus! This message will help us learn what to do in the midst of waiting on God.

It can be hard to trust when you're in the midst of pain. You might be crying out to God in your belief or your unbelief, people have since the beginning of time. He hears you. Even when you hear silence. Cling to Him and trust through the struggle.

Most of us struggle with insecurity, about how we look at ourselves and worrying about how others view us. Maybe even how God could ever use us. No matter your past or present, God can work through you. In this message, we will learn how to find our...

Imagine YOUR name being listed in the Hall of Fame...then having some major mistakes published in a book that people read for centuries. Well, that's Abraham. Even HE had doubts about God. We can learn a thing or two about faith by looking at his...

Sometimes we doubt our purpose, sometimes we doubt God or even His existence. In those times, God doesn't write us off, but hopes to draw us closer to Himself. Let's dig into our doubts and look NOT at what the world says, but what the Bible...

Encouragement is important for Jesus followers as we navigate a world where encouragement is often hard to find. Everyone needs encouragement and we are called to refresh others through it.

Baptism is a celebration and even Jesus chose to be baptized. Learn more about the symbolism and the "why" behind baptism.

Sometimes people can be hard to be around, sometimes they've even hurt us. People-ing is hard and messy! Instead of turning away, we are called to forgiveness, restoration, and to carry each other's burdens. It's not natural and we can...

In this world, we will have troubles but God gives us the Holy Spirit to be with us through it all. The Holy Spirit is with us through our trials and strengthens us to help others when we lean into the source of true comfort.

God has created each of us uniquely and wants us to use our gifts and talents. He also gives us a mission, to work on together, using those very gifts. We can see how by looking at the early church in the New Testament.

We are set free by Jesus, but what does that mean? How are we to actively live like Him? Learn how the Holy Spirit in our lives benefits every one of our relationships.

The word "love" is not only a thing, a noun, but also a verb which means it's an action word. God actively commands us to love and we can do so in His power and following His example. We are to take action to love all of those we are in...

Whatever our "treasure" is determines the direction of our life. We'll study and learn from 4 examples of how people cared for their finances in the New Testament.

One way to use our finances is to invest money for an even greater (we hope) return. Even the greatest investments around only benefit us for a matter of years. Investing to fulfill God's mission has an eternal benefit and makes an eternal...

You may not feel wealthy, but compared to much of the world, you are. If you have a home, garage, vehicle, stocked cupboards - you have resources to use. This Part-2 message looks at 4 right uses of wealth including saving and spending.

The King of the Jews to the King of our hearts, not through domination but through sacrifice. All for You.

Our culture puts a lot of weight on what we do to determine our identity. It's not about how we stand out from the crowd, but how do we live differently.

As we come into our own, we wonder what the purpose of our life is and our place in this world. We shouldn't be seeking our own purpose as much as God's purpose in our life and all we do.

The message explores how much it matters where we are from. But where we're from doesn't have to be a life sentence...especially if we say 'YES!' to Jesus as Lord.

Do you ever feel like happiness in life is what you're striving for? Sometimes it seems like our level of happiness somehow correlates to God's love for (or blessings on) us. But there are also the difficult times. Don't let happiness...

Some days are perfect 10s and everything is perfect. Other days we hit rock bottom realizing we can't do this on our own. That's ok because that's exactly why He came. He is enough. He is life. He covers our sin.

We hear, "Your truth...," or, "My truth," a lot in our culture but what is THE Truth? What can we hold to anytime and anywhere?