Riverbank Church: Recent Episodes
Pastor Chris Goeppner
Welcome to the weekly audio podcast of Riverbank Church. We are on a Rescue Mission reaching people with the message of Jesus. To learn more visit our website at https://riverbankchurch.com or download the Riverbank Church App.
Focus takes discipline and spiritual focus is multiplied by fasting! Jesus practiced fasting and as His followers, so should we. Recharge, power up, and hear God more clearly by engaging in the dangerous discipline of fasting!
Followers of Jesus are called to dangerously give of their time, talent, & treasure. Jesus’ example calls us to give extravagantly, cheerfully, and willingly. Radical living calls for sacrificial giving!
Being a dangerous follower of Jesus means to be able to advance God’s Kingdom against the powers of darkness. Want to be a high impact believer? Be devoted to meditating on scripture, prayer, being thankful and Spirit filled.
Living life as a single person can be a special gift from God! And being single doesn’t mean doing life alone! Learn from Nicki, Ashley, & Ben life’s joys, challenges, and blessings while being single.
Keeping kids on a godly path as they grow is hard work! Using scripture and life experience, Audrey & Frank share ways to encourage our children to follow God for their whole lives.
Family dynamics are important and each family is unique. Meet Pastor Chris’s family and see how they relate, work through struggles, and honor each other and Jesus each day.
Family dynamics are important and each family is unique. Meet Pastor Chris’s family and see how they relate, work through struggles, and honor each other and Jesus each day.
No one likes selfish people. Paying it forward, thinking of others first - Who’s the best example? Jesus! Jesus, in the face of incredible challenges and death, put others first and sacrificed for us all. Will we follow His example of serving others with our lives?
Fact: consume nutritious food, have healthy habits and live a healthier life. The same is true with our minds & souls - what we take in determines who we are and how we act…so let’s get the garbage out of our lives and replace with God’s goodness!
Soul. Did you know your body, mind, and will are all parts of your soul? Jesus said nothing is more valuable than your soul! Self care of your soul is needed and necessary to guide your life.
Getting in shape takes training and daily discipline - living a life of faith in Jesus takes the same kind of dedication. Daily workouts in God’s Word, prayer, and connecting with other believers help us make progress every day! Take the first step today to reset and refocus!
2020 was hard- many are hurting and hiding - it’s time to REFOCUS! God will use the difficulties in life to challenge and change us. And God sees a hero in you! Are you ready to refocus in 2021?
All of us love a good story because stories are powerful! And our stories of faith and following Jesus are the best way to share the light of Christ! If sharing is caring, we must care for others by sharing our stories - let’s start sharing and shining the light of Jesus today!
Spreading the Good News of Jesus is like planting a garden…followers of Christ “plant” by sharing Jesus: telling others and by living godly lives. Some will respond in faith and others may reject the Good News, but believers in Jesus keep sowing seeds! We sow, God grows!
Winter is a dark time of the year and the whole world seems darker this year - what is needed is MORE LIGHT! Light helps all see better and clearer, light guides our way, and light sometimes warns of danger…we need to shine our light: Jesus!
COVID, quarantines, social distancing…it seems like everything has broken down! But God is at work! He wants us to engage with Jesus and breakthrough the problems of life and break out into something new: life with Jesus!
Green skin, elongated fingers, antennae, and one eye?! Aliens are just weird! As followers of Jesus, Christians are viewed as weird as well! Why? They sing at gatherings, they pray and read the Bible often, show their faith to the world by being dunked in a tank of water! What?! This weird behavior is because followers of Jesus are aliens on earth!
The idea of being abducted by aliens is crazy but the idea of being transformed by Jesus is real & amazing! Jesus transforms our lives and makes them brand new and then promises that He will transform and transport us out of this world!
Extraterrestrials, aliens, visitors from beyond…we are fascinated with otherworldly beings! But did you know that as followers of Christ we are aliens here on earth? We live and act differently and look different because have been transformed by Jesus and this world is not our home!
Compulsive behavior, unstoppable desires, and addictions trouble many for years and sometimes, for a lifetime. Yet, these strongholds in our lives can be tamed, eliminated, and taken captive by the truth of Jesus. Chains can be broken and our lives set free by God’s power and His unchangeable Word. Break free today!
The campaign signs are everywhere! Every candidate wants your vote, endorsement, and your contribution. Politics divide our country, our communities, and sometimes our homes. How should followers of Jesus react and live in this most political of seasons? Press on and be grounded in your heavenly citizenship!
When we see life through the lens of a Creator, it becomes a game-changer not just by how we treat others, but how we value life. No matter who the person is at whatever stage in life or background all life should be valued and protected.
