Waterbrooke Christian Church

This summer, we will begin our summer sermon series called “Summer of Love: How God's Love Compels Us to Love Others.” Waterbrooke's mission statement reads: “Waterbrooke seeks to be a gospel-centered, multi-ethnic community that is captivated by Christ, compelled to love others, and called to make disciples to the glory of God.” How do we as Waterbrooke Church grow in God's love and grace such that it is our Holy Spirit-given impulse to reach out to love others not because of anything in them, but because of Christ in us? Jesus clearly said in John 13:34-35 that the driving force of love in the lives of Christians should be the mark that clearly distinguishes us from the world around us. He declared, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this will all people know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Join us in praying that the Spirit of God would grow us in our knowledge of Jesus' love for us so that we might be genuinely compelled to love others and so glorify our good and gracious King! Looking forward to growing together with you this summer! Connect with us today!

This week, we'll begin a four-part journey through the Old Testament book of Jonah.  I know you may be thinking, "what can we possibly learn about this book that we haven't already learned from VeggieTales" but, believe me, the depths of God's grace are deeper than the waters from which Jonah cried out to God for mercy; and this, as we'll see this Sunday, is a message that the world desperately needs to hear...it's a message that Jonah needed to hear...it's a message that we need to hear. In Christ, Andy Keppel, Elder

View & Download NOTES This Sunday, May 11th, was Mother's Day. Interestingly, the background to our study in Acts 12 is that a prayer meeting is being held at the home of a mother -  John Mark's mother. It reminds us that so often in life, somewhere in the background a mom has been praying, and women have been faithfully praying not only for their families but for the family of God.  Acts 12 is a time of great persecution against the Christians in Jerusalem. One of the apostles, James, is executed by Herod Agrippa. Peter, the apostle, is arrested and faces the same threat. The Christians in Jerusalem are obviously rattled by these events. Yet, it's clear that God is not rattled at all. The God to whom we pray in times of deep crisis is clearly on the throne. His purposes are being advanced. He will build his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  Prayer is driven by an awareness that there is no event in our lives that is outside of the Father's providence and will not ultimately work for the glory of God and the good of His people. It's not the disciples who are at risk here but God's enemies. Prayer is meant to be a sanctuary for the people of God. It is a haven of rest in the storms of life where we are reminded that God has us and will not let us go.  This Sunday's message is called, Our Unshakable God. Let's come and sing, celebrate, and recalibrate our hearts around the truth that in our darkest moments and uncertain times, God is unshakable.  In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

This Sunday, studied Acts 11. This is a crucial chapter in the progress of King Jesus' mission to advance His kingdom to the ends of the earth. The mission of the gospel takes a decisively new direction for mission: the Gentile world. The center for missionary activity shifts from Jerusalem to Antioch. Adjustments to expectations need to happen everywhere.  If there is anything that is true about the mission of God and the Christian life, it is this: Expect the Unexpected. Most of us don't like an unpredictable life. We resist adaptation and change, but when God is on the move, we need to be ready. As the old gospel goes: “When the Spirit says move, you gotta move.”      The reality of the Christian life is that God often works in ways that we never expected, and we would rather not go. He moves us out of our comfort and into his transformative mission, where He changes the world while He transforms us. Amy Carmichael, the famous missionary to India, once prayed this prayer: “Do anything, Lord, that will fit me to serve Thee and help my beloveds.” Her heart's desire was to go to China with China Inland Mission. Little did she know that she would end up spending most of her life in India ministering to young Hindu children who were rescued from a life of servitude in Hindu Temples. Her life was a series of twists and turns that eventually led to her being housebound and bedridden for the last two decades of her life, simply writing and praying. And what an incredible influence her prayers and writings had on generations of missionaries.      Friends, the great comfort in our lives is not that life goes the way that we had expected. The great comfort is that God has gone before us and will go before us and lead the way. This Sunday, our sermon is called “The Lord Who Goes Before You.” I hope and pray that this will comfort those of you who are in tough places in life and will invigorate all of us as a church community, knowing that our God is a missionary God and He is already ahead of us for the sake of His kingdom cause. We can trust and follow Him.     In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor   Join us this coming Sunday - Outdoor Service at 10am - 1 Service only.  Bring a chair and/or a blanket to sit on lakeside!

One of the great missionaries in church history was Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Mission (1832-1905). Taylor was famous for his impact on global missions. One of the things that stood out about Hudson Taylor was his commitment to what is called “Indigeneity.” He wanted the gospel to go to the Chinese people and make them Christians in the truest sense. He didn't want cultural adaptation but true gospel transformation. He said wanted: “Christian Chinese—true Christians, but Chinese in every sense of the word.” If you ever saw pictures of Hudson Taylor, you will know that he went out of his way not to bend others to his culture but to bend himself to the culture of the Chinese in order that they might come to know Christ. If there was going to be cultural adaptation, it would be on his part. This reminds me of the apostle Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 9, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means, I might win some.” This Sunday's sermon is taken from Acts 10:1-48 and is called “Becoming All Things.”    Looking forward to seeing you next Sunday and worshipping Christ together with you! Invite a friend!   In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

Here at Waterbrooke, we have been studying the New Testament book of Acts. This Sunday, we are in Acts 9:32-43 as we celebrate Easter Sunday and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The entire book of Acts is both a demonstration and a defense of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Dr. Brandon Crowe from Westminster Theological Seminary writes: “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the key emphases of Acts, and this helps us appreciate the theological unity of the entire book.” I would say that the resurrection is THE key emphasis of the book of Acts. The resurrected Christ has transformed His timid disciples into bold apostles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their changed lives and their bold ministries are proof of the resurrection. The pouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is proof that Jesus is both risen and reigning. The conversion of multitudes of people is proof of the power of the risen Christ, beginning to change humanity. Saul of Tarsus' radical conversion is clearly declared to have happened because of his encounter with the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus. For Luke, every advancement of the kingdom of God into the nations is proof of the resurrected Christ. Acts displays what Jesus continued to do as the risen and reigning Savior and King to advance His kingdom and to bring the nations to Himself. The resurrection has changed everything! C.S. Lewis wrote in his book Miracles, “To preach Christianity meant (to the Apostles) primarily to preach the Resurrection. … The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts. The Resurrection and its consequences were the ‘gospel' or good news which the Christians brought.” (Miracles, ch. 16) This Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection and reminded ourselves what it is that we are declaring when we announce and rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Friends, Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Our message is called: What the Resurrection Changes! Let's rejoice this Sunday with great rejoicing and sing and declare with confidence that His resurrection changes everything for good! Looking forward to celebrating Easter with you! Invite your family and friends to celebrate with us! In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

