The Everyday Gospel

This week Pastor Erin Bird teaches from the book of Hebrews about how we should use rest to see Jesus.
True rest is not:
– a place
– a day
– lack of activity
Rather, true rest is
– a person (Jesus)
– found in the gospel

Our culture is very work-centered. When we meet someone for the first time, we often ask, “So what do you do for a living?” If someone is in college, we ask, “What’s your major and what do you hope to do with it?”

But did you know the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection changes our approach to work? This week at Riverwood Church, Worship Leader Jake Epley teaches from the book of Colossians about The Gospel and Work.

Subscriptions are becoming more popular than ever before. People spend money monthly on things that they think will give them contentment. Instead of relying on worldly things for contentment, we should seek the Gospel. Pastor Erin Bird of Riverwood Church discusses how we use the Gospel to find contentment.

When it comes to saving money, most of us believe we don’t have enough.  Whether we have $10 in the bank or a million, we tend to think we need more.

But what if God gives you money not simply so you can keep more for yourself, but use more of it to help others? Listen in as Riverwood’s teaching pastor, Erin Bird, helps us consider from 1 Timothy 6:17-19 how God desires us to use the money we would normally stash in the bank.

Well-known pastor Andy Stanley says that “Giving isn’t about what God wants from you, it’s about what God wants FOR you.”

Riverwood’s pastor, Erin Bird, agrees. In this second message in the “Money Edition” of The Everyday Gospel, Pastor Erin shows from 2 Corinthians 9 that the financial contentment you long for comes not in a big bank account or huge pay raise, but rather through giving in six different ways. May this challenging yet inspiring message help you discover what God wants for you and your money.

It can be hard to earn a living and make ends meet these days. It can be even harder when God calls us to give to others out of those earnings. In this sermon, Pastor Erin uses Psalm 50 to dig into the idea of stewardship, what belongs to God and what belongs to us. He helps us understand what it means to follow Jesus and love others with our resources.

Some people seem to believe emotions are “bad” and should not be shown. Others, on the other hand, wear their emotions on their sleeve. So which is better? Are we to downplay our emotions so they don’t lead us into making a poor decision? Or do we embrace our emotions so that we can feel alive, even if those emotions hurt those around us?

In this third message in the “Self Edition” of “The Everyday Gospel” series, Pastor Erin Bird walks us through a passage out of 2 Corinthians 2, showing us that while our emotions are natural, they are not to rule us. Rather, our emotions should be clarified and corrected by the Gospel and move us toward God.

All of us have a past. Some of us are quite proud of the things in our past – accomplishments, relationships, or fond memories. Others of us are ashamed of our past. And some of us probably have a mixed past, one filled with both pride and shame.

But have you ever stopped to consider how the gospel speaks into your past, both the good moments and the regrettable ones?

In this second message in The Everyday Gospel (The Self Edition) (and part 7 overall in the series), Riverwood Partner Matt Townsley teaches from 2 Corinthians 5:10-23 to help us see how the death and resurrection of Jesus changes the way we view our past and how God can use it for the future.

Most people want to get along with others, but does it really matter to God whether we are nice or selfish in our relationships? Today, listen as Pastor Erin explains how the gospel impacts our relationships and how we interact with the people in our lives.

For many people, there is a strong sexual desire that leads them to engage in sexual activities that traditional Judeo-Christian teaching says is wrong. But what does the Bible really say about sex? And does God actually care about how we use our bodies for sexual pleasure?

In this second message of The Everyday Gospel series, Pastor Erin Bird sensitively tackles the tough topic of sex, showing from a Biblical perspective why God has a right to tell humans what they should and should not do with their bodies. Because it turns out the gospel story of Jesus’ death on a cross even affects what happens between the sheets.

In 2019, the Riverwood family will be looking at how the Gospel affects multiple areas of life. We will look at how the life & death of Jesus affects our view of self, our view of money, and our view of time. But before we get to any of that, we will be looking at how the Gospel affects our relationships. And in this first week of the series, Riverwood’s Teaching Pastor, Erin Bird, tackles the topic of marriage.