Whispering Pines Church

Palm Sunday What Did We Expect? This Palm Sunday as we reflect on Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, we reflect on the expectations of the people who received him there that day. We see their excitement, their jubilation as they prepare the way for the One they expect to change their lives! But what exactly were they expecting? Today, we have similar questions to address. What do we expect of Jesus in our lives? Easter season is the anniversary of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, but it is so much more than an anniversary. It is an answer to humanity’s fallenness. It is God’s response to our need! Join us this Psalm Sunday as we examine our hearts and discover the fulfillment of God’s promise to deliver us at Calvary! Pastor Nate Roschen

Love, Perfected The Letters of John 1 John 5 In this final chapter of John’s first letter, John does not coast to a stop. Chapter 5 is packed with practical and important teachings on Christian living: The commands of God should not be understood as burdensome. Christianity cannot be separated from the sacrifice of Christ. Followers of Jesus can have confidence in approaching God. Sin leads to death, but Jesus Christ has overcome. In all of these things, John offers assurance and hope. His love for the audience of his letter is tangible, and we should be encouraged to keep going! Join us as we wrap up this powerful letter to a church of early believers. Pastor Nate Roschen

Love, Perfected The Letters of John 1 John 4:7-21 Throughout this first letter of John, the author’s primary focus has been on convincing us as Christians to love. Here, in the remainder of chapter four, John is concerned that we fully understand what inspires our love for one another. What is our reason for loving others? John has famously declared that God is light (1:5) and that God is Spirit (John 4:24), and now John declares that God is love (4:8). By this, John is expressing that all of God’s activity is loving! Join us this Sunday as we explore our motives for being loving people, as well as looking at God’s loving character to learn how we can more fully embody His truth and love! Pastor Nate Roschen

Love, Perfected The Letters of John 1 John 4:7-21 Throughout this first letter of John, the author’s primary focus has been on convincing us as Christians to love. Here, in the remainder of chapter four, John is concerned that we fully understand what inspires our love for one another. What is our reason for loving others? John has famously declared that God is light (1:5) and that God is Spirit (John 4:24), and now John declares that God is love (4:8). By this, John is expressing that all of God’s activity is loving! Join us this Sunday as we explore our motives for being loving people, as well as looking at God’s loving character to learn how we can more fully embody His truth and love! Pastor Nate Roschen

Kristen Rummel from Alternatives Pregnancy Center shared their vision.

Providence Our lives are not a random course of events and relationships that leads to nothing in the end, nor is it a fate set in stone that we have no control over. God is working with us, in us and all around us, all the time. God’s providence is something we experience all the time, but don’t often notice it for what it is. Join us this Sunday as we look into providence and how we can live our lives with this knowledge. Elder Jason Moat

Love, Perfected The Letters of John 1 John 3:1-10 1 John 3:1a See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3 begins with the bold exclamation that many bible translations don’t include: Behold! Then, to further declare the bold and wonderful truth that God loves us, John uses the Greek term potapen (translated as “what” in the NIV), which means “of what country?” God’s love is so unusual, so unearthly, so unique that it leads John to exclaim, “Behold this love! Of what country is this?” This love is so great in fact, that it cannot remain merely felt or experienced, it must be expressed. Join us this week as we see how God’s love leads us to respond! Pastor Nate Roschen

Love, Perfected The Letters of John 1 John 2:15-29 “Continue in Him...” In the remainder of chapter two, John plainly lays out the true nature of sin, and the many dangers faced by his fledgling churches. We’re encouraged by John to hold true to Christ in spite of the many challenges presented to us. We’re told to remain in the Lord, abide in Him, and to continue in Him. What does it mean to abide in the Lord? How do we grow in our ability to remain confident and unshaken in our faith through a world with many pitfalls and temptations? Join us this week as we continue our study of John’s letters! Pastor Nate Roschen

Love, Perfected The Letters of John 1 John 2 In this second chapter of John’s letter, John makes demands on Christians to live out a radical faith. He begins the chapter by telling his audience that he has written this in order that “you will not sin.” An authentic Christian testimony is critical in order for the gospel to spread. Christians are to be honest about our failures, but there is also an expectation that we are moving forward, that we are growing and maturing in our faith. “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands” (v. 3). This may be John’s thesis statement. Here, he both challenges us to not merely hear the Word and its commands, but to do them. T do this we must know God, see Him accurately, and out of our admiration and appreciation for God, obedience naturally follows. Join us this Sunday as we continue through John’s letters! Pastor Nate Roschen

