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!
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Harbor Rock Tabernacle Podcasts
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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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Within Christianity, it is possible that we have communicated far too much latitude to be slow and undisciplined about advancing to spiritual maturity. The enemy leverages this to promote spiritual inertia in believers, by distracting and discouraging us, while pushing us to be soft in our convictions and purpose. But 1 Corinthians 9 calls us to ac…
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There are times when we feel like the Lord isn't responding to our prayers--even when we're praying what is good and honors Him. That can breed doubt and discontentment, so David affirms in Psalm 4 that we need to have a long view of the Lord's goodness and be confident in His mercy and sufficiency. The promise is that the Lord "sets apart those wh…
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We're all given a name at birth, but our identity is largely formed by our character and choices. How people view us may not be how we hope they view us. As believers, we are evaluated by 5 categories: Our reputation, our spiritual maturity and passion, our example, our love and sacrifice, and our ministry impact. It's vital that we represent Chris…
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In 1 Samuel, Abigail was a Godly woman who was married to a worthless man named Nabal, who intentionally offended future king David. Rather than letting David sin by killing Nabal, Abigail took wise steps to defuse the situation, protect lives and help David stay in God's will. This calls us to humble sacrifice, especially when we see the Lord's ha…
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Consistency and faithfulness in our faith and life tend to be underrated qualities, but the Lord greatly values them, especially because they dictate how we live. When David sinned with Bathsheeba, his character and behaviour were clearly altered, marked by emotional instability and irrational decisions. The fact that the devil tried to seize on th…
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Jesus' resurrection was verified by hundreds who saw Him alive, but there is another powerful Truth that comes from it: The fact that when we trust Him to save us, He makes us alive, too. This is not an improved adaptation of our old life which was controlled by sin--it is now dead! And as those made alive in Christ, we gratefully make significant …
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There were two groups--the Jewish leaders and Romans--with everything to gain if Jesus stayed dead, and everything to lose if He was actually risen. But even a violent execution, a sealed tomb and extra soldiers could not defeat Jesus, because He has all power and victory over sin and the grave. This proves man's inability and our need for the salv…
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It is historically likely that just one person was with Jesus from arrest to being put in the tomb--a Roman centurion. This harsh, secular leader had his heart changed as he witnessed the events and Jesus' humble reactions. His fresh faith and convictions were confirmed when Jesus died, and then there was no doubt once the tomb was empty. Video of …
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In the week before HIs death, Jesus cleansed the temple of the moneychangers--an event that almost seems out of character. But while He was righteously angry, He was also deeply sad at the callousness of the people as they conveniently bought sacrifices in the temple. This reminds us that when we come to worship, we need to upend pride and careless…
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As believers, we hear about the importance of God's Word, but do we love it? Do we have a strong relationship with it? As we go deeper into the Word, we find that it makes us uniquely wise, strengthens our faith and gives us distinct advantage in spiritual warfare. When we meditate on it, we will experience it's power in our lives. Video of this se…
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The new believers in 1st Century Ephesus were wrestling with false worship & immorality all around them, and were at risk of being deceived. The apostle Paul wrote to them, praying that the eyes of their heart would be enlightened, and that they would live in "the surpassing greatness of God's power". This power gives believers the ability to have …
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