River's Edge Church

This is our first joint Sunday as one church in one location with Soma Spokane. We share a bit of the story of how our churches came together, and what it looks like to be guided by the Spirit. Future teachings can be accessed at somaspokane.org

Join as we celebrate our last Sunday as "River's Edge" before officially merging with Soma. We retold the story of the church plant and posed the question "what has River's Edge meant to you?" These were some of the answers. 

The original disciples appear to be the perfect witnesses. They have seen and experienced the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus first hand. But Jesus tells them to wait in the city until they receive the Holy Spirit.

The Hoy Spirit is speaking to all of us. But how we do discern that it's God? And how do we share in a way that's healthy?

Practicing the presence of God is not on trial. It is the secret of the saints. It is a way of life that nearly everybody knows about, and nearly everyone has ignored. But what does it mean to practice the presence of God? And how can we begin?

The Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost) is the least understood and most controversial person of the Trinity. But what does Jesus say about the Holy Spirit? Join us as we begin exploring John 14, 15, and 16 together. 

From cover to cover the Bible rings with God's desire that we would be His people, and be with Him, and He would be our God. This will ultimately be fulfilled at the end of the age, when God's Kingdom comes in full, but it was made possible when the virgin gave birth to son, Immanuel, "God with us." 

The magnificent Creator and Sustainer of the cosmos is a person we have touched in Jesus. The question this week is, "If this is true, then what did God reveal about himself?" In looking at Philippians 2, we unpack that primarily, in the person of Jesus, God reveals his nature and his mission.

The anticipation of Christmas is the time to collectively and individually “Hark!” or “Listen Up!” for the God who created the universe was made flesh and revealed himself to us through the person of Jesus. Jesus is the “exact imprint of his nature”. In this teaching, we unpack that, in doing so, Jesus makes 3 claims: An Exclusive Claim, An Inclusive Claim, and an Intrusive Claim.

Before space and time, there was God. The universe was made through Him and for Him, but as creation rejected Him, the Creator stepped into creation, to do what only a human should do, and only God could.  

Join us as we continue to cast vision for the upcoming merge with Soma. 

We are excited to announce that Soma and River's Edge will become one church in the months ahead. This is the story of how we feel the Lord brought us together.

Join us as we pray "your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it in Heaven." In Spokane, in the Philippines, and in Brazil. 

We are always called to be rooted and grounded in God, but there is a unique call to abide in Him during seasons of change, uncertainty, and loss. "Stick close to me" God says "for you have not been this way before." 

The global mission of God requires change. It always has, and always will. From Abraham, to the twelve tribes Israel, to the twelve disciples, God has constantly been calling people to leave the land they know for unknown lands. But how do we do that well? How do we become disciples who embrace and navigate change in a healthy way? 

The Deisen's share their announcement about the Philippines and the year that lies ahead. 

Join us as we interview Bryan Olson on his call to Nepal and what the Lord is doing there.

The global family of Christ has been shifting and changing since the resurrection, but it's shifting and changing again. What is the state of our global family? And what is the state of our global mission? 

Join us as we interview Cameron Oliver about his call to the nations and the United States. 

Being reborn in Christ is part of the process of being adopted into the family of God, and our identity as adopted children should change the way we live. 

Perhaps Paul's favorite term for a follower of Jesus is simply one who is "in Christ." But what does it mean to be in Christ? And what's the alternative? 

Whose stage am I on? Whose story am I living? Who am I? These are fundamental questions that every human being must wrestle with. 

Perhaps the most difficult practice, and one of the most radical, is silence and solitude. 

The Word of God represents his heart, mind and nature; his written Word (the Bible) tells us that God sends out his word in power, it upholds the Universe, and it is "alive and active" and full of truth. We humans fear being famished of water and food, but through Amos the Lord God declares of a far worse famine, one where people are famished "of hearing the words of the LORD." (v11). What is the result? Wandering, faintness, falling. In today's teaching, we are encouraged to leave deceptive idols, broken cisterns, and the patterns of the world and find satisfaction in the Word of Life.