I have said repeatedly that one of the joys that I get from being pastor of Waterbrooke Church is how many people are on mission together in our congregation. Whether it is locally or globally, Waterbrooke has continually had people who go into prisons, or motorcycle venues or restaurants and bars or to the nations to share Christ. We have people reaching Asia and people serving in women's centers and women's prisons. The One of the new exciting ministries that we have begun is the Refugee Ministry Team that is currently begun to serve an Afghani family. Many of you are truly seeking to be a light in your workplaces, neighborhoods and homes. In our passage this week, Acts 9:26-31, Luke shows that missions happens because of the local church and the local church grows through missionary engagement. Missionary Mack Stiles who along with his wife have served in church ministry in Dubai and in Iraq was once asked by an individual here in America, “What can we do for you, Mack?” Mack replied, “The best thing that you can do for me,” I said, “is to make sure you keep your church healthy. I can't do the work there if churches are unhealthy here.” This Sunday, our sermon was called Church and Missions: Advancing Together. God really is up to something fantastic and I pray the Holy Spirit will encourage us at Waterbrooke with His vision for the church and for the nations. To Find out more about Waterbrooke Church - Go www.waterbrooke.church

View Sermon Notes Have you ever been really wrong? I mean really, really wrong? Have you ever been outspoken or opinionated about a subject and then made a huge discovery that radically shifted your position? Imagine in our ongoing study of the book of Acts, just what it must have been like for Saul of Tarsus. In an instant, on the road to Damascus, Saul discovered that he was completely wrong about Jesus. Imagine how that felt. He had not only been outspoken against the Church and its message about Christ, but he was violent in his opposition to Jesus. He had approved of the stoning of Stephen to death. He had arrested and beaten and imprisoned numerous men and women. He had threatened many and was bent on stomping out this movement called, The Way. Then, he met Jesus. And he realized that he was wrong. All discipleship begins with an acknowledgment: I was wrong. Really wrong. For some, we have to acknowledge that our lives were filled with sin and willful rebellion. For others, like Saul, our lives were filled with hypocritical religion and self-righteous superiority. We were wrong about ourselves. We were really blind to the depth of our need for Christ. Conversion (coming to faith in Jesus) begins the process of a radical reorienting our lives around the truth of who Jesus Christ really is and why we need Him so much. We need deep and perpetual recalibration.   That's our sermon title for this week: Radical Re-formation: How the Truth of Christ Changes Us and Keeps Changing Us for the Rest of Our Lives. I think this is deeply encouraging as we discover that we are all in the School of Christ if we are believers and because of His forgiveness and grace, we can continue to learn what it means to live our lives by faith in Him. Looking forward to worshipping with you this Sunday. Invite a friend. Christ is worthy of our praise!

Welcome our Guest speaker,  Mark Evans, as he brings us the word Mark 12:28-34

When we come across “what can man do to me” in our Bible reading, it sounds a little flippant doesn't it? Men and women do an awful lot of terrible things to other men and women. There is plenty to fear in this fallen world. But this phrase came from David while people were actively chasing him with the intent to kill him. How can he say such a thing? Stop running for a second and you will see what man can do to you! One of the wonderful things about the Psalms is how honest they are about the struggles of life. In Psalm 56 we'll see the hero David, of “David and Goliath” fame, admitting he's afraid of very real and present danger. But we'll also see how David doesn't rely on his ingenuity, strength, or past successes to alleviate his fear, instead he runs to the God who has rescued him time and time again. Join us Sunday to learn from David how to deal with the fears in your own life, even if you aren't being actively chased by people trying to kill you.   In Christ, Kevin Campbell, Elder

Our sermon this Sunday was called “Two Blind Men”. In Acts 9:1-18, we will see the radical conversion of a Christ-hating Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus. The conversion is so stunning that Ananias, a relatively anonymous Christ-loving disciple at Damascus, has trouble getting his head around it. Yet, Christ chose Ananias to be the very instrument he wanted to bring Saul to Christ and to commission Saul for the mission of the gospel.     Here is something that we perpetually need to get our heads and hearts around: Unlikely people are used by Christ to save unlikely people and to set them on mission for the gospel. Christ purposely chooses the nobodies of this world to advance the kingdom of His Son. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 reveals how this shaped Paul's understanding of how God does his mission: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human might boast in the presence of God.” Do you actually believe this? Do you believe that Christ uses weak and broken people and nobodies to advance his eternal kingdom? Does it excite you? Does it make you expect the unexpected to happen?    Come this Sunday as we watch God work His weird and wonderful way of salvation to the surprise of two completely unsuspecting men. May it cause us to rejoice at God's ways and to begin to expect God to do the unexpected in and through our lives. See you Sunday. Bring a friend. God is so good! In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

In the book of Acts, Luke is reinforcing for us what he repeatedly emphasized in the gospel of Luke: Our God has come to rescue and to restore the outcast and the sinner. It is one of the most beautiful truths of the Christian faith that God loved us while we were yet sinners. God seeks to restore those who have rebelled against him and those who have been really far from Him. God saves the least likely. Over the next few Sundays, we are going to see in the book of Acts how God saves individuals who are outsiders and/or really deep sinners (ie.,Saul of Tarsus). Up until now, the stories of conversion to the Christian faith have been groups of people turning to Christ from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria. Now, God goes after individuals who would be seen as far outside the circle of His people or far from any hope of coming to faith in Jesus Christ. It is meant to be a gamechanger for the church. God loves to save the outsider, the outcast, the sinner. It's a gamechanger for those who feel that their sin and brokenness make the thought of full acceptance hard for them to imagine. Yet, that's the gospel. God seeks and saves the lost and the least likely. He loves to do that. As Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:10 “Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people.” Come this Sunday, as we study Acts 8:26-40. Our message is called, “The God of the Outcast.” Come if you feel alone and isolated and forsaken. It will encourage you. Come if you feel safe and at home with God. It will change the way that you see the world and I pray that it will put strong hope in your hearts for the mission of God in the world where you live and serve everyday. We will be taking communion together as a family. Come and be encouraged and invite a friend. In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

