whoisjesus

At Rock Point Church we are all about Jesus and the first and most foundational of our guiding principles is to KNOW Jesus personally. But who is Jesus? Our society has a lot of different ideas and opinions about Him. Some say He never existed. Others call Him a great man or moral teacher, but nothing more. We believe something different. At Rock Point we take Jesus at His Word, which says that Jesus is the Messiah (which essentially means Savior King), the Son of the Living God and by no other name on Heaven or earth can one be saved from his|her sins and reconciled with God. Jesus has existed eternally as the Son of God but came into human history as a man, veiling His deity while assuming human flesh and everything that comes with it. He is the exact representation of God the Father, the primary means through which God has communicated to His creation, and the lens by which the rest of the Bible must be understood.

Jesus is our foundation. Everything we do begins and ends with Him and our desire to bring our people into a fully engaged relationship with Him. What does that look like? We believe that means knowing Jesus personally, growing in Biblical, Gospel-centered community and then going out and living intentionally with what God has blessed us with. This page is dedicated to unpacking what we mean when we are talking about KNOWing Jesus personally. Hop over to the GROW and GO sections of this site to read more about becoming fully engaged.

 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CHRISTIAN?

The word Christian means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. So allow us to define what we mean when we say “Christian”. We, at Rock Point Church, are talking about someone who has repented of his/her sin and put his/her faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Such a person has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit and lives now in a reconciled state with God.

There is good news and bad news when it comes to becoming a Christian as we describe above which is, we believe, the way the Bible also describes a Christian. The bad news is that reconciliation with God is impossible, at least when left to our own devices. We have a problem that the Bible calls sin. We can see sin all around us. We see it on the news when we hear stories of pain, suffering, and injustice. We see it in our own lives as we both experience and perpetuate jealousy, deceit, betrayal, and so much more. It is plain to anyone that we have a problem. Left to ourselves, we will never solve this problem, a problem that leaves us separated, not only from one another, but also from God Himself.

That’s where Jesus steps in. In one of the clearest presentations of the Gospel (good news) in all of Scripture, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 tells us plainly that Christ lived, died, and rose again for our sins. You see, what we could never do – overcome our sinful nature and pay the just penalty for our rebellion – Christ did for us, taking on the form of a man and satisfying the debt we owed. In His resurrection, Christ was crowned King over all creation and given authority over the powers of death. We merely need to trust in Him as Lord and Savior, as opposed to ourselves or any other earthly power, and we will be saved.

Is that the end of the story? No, rather, it’s just the beginning. Becoming a Christian is far more than simply a “get out of hell free” card. It’s an invitation to enter into eternal life right now with confidence that God will ultimately finish the work He starts in you the moment you believe. God is in the process of redeeming and renewing His creation. That renewal begins with us. But it doesn’t stop there. As Christians we are called to join God in the redemption process, making disciples of all nations and ushering in the Kingdom of God as we anticipate the return of Christ and His eternal rule over all things.

 

whyattend


Christianity in America has become an individualist endeavor. The common refrain these days is for people to claim Jesus as Lord and Savior but to simultaneously want nothing to do with His Bride, the Church. But the Bible makes clear that Jesus established the Church as a community filled with confirmed participators in His coming Kingdom. The Church was to serve, collectively, as the temple of God, with Jesus as cornerstone, representing God to the rest of the world and sharing His Gospel of love, repentance, forgiveness and redemption with all of humanity. Christianity was never meant to be a solo mission; it was always designed as a team sport.

No individual church is perfect and the Church as a whole has a long history of letting people down. We don’t know what baggage the word “Church” holds for you but if you have any history in an organized church, regardless of what denomination or tradition, you probably have some pretty strong preconceived notions of what to expect. Our hope is that you could leave those expectations at the door. We know we don’t have this Church thing down perfectly. But our desire is to model Christ’s vision for His people, as laid out in His Word, as best as we can through the guiding power of His Holy Spirit. That desire informs all we do. It’s our calling and our mission. And it’s an adventure that we would love you to join us on. 

The book of Acts tells us that the early Church regularly got together to fellowship and to hear God’s Word read aloud. We celebrate and follow that tradition, designating our weekend worship environments as our primary means of communicating God’s Word to our people. Whether we are focusing in on a specific topic or simply walking through a particular book of the Bible verse by verse, the focus of our gathering is to allow God’s Word to speak into our lives.

There is a difference between simply hearing the Bible read aloud and truly hearing God’s Word. The former is valuable for learning and growing in knowledge of God’s truth, but the latter will take things a step further, inevitably stirring change in the hearer. Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks the Word of God to us in our own personal study. Other times He speaks through those called to shepherd and oversee His Church. For this reason, the spoken sermon will always be a focal point of our weekly gatherings. 

All real relationships extend beyond corporate gatherings and so in conjunction with the hearing of God’s Word in our weekly services, we also encourage our people to engage in a more personal study of the Bible. Sometimes this is done in the context of a smaller community, other times it is done alone. Both contexts are valuable and prayerfully rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit for wisdom and clarity.

One would be wise to remember that while the Bible is written for us, with truth relevant for all seasons, cultures, ages, and contexts, it was not written directly to us. The original languages were not English (not even Victorian English) and the original contexts of its composition were not 21st century suburban Arizona. Much like Jesus Himself, the Bible is both 100% human and 100% divine. Therefore readers must take care not to read their own cultural presuppositions into the text. Study Bibles, Bible reading plans, and other companion materials can help one navigate but perhaps the best way forward remains to unpack God’s Word prayerfully alongside other Christians. 

We don’t want our people to limit their definition of worship to what goes on musically in our church services. We want worship to be a lifestyle of response to what God has done for us through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Our services, music included, should instead serve as a unifying experience, an opportunity to establish corporate solidarity not only in our praises for God’s goodness and faithfulness, but also in our prayers for His protection and provision.

We seek to create environments that help facilitate worshipful responses, whatever their form, and that never distract anyone from connecting with our Savior God. We play our music loudly and passionately – singing songs ranging from contemporary worship ballads to rocked-out classic hymns – not because we want to entertain, but because we are passionate about what God is doing in and through us. The music will always strive to complement the teaching, not overpower it, and both music and message aim to foster a reflective lifestyle that responds to God in worship throughout the week. 

Some of the most beautiful words in the entire Bible are found in the Gospel accounts when, following the death of Jesus, the great veil in the Jewish temple, separating the Holy of Holies, is torn in two. This magnificent moment represented the permanent end to the long-standing separation between God and humanity thanks to the redeeming death of Jesus Christ. While it’s true that God actively heard and answered prayer long before the death and resurrection of Christ, our ability to approach Him took on a whole new meaning after the ultimate propitiation of our sins in Christ.

Prayer is a powerful ally in the life of a Christian, serving a remarkable dual purpose in our daily lives. First and foremost, the Bible, specifically the teachings of Jesus Himself, speak clearly that our prayers really do make a difference. God really does hear them and responds accordingly. Now that does not mean we always get the answer we seek, as God in His wisdom may opt to move in another way. But the Bible could not be clearer in telling us that our petitions to God matter.

Just as important, however, we must remember that prayer also does a work in us, aligning our will to God’s will through the work of the Holy Spirit. Rather than being worried and often paralyzed as we question whether or not our actions are within God’s will, we should instead be bold in our prayers, knowing that God hears us and is working in us to align our will with His own.