The Rock Weekly – May 15, 2024

  • Tonight – Prayer & Worship Night! @ 7pm in the Chapel or via livestream.  Growing in the Word – 6pm in the Prayer Room or via Zoom. See links below. 
  • NO FOODBANK Distribution this Saturday. The Food Bank is on break for May and June, but will resume distributions on July 6th.

 

The Glory of God

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NKJV  “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

I have been meditating recently on the Glory of God. If you are familiar with scripture, you know what a prevalent subject this is. This email is going to be filled with scripture references, and my point in doing this is so you can be impacted by the same verses I have been meditating on so as to create a longing to encounter His glory for yourself. 

The Word of God says that when God created the heavens and mankind, that He actually crowned man with this glory (Ps. 8:1-5). As creation was adorned in divine glory in the beginning, so also will it radiate the glory of God in the end, as seen in the book of Revelation. 

[Rev 21:10-11, 23-24 ESV] 10 “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. … 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,”

Within this framework of the beginning and the final end, Israel was given temporal revelations of divine glory. The filling of the tabernacle of Moses’s tabernacle (Ex.40:34) and Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:11; 2 Chron. 5:14), I believe, prophetically point us to the day when Jesus will return and reign from His temple in Jerusalem (Ezek. 43:2-7; Hag. 2:7-9; Mal. 3:1-2), thus filling the entire earth with His glory (Ps. 72:19; Num. 14:10). 

At Jesus’s first coming, He came to reveal the Glory of God (John 1:14, Matt. 3:16-17; Matt. 17:1-5; Jn. 17:1-4), and become a ransom that would satisfy God’s wrath against sin so that we could experience God’s glory once again, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Rom. 3:23-24). Now, on this side of the cross, He fills us with His Spirit, the deposit of the glory of the age to come (Eph. 1:17; 2 Cor. 5:5; 1 Pet. 4:14), so that we can begin to experience His glory now (2 Cor. 3:18), as we keep on the narrow path that leads to the full inheritance of glory in the Messianic Kingdom (2 Cor. 4:17-18, Roms. 8:18) and with the establishment of the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21:1-8). 

Now, in light of this Biblical survey of the glory of God, let’s return to our first scripture, 2 Cor. 3:18. It is mind blowing to me that we have the privilege in this life to behold the glory of the Lord through the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Not only that, but as we behold this glory, as in a mirror…reflecting this glory, we have the opportunity to be changed into the nature and character of Jesus. As we look at Jesus “the evangelist” in the scriptures, we become the evangelist by the power of the Holy Spirit as He changes us into Jesus’s image. We can apply this same principle to Jesus the Prophet, Priest, King, Counselor, etc… Paul goes on in 2 Corinthians 4 to say that this is the ministry we have been given, and it culminates in chapter 5 as us being described as ambassadors of Jesus. If you desire greater grace to become His ambassador, those that represent Jesus on earth, I want to encourage you to behold Jesus in the Word and ask the Holy Spirit to change you. This requires constant repentance and humility, but it’s those who “become like a child” that inherit the kingdom. 

Jesus, thank You for purchasing me by Your blood and giving me the ministry of beholding You and becoming like You. Help me to humble myself and be changed into Your image more today than yesterday. Let me reflect this priestly ministry You have given me, and increase in Your Spirit’s glory as I labor to make You know in my generation.  Amen.

 

Pastor Marcus and your Rock Staff

 

 

 

IMPORTANT SERVICE & WEEKLY INFORMATION:

WEDNESDAY NIGHT WORSHIP & PRAYER SERVICE  7:00pm * In-Person & On-Line *
Facebook Live:  https://www.facebook.com/rockchurchco
The Rock Online Livestream:  https://www.therock.org/live/

 

GROWING IN THE WORD – 6:00pm Wednesdays
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7709609677?omn=83428418208

 

YOUTH ~ BASE CAMP (6th – 12th Grade) – WEDNESDAY NIGHT – 7:00pm
Invite a friend and come have a great time. If you have any questions, email jaden@therock.org

 

FOOD BANK DISTRIBUTION – ON BREAK UNTIL JULY 6TH
https://www.therock.org/foodbank/
Email Lindy@therock.org if you would like to volunteer or have questions.

 

SUNDAY MORNING PRE-SERVICE PRAYER  8:15-9:15am – *In-Person & On-line*
ZOOM Direct Video Link:
           https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85340164797?pwd=V0lmWFRRL0R6Tm56QTdRUHNoMWI3QT09
ZOOM Meeting ID: 853 4016 4797
          ZOOM Phone Option +12532158782,,85340164797#

 

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE 9:45am  *In-Person & On-line*
           Facebook Live:  https://www.facebook.com/rockchurchco
The Rock Online Livestream:  https://www.therock.org/live/

 

OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE  Here are some ways you can partner with The Rock as you practice generosity – our regular tithe/giving, compassion help, missions, and our food bank.  Click on the following link or graphic.  www.therock.org/give

 

Have a Question, Need Prayer, Help, Feel Alone, or Disconnected?

Please email us at family@therock.org and put QUESTION, PRAYER, NEED HELP, or CONNECT ME at the top of your email.