This Sunday, we studied Acts 8:1-25. After the stoning of Stephen, absolute mayhem breaks out. Acts 8:3 reads, “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” Isn't that awful and yet wonderful at the same time? What is happening is traumatic to those believers yanked out of their homes and thrown into prison. But… what is clear is that God is up to something. He has plans for that persecutor of the church, Saul of Tarsus. Saul is in God's sights. There is a simple principle that you and I need to grasp as disciples of Jesus: The mission of the church always happens in the midst of the mayhem and madness of the world. But more importantly, the mayhem and madness of the world must always serve the mission of the church and its Master, King Jesus.  What difference would it make in our lives if we, as Christians, saw all the uncontrollable and often incredibly difficult situations in our lives and ministries as ultimately having to serve the purpose of the cause of the kingdom of Christ? How would your life look if you lived with a curious and sometimes befuddled confidence that God must be up to something? What if, under our confusion at God's ways, there was a confidence that God works all things together for the good of those that love him and are called according to His purpose? This Sunday's message is called “Mighty to Save”. Acts 8 is meant to be perspective-shifting and hope-giving to each of us as Christians. God is not caught off guard. God is not struggling to solve our problems. God is not reacting to the unknown. God is sovereignly advancing His mission His way for His glory. Come Sunday, and be encouraged. Bring a friend too! Let's worship Jesus! In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

One of the things that we regularly see in the customer service industry is articles on how to improve customer response times. For example, in one study, it was revealed that 70% of the people who evaluated customer service said that the quicker a business responded and resolved customer issues dictated whether they were viewed as having good quality customer service. Your response times indicated how valuable your customers were to you. This Sunday, our message was from Acts 7:17-43, we are not going to talk about improving customer response times. We are going to look at improving our Christ response times. In Luke 19, there is this great story of Zaccheus, a tax collector, climbing up in a tree to see Jesus as he passed by in the crowds. Luke writes, “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.' So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully” (Luke 19:5-6). That picture is a picture of someone who is eager to receive Christ and to follow Him. To hurry to be with Jesus and to joyfully receive Him.   Are you eager to follow Christ? Are you going out of your way to get above the crowd and the noise to see him and to hear him? How is your Christ response time? Come this Sunday as our sermon is called Improving our Responsiveness to Jesus. I think you will find it encouraging and helpful.    In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

This Sunday's sermon was called “The Teachable Disciple”. We will be studying Acts 7:9-16. As Stephen preaches his sermon to the hostile crowd of religious leaders and Greek-speaking Jews, he begins with these words, “Brothers and fathers, hear me.” My good friend Bill likes to say “Listen to me now. Hear me later.” Hearing means more than listening. It is leaning in with a teachable and humble heart. It is a willingness to learn and to be taught the word of God, the will of God, the ways of God. Discipleship by its very definition is living a life of perpetual listening and learning. Discipleship is actually a life of learning how to listen to the truth of Christ, to hear, and to follow. One of the great criticisms of the people of Israel down through its history is that they were ever “hearing but not understanding.” How about you? Have you stopped hearing God speak to your life? What is the posture of your everyday following of Christ? Have you arrived and have nothing left to learn or is everyday a day the adventure of growing to know and to love Jesus more and more? Come this Sunday and pray that God would give all of us a teachable spirit. May that teachable spirit be not just for Sunday but for the rest of our lives as God's people.  In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor Find out more about Waterbrooke Church at www.waterbrooke.church

There is a huge difference between religion and discipleship. Religion often looks for symbols, traditions, rules, buildings, and physical locations to get one's sense of identity and religious security. Discipleship is living out one's already existent identity and security in Christ in the adventure of faith and obedience. In the book of Acts, the disciples are perpetually under pressure and on the move. They often look like they are the ones being threatened but they are actually living in the freedom and the security of Christ. As we will see this weekend, one of the greatest examples in the New Testament of the journey of faith is a very old, Old Testament character, Abraham. The life of Abraham helps Stephen in his journey as a disciple in Christ. Abraham shows us that the life of faith looks for its rest and joy and confidence not in the law, not in the temple, but in the God who called him. Our hope is in the Lord in the same way.   Come this Sunday and may the Lord encourage us together on the adventure of discipleship – following Christ in His mission on the way to the promised land. Our passage will be taken from Acts 7:1-8.  Pray for God's presence and power to be with us all. In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

This Sunday, we will continued our study of the Book of Acts in Acts 6:8-15. Our sermon is called “Full of Grace and Power.” The gospel of the kingdom of God is now about to advance into the Gentile (non-Jewish) world. Monumental advances in the mission of the kingdom of Christ are about to happen. What we will see here is that the mission of God rarely advances in the book of Acts without significant resistance. Or better said, God often uses resistance to direct the advancement of His Kingdom and reveal His glory not only to those who are witnesses to the events happening but those who are His witnesses. Stephen, one of the first deacons of the early church, is going to experience God like never before. This is not the story of how Stephen changed the trajectory of the church. This is how God changed the trajectory of Stephen's life and how in so doing, God advanced his mission in the world. God's people experience His power, His wisdom, and His glory simply by faithfully serving on mission. Do you want more than a head knowledge of the Lord? Do you want to experience God in a way that is real and powerful and life-changing? Let's study this text together and pray for God to show us and others the glory of Jesus.  In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

This Sunday's message was from Acts 6:1-7,  is called God's Providence in Our Problems. One of the foundational convictions of the apostles in the early church is that Jesus is both Lord and Savior of the church. That means, Jesus is not just the subject of the mission. He is the Director of the mission. He isn't just the Savior of His people. He is the Sovereign over all things. He is large and in charge.   In last Sunday's passage, Acts 5:30-31, Peter speaks to the religious leaders in Jerusalem and he says “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” The book of Acts is not the book of Accidents.  It is the story of the mission of Christ. King Jesus is building his church and even the problems aren't problems for him. They are predestined for the salvation of souls and the expansion of His kingdom. This is super helpful to us as his people. Life is full of disappointments and failures and events that we would never choose. The church is so often palpably struggling. Yet, God chooses to work in a way that is so different than any of us would work. He does this so that we might see that salvation completely belongs to the Lord. It helps us to recognize that He is gloriously God and we are definitely not. Thank God for that!   The apostle Paul in Romans 11 puts it this way: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Come this Sunday and be reminded that Christ is a solid hope and his kingdom is a sure thing in a world of perplexities and problems. This is such a comfort. It is such a hope.  In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

