Your wildly multifarious home!
Churchie Feeds
Collide – September 3rd
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group:
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And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
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The post Collide – September 3rd appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
FOCAS – Pizza & Games Kickoff
Saturday, September 16 at 7 PM.
In the Youth Room
1397 Buffalo Pl
We are kicking off the ministry year with a pizza party and games night! Let’s reconnect and learn about FOCAS, while having a meal together! Cost is $5 each, to help cover the price of food and drinks. Board games will be available!
Also, the Saturday service at Church of the Rock is just before the FOCAS event at 5:25pm. If you would like to join for that as well!
Register by Wed, Sept 13 at https://churchoftherock.brushfire.com/focas/560258
FOCAS (Fellowship of Christian Adult Singles) events are open to single adults ages 30+
The post FOCAS – Pizza & Games Kickoff appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
High School Ministry – August 28th
This Week!
First, please download Discord for your device! You can do this by downloading the application here.
Second, add yourself to our High School Ministry Discord Server by clicking THIS LINK.
We will keep you informed on what’s coming up AND spontaneous hangouts!
Summer Bible Study!
Monday’s @ 7:00pm-9:30pm
Join us in the Youth Room for a chill night of diving into scripture and enjoying FREE snacks! Students completed grade 8 -12 are welcome to attend!
&
Biking!
Tuesday, August 29th @ 1:00pm-3:00pm
Join us for a bike ride around the neighborhood! We will provide a snack along the way!
Meet at the church. Please register as spots are limited.
Skate Park and Biking Activity Release form required.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SKATE PARK AND BIKING ACTIVITY RELEASE FORM
&
BBQ and Outdoor Games!
Wednesday, August 30th @ 7:00pm-9:00pm
Join us for an end of Summer party with FREE hotdogs and drinks!
The Youth Room will also be open to hang out in! For students completed grade 6-12.
No Youth Group!
Monday, September 4th- Wednesday, September 6th
We are taking a little break as we get ready for Fall.
See you on Friday, September 15th!
First, please download Discord for your device! You can do this by downloading the application here.
Second, add yourself to our High School Ministry Discord Server by clicking THIS LINK.
We will keep you informed on what’s coming up AND spontaneous hangouts!
The post High School Ministry – August 28th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Threshold Jr – August 28th
This Week!
Biking!
Tuesday, August 29th @ 1pm-3pm
Join us for a bike ride around the neighborhood! We will provide a snack along the way!
Meet at the church!
Please register as spots are limited. .
Skate Park and Biking Activity Form is required for this event.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE SKATE PARK AND BIKING ACTIVITY RELEASE FORM REQUIRED
&
BBQ and Outdoor Games!
Wednesday, August 30th @ 7pm-9pm
Join us for an end of Summer party with FREE hotdogs and drinks!
The Youth Room will also be open to hang out in! For students completed grade 6-12.
No Youth Group!
Tuesday, September 5th & Wednesday, September 6th
We are taking a little break as we get ready for Fall.
See you on Wednesday, September 13th!
Here’s what you need to know:
First, create a Discord user by downloading the application here.
Second, sign on to our Threshold Jr Discord server by clicking here.
You’ll be up to speed throughout the week!
The post Threshold Jr – August 28th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
What Keeps A Marriage Warm and Durable?
Advice about what makes a marriage great is everywhere. Books, both physical and virtual, offer tips and pointers. Newspapers devote columns and magazines, articles, on the subject. And there is always a friend or family member with a word on the subject.
In this torrent of good advice I see a neglected or under-emphasized element.
Kathleen has mentioned this secret many times across the years, including in the context of our recent 75th anniversary in December 2022. Whenever asked, “What’s the secret of a loving and durable marriage?” She always begins with the same answer: Mutual respect!
That answer may seem too simple – even naive. There’s a lot more to a fulfilling marriage than a husband and wife sitting all evening respecting each other.
There’s stretching income to cover monthly bills, teaching children right from wrong, dealing with a crisis of unemployment, divvying up tasks, and knowing how to ease up when one’s spouse is under special stress.
