Waterbrooke Christian Church

Dear Waterbrooke Friends, This week, we studied Ephesians 4:1-16. Our sermon is called How to Pray for Waterbrooke. In Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul “urges” the church at Ephesus to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” We will see that in this letter, this exhortation can be summed up in two ways: unity (4:1-16) and purity (4:17-5:20).  In Christ, we have been made a special people. Our calling is to be a distinct community of very different people deeply devoted to Christ, to each other, and to the mission of taking the gospel to the nations. Becoming a disciple is kind of like being put on a sports team or being chosen for a music performance. Joining the team is different from becoming a team. God in Christ has chosen us by His grace to be His people.  As we pray over what that means for Waterbrooke Church, Ephesians 4 gives us clear guidelines on how to pray that we might become the people that Christ died and rose to make us. Will you pray over this passage for yourse

As we enter a New Year, 2024, it is helpful for our church family to spend a few weeks refocusing ourselves on our mission and calling as a local church. Ephesians 3 is super helpful to this end because the apostle Paul interrupts his letter to give clarity to the Ephesian Christians regarding his calling and theirs. Over the next two Sundays, we will study Ephesians chapter three and examine two questions: What should we be pursuing in 2024 and how should we be praying?  This Sunday’s message is from Ephesians 3:1-13 where Paul speaks with Kingdom Clarity. That’s the title of our sermon. Paul knows by the power of the Holy Spirit what he has been called to do and how he is to go about pursuing it. As we consider the year ahead for our church family, you are invited to read and to pray through Ephesians 3 asking God to unite us together by the Holy Spirit in His purpose and with His power. God has a purpose for us as His people. May the Lord renew us and encourage us by granting us the kind of kingdom clarit

What is the mission of the church? According to the Bible, the mission of the church is to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19a) until “the earth [is] filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14). That is the high calling upon each of our lives as followers of Jesus. But if I’m honest, sometimes I lose sight of the mission. In other words, I need fresh vision from God to engage in the mission of God.     As Christians and as a church, it is possible to do what we’re called to do but go through the motions. It is possible to serve the Lord but for all the wrong reasons. It is possible to do ministry and not have our priorities straight. When this happens, rather than seeking first Christ’s kingdom (Matt 6:33), we seek first our kingdom. If we are not building Christ’s church, we will try to build our own Tower of Babel (cf. Gen 11). If Christ is not our foundation (cf. 1 Cor 3:11), then we will build on shaky ground. But the Lord wants far more for us! As

Andy will continue his series on Colossians with a sermon from Colossians 3:22-46, called "Conversations Worth Having".   Do you need prayer?  Go to www.waterbrooke.church

This Sunday’s message was called, “The Glory of Immanuel”. In Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew succinctly describes the staggering event where the God of the universe took on our humanity. The God of glory became a living and breathing human baby. Omnipotence took on human weakness.  Theologians call this stunning event, the Incarnation. C.S. Lewis called it “The Grand Miracle”. He wrote: “The Central Miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation… Every other miracle prepares for this, or exhibits this, or results from this… The fitness, and therefore credibility, of the particular miracles depends on their relation to the Grand Miracle; all discussion of them in isolation from it is futile.” If God did not become one of us, we could not become one with Him.  The trajectory of human history completely shifted from hopelessness to glorious hope with God’s presence amongst us not as a military power but as a little child. We invite you to pray for a fresh sense of wonder and amazement this week that God planned a

Hey Church, This Sunday’s message was called “The Infinite Potential in the Church”. We will be studying Ephesians 1:15-23 where the apostle Paul gives thanks in prayer for the Ephesian church. They might be struggling. They may need to work out issues. However, Paul rejoices knowing that what lies unseen in the church is the power of the risen and reigning Christ.   Ministry in a fallen world is challenging. However, greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Let’s begin to pray that we might see the church with the eyes of our hearts being enlightened. Let’s get genuinely excited and engaged in what God has purposed to do through the local church not because of us but because of and for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a very encouraging passage. Do you need a perspective change? Let’s come together for worship and pray for the Holy Spirit to help and strengthen us for the mission that God has given to us as a church family. Pray. Prepare. Invite a friend. See you next Sunday! In C

One of the great comforts to Christians down through the ages has been the promise of heaven. Even the apostle Paul says that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). Having a rock-solid confidence that your future is secure in the hands of God changes everything. Even more so, having a deep assurance that you yourself will persevere to the end is a great comfort when we are shaken not simply by the world’s uncertainty but by our own instability. Life rattles us. We are often surprised not only by how evil the world is but by how weak and vulnerable we are as Christians.   In Ephesians, the apostle Paul calls Christians of varying backgrounds, both Jews and Gentiles, to work together. We need each other. We are to stand together. We are to pray together. We must persevere together. Paul reminds us in this passage that we have a common eternal destiny. We have a common God-given identity.  This Sunday’s message is taken from Ephesians