This Sunday, we continued our study of the book of Acts. As it is the beginning of a New Year, there are several things from this passage that I think will be super helpful as we consider how to approach discipleship in 2025. It is clear that the mission of the early church happened in a less than friendly environment.  The apostles were repeatedly threatened and often imprisoned and yet, they are not only able to persevere, they thrive! It's clear that the twists and turns and the disappointments and failures of ministry as broken people in a broken world are not hindrances to the gospel or to their growth. God's mission is to advance his kingdom further out into the world and further into the disciples' hearts.  Are you wanting to grow as a Christian? Is 2025 a year where you want to grow in your knowledge and love of Jesus? Acts 5 teaches us that discipleship is the deep and ongoing work of God in the lives his people that happens through the medium of His mission in the world. When God works through us, He also works in us. When God shows the world the glory of Jesus through His people, He also shows the glory of Jesus to His people. Our sermon is called “All for the Name of Jesus” and let's pray that God will prepare us to pursue a deeper relationship with Christ this year as individuals and as a church family.  In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

We enter the new year with the last of the messages from our study in Colossians. In this section, Paul closes out his letter to the church in Colossae and sends regards from the believers in prison with him in Rome. While we might be tempted to skip over a list of names like this, each one represents a unique story of salvation and faithfulness which helps us understand our own realities and relationships in light of the Gospel.   The good news of Jesus and His love for us fuels a passion for relationships in a world of shallow or apathetic friendships and gives meaning to our labors; it's not just a meaningless grind, everything and everyone is a mission field (including us!)

A lot of times, especially as we head into a new year, we tend to not look back over the previous one. That's usually because we don't like to think about the struggles we've experienced or are still experiencing. Join us this Sunday as we look at Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians, where he encourages the believers in Thessalonica to live with an attitude of thankfulness even in the midst of our struggles.

This sermon is called “A Christ-Centered Christmas.” It's meant to be a very practical message on how to negotiate your way through the next few weeks as a disciple of Jesus. The Christmas season offers many of us the opportunity to be together with people, family, and friends, with whom we often don't usually have the time just to have an extended hang out. It really is a privilege to be with people we love. Yet, for many, this can be challenging for numerous reasons. Painful histories. Current conflicts. Differing beliefs. There are some who would suggest that it is best to avoid such potentially hazardous situations. However, Christmas is a time to take up your cross and follow Jesus. It is time to grow and to show that our lives are not our own but belong to Him. My prayer for you is that each of us would find a way to really make Christmas about Christ - not just in the songs we sing and the words that we say but in the sacrifices and the selflessness that Christ showed when He came to earth and became one of us.  Let's pray that this Christmas would be powerfully Christi-centered.  Join us on Christmas Eve as we celebrate Jesus' birth at 5:30PM

Christmas can be one of those profoundly lonely seasons for people. Grief, abandonment, job changes, personal moral failure, political and global turmoil can leave a person feeling deeply alone and acutely isolated even in the hustle and bustle of the season. In John's gospel, we encounter several people who feel long forgotten. For example, in John 5, the apostle John describes a man who was paralyzed. He was lying beside a pool that was supposed to provide healing waters. John writes, “One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?” Jesus saw him lying there.  This is no accidental encounter. He knew that he had been there a long time. The man replied, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool…”. Do you hear that? I have no one. This man was deeply alone until Jesus showed up. Be sure of this, Jesus didn't just show up. He came for this man … just like, He came for us. Friends, the story of Christmas, the story of the incarnation, is the remarkable truth that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God saw us. God came to us. God came for us!  As we celebrate Advent, we are going to rejoice in the glorious truth that “The Word Became Flesh.” I can assure you today that we are no longer alone, unseen, or forgotten. The message of the Incarnation declares to you that God sees you. God knows you. God, in Christ, has come for you. The theme for Advent this week is joy.  Let's gather together in the Word becoming flesh for you and for me! Blessings from Pastor Kevin! Join us on Christmas Eve as we celebrate Jesus.  5:30PM

“In the beginning was the Word…” Jesus is the One that gives everything its meaning, its purpose, its life. He is the Source, Center, the Goal, the Gift. Jesus isn't merely the “Reason for the season.” Jesus is the Reason for everything. “God knows how much we need the creation-to-destiny themes of the biblical narrative in order to make sense of our lives, so he lovingly gives those dominant themes right up front… Since God created us to be meaning-makers, he immediately presents us with the wonderful and awful realities that we need to understand in order to make proper sense of who we are and what life is really all about.” Paul David Tripp

This Sunday, our message is taken from Acts 5:1-16. The title of the sermon is “A Necessary Dose of Holy Fear.” We often lose sight of the holiness of God. In our busy lives, we can simply begin to take God for granted and forget that the God we serve is the God who is real. He is “holy, holy, holy”. He is not a good luck charm or an add-on to our list of priorities. He is not the genie in the bottle of our earthly ambitions. He is the One who calls all the nations to bow their knee and surrender their lives to His chosen King, our King, Jesus. He is Yahweh, the Lord God. In Acts 5, we will see a married couple, Ananias and Sapphira, live like God isn't really holy or truly present. They offer the apostles a very generous gift but they lie about the amount. They pretend that they are giving God everything when they are only giving God a portion. They forget that God isn't an idol. He is real. So, they learn the hard way that God is not mocked. Friends, we do this. It is easy for us to drift towards God as a conceptual idea rather than a very real present and a truly Holy God. We need the reminder that God is real.  God won't be dismissed. God won't be treated like all the gods of the nations. He is the true and holy God. So, here for the sake of His glory and for the good of the church, and for the advance of His mission, God reminds them that He is who He is. This Sunday, we are going to look at this text and ask God to remind us to live before Him in holy fear. We will see that holy fear is not only right but it is good. We all need a good dose of holy fear for our joy and for His glory. Looking forward to Sunday. We are taking the Lord's Supper so prepare your hearts and invite a friend. Pray for one another.   Join us for Christmas Eve Service at Waterbrooke Church - 5:30PM - Details