But simple as Kathleen’s answer may seem at first, she is right that respect flowing both ways between husband and wife is basic to a loving and enduring marriage.
Respect is like the shock absorbers in a car. If the car has only springs it may only rock gently as it speeds along a smooth highway. But without shock absorbers, a rough or curing road will make the car bounce and sway uncomfortably and even dangerously.
The shock absorber of respect doesn’t alter the road of life. But it mutes and damps the “ride” in rough patches until the marriage arrives at smoother pavement.
Respect is a learned and practiced art. It can take years of faithful teaching before rambunctious children learn to say “please” and “thank you.” But when established, these niceties — and many others such as “You first,” or “Let me help you with that,” add excellence later, during marriage.
Blessed are both the young man and woman who enter their marriage with such training in their social repertoires!
No matter how noble the intentions, marriage partners may slip from time to time. And so, one key element of respect is the ability to say, “I’m sorry.”
In the early 1970s a film called Love Story hit the screens. It was an emotional story with a repeated line, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Even some young people of faith were drawn into its casual treatment of love.
The saying for Christians should be, “Love means always being ready to say you’re sorry.” In fact, because we are imperfect, “I’m sorry” is a necessary accessory to respect and when we say it we reflect that our love is deep.
Respect in marriage is not optional. It is indeed a crucial shock absorber for all husbands and wives who mean their marriage to survive through all the seasons of life and to prosper in its many “road conditions”—level plains, valleys, and mountaintops.
Originally published March 10, 2014
Re-posted August 28, 2023
Photo credit: Ian MacKenzie (via flickr.com)
My new memoir, FROM KITCHEN CHAIR TO PULPIT: A Memoir of Family, Faith, and Ministry, has just been published. I hope you will click on one of the links that follow to be taken to the page on these sites that enable you to view and potentially purchase the paperback or ebook. My book shows just how extraordinary the pastoral life can be, describing how I prepared for ministry and ministered to three congregations and then, as a bishop, to pastors as a bishop, with the help of my wife, Kathleen, and the support of our children as they grew up from children to adults.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Preschool – Aug 27th
Worship Video
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group: And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
The post Preschool – Aug 27th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Elementary – August 27th
Worship Video
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group:
And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
The post Elementary – August 27th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Collide – August 27th
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group:
-
-
-
-
And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
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-
-
The post Collide – August 27th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
High School Ministry – August 21st
This Week!
First, please download Discord for your device! You can do this by downloading the application here.
Second, add yourself to our High School Ministry Discord Server by clicking THIS LINK.
We will keep you informed on what’s coming up AND spontaneous hangouts!
Summer Bible Study!
Monday’s @ 7:00pm-9:30pm
Join us in the Youth Room every Monday for a chill night of diving into scripture and enjoying FREE snacks! Students completed grade 8 -12 are welcome to attend!
&
Skate Park!
Tuesday, August 22nd @ 1:00pm-3:00pm
We are going to a local skate park! Bring your bike, skateboard, rollerblades, longboard and helmet!
We will also provide skateboards & longboards!
Skate Park and Biking Activity Form required for this event.
Please register as spots are limited.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SKATE PARK AND BIKING ACTIVITY RELEASE FORM
&
Winnipeg Rocks pt. 2!
Wednesday, August 23rd @ 6:45pm-9:00pm
We had so much fun doing random acts of kindness in June, that we’re doing it again! This time we’ll be handing out freezies at Assiniboine park. Meet at the church first!
Summer Activity Release Form is required for this event.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE ONLINE SUMMER ACTIVITY RELEASE FORM
Next Week!Biking!
Tuesday, August 29th @ 1:00pm-3:00pm
Join us for a bike ride around the neighborhood! We will provide a snack along the way!
Meet at the church.
Registration opens on Monday, August 28th.
Skate Park and Biking Activity Release form required.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SKATE PARK AND BIKING ACTIVITY FORM
&
BBQ and Outdoor Games!
Wednesday, August 30th @ 7:00pm-9:00pm
Join us for an end of Summer party with FREE hotdogs and drinks!
The Youth Room will also be open to hang out in! For students completed grade 6-12.
