River Of Life Church - Jesus Is The Center Of Our Belief

Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2: 14-47

The crowd grew and gathered in the area outside the upper room after the Holy Spirit fell on the 120, and the loud noise of a strong wind drew those in the city to find out what was happening. When they arrived, they found the 120 preaching boldly about Jesus Christ. That in itself would be impressive, but these believers were also sharing about Jesus Christ in the listeners' native languages!

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Today, we will examine the two well-known and earliest actions in which the Apostles and Christ’s followers were involved. As we read these scriptures, do they line up and support what you may have been taught or told in the past?

Today’s Scriptures:

· Acts 1: 12-26 – the choosing of Mathias

o Was he the 12th apostle or was it Paul?

o John 15:19 – Jesus chose the apostles personally

o Revelations 21:14 – there are to be only 12

o S...

Thoughts from Pastor John:

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16).

Revival meetings were being held in a certain town, and as is often the case, opposition made itself felt. But one day one of the town's most prominent men rose to his feet and said: "I want it to be known that I am a disciple of Christ...

Thoughts from the Paster regarding Today’s Message

Christianity blended with man’s ideas of religion has caused many problems over the centuries.  Religious leaders have even sentenced other believers to death simply because of a different interpretation of a scripture.  It got so bad that for many years, the Christian religious leaders banned some of the words that Jesus spoke, under penalty of death or prison, because the words d...

Who Owns Your Temple?

Scriptures: Matthew 21:12-14, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 2 Corinthians 6:14-16, 1 Peter 2:4-5, 1 Corinthians 3:9-18

Jesus makes a clear picture of what a temple dedicated to God should be and what should be occurring in it….and what should not be occurring.

The apostles Paul and Peter make it clear that we who declare Jesus is our King, the Anointed One (The Christ), and we are His Followers…that we are now the Templ...

As members of the Kingdom of God (the Church, the Body of Christ, His Bride), we have given our lives over to God and been born again in Him.  Born again into His Kingdom and given our lives over to Him to guide us as servants and soldiers, available to do His Will in the way we live, trusting Him fully to do what He asks, when He asks, and how He asks. 

Unfortunately, we often find ourselves discounting God’s leadings and justifyi...

Jesus Christ - Example of Life

When Jesus makes our souls alive, then the one thing we have to do is to try to be like Jesus. A little girl went to a writing school. When she saw the copy set before her, she said: "I can never write like that." But she took up her pen and put it timidly on the paper. "I can but try," she said. "I'll do the best I can." She wrote half a page. The letters were crooked. She feared to have the teacher ...

Thought: Drive or Drought

When you lose hope of doing better, you lose everything that makes life worth living. A great artist was once asked, "What's the best picture you've ever painted?" "The next one," he replied confidently.

But another artist was heard to lament, "Too bad I failed," though he was at the very height of his glory. "Why do you say that?" asked a friend of his in astonishment. "Because I've lost any hope of impro...

Thoughts on the message from Pastor John: 

Scripture: Matthew 7:3, 25:33-46, Hebrews 2:1, Ezekiel 33:31

One of the news sources I use at times is called Ground News.  They offer articles from both left- and right-leaning news sources and rate them on how far each is from the center.  The one rating I find most interesting is their “Blind Spot”, in which they identify a news item that is left out of one side or the other, as if it h...

Thoughts on Today’s Message from the Pastor

Scripture: 2 Timothy:1-7, Ephesians 5:25-21, Psalms 91:1-2 & 127:1, Isaiah 54:17, Hebrews 11:7

This week’s message focuses on our role as leaders in our families and households, and on protecting our family and loved ones by living in the will of God and following a life in Jesus Christ.  Living a “Christ-like” life and not allowing sin to enter through you is a critical piece of crea...

Pastor John Napoli speaks about the Old Testiment story of Balaam. He uses Numbers 22:1-41.

Pastor John Napoli is the pastor of River Of Life Church located in Cloquet, MN. We are a non-denominational church that believes the Bible is the living word of God and all sermons are based on that truth. Pastor John does not share his sermons without thoroughly praying and studying out that they align with what the written Word of God say...

Thoughts on Today’s Message From the Pastor

Scripture: Psalm 112: 1-10

Most of us, if not all of us, have had conversations with someone who was affected by a less-than-loving father or mother, and the hurt that it brings throughout a person's life.  We have also had conversations with others who shared how loving and caring their mother and father were and how they were blessed because of it.  These point out how people's actions ...

Thoughts on Today’s Message From the Pastor

Scriptures: Ephesians 2:1-10, Hebrews 4:12-13, John 10:10,

        Matthew 11:28

Shame and the power it can have to make us think we are of less value than we are, is a big topic that I in no way believe I have all the answers for everyone and every situation.  In my life, I have experienced things that have made me cringe when I thought about them or gave me a feeling that I was less imp...