This Sunday's sermon was called “Unintimidated”. In Acts 4:32-37, we see the fruit of the collective praying of the early church disciples. The number of the disciples had been growing rapidly. There were now at least 5000 of them (Acts 4:4). With that growth, there came an increased opposition from the temple leaders. The chief priests, the Sadducees, and the temple guard arrested Peter and John and threatened them. Their goal was to stomp out this fast-spreading fire quickly. They hoped to do what they had done earlier. Fill the disciples with fear and watch them scatter. Instead, the opposite happened.  The church immediately went to prayer (Acts 4:23-31). As a response to prayer, the Holy Spirit filled them and the place where they were gathered was shaken. Interestingly, the Holy Spirit didn't change the religious leaders' threats. The Holy Spirit changed the church. What the Lord intended was to create a community that had fear-resistant characteristics.  The community was now characterized by something that the fear of man could not threaten.  We studied how the Holy Spirit uses the gospel to produce in us the opposite of what fear intends to produce and that creates a community that cannot be intimidated. Pray for God to build these characteristics into our lives at Waterbrooke Church and to build a movement of grace that reaches far beyond the walls of our church building.  Thank you for listening today, friends.  If you want to connect with me or our church, go to waterbrooke.church and click contact Us. Download the Sermon notes HERE Watch this Message HERE

This Sunday, we examined the subject of praying for courage as we seek to share the hope of Jesus with others.  In Acts 4, Peter and John are remarkably bold in speaking about Christ to the religious leaders who are threatening them. These are the very same religious leaders who had recently arranged and successfully carried out the crucifixion of Jesus.  The boldness of the disciples was not natural.  It was supernatural. The timid Galilean disciples had recently fled in fear. Now, they faced the threats of the religious leaders with amazing courage (Acts 4:13). So much so, that even their enemies were blown away. What we see after this, however, is that Peter and John immediately went back to the others and they joined together in prayer. No bravado. No “We showed them!” No post-touchdown taunting in the end zone. Courage required the help of the community, and specifically, the help of a community on its knees. Courage in evangelism is a gift from God.   Let's learn how "Praying Together for Courage" (our sermon title) is one of the core privileges God has given us as His people with one another.  Let's worship our King Jesus.  Remember, He reigns! Pastor Kevin Dibbley To find out more about Waterbrooke Church, please go to www.waterbrooke.church.

This Sunday's sermon is entitled "Uncommon Courage." If there is any chapter that indicates a radical shift in the lives of Jesus' disciples, it's Acts 4. Luke writes in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” The religious leaders were astonished at the change in Peter and John! They had gone from fearful cowards to openly courageous evangelists.  This Sunday, we will looked at how the Holy Spirit transforms God's people so that we can't help but share the greatest part of our lives – Jesus, crucified, risen, and reigning! Let's pray for Holy Spirit birthed boldness for each of us as we seek to be God's witnesses to a world in need of Jesus!    Pastor Kevin Dibbley We would love to invite you to join us on Sundays at 9 & 11. Go to Waterbrooke.church and click "Plan a Visit"

This Sunday's sermon was taken from Acts 3.  Luke recounts the story of the first healing miracle in the Book of Acts. Peter and John encounter a lame man who is begging for alms at a place in the temple called “The Beautiful Gate.”    Here's the great news: Jesus is the Beautiful Gate opening to a glorious new creation. That lame man represents all of us spiritually. More than just us, the lame man represents a lame world.    Sin has broken us.   It has deeply shattered the world.    But with the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, everything is about to change. Sin has been defeated. Christ has been exalted. He is now making all things beautiful through the gospel.    The gospel is not just the announcement of sin being forgiven. It is the glorious news of God's cosmic restoration project. For our world where sin and war and trauma and brokenness dominate the horizons of our lives, the gospel is really gloriously good news. Come as we listen to the apostle Peter preach his second sermon in the book of Acts and as he announces how great the good news is and how we can be a part of it as His people. Our sermon is called Repentance and Restoration. Join us on Sundays at 9 and 11. Pray and bring a friend.  Plan a visit by going to waterbrooke.church

When Christ takes hold of our hearts, the Holy Spirit doesn't produce a reluctantly obedient group of people who are dutifully carrying out a list of religious behaviors. The Holy Spirit creates a new community with a shared passion for Christ and the kingdom of God. Life in the Spirit flows out into life in community with God's people. It is supernaturally “natural” for Christ followers to want to do life together. This explains why genuine Christians often struggle. The busyness and noise of life often work in counter purposes to what our new covenant hearts desire and what the Spirit is calling us to – a deeper relationship with God through deeper relationships with one another. Come as we witness in Acts 2 how the Holy Spirit produces a deep devotion to growing and going together as God's new temple community. We are His temple indwelled by His Spirit and His Spirit builds His church by bringing us to share life in Christ together. If you are in Christ and the Spirit of Christ resides in you this is what you were made for – Life Together. Pray for a real work of grace in all of us as we meet and worship our Lord and King together. 

This Sunday we studied one of the most exciting passages and important passages in the New Testament. Acts 2 records the crucial event of Pentecost. God Himself shows up big time and the trajectory of human history is now and forever changed. God is here. God is on the move. God will extend his reign to the ends of the earth. Pentecost is the biggest game-changer for the church and its mission after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. God's blatant determination to usher in an age of global advancement of His kingdom has now been placed directly upon His own shoulders. Aslan is on the move!   Come and be encouraged this Sunday as we consider the historical and missional implications of Pentecost. Our sermon is called – "Pentecost: When God Came to Stay". Pray that God would grip our hearts with His unfailing commitment to claim the nations and to claim our lives for His glory. We are celebrating the Lord's Supper this week. Pray for hearts that are receptive to His Holy Spirit as we worship the King together. 

This Sunday's message is called “Waiting on God Together.” Jesus gave his disciples clear directions when He ascended to the throne of heaven. His charge to them was that they were to go to Jerusalem and wait for God to send the promised Holy Spirit. So, 120 disciples gathered together in an upper room and waited together.  We often are placed by God in seasons of waiting. Some of those seasons are longer than others. For those of us who aren't good at waiting patiently (which is most of us), it can feel like we have been put in “time-out” by our heavenly Father. We cry out with the Psalmist, “How long, O Lord?” (Psalm 13:1). What the Book of Acts teaches is that waiting on the Lord is meant to be a regular discipline of the Christian life and the local church. In Acts, a pattern begins to form where we find God's people gathering together and waiting for God to work in them and through them by the power of the Holy Spirit especially when they are facing hostility and opposition to their mission. Whether you find yourself in a season of waiting on God because of health, work, or relational challenges or whether you are finding it hard to slow down and wait on the Lord, this Sunday's passage in Acts 1:12-26 will be helpful for all of us. We need to learn to wait on God and we need to learn to do it together as God's people.  Join us on Sundays at 9 & 11 as we worship together!  We would love to see you there. 