First, please download Discord for your device! You can do this by downloading the application here.
Second, add yourself to our High School Ministry Discord Server by clicking THIS LINK.
We will keep you informed on what’s coming up AND spontaneous hangouts!
The post High School Ministry – August 21st appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Threshold Jr – August 21st
This Week!
Skate Park!
Tuesday, August 22th @ 1pm-3pm
We are going to a local Skate Park! Meet at the church first. Bring your rollerblades, scooter, skateboard and helmet! You can also use our skateboards, we’ll teach you!
Skate Park and Biking Activity Release Form is required.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE SKATE PARK AND BIKING ACTIVITY RELEASE FORM REQUIRED
&
Winnipeg Rocks pt. 2!
Wednesday, August 23rd @ 6:45pm-9pm
We had so much fun doing random acts of kindness in June, that we’re doing it again!
This time we’ll be handing out freezies at Assiniboine park. Meet at church first!
Online Summer Activity Release Form is Required.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SUMMER ONLINE ACTIVITY RELEASE FORM
Biking!
Tuesday, August 29th @ 1pm-3pm
Join us for a bike ride around the neighborhood! We will provide a snack along the way!
Meet at the church!
Please register as spots are limited. Registration opens on Monday, August 28th.
Skate Park and Biking Activity Form is required for this event.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SKATE PARK AND BIKING ACTIVITY FORM
&
BBQ and Outdoor Games!
Wednesday, August 30th @ 7pm-9pm
Join us for an end of Summer party with FREE hotdogs and drinks!
The Youth Room will also be open to hang out in! For students completed grade 6-12.
Here’s what you need to know:
First, create a Discord user by downloading the application here.
Second, sign on to our Threshold Jr Discord server by clicking here.
You’ll be up to speed throughout the week!
The post Threshold Jr – August 21st appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Fish or Fowl?
By Robert Bastian
It can feel stagnant or confining to have to always “be who we are.” Why not new glasses? A different house? Even a change of occupations? While such changes can energize, in the realm of values, character, and fundamental identity, longitudinal stability and coherence are essential.
This thought was triggered about not just individuals, but also about organizations and institutions, by something Dad said many years ago concerning the Articles of Religion of the Free Methodist Church. The following statement was sent to me by a friend, a man with deep knowledge of church history. He quoted Dad from a General Conference proceeding of the Free Methodist Church almost forty years ago. A comment that could be translated to any denomination, local church, or even place of business:
The tone of the General Conference may well seem pragmatic, isolating immediate problems and seeking immediate solutions. But the underlying question will be implicit, underlying all we decide. When the event closes, we will be a little more Methodist or a little more Anabaptist or a little more rootless, depending on how seriously we consider our historical lineage in all our deliberations.
It is an interesting statement from Dad, who is a change agent and daring personality: Many besides the Bastian clan know him to have an entrepreneurial spirit. We’ve always thought that, in a team with Mom, their energy, dynamism, people-serving natures, and perfectionism would have made a great success in any business enterprise.
At the same time, however, they are people of deep principle and rootedness. Pragmatism has a place only if means are scrupulously honest and tied to principle, whether law, policy, transparency, or even identity.
About pragmatism, Dad has told us several times that someone had said that it is North America’s only unique contribution to the field of philosophy. Loosely defined as “whatever gives you the result you want.” In an extreme form, “the ends justifies the means,” even if the means border on wrongdoing or a kind of administrative squishiness or even lawlessness.
Does pragmatism have a place in the church? Here’s a helpful quote for Christians from www.gotquestions.org, under the search term pragmatism:
Christians cannot follow both pragmatism and the Bible… Particularly when it comes to moral issues, Christianity and pragmatism are entirely incompatible. Whether or not we like the outcome (Matthew 6:9–13), and whether or not we personally benefit (Philippians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9), right and wrong are defined in relationship to God (Job 38:1–5; Romans 2:4). What “works” for us in our limited human minds, in the end, is not necessarily what’s true or what “works” from an eternal perspective (Romans 8:17–19; Matthew 7:21–23).
