River Valley Christian Church

Throughout Scripture, King David is described as a man after God’s own heart. Chasing after God was David’s life pursuit. He sought after the heart of God with a passion most can’t even come close to matching. He chased God’s heart out onto a battlefield where he met the giant Goliath. He chased God’s heart into Jerusalem, where he found the throne God designed specifically for him. He chased God’s heart in worship, leaving behind a book of Psalms that inspires people even to this day. In (almost) everything he did, King David pursued the King of the Universe. So, what does that mean for us? Sure, we may not be kings, but our pursuit isn’t all that different from David’s. We want to know God. We want to chase God’s heart. What does that look like in our day? How can we be sure that we are pursuing and chasing God’s heart with all of our heart? In our eight-week sermon series, “Pursuing God,” we’ll see what D

Selected Quotes: "God isn't looking for a kingly stature; He’s looking for a kingly soul. It’s not about height; it’s about heart." "Here’s the good news: God judges you by the heart. Doesn’t matter what you look like. Doesn’t matter how you dress. Doesn’t matter what your BMI is. He sees through make-up. He isn’t impressed by fancy clothes. God sees straight through to the heart. He sees what’s happening on the inside." "David was chosen by God because he chose God." "We pursue Him because He pursued us." Series Intro: Throughout Scripture, King David is described as a man after God’s own heart. Chasing after God was David’s life pursuit. He sought after the heart of God with a passion most can’t even come close to matching. He chased God’s heart out onto a battlefield where he met the giant Goliath. He chased God’s heart into Jerusalem, where he found

Pursuing God | 4.8.2018 | rivervalleychristian.org/pursuing

Selected Quotes: “Notice that Jesus doesn’t yell at Thomas. He doesn’t chastise this doubting believer. Instead, He simply gives the proof. He shows the nail-scarred hands.” “Don’t let your doubt dominate you. Don’t let it hide in the darkness. Get it out there. Admit it to God. Ask questions. Look for answers. If you do nothing else, offer up this prayer. 'I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:24) “We are here to help one another. When I doubt, I have people around me to support me. More than that, they can help me wrestle with my doubts. What God is doing in your life reminds me that God is still working even when He seems absent in my life. That’s part of why we’re together as a church." Series Info: Most people today find it easy to be skeptical. How could we not be? We all know what it’s like to be let down. We’ve all experienced the pain of disa

One King, Three Audiences. Listen as we study how each of Jesus' three audiences on Good Friday revealed something about his character and purpose.

What is the church? What role can the church play in today's world? What is RVCC called to be in Oldham County? Listen to this message from February 5, 2017 as Brandon unpacks what and who the people of God are called to be. This message is from "Day One" - a 5-week series from January/February 2017 - that explored "the basics" of what it means to be a church that follows Jesus. You can find the entire series by scrolling back through our podcast feed.

In the fall of 2017, we spent 5 weeks celebrating 20 years of RVCC's ministry to Oldham County and examining the values that define who we are and what we do as a church. Listen to this message from October 8, 2017 as Brandon casts vision for how God is leading us to be his faithful witnesses to our community.

Wondering what we've been praying for in 2018? Listen to this message from New Year's Eve 2017 as Brandon helps us look back on 2017 and look forward with expectation for what God will do in 2018.

Selected Quotes: "You see, the way to life isn’t a roadmap; it’s a relationship. It’s not about following a program; it’s about knowing a person. It’s not about who we need to become; it’s about who Jesus already is.” "Jesus doesn’t say 'Get up here on my level.' He says 'I will come to get you.'" "Jesus doesn’t say 'Find your own way.' He says, 'I am the Way.'” "What we find in Jesus is that God comes down the mountain to get us. He doesn’t leave us to carry the load. He comes to get us. He carries the load for us." Series Preview: Most people today find it easy to be skeptical. How could we not be? We all know what it’s like to be let down. We’ve all experienced the pain of disappointment when things didn’t work out quite the way we thought. So, we tend to take everything we hear with a grain of salt. We hedge our bets so that we can keep from having our h

The Bible says that we are "blessed" in our places of weakness. How can this be? Listen as Brandon unpacks how God transforms our ideas of strength and weakness. This excerpt can be found in "Defeat" from our "A Skeptic's Guide to Easter" series. This sermon was preached at RVCC on 3/18/2018.

