New River Fellowship

Coming out of Psalms, we've been seeing we need to trust God by taking His life and making it our own; but what does that look like? Joshua is the story of God's people learning to do this, with all their highs and lows. Ch.1 starts by showing how God calls His people to cling to and practice His nature by fixating on who He is.

Happy Easter all! As we celebrate Jesus' life, death, & resurrection today, we'll tie in everything we've learned in Psalms to Jesus: that trusting in Jesus IS trusting in God. Psalm 130 will show us I can trust God because He knows me and forgives me; therefore, I'll take up His life as my own.

On Palm Sunday, where we celebrate the arrival of our King in Jesus, it's worth asking… how do I trust Him as my King? We often fight Jesus for the throne of our lives: Psalm 2 will how us trusting God means realizing I want the throne, letting God reclaim His throne, and surrendering my throne and my life to Jesus.

As we've been seeing who God is/what He's done for us, it's hard to imagine that God actually has the power to do it all. What does it mean that He has “authority” over our lives? Psalm 110 shows us that trusting God means trusting Jesus has authority over how we live and how we're made right with God.

Before you listen to this one, take a moment & answer these 3 questions: 1) What has God done for you? 2) How does God work with you? 3) What has God promised you? Psalm 103 may show us we're trying to trust a God we don't know as well as we think we do as David provides the answers for each of these.

When we're putting our trust in God, what are we choosing to do? And what are we getting from Him? We often don't trustGod I because we don't know the answers to these two key questions. Ps. 91 uncovers the connection: when we choose to make God our shelter and stronghold, He promises we'll get Him and His life.

We've been approaching Psalms as the journal into the heart of God's people as they learn to trust Him in differentseasons of life because trusting God isn't a “one-size-fits-all” thing. This week, Associate Pastor John Marshal traces this theme all over the New Testament to show how we are “saints” not by our bodies or souls but by our spirit. In Jesus, God gives us a new spirit, then starts to work on “sanctifying” our bodies/souls.

Have you ever heard a Christian say something like, “Who God is shapes what I do?” This is one of those “almost-truths” that sounds great at face value, but it's missing a key step in the middle. Psalm 85 will fill in the middle piece we desperately need when learning to trust God: “Who God is shapes _ shapes what I do.”

One issue we face in trying to trust God is ending up making it about US: how am I growing to get what I need to trust God with MY life. Psalm 66 shows the internal work of faith from God's perspective: “Who I am and what I do molds you because I want it to; I will mold you all, you see, when you finally come to me.”

There's an underlying theme that runs throughout the Psalms we need to bring to the forefront today: trusting God is FIRST an internal work, THEN an external one. Psalms 42 & 43 show trusting God takes redirecting our instinct to bring our soul to God before we attempt fixing the physical problems around us.

When have you felt alone? Was it easy to break out of feeling lonely? David highlights how our physical loneliness & spiritual brokenness go hand-in-hand, showing in Psalm 25 that we trust God in loneliness by asking Him to reveal our brokenness, restore us, help us see ourselves as He does, and teach us His ways.

What do we gain by doing the internal work of faith? We feel so much pressure to respond immediately/swiftly, doing anything internal feels like a waste of time: yet Psalms 77-79 remind us working to trust God reminds you He's still with you, redeeming you, in control, & calling you to share Him with others.

Shame is something we all experience…and have a hard time dealing with. What does it look like to trust God when we're feeling shame? Psalm 71 reminds us that, first & foremost, God did not design us for shame; and that we trust Him in shame by making Him who we go to, adore, & pursue.

Have you ever been confronted by the reality you were wrong?Much of our world revolves around never admitting you're wrong: but this fundamentally makes it hard to trust God. Psalm 51 shows us how we can admit we're wrong by giving us 3 heart-movements that bring us closer to God as we work through our brokenness.

As we dive into Psalm 32 today, we're going to look at both a situation and a definition: what it looks like to trust God when we've hurt others, AND what does confession mean? We'll see confession (identifying what's wrong, uncovering what's wrong, & surrendering our will) allows us to join God making ALL things right.

"When you say, ‘Trust God,' what are you telling me to do?” Are you struggling to put trust into action? Join us as we study Psalms to see how we can trust God in different seasons & situations. We'll start today with the fundamentals in Psalms 1&19: trusting God means we want His way of life and work to train ourselves in it.

As we wrap up another year, reflecting on everything that's happened and hoping in anticipation of what 2025 might bring, minister John Marshal walks us through a key teaching on forgiveness, highlighting what it is, why we forgive, how we forgive, and the hope forgiveness brings us.