Persons of discernment will see pragmatism at work everywhere. But for people of principle, surely the attention to uprightness and rootedness of means will always be equal to — or greater than — interest in results. That goes for any sphere of life, and most of all to every action of Christians in the church.
Photo credit: John Jennings (via flickr.com)
My new memoir, FROM KITCHEN CHAIR TO PULPIT: A Memoir of Family, Faith, and Ministry, has just been published. I hope you will click on one of the links that follow to be taken to the page on these sites that enable you to view and potentially purchase the paperback or ebook. My book shows just how extraordinary the pastoral life can be, describing how I prepared for ministry and ministered to three congregations and then, as a bishop, to pastors as a bishop, with the help of my wife, Kathleen, and the support of our children as they grew up from children to adults.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Preschool – Aug 20th
Worship Video
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group: And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
The post Preschool – Aug 20th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Elementary – August 20th
Worship Video
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group:
And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
The post Elementary – August 20th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Collide – August 20th
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group:
-
-
-
-
And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
-
-
-
The post Collide – August 20th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
High School Ministry – August 14th
This Week!
First, please download Discord for your device! You can do this by downloading the application here.
Second, add yourself to our High School Ministry Discord Server by clicking THIS LINK.
We will keep you informed on what’s coming up AND spontaneous hangouts!
Summer Bible Study!
Monday’s @ 7:00pm-9:30pm
Join us in the Youth Room every Monday for a chill night of diving into scripture and enjoying FREE snacks! Students completed grade 8 -12 are welcome to attend!
&
Basketball!
Tuesday, August 15th @ 1:00pm-3:00pm
Wear your gym clothes and join us for some ole basketball games in the gym!
Please register as spots are limited.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE ONLINE ACTIVITY RELEASE FORM
&
Sports Night!
Wednesday, August 16th @ 7:00pm-9:00pm
This is a High School Ministry night for students completed grade 8 to 12. Join us for a mini sports tournament and faith night! It’s going to be an awesome night filled with games, prizes, worship, a short message and free time!
Next Week!Skate Park!
Tuesday, August 22nd @ 1:00pm-3:00pm
We are going to a local skate park! Bring your bike, skateboard, rollerblades, longboard and helmet! We will also provide skateboards & longboards!
Please register as spots are limited. Summer Activity Form required for this event.
Registration opens on Monday, August 21st.
&
Winnipeg Rocks pt. 2!
Wednesday, August 23rd @ 7:00pm-9:00pm
We had so much fun doing random acts of kindness in June, that we’re doing it again! This time we’ll be handing out freezies at Assiniboine park. Meet at the church first!
Follow us on Instagram for event and weather updates all Summer long! @ churchoftherockhsm Join us throughout the week on Discord! Here’s what you need to know:First, please download Discord for your device! You can do this by downloading the application here.
Second, add yourself to our High School Ministry Discord Server by clicking THIS LINK.
We will keep you informed on what’s coming up AND spontaneous hangouts!
The post High School Ministry – August 14th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Threshold Jr – August 14th
This Week!
Basketball!
Tuesday, August 15th @ 1pm-3pm
Wear your gym clothes and join us for some good ole basketball games in the gym!
Please register as spots are limited.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE ONLINE SUMMER ACTIVITY RELEASE FORM
&
No Youth Group!
Wednesday, August 16th @ 7pm-9pm
This is an High School Ministry night for students completed grade 8 to 12.
See you next Tuesday, August 22nd.
Skate Park!
Tuesday, August 22th @ 1pm-3pm
We are going to a local skate park! Meet at the church first. Bring your rollerblades, scooter, skateboard and helmet! You can also use our skateboards, we’ll teach you!
Please register because space is limited. Summer Activity Release form is required for this event.
Registration opens on Monday, August 21.
&
Winnipeg Rocks pt. 2!
Wednesday, August 23rd @ 6:45pm-9pm
We had so much fun doing random acts of kindness in June, that we’re doing it again! This time we’ll be handing out freezies at Assiniboine park. Meet at church first!