One of the primary practices that Jesus taught to his apprentices was that of Prayer. In Jesus' life, it was a frequent and consistent rhythm and his constant conversation with the Father was so noticeable that his disciples came to him and said, "Teach us to pray!" This week, we unpack this core practice in the Way of Jesus and hope it encourages you.

In Job, we read of an exemplar of Faith - of a man who was afflicted by suffering, but remained as one who entrusted himself to the greatness and goodness of the LORD. Job, despite what was happening to him and all around him; despite questions that he had; and despite the accusations of his friends towards him, he maintained his integrity towards God. Looking at Job's example, whether we are in need or have plenty, sick or healthy, can we proclaim with Job and the Saints who have gone before, “I know that my redeemer lives.”?

A key element of the Church, the community of Jesus' Followers into his Way, is the habitual practice of forgiving and being forgiven. We follow Jesus' example of living and walking in forgiveness. He demonstrated forgiveness perfectly - He entrusted himself to the Father and bore on himself the penalty meant for us. Forgiveness is foundational to the lavish grace of the Gospel. We love each other, bear with each other, and forgive each other because He first did so.

Central to the Way of Jesus is the practice of reading and meditating on the Scriptures - the Written Word of God. Jesus, as he brought a new covenant and a new Way, did not do away with this key element Jewish culture, but fully embodied it. He not only embraced the Jewish Scriptures, but fully internalized them, meditated on them, memorized them. In a world today where truth is relevant and circumstantial; where we long to know Yahweh, walk with him, and obey him; and where we recognize that what we give our attention to changes us, the invitation to consistently meditate on the Scriptures is as relevant now as it ever has been.

The context in which we live as apprentices of Jesus is in a new Family. In our world, we have torn and corrupted images of family, yet what is offered to us through Jesus is a new Family, with a perfect Father, and a Spirit that unifies and unites us. In this new, diverse, multi-ethnic Family, we learn more fully what Jesus is like, we get to more completely love him, and we learn more intimately what it means to love one another.

As we continue our study in the Practices of the Way of Jesus, we focus this week on a Practice that is seen tucked between the lines of scripture. We understandably become focused on the ‘what' of Jesus' life and ministry and we often overlook the ‘how' - How did he go about his life? His ministry? Looking at his lifestyle, we see that Jesus lived with a pace or cadence of life that allowed him to love God and others perfectly, be attentive to the Father and the world around him, be interrupted, and be fully intentional in everything he did and said. This pace of life - very slow by our standards - is difficult yet refreshing for us in our cultural moment of speed and hurry.

In our current study on the Practices in the Way of Jesus, we come to Fasting. Jesus did it, his followers fasted, when speaking to the crowd, he assumed they did it. Why? What is it about fasting and why does it find itself in the Judea-Christian tradition? Why is fasting a key element in many other religions and world traditions? Even if we can answer these in theory, how does Jesus say we are supposed to fast? We explore these elements in this week's teaching.

We pause and reflect this week on the reality that we can get caught up in the Practices of Jesus and end up striving in them apart from Jesus. Bryan Olsen, sharing from Nepal, encourages us that in the practices we yield our hearts to the Lord, letting him have his way.

Jesus came declaring, “The Kingdom of the Heavens is in your midst!” This is the Good News: the abundant, never-ceasing, God-intended life is available and as Jesus' followers, we get to share this Good News! As Paul described it, we are the “aroma” or “fragrance” of Christ in our World. Looking at the life of Jesus, how do we follow our Teacher and Master into sharing this Good News?

As we continue in our study on the practice of Sabbath, we want to take the time and get highly practical: How in our modern day do we lean into this discipline that has been practiced for millennia? In short, each of us does it differently. Today's discussion surrounding Sabbath is a panel of Jesus' followers giving their perspectives and what they have learned in regard to practicing the Sabbath.

As followers of Jesus, on this side of the resurrection, our question when it comes to the Sabbath is often, "Do we need or have to practice the Sabbath?" Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Jesus' contemporaries needed to hear that man was not made for the Sabbath - could we argue that we need to hear the first part of Jesus' statement: that Sabbath was made for man? We explore what Sabbath is and why we Sabbath and how Sabbath is a gift to be enjoyed.

