Red Rocks Church Weekend Messages

Easter is arguably the most exciting time of year for Christians. It is the embodiment of hope for humans, defeat of sin, and victory over death (Romans 8:11). This week, Chad talks about Easter as the divine reminder of what life is all about and, most importantly, 'who' life is all about. 

Last week, we dove into the powerful story of the man on the roof, and his friends who lowered him down to meet Jesus. This week, Shawn looked further into this same story, to uncover more truth surrounding what type of friends we have the potential of being. In the message, Shawn gave us these three things that each one of us deserves to have in a friend: someone who will exercise their faith, someone who will believe in miracles for you, and someone who will push you closer to Jesus.

'Show me your friends and I will show you your future.' This is a heavy statement, and one that could be jarring for some folks. It can be easy to be in complacent friendships that seem harmless; yet those we call our friends deeply impact our lives whether we realize it or not. The other side of this coin is living in isolation. For some, it might be easier to not get close to friends, or stay away from 'community.' Being known is vulnerable, and community is messy. It also takes effort and intentionality, as community does not happen without investing time.

This week we talk about the tension between the ideas of holiness and grace. It seems, at times, that the church is caught in a mid-life crisis when it comes to how to view holiness and grace. Sometimes we focus on God's holiness, for he is perfect, separate, an all-consuming fire before whom each one of us will stand. Other times we focus on God's grace, for he is full of grace and mercy. At times it is hard to see how the two co-exist. Yet in God, they not only co-exist, but are in complete harmony and simultaneously give weight to each other's definition.

This week Shawn talked about the biblical and historical account of what we would all categorize as an impossible fight. On the surface we see the story of a young shepherd boy as a physical fight, which it was, but it was much more than that. It was a spiritual fight and the victor of that fight was God. Only the Lord can save, it was never about the spears or swords, but about our faith of the God who is with us. In David's eyes, he wasn't alone in the fight, it was God who would defeat Goliath. But it was David's faith that led him onto that battlefield.

God knows we can be a forgetful people, and that is why Jesus specifically reminded his disciples to remember. When we forget Jesus, we lose our way and by default we try to create shortcuts back to God to justify ourselves before him. There is no formula to justify ourselves, no way back other than to sit at his feet and simply ask for mercy. It is when we cry out for mercy, that the ears of Heaven hear. It is in our fading strength when we are most likely to take a knee and ask for forgiveness. Unfortunately, it is easy to forget how good God is and how his sacrifice was enough to cover our sins.

This week Shawn made a statement that we intuitively know is true, but when we are facing difficult situations feels hard to believe. He said, 'Just because you don't know what God is doing ... doesn't mean He isn't working.' For the last three weeks we have walked through the story of Ruth and watched a woman of character deal head on with loss, fear, and insecurity by moving toward God in the struggle. Ruth did not see what was happening behind the scenes, but because she pursued what God might have for her, she was in a place where she could experience what God might have for her life.

This week Chad talked about the marriage dance in a message titled, 'Wingman.' Wingman refers to the way Boaz willingly spread his wings to protect and lift Ruth up. It is making a conscious effort to selflessly pour oneself out for another in the same way that God spreads his wings over us. We learn to be a wingman by following in the footsteps of Jesus, who is our refuge.

This week, Jessie took some time to focus on women, and unearth the wealth of knowledge and wisdom we all can glean from Ruth. Men and women both have particular struggles unique to them. This uniqueness is important as males and females within the church body, so we are going to examine what the word of God has to say about it. Fellas, fear not; we will get to you next week. As Jessie mentioned, whether you are single, married, divorced, male or female, each week in this series will have something for all of us to learn from.

Chad kicked off our series talking about a relationship that is really a Hollywood love story. The book of Ruth is a story about a godly man and a godly woman, who cared more about character than putting their own agendas first; and how their love story grew out of the most unlikely places.

Throughout this series, we want our church to be known as a church family that flat out seeks God. We know the promises of God: that when we seek him, he will guide, equip, empower and enrich our lives. Week by week we have really talked practically about how we spend our time with God, the ways we are to be generous and obedient with our resources and last week we talked about how we can use our talents to make a difference in the world we touch.

Talent. When we hear that word, the majority of us don't think,' that's me!' Most of us hear that and we think about other people ... songwriters, actors, sculptors, motivational speakers, best-selling authors, artists, and professional athletes. Are they talented? Sure, but no more influential than any one of us reading this who have God's Spirit living inside of us. We just get easily confused by what the world tells us is important and what God finds important. If you are a follower of Jesus, you have been wired by God to do things that the person next to you can't do (1 Corinthians 12:7). We all have a talent that no one else on the team has. You have a significant part to play in the body of Christ, which we call 'the church.' Before Jesus ascended, he looked at his disciples and entrusted them with the great commandment to simply 'go.'

This week, Chad continued our series talking about our finances and what that all has to do with God. We believe that scripture unapologetically points to the fact that all we have has been given to us by God and with that comes a responsibility to give back to God. Let's be clear: God does not need anything from us, but desires for us to have a heart after his and to seek first his kingdom; not our own. Throughout this series, we are continually revisiting our theme verse: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." - Matthew 6:33. So how do we seek first God's kingdom with our finances?

Last week, Chad talked about seeking God first and putting him before everything else in life. As we focus on that relationship first, God will help put in right perspective all of our other concerns in life. It changes how we view our God-given time, our own abilities and what and who we spend our resources on. Putting God first helps us put everything else in order. This week Shawn candidly talked about how each of us stewards the time we are given. What does it look like to seek first God and his kingdom with our time on earth?

Chad kicked off our series talking about seeking God first in all things. As we enter a new year, some of us made decisions on what to put first. Eating more healthily, working out, going on social media fasts, reading more, emailing less ... Having resolve to do these things is a good and God-honoring thing to pursue, but without first seeking God, these achievements are a hollow victory. Forgetting to seek God's face and to know Him better is the first thing we all need most. In John 10:10, Jesus says that he came that we might have life and life abundantly. Let us not seek the abundant life on its own, but the giver of abundant life. Only when we do that can we truly have it.