Social Justice is a matter of the church rolling up its sleeves and becoming the hands and feet of Jesus. As Christians, we have a responsibility to repair those social factors that can keep entire segments of our population stuck in hopelessness and despair. There's no better person to learn how than from Jesus himself!
In order to navigate through some of the hottest topics in a responsible way we should clearly understand that truth is not relative but it is absolute - there are rights, wrongs, and absolute truths whether we agree or not. As Christians, our truth is founded in Jesus and His Word! The truth can set you free!
When we want to get to know someone, we usually set up a date for coffee or lunch…talking and sharing then takes place naturally. The same applies for deepening our relationships - and the best way to do this is at a Table Group! Pull up a chair and share a meal & life with others! Move from being a part of the crowd to a committed community!
Healthy people grow in every way possible. Just like children should grow physically, mentally, and intellectually Christians should grow over time spiritually if not, you would be immature and not very effective in God's rescue mission plan. In this message, we will learn from the insights of Peter, one of Jesus' closest followers, how our faith should be a growth process where eventually you get to a place of great purpose and effectiveness.
No family is perfect and most families are messy! Most struggle to figure out how to get along and how to relate to one another. The life of Noah, the builder of the largest lifeboat ever, teaches some lessons on building a healthy, godly family. Noah shows that building on the foundation of God’s standards worked back then and still works for our families today!
In the time of an OUTBREAK, we should strive to be productive and seek a BREAKOUT of new habits that make a difference in our lives and others!
The news headlines may be very disheartening but it’s not falling a part! God has a plan for the end of times and He wants us to be informed. He wants us to encourage one another. Its not falling apart, its actually falling into place!
Living to please God should be the goal of every believer. When we do, we become a shining light of hope in a dark and hopeless world. This is God's Plan!
Despite pain and persecution in our lives, followers of Jesus can experience JOY. Discover how taking the long view can help us overcome challenging seasons in life.
No matter what is happening in the world around us, we can be confident in GOD’S PLAN. Discover what it really means to be a part of that plan...a church on a rescue mission!
Nate Parks joins us for the last message of our Voices 2020 series to teach us how we are to reorient our minds to the rescue mission.
Pastor Zenzo Matoga from Impact Church talks with us about the important part that change plays in our spiritual walk.
Pastor Tim Owens from Mission City Church shares with us a message on how to listen to God's Voice of Calling.
Pastor Sean Sears from Grace Church in Boston, MA joins us to tell us how much God loves and values those who are not close to Him and how we can love them where they are.
Pastor Miles McPherson talks to us about a third option when it comes to seeing the world in an "Us vs. Them" mentality.
Pastor Paul Voltmer teaches us about how God's love holds us as we walk through the challenging and tough times of life.
Pastor Matt teaches us what it means to accept our oil and step into the calling that God has on our lives to serve Him.
We have so many things fighting for our attention. It can be very easy to get overwhelmed and distracted. This week we’ll learn how to keep our focus on the one thing that matters - JESUS! No matter what the “new normal” is, Jesus is our constant!
Love is how we prove to the world that we follow Jesus. Let the church love all people unconditionally, and let our love point people to Jesus.
With so much changing around us; truth can be hard to define. Tune in to discover what the church really is and where you belong!
This week we learn how we can stay focused on the biggest part of our faith and to live with an eternity mindset.
Rachel teaches us about how we can become secure and deeply rooted in our faith in Christ.
Jesus is the ultimate example of a selfless life. Even in a crisis, He was motivated by love.
Despite the craziness going on around us, we can have confidence in knowing that God has a plan for it all.
God created us to be positive - and yet many of us naturally gravitate toward negativity. So how do we change the way we think?
Many of us have heard the phrase "love your enemy". So who is our "enemy", and how are we supposed to love them?
We all have relationships, but we're not always great at them. So how do we learn to get along with the people who are closest to us?
Love is a word that is common. It's something we all strive for and desire. However, in order to truly understand how to love, we must first experience the love of Jesus.
There can be some confusion as to what a church is and what it is not. So what does it look like to be a breakout church?
Faith is not intended to stay where it is, it's intended to grow and move forward. This year, we're after a breakout faith: a faith that emerges with suddenness and becomes a catalyst of rescue.
2020 is a breakout year: a year of sudden emergence out of the chains, guilt, and emptiness that hold us back. A breakout life can depend on whether you GIVE UP or GO ON when things don’t go the way you had expected them to.
Many of us are still bound to the past. But because of Jesus, we no longer have to live in that hopelessness. 2020 is a breakout year: a year of sudden emergence out of the chains, guilt, and emptiness that hold us back.
Merry Christmas! During this season, we celebrate the hope & peace that we have because of Jesus.
Biblical truths can be found in some of our favorite Christmas movies - and in the movie "The Polar Express", we find a main character whose doubt is very relatable to the challenges we find in our faith.
Biblical truths can be found in some of our favorite Christmas movies - and in the classic "A Christmas Story", we learn a lesson about our own desires and to be cautious of missing the greatest gift of all.
Biblical truths can be found in some of our favorite Christmas movies - and the hilarious Christmas story of Elf is no exception! Behind this fun story driven by the "Code of the Elves", we find parallels that can drive our faith.
Living a truly blessed life only starts when we choose to be a blessing to others through what God has given us.
We lead the way with irrational generosity because we truly believe it's more blessed to give than to receive.
We lead the way with irrational generosity because we truly believe it's more blessed to give than to receive.
Finances can often be a big stress or burden in our lives. But the Bible gives us some helpful guidelines for how we can win with money
Filters = Remove impurities, absorbs, sorts and blocks. In this series, we are highlighting some filters we can have for our faith. Prayer is a filter from many of the distractions in our life. Jesus gives us a model of how to pray in a way that connects us to God and empowers us to accomplish great things through Him.
Filters = Remove impurities, absorbs, sorts and blocks. In this series, we are highlighting some filters we can have for our faith. One filter for our lives that we often overlook is the people who are around us.
Mike Donehey is the lead singer of the band Tenth Avenue North, and a great friend of ours here at Riverbank. In this bonus message, Mike & Pastor Chris talk about life, faith, and the difficulty of finding out God's direction for your life.
Filters = Remove impurities, absorbs, sorts and blocks. In this series, we are highlighting some filters we can have for our faith. When we put ourselves in a place of serving, it provides a filter for your faith that will fill your life in many different ways.
Filters = Remove impurities, absorbs, sorts and blocks. In this series, we are highlighting some filters we can have for our faith. When we are positionally correct, it gives us a filter of good discernment which produces results in many areas of our lives.
Filters = Remove impurities, absorbs, sorts and blocks. In this series, we are highlighting some filters we can have for our faith. One of the greatest is the Bible. It's not just a book; it is a filter for thinking and living!
We've been changed by Jesus, so what prevents us from sharing our faith with others and inviting them to come and see? Pastor Ken Claytor of Alive Church gives some practical ways we can do so.
Every week we get to see people begin their relationship with Jesus! The next natural step for a new believer is to be baptized - but what is baptism?
Sometimes the doors we're looking for are blocked, requiring us to seek out an alternate route.
It's easy for us to praise God when he opens doors. But what do you do when God says no?
Decisions, good and bad, are doors that we walk through every day. You are where you are right now based on the sum total of every decision you have made. So how do we ensure we're making good ones?
Abundant life is an open door to all believers, yet many believers never step through it.
In the very first book of the Bible, it says that "God created mankind in his own image". What exactly does that mean, and how should it affect our relationship with others?
Unity is one of the most powerful forces whether for good or for evil. It's important that we understand the difference between unity and uniformity, and learn to celebrate the strength that can be found in our differences.
We're often quick to give up on things that we don't see an immediate return from. But as Pastor Andreas teaches in this message, we get what pray for, what we pay for, and what we stay for.
Each person has unique gifts and abilities. It's not about how much ability you have, but how well you are using what you have been given.
The majority of believers don't know anything about their "spiritual gifts", and many others have misunderstood what spirituals gifts are. Truly understanding the unique gifts we've been given will help us live the fullness of God's plan for our lives.
Many believers try and struggle to fight through life's battles because we rely on our own strength when there is a far greater power available.
We probably understand who God is, and who Jesus is, but that third part of the trinity - Holy Spirit - is often left misunderstood. It's important that we gain a biblical understanding of who exactly is the Holy Spirit, and what role He plays in the life of believers.
The most famous mountain in the Eastern US also happens to have the worst weather in the world! Much like our lives, climbing that which is unknown and unpredictable can be both excruciating and exhilarating.
So many of us have experienced depression and it can sometimes seem like there's no way out. But there is hope! There are some practical steps that we can take on the road to healing.
When climbing the mountain of life, we often think about the difficulties along the way - but forget to enjoy the climb!
If you are climbing on the mountain of anxiety, it's important that you know that it is possible to have peace.
As the highest undeveloped mountain in VT, Camel's Hump is very recognizable and can be a difficult climb on some trails. Like its' 4 major summit trails, there are 4 trails on the mountain of sickness that we might climb. Most climb this mountain at some point in their lives, so we should learn how to climb it well.
What makes Mount Monadnock unique is that its alone, isolated over 30 miles away from the next mountain. Similarly, there is an epidemic of isolation and loneliness in America. So how do we successfully climb this mountain of isolation in our lives?