The author of Hebrews tells us that we can go confidently into God’s presence. This would have been shocking to the original readers. No high priest would tell people to walk confidently into the Holy of Holies. Yet this is exactly what God commands his people to do. And he does so because of the work of Christ. Jesus, the Great High Priest, has passed through the heavens and offered to God the once-and-for-all sacrifice: himself. The Priest is also the Lamb. And that sacrifice has given us the necessary righteousness needed to approach God’s throne. Whatever you are going through, the invitation is to come to God’s throne. Come through the blood of Jesus. Come and receive mercy and grace in your time of need. In Christ, Justin Lakemacher, guest speaker Justin Lakemacher is the Program Director at Redemption House, a gospel-centered residential addiction ministry in the Twin Cities serving men from across the US. He is also a pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Burnsville where he oversees a biblical

This Sunday, we talked about the doctrine of redemption. Our sermon is taken from Ephesians 1:7-10. Redemption is staggering because it is the great truth that God has come to rescue his enemies from captivity at the price of His own Son. At the greatest personal cost to Himself, God has come to set us free from our captivity to sin and to make us His own people. This is the message of the gospel and it is the message of Ephesians: God is making His enemies, not just His friends, but His family through Jesus Christ.  However, there is more to redemption than being forgiven. Redemption is the ground out of which we learn to love and to forgive others. God’s mission for us begins with a willingness and a determination not just to announce this forgiveness but to actually love and forgive our enemies. We are to work out on the ground what God has determined in the heavens and for heaven and earth.  So, here is the challenge as you prepare for Sunday: Are you willing to extend to others what God has extended to

Thank you for joining us today as Andy Keppel continues his series in Colossians with this sermon titled Jesus Over Everything - Colossians 3:18 - 21 To watch this sermon or reach out for prayer, go to www.waterbrooke.church

One of the great sources of anxiety that we all face is the feeling that our lives seem to be spinning out of control. Whether we feel like our destiny is being determined by unpredictable forces of nature, inherited DNA, unjust political or military powers, technological advances like AI, spiraling health and housing costs, or worse, demonic and evil forces, Paul reminds the church at Ephesus that their lives and destinies are safe in the hands of sovereign love.  This week’s sermon was called “Safe in the Father’s Love.” In Ephesians 1:5-6, the Word of God reminds us that our lives are never spiraling out of control. For the Christian, life is resting in the care of a God who brings us into His family through Christ at the expense of His Son and ensures our future together as one forever family under Christ. We are loved with everlasting love. We share a common destiny. We are forever the family of God. What joins us together is our adoption in Christ. Let’s gather and be reminded that we are safe in the F

This Sunday’s message was called Every Spiritual Blessing. In Ephesians 1:3-14, the apostle Paul writes one long run-on sentence about the incredible riches of God’s grace in the gospel. One commentator called this section of Scripture “a snowball tumbling down a hill, and picking up volume as it descends.” (Sorry to bring up snow in September!) Paul praises God for the mind-blowing grace that He has shown us in Jesus Christ. For Paul, it really is undeserved. It is riches to rebels. It is lavish love completely at Christ’s expense. As Paul calls the Ephesian believers to pursue unity in gospel love for each other, he sets before them just how much God in Christ loved us when we did not love Him. The Father chose to give us the opposite of what we deserved. This week we are just going to look at verses 3-4. There we see God made the first move towards us. God was all in for our salvation before we would have or could have moved towards Him. The reason any of us belong to God is because God chose to save us fr

This Sunday morning, began a new summer series in the Psalms called: Longing for God. This week’s Psalm, Psalm 80, is called Longing for God’s Smile. One of the realities in our Christian experience is that we can go through times when God seems to have turned his face away from us. God feels cold and distant. We can misinterpret this as God forsaking us or God forgetting about us. However, Psalm 80 is a psalm inspired by God, given to His people, so we would have words to pray and sing when God seems distant and we feel cold. We need to be reminded that the Lord never stops shepherding His people even if when it feels as if He has left us. Are you in a cold place spiritually? Have you gone through a time when God has seemed to have hidden His face from You? This Sunday, we gathered to seek and to celebrate the God who seeks us and let’s find the words to cry out to the Lord when we long to see His smile again. Looking forward to worshipping Christ together as we Long for God together this summer.   Find out

We have all heard the phrase, “Seeing is believing”. This Sunday, we learned the The opposite is true: “Believing is seeing”. In Luke 24:36-53, the resurrected Lord Jesus appears to the disciples, but their reactions are varied. They are terrified. They are troubled. They are conflicted. They don’t have categories for what they are seeing until Jesus opens up God’s Word to them. One of the biggest challenges that we all face in life is making sense out of what God is doing. Until we can see the big story of the gospel, of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, we will be afraid of God or we will be afraid to hope. The resurrection changed the entire narrative of the disciples’ lives. Luke’s gospel ends with a cliffhanger. The disciples are waiting and excited for the next season of life and ministry. What is it like for you in your life right now? Does seeing what is going on around you make trusting God more difficult? Are you excited about the next season of life that God has for you? Until we se