Selected Quotes: "The number one objection to faith isn’t evidence; it’s experience. It’s suffering. And our suffering casts a long shadow over our faith.” "Jesus has a habit of showing up in the places of defeat.” “The cross - a symbol of death and defeat - became a symbol of the greatest victory.” Series Preview: Most people today find it easy to be skeptical. How could we not be? We all know what it’s like to be let down. We’ve all experienced the pain of disappointment when things didn’t work out quite the way we thought. So, we tend to take everything we hear with a grain of salt. We hedge our bets so that we can keep from having our hopes destroyed. We tell ourselves that a little bit of skepticism can be a good thing. We don’t want to be naive. We don’t want others to take advantage of our gullibility. We don’t want to let our guard down only to get hurt again. And

Selected Quotes: "Hope is the most powerful force in the world." "When you plant hope, there’s always a harvest. People want hope. They need hope. They are drawn to hope. When we see hope, we want it for ourselves." "Hope is meant to be shared." ----- Series Info: We live in a world where hope is hard to come by. In fact, we’ve all had our dreams crushed and our hopes shattered so many times that it’s often hard for us to hope. We talk about “false hopes” and say things like, “I don’t want to get my hopes up” to help us deal with the fact that hope rarely seems to pan out. But, what is hope? Why is hope so important? More importantly, how can we share hope with a world that often seems so hopeless? In our four-week sermon series “Hope Wins,” we’ll dive deeply into the biblical concept of hope and the difference it makes in our lives today. As it turns out, hope isn’t a

How does hope transform our daily life? The New Testament shows us how hope produces overwhelming, infectious joy in the followers of Jesus. This excerpt can be found in "We are Hope" from our "Hope Wins" series. This sermon was preached at RVCC on 3/4/2018.

|SELECTED QUOTES| "Hope is not a sedative; it is a shot of adrenaline, a blood transfusion. Like an anchor our hope in Christ stabilizes us in the storms of life, but unlike an anchor, our hope moves us forward, it does not hold us back.” - Warren Wiersbe “Hope drives us to one another.” “The essence of Christian hope is that you cannot have your best life now.” “When I feel like i don’t have anything, hope reminds me that I have an inheritance. When I feel like I don’t have anyone, hope reminds me that I have a God who loves me. When I feel like I don’t have anywhere to go, hope reminds me that I have a home." --- We live in a world where hope is hard to come by. In fact, we’ve all had our dreams crushed and our hopes shattered so many times that it’s often hard for us to hope. We talk about “false hopes” and say things like, “I don’t want to get my hopes up

Why should we trust in God? Speaking from Romans 8:18-25, Brandon Braun explains why God is worthy of all of our hopes. This excerpt can be found in "Hope in God Alone" from our "Hope Wins" series. This sermon was preached at RVCC on 2/25/2018.

| SELECTED QUOTES | "Only when our ladder falls do we realize that we’ve been resting it on something insecure. Only then do we recognize that maybe we placed our hope in the wrong place. We’ve been leaning on the wrong wall.” "The brokenness of this world reminds us that we were made for better.” "We have victory. We have honor. We are loved. We are chosen. Nothing in this world can promise us anything like that." --- | SERIES INTRODUCTION | Hebrews 6:19: “…Hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls…" We live in a world where hope is hard to come by. In fact, we’ve all had our dreams crushed and our hopes shattered so many times that it’s often hard for us to hope. We talk about “false hopes” and say things like, “I don’t want to get my hopes up” to help us deal with the fact that hope rarely seems to pan out. But, what is hope? Why

What reason does the Bible give us for having hope? Senior Minister Brandon Braun shows us that the Bible emphatically points us to what Jesus accomplished for us at the cross and in His resurrection. This excerpt can be found in "The Power of Hope" from our "Hope Wins" series. This sermon was preached at RVCC on 2/18/2018.

| SELECTED QUOTES | “We were captives and he paid the price. We were helpless and hopeless, but He made us free.” “In Christ, our sin isn’t terminal. Our mistakes don’t define us. Instead, our lives are defined by life.” “Hope is not a concept. Hope is not an idea. Hope is a person. Hope is Jesus Christ." | SERIES INFO | We live in a world where hope is hard to come by. In fact, we’ve all had our dreams crushed and our hopes shattered so many times that it’s often hard for us to hope. We talk about “false hopes” and say things like, “I don’t want to get my hopes up” to help us deal with the fact that hope rarely seems to pan out. But, what is hope? Why is hope so important? More importantly, how can we share hope with a world that often seems so hopeless? In our four-week sermon series “Hope Wins,” we’ll dive deeply into the biblical

After a great six weeks in Ecclesiastes, we're excited to turn our attention toward Easter and the empty tomb for the next four weeks. Listen to Brandon share some of what you can expect from "Hope Wins."

Does God care about EVERY day of our lives or just the important days? Does God care about EVERYTHING we do or just the things we do when people are looking? Listen to Brandon talk about how the wisdom of Solomon applies to these questions. This excerpt is taken from the 2/11/2018 message "Purpose & The Meaning of Life." You can find the full message in our podcast feed.