This Sunday, we BEGAN a new series in the book of Acts. The book of Acts is a careful recording of the advancement of the kingdom of God into the Gentile world despite hostility and hardship. We constantly need to be encouraged and reminded that the mission of God happens through the unlikeliest of people (ie., Saul of Tarsus) in some of the most hostile environments. This happens precisely because our God reigns. Where are some of the hardest places that we least expect the gospel to advance? Who are you least hopeful would respond to the message of Christ? Waterbrooke Church's mission statement is this: Waterbrooke seeks to be a gospel-centered multi-ethnic family that is captivated by Jesus, compelled to love others, and called to make disciples to the glory of God. What brings more glory to God than the salvation of the least likely people and peoples? Would you pray for yourself and our church community that we would grow in our confidence in God and His gospel? Take a little time and think about hard and seemingly impossible people or people groups and begin to ask the question, “Is anything too hard for our God?” Acts is a book intended to fuel the mission of the gospel to the ends of the earth. It's designed to show us that nothing is too difficult for our God and King. The series is called “No Other Name.” The message this week is entitled “The Ascended King”. Luke begins his gospel with Jesus ascended and seated upon the throne. That's the truth that drives global and local missions. Let's start praying for a fresh movement of God for the salvation of our neighbors and the nations.   Follow along online at waterbrooke.church

This Sunday, we spent some time considering a glorious psalm of praise - Psalm 146. That psalm begins: “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, o my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live and sing praises to my God while I have my being.” One commentator writes “The believer's life should be continuous praise.” “Should be” are the operative words. We often find ourselves in a wide array of challenging circumstances. Sometimes, beyond challenging! I was talking to a fellow Christian this week who said that “despair has been afflicting me today.” Has despair been afflicting you lately? There are times when the words of Psalm 146 seem next to impossible. We cannot see a way through the challenges and the brokenness that surround us. Psalm 146 teaches us that there is only One thing that can change our view of every experience. It's a clear view of the Lord (Yahweh). Hallelujah means “Praise Yah” (short for Yahweh). Our Lord is not a God who is indifferent to our sufferings. He is not distant from our struggles. In fact, He is the One who has climbed right down into the pit with us. Our Lord has entered into our sufferings in order that He might carry us through them and out into endless glory. Our message this week reminds us where our help and our hope come from as Christians. Come this Sunday whether you are struggling or rejoicing. Our sermon is called “Our King Forever” and, praise the Lord, He is! In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

This Sunday, we studied Psalm 103. We are meant to hear in this Psalm Jesus' voice calling to us to rejoice in Yahweh, the Lord! Why? Because He loves us unconditionally in Christ.  We live in a world where love is hard to find and it is especially hard to keep. People are fickle. Friends are often fickle. What makes it especially challenging is that we are sinners and so, there are often good reasons for why people struggle with us. Psalm 103 is glorious for the simple reason – God is glorious. He is unlike anyone else. Psalm 103:10 reads, “He does not deal with us according to our sin, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” That should stun us. He pursued us when others wouldn't. He rescued us from our guilt and shame when we deserved judgment and condemnation. God's love (hesed) is as “high as the heavens are above the earth” (Psalm 103:11).   This Sunday's message is called “The Unfailing Love of the King.” We are going to celebrate the Lord's Supper together and this is a great passage to prepare our hearts to take communion as God's people. Come and join us this Sunday and let's bless the Lord with all our being. In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor waterbrooke.church

This Sunday Andy Keppel will be leading us through Psalm 31. Here's the first part of the text to help you prepare:    In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;       let me never be put to shame;       in your righteousness deliver me! 2 Incline your ear to me;       rescue me speedily!    Be a rock of refuge for me,       a strong fortress to save me! 3 For you are my rock and my fortress;       and for your name's sake, you lead me and guide me; 4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,       for you are my refuge. 5 Into your hand I commit my spirit;       you have redeemed me O LORD, faithful God.     If you would like to find out more about our church, go to www.waterbrooke.church Need Prayer?  We would love to pray for you.  Connect with us here.

Waterbrooke Family, This Sunday's sermon was taken from Psalm 132 and is a glorious picture of Jesus' love for us, His bride, the church. The message is called “The King at Rest.”  It's a picture of the King and his Bride finally living together in unity and love and peace for all eternity.  This past week was our nephew and niece's 13th wedding anniversary. They shared a picture of the wedding ceremony which was outdoors in Michigan. In the middle of the wedding, a huge rain shower broke out. The pictures are classic because they show not frowns but smiles on the drenched couple. It didn't matter to them because they were in love. They were getting married that day and they turned rainclouds into a big joyous wedding party. Where they focused made all the difference, not just on their wedding day but on the next 13 years to come. I think that is helpful to us.  We often focus on the problems with the church. We can begin to take on the perpetual cynicism of the culture rather than the perpetual love and grace of Christ towards his bride. This Sunday, I am going to ask you to commit yourself to pray for our church, Waterbrooke Church. However, I am going to ask you to pray like the pilgrims in Psalm 132 who journeyed towards Jerusalem. Pray for the church with the perspective of Jesus for His bride. It will radically transform who you see, pray, and love the church. Listen and be encouraged. In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

Waterbrooke Family, This Sunday, we discussed persevering as a believer in a broken and a hostile world. Jesus says these words in Matthew's gospel: “But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). He says this is in the context of teaching his disciples that the mission of God will happen in an increasingly hostile world: “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to the nations, and then the end will come.”  How is your faith? Are you feeling like throwing in the towel? Are you weak and weary? This Sunday's psalm is a great one. It's Psalm 110 and it is the most quoted Psalm in the entire New Testament. That might say something about how crucial it is to our lives and to Christ's mission. Our hope in perseverance is not our power to persevere but in Christ's power to hold us and to keep us to the end. This is truly great hope and encouragement. Our sermon is called “Jesus: The Priest King.”  In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