What we do does something to us. Intuitively, we know this. Whether we are intentional about it or not, each of us are being spiritually formed by our repeated rhythms, habits and practices. As followers of Jesus, our desire is to be transformed into his likeness, and thus, we exercise disciplines (or practices) for life in the Spirit. These practices (or habits) are components that make up a “Rule of Life” - a “trellis” or framework in which we practically follow Jesus in the day-to-day.

As apprentices of Jesus, we hold that our aim is to be with our Rabbi Jesus, to be like him, and to do what we see him doing. We must bring into focus, however, that before we move on to doing - the practices, the disciplines - we have to conceptualize the "why". And it is this: our first and ultimate aim is to be with Him.

Of all the practices we can adopt from the life of Jesus, one of the most important is silence and solitude, and time spent “in the desert.” This soft start to the series also functions as Matt Deisen's farewell as they head into their time of sabbatical.

The Gospel of John doesn't end the way we would expect, and instead of the ascension or another miracle, the final story is devoted to Jesus telling Peter what lies ahead on his journey of discipleship, and (if we live long enough) what lies ahead for us.

After the resurrection, Peter returns to fishing, likely carrying the weight of denying Jesus three times. But one day Jesus appears to them again, and restores Peter back to Himself. Join as we hear David Dailey's story of being restored back to Jesus.

After Jesus breathes his last, two hidden disciples step boldly out of the shadows to give him a burial fit for a king. And this burial is important to dwell on because Scripture says that you were buried with him.

Before taking the body of Jesus down from the cross, a Roman soldier thrusts a spear through Jesus' side and up into his heart. As the spear is removed, blood and water begin to flow out. But where does the water come from? And what is the significance of the blood and the water for our lives today?

As Jesus dies on the cross, he says to John and his mother (Mary), “mother, here is your son, and son, here is your mother.” Not only is Jesus very practically ensuring that his mother is cared for in his absence, he's also highlighting the profound reality that a new family is being formed at the cross.

As Jesus breathes his last, he announces “it is finished.” But did Jesus mean? And what has he accomplished?

Having struggled through their own trail, the Jewish leaders now hand Jesus over to Pilate (the Roman governor). But in an ironic twist, the Roman occupier tries repeatedly to set Jesus free, while the Jewish leaders refuse to back down.

Peter acts as we expect - he operates in the Kingdom of the world, in fear, self-protecting and reacting. Jesus operates as we wouldn't expect; he is in a different reality, the Kingdom of Heaven. He is abiding in the perfect love of the Father, and it drives out all fear. Thus, he can give his life away. He can lay it down. Because of Jesus, we too can live this reality, this existence, rooted in the Kingdom of Heaven, and we too can give our lives away.

We conclude our discussion on "unity in the church" with the topic of racial unity. What's the state of racial unity in the church? What's holding us back? And where do we go from here? Join us for an interview with Rodney McAuley, director of the Bridge Project, followed by a time of Q&A   Recommended Resources: - Reading While Black, Esau McCaulley - How to Fight Racism, Jemar Tisby - Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative (eji.org) - Anti-racism discipleship pathways

Politics has become as source of bitter division in our culture, and that division comes to bear on the church as well. But how are we to navigate the toxic world of politics as followers of Jesus? Can we experience what Jew and Gentile experienced in the first century?

Jesus prays that His disciples would be one, as He and the Father are one. Join us as we explore hurdles to (and possibilities for) unity in the church; socio-economic unity, political unity, and racial unity. 

As Jesus ends his final discourse with his disciples, he prays to be glorified. But what is the glory of God, and how is it on display on the cross?

As Jesus finishes instructing his disciples, he tells them that their immediate future - and in a sense their lives - will be a mix of grief and joy, until they see him again face to face, and no one will be able to take their joy from them. But what happens when we reject this truth? What happens when we think life has no joy? Or that life should be only joy?