This Sunday’s message was called “The Joy of Seeing Jesus". In Luke 24:13-35, a couple of disciples are walking on the road to Emmaus and they are joined by the risen Jesus. They can’t see that it is Jesus, not because of some change in Jesus, but because of something in them. The story did not unfold according to their expectations.  How has your story gone? Have you had a hard time seeing Jesus at work in the storyline of your life? That is common for many of us. We would never write the story of our lives the way that God has. We have a hard time seeing God’s hand because God isn’t fitting into our story. God is writing a great story of redemption and we find our story in that good news story.  Let’s come and ask God if we could see Jesus in our lives and, especially if we are struggling to see Him, that God would help us ask the necessary questions that would free us to have hope and to have joy anew. Whose story are you living for? We are taking the Lord’s Supper this Sunday, so prepare your heart to r

This Sunday’s Message was called “Remembering His Promises”. One of the marks of true saving faith is that it rises as it remembers the promises of God. In this week’s message from Luke 23:50-24:12, Luke records the burial and resurrection of Jesus from the perspective of three groups of people whose faith reflected what ours is often like – sometimes strong and sometimes shaken. We all have seasons when our faith is challenged by heartaches and disappointments. However, the resurrection of Jesus when truly believed breathes new life and new hope into the most discouraged of disciples. Listen and receive a fresh gift of spiritual encouragement as we see how the gospel helps us overcome our fears and our tears as disciples of Jesus. Looking forward to the baptisms as well after the second service! Watch this and previous sermons on our website at www.waterbrooke.church

The Bible tells us as believers of Jesus, we are in a battle. It says our battle is not with flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers and spiritual forces, which includes our own sin nature. Scripture also tells us that the war has already been won.  This week's message is titled, "Jesus, the Freedom Giver". As we walk through Zechariah 3, the prophet lays out a beautiful picture of who we are, who God is and how He has set us free.  We have been made righteous and can live in freedom that Jesus provides. Bring your fear, guilt, shame this Sunday and give it to the One who has declared you clean!

This Sunday’s message was called “The King on the Cross” and we will be studying Luke 23:26-49. In this passage, we will see that everyone is a mess except Jesus. The women, the rulers, the criminals hanging beside him are all struggling in their own way. Some are weeping. Some are mocking. Some are uttering their final words. Yet, Jesus is there graciously ministering to them all.  Author Scotty Smith writes, “God’s grace is stronger than our worst sins, and his blood is deeper than our lowest days.” This is one of those passages where the proof really is in the pudding. Jesus says that He has come into the world to save sinners. When sinners are at their worst, Jesus is still shepherding. Jesus is still reaching out in grace. If you have any doubt about whether or not Jesus will love you at your worst, this text, this scene at the cross, answers all doubt. Come this Sunday as we remember our King and how He loved us from the cross. Looking forward to worshiping with you all.

"The Great Exchange" Luke 23:1-25 We studied the wonderful, humbling, and healing doctrine of “penal substitutionary atonement.” In Luke 23:1-25, we are going to see Herod and Pilate, hostile enemies, become friends as they examine Jesus. This strange alignment results in Jesus being sent to the cross to die as a criminal and a wicked man named Barabbas being set free. Who would have thought in this moment of grave injustice, God would be working out something that gloriously sets us free from sin and condemnation?  Our message is called “The Great Exchange” and our prayer for all of us this week is that we might rejoice and be captivated by Jesus. Jesus has come to set us free from our guilt, our shame, and condemnation. He took our sin and punishment so we could walk away free. Do you feel deeply forgiven? Do you feel truly free? We are going to be taking the Lord’s Supper together and so we want to invite you to prepare your hearts for worship and to pray that God would set many of us free from the sin, g

One of the common illustrations that is frequently used to describe the gospel is that of a diamond. Jewelers will display a diamond on a piece of black velvet in order that the many facets and the clarity and color of the diamond might stand out to the human eye. In Luke 22:47-71, we see the incomparable beauty of the diamond who is Jesus Christ against the backdrop of evil and sin. This is now the darkest period in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Here he faces betrayal and abandonment by his closest friends. Here he faces the hypocrisy and injustice of the religious system that simply wants him out of the way. Against the backdrop of this ugly moment, Luke wants us to see the beauty of Jesus. In fact, Luke wants us to do a couple of things. He wants us to see ourselves in the scene. We are those who have been unfaithful and disloyal to Christ. We are those who, like the high priest’s servant, have gone along with those who have failed to do what is right and good. We like Peter have been embarrassed by Jesus. We