Waterbrooke Family, In Psalm 72, we have a song written by Solomon. It is the last psalm in a collection (Books 1 and 2 of the Psalms) that is considered to be largely psalms written by David. Psalm 72:20 reads, “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.” What's beautiful about this psalm is that we get the heartbeat of the son of David for the kingdom. Solomon prays for God's blessing on his kingdom but he does so because of a deep heart of compassion for the people and the nations. We are clearly meant to see not simply Solomon's heart but the heart of the great Son of David, Jesus, in this song. This would be the Old Testament version of “The Lord's Prayer.”  Come as we see the heartbeat of the King as he prays for us. Come learn how much we are loved and how determined the King is to see His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our sermon is called, The Praying King… and praise God, He is praying for us! See you Sunday! In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

Waterbrooke Family, This Sunday, we studied Psalm 45, which is a “love song”. This is one of the greatest and most joyful psalms in the Bible. It was written to celebrate the marriage between the King and his Bride. The words contain effusive praise for the King and what He is like as it invites the bride to embrace the abounding joy of her impending marriage. Often, in fairy tales, the handsome prince finds a fair maiden languishing in poverty and abuse in some far-away corner of his kingdom. He discovers her and seeing her true hidden beauty (that others have either neglected or envied), He rides in and rescues her and makes her his own royal queen.  In the Scriptures, this is no fairy tale. It's the story of King Jesus and God's plan of redemption. Christ comes and redeems His bride, the church. The trajectory line of every Christian shifts radically when we discover how safe and how loved we are in the eyes of our King. Jesus never found our hidden beauty and fell in love with us. Jesus knew us when we were in our sins. Yet, we are meant to see, to believe, and to celebrate that though we are and were sinners, we have been sought, bought and made to be His precious bride.  Our destiny has changed radically. If you are feeling unloved and unworthy, you need to come and see this Sunday, how Christ views you according to Psalm 45 and why you should rejoice in the glory of your King. Together, let's be filled with the joy and love of Christ that overflows from this psalm and beckons us into His gracious, eternal, and forgiving love. Our sermon is called, The King of Love. In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

This Sunday, we studied another great Psalm – Psalm 19. C.S. Lewis wrote: “I take this to be the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world” (Reflections, 73). What makes this Psalm so beautiful is that it opens up to us God's glory not just in creation but in His Word.  Here's the challenge that we all face: We live in a world of both glory and catastrophe. We behold the majesty of billions of stars in a northern night sky. We feel the warmth of the summer sun as it caresses our faces as it makes its way across the Minnesota sky. It is glorious! Yet, inside and all around, simultaneously, we feel deep brokenness. Injustice and corruption plague the world where we work, create, and play. Sin continually tempts us and draws us away from enjoying God's glory. Beholding glory creates a deep ache for God's glory to fill all the earth and all our lives for all eternity. Herman Bavinck writes, “The gravity and the vanity of life seize on us in turn. Now we are prompted to optimism, then to pessimism. Man weeping is constantly giving way to man laughing. The world stands in the sign of humor which has well been described as a laughter and a tear.” This is where God's word becomes precious to us. It helps and guides and restores and revives us in a world of glory and catastrophe.  Come as we realize why the Law of Yahweh is “The King's Treasure” and why it must be ours as well. Praying for a real encounter with God together as we worship our King! Waterbrooke Family, In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

Waterbrooke Family, This Sunday's message is from Psalm 18 and is called “The Exultant King.” Psalm 18 is written by King David when God has finally established his kingdom and defeated all his enemies. It is recorded near the end of David's life in 2 Samuel 22.  There is no doubt that David is blown away by the abundant goodness and unfailing love of God towards him throughout his life. There were numerous dark and difficult times. Times of brokenness and betrayal. Yet, it feels so good to rest and to look back at the amazing love of God in his life through it all. The king is so blown away that He wants to sing God's praises to the ends of the earth!  Exultant love for God drives the Christian to make much of God. Come as we marvel with David at how good God has been to us and have our spiritual hearts set aflame again to sing of His love forever! See you Sunday and bring a friend! In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

Have you ever felt God is taking a long time to answer your prayer?  Does it feel like sometimes your prayers have gone no higher than the ceiling? Join us this Sunday as we walk through Psalm 13 and see how Jesus, Our Compassionate King is truly with us during these times. In Christ, Bruce Washington

Well, this has been the summer of rain! I actually love how green everything is but it has been recently providing challenges for farmers and folks in our area. There are little lakes in fields where there normally isn't water and there shouldn't be. I get updates from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and some of the portages between lakes have been closed due to erosion caused by rain. Water can quickly wear away at the foundations of buildings and land. It reminds us of how living in a world of sin and a world of pleasures and temptations can wear away at the foundations of our faith in the Lord. They can erode our experience of joy and peace. Thank God that we have a Rock in Jesus that cannot be moved! This week our message in the Psalms is taken from Psalm 16 where David writes “Preserve me, O God, for in you, I take refuge.” Our sermon is called “The Desperately Happy King.” We are going to see how David sees the Lord as both his greatest good and his only means of experiencing stability and joy in a life that seeks to continually erode His faith. Come this Sunday and be encouraged by the goodness of Jesus. In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

This Sunday was Father's Day. For our message this week, we spent a little time together meditating upon Psalm 23. The twenty-third psalm is without a doubt the most well-known and, I would suggest, well-loved of all 150 psalms. And I think rightly so. This psalm brings the assurance that from beginning to end the Lord, Yahweh, shepherds his people through all the storms of life and brings us safely into our eternal home with Himself forever. It is a psalm of enormous comfort. It is a psalm of rock-solid hope and peace. What we often don't recognize is that it is also a very personal psalm from the Son about his Father.  One commentator reminds us that the Psalms are the most quoted part of the Old Testament in the New Testament. He writes: “This was not because the Psalms seemed to them to cover the full range of human emotions – a psalm for every mood. Not at all. It was not sentimentalism or anthropocentrism. Rather, it was because the Psalms were about the Messiah, the Christ of God.” Come this Sunday as we consider the twenty-third psalm through the lens of Jesus. It will prove to be an amazing picture for us of the purest and highest Father and Son relationship that led to our adoption into God's family. Because Psalm 23 is about Jesus, we can be sure that He will shepherd us all the way home! Looking forward to worshiping with you all! In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