Follow us on Instagram for event and weather updates all Summer long! @threshold_jr Join us throughout the week on Discord!Here’s what you need to know:
First, create a Discord user by downloading the application here.
Second, sign on to our Threshold Jr Discord server by clicking here.
You’ll be up to speed throughout the week!
The post Threshold Jr – August 14th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Wise? Or Only Smart?
The Book of Proverbs is a collection of pithy sayings that captures the ancient Jewish understanding of wisdom. Created or collected by King Solomon, these sayings have endured for at least 3000 years, and have a prominent place in the Old Testament.
Does a sophisticated age like ours need wisdom from the ancient past? Hasn’t our knowledge and intelligence superseded antiquity’s biblical wisdom?
By biblical wisdom we mean the ability to see life holistically or panoramically, as God sees it. Now, as then, the tendency especially of the young can be to break life into “now” moments — and to treat each such moment as the whole of reality. We all may remember that in our youth it was easy to act on “now” without considering “later” consequences.
Just seven verses into his whole collection, Solomon gives us wisdom’s key: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Proverbs 1:7).
To “fear” the Lord does not mean to stand in dread of him. It means to respect and revere him because he is righteous, all-knowing, and worthy of trust. Our God is the Ultimate One we hold in such regard. If there is actual fear, it is about displeasing him.
Wisdom begins here, because The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Not of things like mathematics or physics. It is a right ordering of what we experience to best understand life – its choices, manners, priorities, pitfalls and outcomes. Such knowledge is wisdom.
This call to fear (respect, revere) the Lord is repeated several times in the Proverbs (2:5; 9:10; 14:26 and 27). This idea is found as well in Job, the story of a man in dire distress. (Job 28:28) King David sings about it (Psalm 34:11). The call to “fear the Lord” undergirds the Old Testament.
The ancients were more pointed and direct than we tend to be. Solomon says forthrightly that those who despise his collected offering of wisdom are “fools.” That is, they are morally deficient. The use of such strong language is not meant to insult; it is meant to wake up anyone who is unserious and trifling with life, and to unmask folly.
The call to wisdom and the fear of the Lord is carried into the New Testament. For example, Luke gives us little information about Jesus for the 18 years from the time of his appearing in the Temple at 12 until the beginning of his public ministry at age 30. That relative silence makes wisdom all the more important when he notes twice that during those years of development, Jesus was “filled with wisdom” (Luke 2:40) and he “grew in wisdom” (Luke 2:52).
And in The Acts of the Apostles, Luke described the young church as increasing in numbers and “living in the fear of the Lord” (Acts 9:31). At the same time, the church was joyful; the living Christ was real; believers
him! They were faith-filled and they bravely witnessed to that living faith in a treacherous world. But the young church at its peak was humble and reverential toward the Lord, bowing low figuratively, and often literally, to seek his divine blessing.
There is a sophistication to our age which no one can deny. And of course it is important to be smart. But if it is a question of putting “smart” in a worldly sense over against “wise” in a godly way, believers will make wisdom the primary goal every time.
In all our seeking we first bow in reverence to the Lord and seek heaven’s wisdom passionately and with our whole hearts. And with this we are promised a great reward of knowledge.
First published: March 17, 2014
Revised: August 14, 2023
My new memoir, FROM KITCHEN CHAIR TO PULPIT: A Memoir of Family, Faith, and Ministry, has just been published. I hope you will click on one of the links that follow to be taken to the page on these sites that enable you to view and potentially purchase the paperback or ebook. My book shows just how extraordinary the pastoral life can be, describing how I prepared for ministry and ministered to three congregations and then, as a bishop, to pastors as a bishop, with the help of my wife, Kathleen, and the support of our children as they grew up from children to adults.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Collide – August 13th
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group:
-
-
-
-
And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
-
-
-
The post Collide – August 13th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Preschool – Aug 13th
Worship Video
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group: And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
The post Preschool – Aug 13th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
Elementary – August 13th
Worship Video
Check out our ongoing resources for each age group:
And don’t forget to follow Kidz Rock on Facebook and Instagram!
The post Elementary – August 13th appeared first on Church of The Rock.
Categories: Churchie Feeds
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