In the final two chapters, Paul focuses on the practical side of what trusting Jesus looks like: what does it look like to be molded into God's image as His children? Focusing on the guiding principles in the lists Paul gives, chs.5 & 6 reveal that trusting Jesus leads us to look for ways to love others & to grow into God's nature. // Closing Prayer: "Valley of Vision, Seventh-Day Morning: God's Good Pleasure”

We can clearly see there's a difference between being a slave and being a child, right? Which one better describes your relationship to God. We may say we're God's children, but we may function more like disgruntled servants. Paul shows us how Jesus makes us God's children being molded into His image by His Spirit. // Closing Prayer: "Valley of Vision - Fourth Day Morning: True Christianity"

How do you relate to God? It's common for many Christians to have the experience of "trying to please/glorify our God so He'll give us His blessings on earth" and finding worry/anxiety when it doesn't go to plan. But do we really know the promise of Jesus that has been given to us? Minister John Marshal shows us this week how Jesus has freed us from the burden of bearing God's image on our own

Have you ever felt like, “I asked Jesus to be my Lord/Savior: now what?” You're not alone; that's exactly what the church in Galatia struggled with. Paul discusses our trusting faith vs. the law's works to help us see how trusting Jesus is what enables us to live out God's life & bring us/others closer to Him. // Closing Prayer: "Valley of Vision - Second Day Evening: Bounty"

What brought you to Jesus? What made Him appealing to you? Hardship shows the difference between being attracted to something and trusting it as the foundation of your life. Paul highlights this in Galatians by showing what we have in Jesus, starting with how Jesus alone saves us & transforms us into God's image.

As Ecclesiastes draws to a close, Solomon takes one final shot at reminding us what the “Christian” life is all about. If we're supposed to pursue God by investing His life through humility/work to bear His image in ch.11, how do we do this? God calls us to evaluate our heart by His by trusting His life is all we need.

So, as God is at work fixing our hearts, what do we do? What has He called us to do physically on earth while we're walking with Him in our spiritual reconciliation? Solomon shows what pursuing God looks like in ch.11: we're called to invest the life God gives us through humility & work to bear His image in everything.

In ch.10, Solomon brings his plea for us to go to God in a new light: proverbs! As we interpret these generally-true-sayings-revealing-a-deeper-reality, a pattern emerges: if the smell is off, the walk is off; if the walk is off, the heart is off; if the heart is off, everything is off; only God can fix the heart, so work to be with Him!

Even as sin has corrupted our ability to trust God, Solomon goes a step further to show how sin breaks us from God by tainting how we see ourselves (which screws everything else up like it did in the Garden). He'll remind us in ch.9 God sees us & knows us: & we experience this when we choose to be with Him in everything.

Join our worship team as they lead us through our Covenant Renewal songs to help us remember who we are in light of who God is. And click on the "Covenant Renewal 2024!! (Scripture + Testimony)" file to hear the heartbeat of NRF: our mission, disciple definition, vision, and values.

This is the heartbeat of NRF, plain & simple. Join this week as we walk through scripture to review our mission, disciple definition, vision, and values. Hear some testimonies from different church leaders as to how we've seen God work this out for us over the past year. And, as an added bonus, click on the "Covenant Renewal 2024!! (Worship)" file to hear the music and get a sneak peak into what the full Sunday morning worship service is like!

Even though we can know God alone is what's good, true, & essential in life for us, why is it so hard to trust this? Solomon highlights in ch.8 a few ways sin corrupts our ability to trust God, showing how we doubt God is bigger, faster, or stronger than our brokenness; but we see He is when we dwell with Him.

Since God made us to focus joyfully on His restorative work instead of fixing brokenness ourselves, we're all searching for something. Solomon helps us examine what we're searching for, revealing how we search for what's good, true, & essential in life; and we find it when we seek God because He's all of this!

As Darrell walked us through last week, God desires to give us gifts in His kingdom. We want to take what God's given us to fix brokenness…but wait, that's not what God wants? Solomon shows that God's gifts help us pursue Him by rejoicing in His restorative work over fixing brokenness ourselves.

As we consider whether or not we're glorifying God, we need to know what we should be aiming for. Guest minister Darrell Cook (Director, Baptist Collegiate Ministries @ VT) connects the wisdom of Solomon from ch.5 to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew to show how God's design for what His people look like has always been Him!

So, if we're made to joyfully bear God's image in all things & to trust Him in His work (like ch.3 reveals), how do we know if we're doing this well? Solomon gives us two truths & calls us to hold them together as our standard: God calls us to consider how what we're doing impacts others & lines up with God's nature. // Closing Prayer: Valley of Vision, "Fifth Day Evening: Protection"

Okay, maybe now we get God made us for His presence: but what exactly do we do with this? What does it look like to live in the presence of God? Solomon dives into this question in Ecclesiastes 3 to show how God made us to joyfully bear His image in all things and to trust Him in His work.