New Series this Summer - “Sing to the King.” It is a study of the psalms with a focus on God's provision of a righteous, redeeming King for His people. That King is Jesus. Thank God that He is the King that we all need but could never find. In a world where leaders are perpetually flawed and fallen, there is One who can be trusted.   This Sunday, in our series called “Sing to the King”, we considered Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is one of the two “gateway” psalms (along with Psalm 1) that are designed to be the lenses through which we read all of the other 150 psalms. Psalm 2 declares that as aggressively evil and unjust as the world around us might be, nothing can withstand God's zeal to establish the kingdom of His Son. Do we realize how passionate our God is for the entire cosmos to be under the reign of His good King? The world might be passionate to throw off God's rule over their lives, but it cannot compare to God's passion to bring all the nations out from under sinful human tyranny and under the just, good, and faithful rule of King Jesus. This Sunday's message is called "Yahweh's Chosen King". Come and be encouraged and filled with awe and hope at a God who will not rest until every corner of the earth finds its rest under the reign of King Jesus. Pray for our church family and pray over your hearts that Christ would meet with us and minister His wonderful grace to us. In Christ, Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor   Need prayer?  Would you like to find out more about Waterbrooke Church?  Go to waterbrooke.church.

This Sunday, our sermon was entitled “Pursuing Godliness.” Often, in the western world, we think of our spiritual lives as a private or personal matter between us and God. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the New Testament, our personal godliness is a crucial part of the church's mission to proclaim and to protect the truth of the gospel in a world in desperate need of Christ. This Sunday's message will be taken from 1 Timothy 6:6-19 and it is a postscript to our study on the letter of Ephesians. 1 Timothy was written by the apostle Paul to encourage the pastor of the church at Ephesus to remember how crucial the church is to the mission of God in the world. Paul writes, “I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-15). How we live as the church upholds or undermines the truth of God.  As we enter the summer season, what is really on your priority list? Summer can be a great season for rest, growth, and spiritual recalibration. However, it is often a time when many Christians are tempted to drift, to let down their guard, or to become distracted. Be careful… not just for your own sake but also for the sake of others. Summer is a time for spiritual intentionality. Paul makes it clear that Christians need to make it their priority to pursue growth in godliness. Let's gather this Memorial Sunday and consider together how pursuing godliness ought to be at the top of our priority lists as gospel-loving, Christ-exalting Christians. Let's commit ourselves to a summer of growth in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! Looking forward to worshiping with you! In Christ,  Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

God's people continually need encouragement. You do. I do. Our missionaries do. In the mission of God, it is easy for Christians to forget that God has designed the church to build one another up and to encourage each other in the faith. This side of heaven, the Christian life is fraught with perils. We are in a spiritual battle. It is often discouraging and tiring. Yet, we are not alone in this. We have been studying this letter to the Ephesians because it contains the call of our Waterbrooke Church mission to be “compelled to love one another.” Encouragement is a clear way to love each other.  Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus from a Roman prison with the goal of encouraging and strengthening the brethren and to encourage them to do the same. Even though he himself was in the precarious position of being in chains for the gospel, he knew enough about how tough it is to live for the kingdom of God even when you don't have chains. God's people need to cultivate a consistent environment of mutual encouragement and edification.  This week's message, from Ephesians 6:21-24, is called “The Ministry of Encouragement.” In Paul's final words to the church at Ephesus, we can see the kind of encouragement that we all need. Let's pray for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we might learn to encourage one another in living out our great calling to be God's people, His bride, in a broken and needy world.   

This week, our sermon, from Ephesians 6:18-20,  was called Fostering a Passion for Prayer. As the apostle Paul comes to the end of this letter to the church, he calls for an all-out commitment to prayer. Paul knows that human effort and ingenuity cannot advance the kingdom of Christ. Unlike Muslims who respond to an external call to prayer 5 times a day, Paul wants believers to respond to an internal call to prayer continuously.  Prayer is Paul's passionate conviction. It is Paul's confidence in his life and ministry. Paul prayed earlier in Ephesians 3:20 declaring that God “is able to do abundantly more than we ask or think according to the power at work in us.” Every day when Paul looked in the mirror (or whenever, Paul could see his reflection), he saw the biggest miracle of his day. A hater, a blasphemer, a persecutor of the church is now one of Christianity's greatest ambassadors.  If God could save Paul, he could save anyone! Oh, that God would give us all a passion for prayer! Would you pray this week that you would start to pray kingdom-advancing, strong-hold breaking prayers? Would you pray that God would teach you to pray so that prayer would not just be a Christian task but what you look forward to most each day? Would we all pray for each other that we would continuously be in prayer for the people of God and the mission of God? Looking forward to enjoying Jesus with you this Sunday as we gather together for worship. Pray for us! In Christ,  Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

As we continue working our way through Paul's letter to the Colossians, we are encouraged to prayerfully live our lives and walk before the world in a manner which shows how beautiful Christ is.  Our personal contexts are a means through which God intends to communicate grace; both to us and through us. Though they may not be glamorous by the world's standards, we're in the service of the King! In Christ,  Andy Keppel

As Paul wraps up his letter to the church at Ephesus, he gives what some theologians call a “peroratio”. A peroration is a passionate conclusion to a speech or a letter which is meant to inspire passion and enthusiasm.  Paul has been teaching us that King Jesus is on the throne and that his kingdom advances in the lives of everyday people like you and I who learn to live out the grace and forgiveness of the gospel in our marriages, in our families, in our workplaces, and as His church. Paul calls us to be passionate for the kingdom characteristics that were first demonstrated in Christ Himself. Earlier in Ephesians 4:32-5:2, Paul writes “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  As Paul wraps up this epistle, he calls us as believers to be aware of Satan's attempts to put in our hearts the old attitudes of the flesh rather than the new attitudes of the Spirit. He reminds us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil.” Satan wants to bend your heart away from Christ and one another. That's always his goal. Our sermon, from Ephesians 6:10-20, is called Kingdom Vigilance. How do we watch over our hearts so that we live out the grace and truth of the gospel at those times when it is easier to become cynical and bitter? How do we keep the enemy from sending us down the road of temptation rather than to increase Christ-likeness? Have you been struggling in your heart towards a spouse, a family member, a friend, or a co-worker? This passage gives us this key to resisting Satan and growing in the grace of the King. In Christ,  Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor