Waterbrooke Christian Church

Tim Keller once said a true friend is someone who “lets you in” and doesn’t “let you down.” As we continue our journey through Acts, we see just how much the apostle Paul depended on friends who were willing to stand with him when following Jesus became dangerous. In Acts 20:1–16, a real assassination plot forces Paul to change his plans—but what stands out is not fear, it’s faithfulness. Friends step up. They stay close. They share the risk. Our sermon this week, “Friends That Stick,” reminds us that we all need relationships that hold fast when life gets messy—and in Christ, we are called to be those kinds of friends for one another. Acts shows us a diverse people united in one mission, bearing the load together for the sake of the gospel. J   Join us on Sundays 9 & 11am - Find us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.  Need prayer?  Go to Waterbrooke.church.  We would love to pray for you!

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth.4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his

This sermon is entitled “When God Benches You,” drawn from Acts 19:21–41. It’s a dramatic scene. The gospel is having such a powerful impact in Ephesus that the city erupts in chaos. A riot breaks out. Two of Paul’s companions are seized and dragged into the theater, their lives suddenly in danger. Paul is ready to rush in and help—but those closest to him stop him. It’s too dangerous. Stepping in could make everything worse. For Paul, this meant taking a backseat—and that couldn’t have been easy. Paul was not someone who sat well on the sidelines, especially when he felt responsible for what was happening. And yet, this moment reveals something crucial: this was never Paul’s ministry to manage or rescue. It was the Lord’s. Friends, there are seasons when God does the same with us. Like a wise coach, He sits us on the bench at the very moment we want to be in the game. He removes the situation from our hands and gently—but firmly—reminds us that we are not the Savior. He is. Are you there right now? Do you fe

This Sunday, our sermon is titled Confident Christianity. One of the most compelling qualities of the apostle Paul is his unshakable confidence that God’s purposes will never fail—that God’s plan for His people and His mission to the nations cannot be thwarted. Writing to the deeply troubled church in Corinth, Paul boldly declares that Jesus “will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That promise is given to a church riddled with moral and relational dysfunction—yet Paul is utterly confident in God’s faithfulness. From a Roman prison, with the real possibility of death looming, Paul writes to the Philippians, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” He continues, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” and concludes with the triumphant assurance, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” This is prison-born optimism. Death-defying hope. Gosp

This Sunday, our sermon is titled Confident Christianity. One of the most compelling qualities of the apostle Paul is his unshakable confidence that God’s purposes will never fail—that God’s plan for His people and His mission to the nations cannot be thwarted. Writing to the deeply troubled church in Corinth, Paul boldly declares that Jesus “will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That promise is given to a church riddled with moral and relational dysfunction—yet Paul is utterly confident in God’s faithfulness. From a Roman prison, with the real possibility of death looming, Paul writes to the Philippians, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” He continues, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” and concludes with the triumphant assurance, “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” This is prison-born optimism. Death-defying hope. Gosp

This Sunday morning, we will conclude our Christmas-season study of Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth. In Luke 2:22–38, we meet two faithful elderly saints, Simeon and Anna. Simeon is described in verse 25: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” Anna, an eighty-four-year-old widow, is described in verses 37–38: “She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Israel.” Both Simeon and Anna lived with deep longing and confident hope that God would deliver Israel just as He promised throughout Scripture. They eagerly awaited the Messiah and refused to lose hope. This is the kind of faith we long for—a hopeful expectation untouched by the world’s evil, cynicism, anger, or anxiety. It is joyful, alert, and ready when Chr

“And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God saying, ‘Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.’” (Luke 2:13-14). In Luke’s Gospel, praise erupts in heaven and on earth—angels rejoicing above, shepherds celebrating below. Christ the Savior was born! Hope slipped quietly into the world as God Himself came to rescue and redeem. This Christmas Eve, our Waterbrooke Church family will join the chorus of believers through the ages, rejoicing with great joy that our Savior has come. He is worthy of all our praise, and we cannot stay silent! 

Join us this week as Dr. Brian Thomas guides us through Luke 2:1–20 in his sermon, “Good News of Great Joy for Those in Darkness.” In Luke’s Gospel, the Good News of Christmas is set in the real world, which is often quite dark. The angels’ announcement of Christ’s birth comes to humble shepherds and brings them joy and peace to the glory of God. 

Last Sunday, we saw that one of Luke’s clear themes surrounding the birth of Jesus the Christ is “great joy.” Another one of Luke’s repeated descriptions of people’s reactions to the coming Jesus is wonder and amazement.  Isaiah prophesied that the Christ’s name would be called “Wonderful”.  When all the people hear that Zechariah and Elizabeth were going to be calling the name of their son John, Luke writes “And they all wondered…” In Luke 2 when the shepherds return in Luke 2 from seeing Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the manger, they were telling everyone about what they had seen and heard. Luke 2:18 and 19 says, “And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told him. But Mary treasured these things her heart, pondering them in her heart.” This Sunday, as we study Zechariah’s praise in Luke 1:67-80, let us pray that the Holy Spirit will cause us to be filled with wonder at this great gift of God’s Son who has come in great mercy to us. As the old Christmas hymn goes: “I wonder as I wander, o

Over the next couple of Sundays, as we lead up to Christmas, we are going to focus on the praise that happens surrounding the announcement and the arrival of the Messiah. This week, we will look at Mary’s praise. Next week, we will look at Zechariah’s. Then, on the 22nd, Dr. Brian Thomas will focus on the praise of the angels and shepherds in Luke 2.   One of the most beautiful experiences that we can have in life is watching a young person who has been truly captivated by Jesus and the hope of the gospel. Mary, the mother of our Savior, is a young person who has been thrust into the living story of the saving plan of God for humanity. Mary will carry the Christ. What is beautiful is that Mary not only believes the message of the angel, but she explodes with delight in her God and Savior. Her trust in God far exceeds all the potential complications that this role might place on an engaged yet unmarried girl in her Jewish culture. She believes that her God is good; that her God is gracious; that her God is fai

One of the most powerful statements that someone can ever say to us is “I am with you.” It is infinitely more powerful when that person is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. In this passage that we are studying today (Acts 18:1-17), the Lord Jesus appears to Saul at Corinth in a dream and tells him: “‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you...’”.  This is exactly what Christ said to the disciples at the end of Matthew’s gospel when Jesus gives the great commission. He ends by saying “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” On Thanksgiving weekend, we give thanks for the comfort and courage that comes from the promise of Christ’s presence in our lives. November 30 is the first day of Advent. Over the next several Sundays leading up to Christmas, we will celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here’s the great news. He came the first time in order to show us by His life and death and resurrection, that He would never ever leave us alone. He is with us! The Christmas

This Sunday, we studied the apostle Paul’s encounter with the major philosophers of his day in Athens. He encounters a myriad of Greek religious and philosophical ideas. How does he effectively engage them with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our study will be taken from Acts 17:16-33 and it is entitled “Now is the Appointed Time.” I don’t know if you have ever thought about the question, “If you could live at any point in history and any place in history, where would you choose?”  We often can have a rather romantic notion of some time in history when we thought the world was a more beautiful, or a more exciting, or more noble time in which to live. We think that our times are the hardest for Christians and the mission of Christ. The doctrine of God’s providence teaches us that God has chosen and appointed the very times and the places for each and all of our lives. That’s what Paul proclaims in Athens. We are living in exactly the right time and the right place for God to do His good work in us and thr

This Sunday, we studied Acts 17:1-15. In this section, Luke makes a clear distinction between the Jews in Thessalonica who heard Paul reasoning from the Scriptures and the Jews from Berea. He writes, “Now these Jews (the Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were true.”  Our message this week is called “Receiving the Word with Eagerness.” Do you receive God’s Word with eagerness? There is probably no greater indication of a person’s deep love for Christ than their delight in the Word of God. People who fall in love with Jesus recognize that the subject of all Scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ. To know Christ and to grow in Christ requires continually feeding on the riches of God’s Word. Like a lover who pours over every word that their loved one writes to them in a note or a letter, the true believer pours over the Word of God to learn more of the beauty, the wisdom, and the splendor of Jesus Chri

This sermon was taken from our passage of Scripture that we are studying this week in Acts 16:16-40. In Acts 16:30, a Philippian jailer cries out to Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?”  It’s a desperate cry that comes from someone who suddenly has an acute awareness that he cannot save himself. He thinks that his life is over. Yet, it is about to just begin.  As we study this passage of Scripture this week, you will notice that every person in this passage is trying to save themselves except two – Paul and Silas. This in a sense is like one of those “Where is Waldo?” pictures. It’s busy and chaotic. There is a lot going on. In a “Where is Waldo” picture, if you have seen one, you will know that in the picture there are hundreds of people doing all kinds of things, but somewhere in the middle, is Waldo. Waldo originally was called “Wally” and the idea was that a “Wally” was a dim-witted person. Somewhere in the middle of a world of ordinary people doing ordinary things, there is a Waldo doing somethi

Proverbs 16:9 says this: “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”  One of the great encouragements for us as believers is to know that God is providentially orchestrating all the events of our lives for His glory and for our good. Ultimately, that’s good to know, although it is not always easy to embrace. Faithfulness to God and his mission requires that we as Christians hold our plans loosely and be prepared for unexpected and often sudden changes in the direction of our lives and our ministries. This may happen on a grand scale when some large-scale political or economic change happens that redirects a Christian’s location or vocation. It may include a job transfer or a significant health change.  It can also happen on a small scale in just daily disruptions to what we had planned for our day or our week.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote “We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us p

In Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew writes, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” The command of Jesus to make disciples contains the heavenly call to go deep and to go wide. The mission of the church is wide. It can’t be much wider. Jesus says “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” That’s as wide as it gets. The mission is deep “Go and make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” That’s deep. There is a difference between teaching them a few things and teaching them “all that I have commanded you.” There is a difference between teaching them to comprehend all that I have commanded you and teaching them “to

This Sunday, studied one of the most important moments in the entire book of Acts. It is the very first church council that was ever held to establish clarity around the gospel. Regularly in the New Testament, controversies arose about whether or not Gentile Christians had to become adherents to the Old Testament regulations of circumcision, Sabbath keeping, and the commands of the Law of Moses. Understandably, Jewish believers, with a rich history of God relating to them through the Law of Moses, could not conceive of life without the Law. Today, many believers still practice Sabbath-keeping or following the Jewish calendar events of Yom Kippur or the Passover. They believe that there is something significant or special to those traditions. The problem, of course, is that there is an enormous difference between saying that you MAY choose to celebrate, remember, or practice Old Testament practices and saying that you MUST do this. The Law of Moses has never justified anyone but Jesus. Salvation has never been

This Sunday, studied Acts 13:13-52. The apostle Paul is invited to give a message of encouragement at the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia. What makes this sermon especially noteworthy is that Paul is speaking immediately after something very disappointing happens to his missionary team. Sometimes God calls on us to encourage others when we aren’t feeling so encouraged ourselves. In His kindness, God positions us to share with others the very truths our own souls desperately need. He is so wise and He is so kind. If you need a word of encouragement (and who doesn’t), this message is a great reminder that God is faithful even when we are not. Our hope rests not in our perfection or performance but in God’s unfailing and unrelenting faithfulness.

This Sunday, our sermon was entitled Victory Over Darkness. It is a common experience for missionaries moving into unreached people groups to discover rather quickly that one of the great challenges to the advance of the gospel is spiritual warfare. My wife, MariAnne, works for a mission agency that provides resources for the under-resourced churches around the world. One of the churches that her ministry serves meets under a tree in a remote village in Malawi. That community was under the strong influence of a village shaman or witchdoctor for many years. Now, it is under the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we all need to realize is that when the sharing Christ, we are always facing a spiritual battle. This isn’t just for remote and unreached peoples. As the apostle Paul reminds the church at Ephesus, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly p

This Sunday, we returned to our study of the book of Acts, Luke’s second volume in the New Testament. As we return to the book of Acts, I want to remind you of a key truth this morning. Luke is recording for us the activity of the Triune God in advancing His mission through his church. This is not merely the story of a remarkable human religious movement. Luke does not want us to read the book of Acts as a biography of a human missionary movement. This is the sovereign hand of the Triune God fulfilling His promises in all of the Scriptures to bring the nations to Himself through His Son.    Acts is a record of the unstoppable mission of God to reach the nations with the gospel. This is why New Testament scholar, Alan Thompson entitles his commentary on Acts, “The Acts of the Risen Lord Jesus: Luke’s Account of God’s Unfolding Plan." He writes, “Luke is drawing attention to the continued outworking of God’s saving purposes specifically in the inaugurated kingdom of God through the reign of the Lord Jesus . . .