“Don’t just think about it, do it, do it, do it.” That was the line used in the television promotion encouraging healthy living. According to a survey, eighty four percent of Canadians believe that texting while driving should be a criminal offense. And yet, fatal collisions in Canada involving drivers distracted by texting have risen seventeen percent in recent years. Giving mental assent to something doesn’t necessarily cause a change of behaviour. In the book of Romans, we read, “If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” The reality is that many people give mental assent to the existence of God, but there is no change in their lives. They have failed to exercise saving faith, the importance of believing with their hearts that Jesus can and will make them His children. Knowing the truth is not enough. We must act on it.

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files

Well known author Max Lucado went to an airport to catch a flight. He checked his luggage, got his ticket and went to the gate, past security, took a seat and waited to board the plane. He waited and waited. Finally, an attendant informed him, that he was at the wrong gate. This sounds like many of us, when we think about going to heaven. We check in at the gate of good works, church attendance and so on, but no call for our destination comes. We are at the wrong gate. Nobody is ever good enough to earn his or her way to heaven. Jesus reminds us, “Enter in by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” Jesus is the only gate. He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Please think about that.

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files

Our ancestors did without sugar until the thirteenth century, without butter until the sixteenth century, without coffee, tea and soap until the seventeenth century, without automobiles until the nineteenth century, without radio and T.V. until the twentieth century. Many of us have as our highest goal, more and more possessions. But money and materialism cannot satisfy our longings. Jesus asked, “what does it profit man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” the Psalmist wrote “God Himself “satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” A gospel song tells us, “Only Jesus can satisfy your soul. And only He can change your heart and make you whole. He’ll give you peace you never knew, love and joy and heaven too, for only Jesus can satisfy the soul.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files

In 1999, Daniel Miller, a geo morphologist, who studies land formation and changes that occur, warned that there was a potential for a catastrophic landslide near Arlington, Washington. He cautioned about the safety of building houses in the area. Unfortunately, his warning was not heeded, and the mudslide that occurred later, took many innocent lives. It is easy to shrug and say, “It can’t happen to me.” This approach is also often taken concerning our spiritual welfare. It does not change anything by saying, “I don’t believe in that Bible stuff.” Jeremiah, wrote “I have been watching, declares the Lord. I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen…” Happily, God invites us all,to “seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near…return to the Lord and He will …abundantly pardon.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files

A few years ago, a CBC poll asked, “should the word God be in Canada’s national anthem?” Eighty six percent said “yes”. Fourteen percent said “no”. This is surprising, since according to the General Social Survey, only twenty one percent of Canadians aged fifteen and over attend a religious service at least once a week. So, eighty six percent of respondents want the word God in our national anthem, but less than twenty five percent of Canadians attend church on a regular basis. It’s one thing to mouth mental assent to something, quite another to really believe it. This mental dichotomy is even more serious when it pertains to our relationship with God. Paul the Apostle wrote, “…if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved..” True biblical faith is believing with the heart, and then living out what we confess.

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files

Not much, it seems, takes place without being seen by someone. Police in Buffalo New York were caught on camera beating a handcuffed man. It took place in the dark. They were filmed by a passerby who forwarded the incident to You Tube. John, in his gospel, wrote about activities after dark with the words, “…Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” How good, though, to know that John was also inspired to write, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Our kind Heavenly Father is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” No matter who we are, no matter what we have done, God loves us and invites us to humbly turn to Him, just as we are

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files

Health Canada studies indicate that most of us are consuming too much sodium, a danger to our health. And while it is very important that we watch what we eat, it is even more important to consider our inner man, our soul and spirit. Jesus once said, “…that which enters the mouth does not make a man unclean, for it is soon passed from the body. But what comes out of the heart, evil thoughts, murder, greed, adultery, arrogance, that’s what makes man unclean.” We have a heart disease. Jeremiah was inspired to describe our fallen nature, writing, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…” King David, realizing his spiritual condition prayed, “Have mercy on me Oh God…blot out my transgressions…cleanse me from my sin.” That is a prayer everyone of us should pray.

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files

Recently I learned of a cathedral in Europe which had a beautiful stained glass window. During a storm, it was shattered and broken into many small pieces, which were carefully gathered and packed away. One day a stranger who had heard of the broken window asked to see the pieces. Upon examining them, he told the villagers he could fix the broken window but he must have all the pieces. A few months later he returned with the window. The villagers gazed in amazement. It seemed to them that their stained-glass window was more beautiful than before. Do you have a broken heart.” Give all the pieces to Jesus for He is the healer of broken hearts. The Psalmist wrote, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.” Please reach out to Jesus. He’s reaching out to you.

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files

Sharon Beggs from Chilliwack B.C. recently learned of her death from Service Canada. The letter said they were putting an end to her old age security allowance and disability cheques because she had passed away. Fortunately, the correction has been made, and Beggs has now been brought back to life legally. I’m sure she can smile over this bureaucratic blunder. Her story reminds us that the Bible has much to say about life and death. We can be alive physically but dead spiritually. Paul, referring to people who had come into a personal relationship with Christ, wrote, “And you, He, (Jesus) made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files

The average Canadian eats nearly 100 pounds of sugar each year. Sugar is added to most food items we eat or drink. Eating sugar stimulates the same parts of the brain as drugs or alcohol. It is not only linked to obesity, heart problems and diabetes, but possibly Alzheimer’s disease as well. So, what do we do with this information? We keep on eating sugar, lots of it in our coffee. While ignoring proven facts about our physical health can lead to disease in this life, ignoring proven truth about our spiritual life can lead to disaster in the next life. Isaiah urged, “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near…He will have mercy…He will abundantly pardon.” Hopefully, many will cut back on their consumption of sugar. The wise will search God’s Word. When we know the truth, the truth will set us free.

Pastor Alex Rockwell
Listen to this message and others here:

Just a Minute MP3 Files