Sermons from Harbor Rock Tabernacle in Racine, WI. We are a nondenominational, evangelical church, called to reach all people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our pastor is Paul Rhoads. We invite you to listen and be encouraged!
…
continue reading
Harbor Rock Tabernacle Podcasts
As we celebrate 15 years as a church, we praise the Lord for His kindness and faithfulness, and members of the congregation share how He has worked in their lives and through Harbor Rock. Video of this service is also available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK8uTzTKGoA
…
continue reading
If our faith has enough power and influence to move mountains and heal people, what are we doing about it? And who is actively being impacted by it? Even though they were young believers with little training in a carnal, polytheistic culture, the faith of the Roman Christians was known throughout the world. This is "loud faith": Clearly evident in …
…
continue reading
In a time when there is a drastic drop in faith in the U.S., we have to examine how well we are living in the Light of the Gospel and making sure it is emanating from our lives. Rather than it being only perceptible in certain situations, or dimmed, obscured or hidden, we're called to be spiritually alert and sober, walking in the Light--which will…
…
continue reading
We often make presumptive evaluations on who a person is, what their values are and whether we want to know them based on their appearance and clothing, because clothing impacts our identity. So it's important that when Jesus returned to heaven, He told believers that we would be clothed in power from on high...meaning HIs Holy Spirit. So we need t…
…
continue reading
"Losing" an hour on our clocks this weekend gets us thinking about the value of time and how we use it. Most of us would change a few major decisions if we could travel back in time, even knowing it would transform our current life. Hindsight gives greater clarity, but all we can do with it is to use it to shape wiser decisions going forward. So th…
…
continue reading
There is a four word phrase in the Lord's Prayer that not only embodies the mindset for prayer, but also for everything in our life as believers. Humbly and sincerely asking for the Lord's will to be done shows our desire to see the world brought to Christ, while declaring our gratitude to Him for all He has done to transform us. So it is vital tha…
…
continue reading
Living as a disciple necessitates that our faith, conviction and commitment are unwavering, so at times, the Lord needs to test our faith. The disciples learned this in a familiar but out of control situation, and their initial response was to fear, doubt and question the Lord, instead of remembering Who they were with. He challenged their lack of …
…
continue reading
There is one word which sums up the heart, nature and purpose Christianity. Jesus said love is the defining mark of His disciples, and described and modelled this love as selfless, sacrificial and unconditional. We're called not only to love the Lord this way, but also everyone else, including our enemies. Holding this heart of sacrifice will alter…
…
continue reading
After Jesus called Matthew to follow Him, the former tax collector gathered some of his friends to have dinner with Jesus. The proud, self-righteous religious leaders were shocked and offended that Jesus would associate with sinners, but He was proving that He came to identify with us in order to redeem us. It reminds us how grateful we should be t…
…
continue reading
Studies show that the new cultural epidemic is loneliness. Younger generations especially are feeling overwhelmed and detached, craving authentic community and connection. The author of Hebrews detailed the solution for this: To faithfully be part of the community of believers, encouraging and strengthening each other in our faith, while also using…
…
continue reading
Many of us find our minds cluttered by information, e-mails, texts and social media, but all our scrolling often indicates a deeper desire for connection, validation and inspiration. Our greatest hunger is for spiritual meaning, so we have to recognize that the craving of our soul is to know the Lord. That makes it vital to "feast" on what will fee…
…
continue reading
The shocking and tragic events of the week remind us that the enemy is attacking the Lord and our confidence and strength. This is designed to diminish God's Word, incite doubt in the Lord, defame HIs character and destroy HIs plans. Part of this strategy is to convince us that a person's values are fully negated by any failure. So the Lord reminds…
…
continue reading
Who do we do, and what do we learn, when we're in a struggle that we know is both spiritual warfare and a spiritual education from the Lord? The apostle Paul faced this after an amazing supernatural experience, when the Lord allowed a "thorn" to keep him from exalting himself. He recognized that this humbling trial challenged his pride and plans, a…
…
continue reading
There is a subtle but pervasive internal attack on our mind and convictions, to pressure us not to outwardly bear fruit in our worldview, words, actions and witness. In this attack, we are enticed to build the foundation of our faith on what is temporary, self-centered, appealing to our senses and has no eternal value, instead of what is firm, stro…
…
continue reading
As believers, the Lord calls us to "run with endurance" as we live for Him and deal with spiritual warfare and a world that opposes Him. Thankfully, He has already guaranteed us safety, freedom, a new nature and victory through Jesus Christ. But because there are multiple obstacles trying to hinder us from doing this, we must be undistracted, disci…
…
continue reading
Regret is one of the most powerful emotions, and can weaken us and wear us down in multiple ways. Jesus taught this by referring to Lot's wife, whose regret was marked by proximity to, and permissiveness about, sin. Aslo, because regret is sourced in self-focus, we need to learn from our past, align with the Lord in the present, and see how His car…
…
continue reading
When Jesus gave the two greatest commandments, the call to love our neighbor as ourself is intricately linked to loving the Lord with all our heart. If we love the Lord well, it is certain we will love others well...but the opposite is also true. We need to love with actions as much as words. This was embodied in the parable of the Samaritan, who c…
…
continue reading
When a man named Nathaniel first heard about Jesus, he was skeptical--simply based on the fact that Jesus was from Nazareth. But he quickly became convinced Jesus was the Messiah once he realized that Jesus had seen him and knew who he was. God's Personal care over us mitigates against our propensity to have our faith and confidence undermined, lar…
…
continue reading
A challenging aspect of living for the Lord is waiting for, understanding and being content with HIs direction. We tend to want immediate clarity and gratification, but faith, humility, patience, prayer and sacrifice are the means to discernment. So there are 4 actions we can take to "roll away" the stress and anxiety, requiring that we yield our e…
…
continue reading
An example of a failure in building a backyard hockey rink has strong parallels to a verse in Proverbs that warns that the beginning of strife is like letting out water...so we need to abandon the quarrel before it happens. This causes us to humbly examine our emotional reactions to conflict and to walk in the Spirit so He can rule our spirit to ha…
…
continue reading
In pointing us to the example of Jesus Christ, Philippians 2 is very direct in commanding us to "do nothing from selfishness, but in humility regard one another as more important than yourselves". This calls us to confront the seemingly logical justifications we have for being selfish, and to understand that being like Christ and showing love requi…
…
continue reading
The Holy Spirit is given as a gift to all believers, but how fully do we open up and ask for His ownership and empowering of our lives? 3 of HRT's elders teach how the Spirit fills us to carry out our calling, with streams of living water to refresh and strengthen us, and then to offer the hope, life and healing that only the Lord can give. Video o…
…
continue reading
Often, we make important decisions based on what we're feeling in the moment, but that can allow hurt and disillusionment to dictate a new reality in our mind. Naomi fell into this thinking after experiencing heartbreaking personal loss, becoming bitter towards the Lord and literally wanting to change her identity. But recognizing His goodness pull…
…
continue reading
A man named Obed-edom was unexpectedly put in the challenging position of housing the Ark of the Covenant after the tragic death of Uzzah. Having the literal presence of the Lord in his living room was a serious, intimidating assignment, but Obed-edom was chosen by the Lord because he trusted the Lord fully, abided in His presence, and set a powerf…
…
continue reading
Looking at the significance of world events and changes to our culture, the apostle Paul's statement in Romans 13 that "the day is near" reminds us that Christ can return at any moment. So as believers, we are called to holiness--casting off anything that at all has the appearance of evil, behaving properly and soberly, and making no provision for …
…
continue reading