Now, as we get to know God in all things, what does He expect of us? What do we do with our faith? Should we focus on getting things done or doing them correctly? Ch.2 shows how our purpose & meaning isn't tied to production or perfection because it's not about us; God made us for His presence.

What are you working toward in your faith? Getting things done? Gaining in knowledge? Guest minister Dr. Stuart Quartemont shares from Ezekiel 47 about how God's desire is for His people to go deeper with Him, & what that looks like for us.

When we say we have faith, we mean we trust that something is worth our lives; but is that what faith looks like in the church today? We often struggle in faith because we don't trust that God is worth it. This is where Ecclesiastes starts in ch.1: that God made us to know Him in all things over knowing HOW all things work.

What do we make of Christ's resurrection? This was a struggle for the Corinthian church, who often downplayed Christ being raised-to-life in their life & theology. It might sound crazy, but as we dive into the first half of 1 Corinthians 15, we're not that different! Paul challenges us in 15:1-34 that we live united in Christ by our hope in the gospel as He resurrects us into His life.

How do we use our spiritual gifts? Our traditional model has usually been to, A) figure out what they are, and B) look for ways to exercise them as much as possible. But Paul's letter to the Corinthians places a discussion on using the gifts AFTER discussing love & in context of unity: could our model of using spiritual gifts need an adjustment. 1 Cor. 14 shows how unity in Christ means we exercise our spiritual gifts to build up believers & unbelievers to worship God.

Paul finishes up his letter by bringing it full circle: he started by showing the Corinthians how they divided on how to invest their faith. Now, he clarifies how unity in Christ drives how we live out our faith: we invest Christ's life by giving missionally in the church, encouraging others, & following those imitating Jesus.

Is it possible that Jesus can be our Savior but not our Lord? Yes; in fact, not only was the Corinthian church struggling with this, but many Christians today continue to do so. Paul encourages us to live united in this: we share in receiving God's life through Jesus our Savior & discipleship in this life following Jesus our Lord.

Many Christians today have a hard time with understanding the role of love in our faith. To some, love is weak; to others, it's tolerance & acceptance. Maybe we don't understand His love? How does God's love shape the unity we have in Christ? Our love for God & others becomes our motivation, character, & eternal pursuit.

As we've been talking about Christ being our measuring stick for unity in 1 Corinthians 12, what does that look like practically in our work & service in God's kingdom? What do we work toward? And what is our reward? NRF Elder and Minister of Worship & Admin John Marshal leads us in a special deep dive into the scriptures to build out some answers.

How do we find unity when we're constantly bombarded at how different everyone else is for us? This isn't just a modern problem: it's the situation the Corinthian church wrestled with too: one that Paul addresses in ch.11 to show unity in Christ focuses us on who are in Christ instead of how we're different on earth.

How do we measure unity in Christ? The answer to this is highly important because it drives what we work toward in our faith: and what we lead others to work toward. Paul exhorts the Corinthians that unity in Christ is measured by how His life is being reproduced in ourselves and others.

In honor of Father's Day, guest pastor Bob Jackson (retired church planter & pastor, former interim pastor for NRF) studies some of the final words from King David to his son Solomon. These words, aimed at modeling fatherhood for children, nevertheless bring a charge to believers everywhere toward a courageous and bold faith.

How can unity bring God glory? We often believe we bring God glory by receiving what He's giving us, by what we do for Him, or in getting His life “correct.” But does this bring Him glory? God desires our relationship over transaction; presence over performance; community over correctness: because this glorifies Him.

In a world that fights for its rights to get what it needs, the church is often no exception. Don't we use our rights to make the gospel more appealing? How should the church look different? Paul shows unity in Christ means we surrender our rights for His gospel by leveraging our weaknesses & training in His image. // Closing Prayer: Valley of Vision, "A Disciple's Renewal"

Isn't it easy to live united with others today? No? Well, then we need 1 Corinthians 8. Here, Paul opens a discussion lasting through chs.9-10. If 1 Corinthians is all about what unity in Christ looks like, the center of the letter here shows how unity in Christ plays out in pursuing unity with others. Guest pastor Chris Leeper (Director, Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Radford University) shares how we need to be spiritually sensitive to others as ambassadors for Christ.

Is Christ enough for us? We may readily agree to this in theory, but our language/actions/pursuits may say otherwise. How often do we say, “I'll glorify God when I get _” or “We need to do _ to glorify God?” Paul cautions us that unity in Christ teaches us to glorify God in every season because Christ is enough for us. // Closing Prayer: Valley of Vision, "Repose"

Okay, we get what unity looks like: but how do we apply it when sin creeps in? What is God doing when He works through the church even in light of sin? Paul will show us today how the church is where sin is addressed through Christ, people are transformed by Christ, & new life is learned from Christ.