Riverwood Church Community

The Bible contains some rather in-your-face verses about what it takes to be a true follower of Jesus Christ and not just a fan! In this message, we’ll study one of those passages found in James 2:19-20! It’s a shocking passage that talks about ‘demon-faith’ and ‘Christian-atheists’! This all leads us to a dive into what it means to truly surrender to God!

We often think ‘God doesn’t want fans! He wants followers!’ and yet our passage for this message, Hebrews 12:1-3 lets us know God loves fans! God has lined up all sorts of fans!...but you might be shocked at who they are cheering for! In this message, we will study three proofs that God isn’t calling you to be a fan!

Many Christians approach their faith as something that is appealing, comfortable, and convenient! However, those are the marks of a fan, not a follower. As we launch a new series we are calling Not A Fan, we take a look at the characteristics of a fan and the words Jesus spoke to the enthusiastic crowds that showed what he was really looking for.

Most of us have a ‘To-Do-List’, but have you ever created a ‘To-NOT-Do-List’? This message explores the Biblical coaching tips on what-not-to-do-in-relationships and provides some super-practical relationship hacks you have probably never heard of!

Here’s a riddle for you: three frogs are sitting on a rock and one decides to jump off! How many frogs are left on the rock? Well, the answer might surprise you along with the practical usefulness of this relationship hack called ‘intentionality’! This message finds its roots in Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:15-16 with some ridiculously practical relationship-growing-hacks!

No offense, but…” Too late! We’re offended. We live in a time where we get offended pretty easily, and often it is those small offenses that ruin relationships. But it is possible that we can add some relationship hacks into our lives and become unoffendable?

Theory is great! Concepts, methods, and teachings are helpful, but it all falls apart if you don’t have the right tools for effecting change! In this message, we get ridiculously practical and teach out 10 tools for battling, dealing with, and silencing the broken soundtracks that spin around in our heads!

Medical and scientific researchers have been on a quest to discover the source of the voice in our heads. They have a conclusion: all that self-talk has one source – our own brains! However, the Word of God seems to indicate it might be a little more complicated and varied than that! In this study we will explore the four different sources for the thoughts we think, the soundtracks we spin and the temptations we battle!

We’ve worked hard over the last couple of weekends to (1) identify broken soundtracks in our minds and (2) explore where soundtracks come from. Last weekend we discovered there are four voices that are part of the conversations in our heads and we named three of them. This weekend we name and study the fourth and we witness His ability to flip broken soundtracks on their heads!

Have you ever heard a song that had the power to transport you back in time? A song that awakened not only your memories, but your smell and sensations? In many ways, these songs form the soundtrack of our life. However, there are other soundtracks that play in our minds! This series will examine the broken soundtracks that drive us to action and the tendency we all have to overthink!

Who knew that a wildly-popular Christmas song performed by some of the world’s greatest rockers in 1984 would collide with Riverwood’s trip to Eswatini, Africa last week, producing some powerful and profound lessons about Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and the season can be very busy with many different stresses. So today, we want to explore a biblical story that challenges this season's status quo and gives us a fresh obsession with Christmas!

It’s safe to say that our world is pretty much ‘Christmas-obsessed’! While enjoying the whimsical and fanciful elements of this ‘most wonderful time of the year', this message challenges us to consider the real story: the one full of chaos and stress! In that story is found true hope!

We would pretty quickly acknowledge that plagiarism is terrible and when it comes to art, the person who created the art should get the credit. Yet when it comes to God, we hesitate to give him credit, almost as if we’re scared it will go to His head. As we dig up this last piece of lost treasure, we might just find some surprises when it comes to God’s glory and how we’re called to give credit to God.

Read through the Book of Romans and your metal detector is going to buzz and chime no less than 55 times as it passes over this week’s Lost Treasure: Righteousness! What is it? Why is it important? And what kind of practical difference can righteousness make in your life? Join us on our quest in search of lost treasure!

As we continue our search for lost treasures in the book of Romans, this week our journey leads us on a quest to recover the 1st-century idea of faith. Along the way we look at the shortcomings of our English language in capturing the concept of Pistis and take a walk through the Reformation to see if maybe our modern, 21st-century church reflects what Paul was leading the church of Rome towards in his letter.

Welcome to week two of our new series, ‘Lost Treasure’! So far, we’ve examined the lost treasures of ‘God’s wrath’ and ‘Justification’ and in this message we examine a treasure that wasn’t so lost as it was stolen: ‘sin’. Now, before you scroll away, you need to know that sin isn’t a list of ‘don’ts’! It’s way bigger, deeper and more impactful than just a list of abstract rules! In fact, as a result of our study you might just want to go on a search and steal the word ‘sin’ back!

Welcome to the first week of our new series, ‘Lost Treasure’! Over the next 5 weeks, we will be mining for 10 lost treasures buried in the Book of Romans! Five of the treasures we’ll examine in our weekend messages and the other five will be rolled out in our new ‘Life Group Teaching Experience’ on YouTube! Now, this first one is going to be a bit of a bear to wrestle down: the wrath of God! But dig deep and be willing to get a bit dirty, because in the end, you will probably have a new appreciation for this misunderstood concept!

When you hear the word “prayer” what stirs in you? Anxiety? Boredom? Intimidation? This message takes a look at 4 reasons why someone may choose not to pray regularly, and what Followers of Jesus can experience when they are devoted to prayer like the 1st start-up church.