Love, Perfected The Letters of John 1 John 1:5-10 To begin his letter, John builds on a metaphor that is used over 200 times in Scripture, that of light. This example may have been used so extensively because it is easy to understand and relatable for both young and old. I also believe that it is commonly misunderstood. God is light – John tells us. In Him there is no darkness whatsoever. This is followed by a command for us to also walk in that light. Join us for a conversation about the humility and integrity that we need to embody in our lives as Christians! Pastor Nate Roschen

Love, Perfected The Letters of John 1 John 1:5-10 To begin his letter, John builds on a metaphor that is used over 200 times in Scripture, that of light. This example may have been used so extensively because it is easy to understand and relatable for both young and old. I also believe that it is commonly misunderstood. God is light – John tells us. In Him there is no darkness whatsoever. This is followed by a command for us to also walk in that light. Join us for a conversation about the humility and integrity that we need to embody in our lives as Christians! Pastor Nate Roschen

The Practice of Prayer: Part II Psalm 66, Matthew 6 In this miniseries on prayer, we began by looking at the “why” of prayer. We pray because it connects us and grows our relationship with God our Father. This week, we look at the “how” of prayer. We tend to do things because they “work.” We educate our children because we believe it’s important for their development. We work because it pays the bills. We cook food that we hope will be delicious. If we’re going to spend time doing something, it needs to “work”, that it actually accomplishes something. We will not pray if we don’t think that it “works.” Join us this week as we consider successful prayer, and what Scripture has to promise us about communion with God. Pastor Nate Roschen

The Practice of Prayer The start of a new year is a natural opportunity to turn the page into something new and fresh. I look forward to beginning our new series going through John’s letters, but before we do that, I’d like to begin the year with a topic fundamental to our faith and essential to the life of our church: prayer. What is prayer? What makes for a successful prayer? I’m sure that you’ve seen a number of models and acrostics for prayers. They can be tools to help us understand the purpose of prayer, and they offer us direction. In Luke 11, Jesus lays out a model of prayer for us. His prayer is humble. His words are sincere. I encourage you to join us on this first Sunday of the new year, as we explore the depth and breadth of Christ’s instruction on communing with God! Pastor Nate Roschen

Christmas: The Story We Step Into It’s an old, old story, read in churches by candlelight and by families gathered together in their homes. “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world…” The words travel to us from two thousand years ago, telling the story we’ve heard all our lives. Like an old nativity set handed down generations, the story itself can remain set up, bathed in warm yellow light - a story that happened, but so very long ago. Join us this Saturday, Christmas Eve at 6 p.m., and Sunday, Christmas Morning at 10:30 a.m., as we reflect on Christmas as a story that we step into, the ongoing mission of God! Pastor Nate Roschen

The Sound of Christmas: Come Thou Long Expected Jesus Christmas was the advent of a Savior. The light of God entered into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. Light is needed in darkness. A Savior is needed by all those who cannot save themselves. The necessity of Jesus’ birth should not be difficult to understand from this side of the cross. But what kind of heart was ready to receive this Savior? In its first stanza, Joy to the World famously declares, “Let every heart prepare Him room!” The song we’ll be looking at this week, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, speaks of the heart often, saying that Christ’s coming is the “joy of every longing heart”, and asks God to “rule in all our hearts alone.” Wesley found the ingredients and inspiration for this song in the book of Haggai. He looked at the desires of the people at that time, and God’s own desire to bring what “is desired by all nations” (Haggai 2:7). Join us this Sunday as we examine the Scriptural roots of this Christmas carol! Pastor Nate Rosch

The Sound of Christmas: O Holy Night This week in our advent series on the songs of Christmas, we take a look at O Holy Night. Written in Roquemaure, France in 1847, this song has a rich theology, and reflects the depth of the people and the time in which it was written. It is a song, I would argue, that is primarily about deliverance. The great deliverance of Christmas is from the sin that entangled, corrupts, and destroys. But some of the beauty of O Holy Night is that it also invites us in, as recipients of God’s deliverance, to join with God in declaring and spreading the deliverance He brings. God invites us into His work of chain-breaking, to deliver people from fear, from isolation, from ignorance and various abuses. This song was adopted by the abolitionist John Sullivan Dwight, and he utilized it in his efforts to end slavery. Join us this Sunday as we sing of God’s deliverance! Pastor Nate Roschen

The Sound of Christmas: O Come O Come Emmanuel As someone who grew up in the Christian Church, the thought that God is Emmanuel (God with us) has always seemed so obvious, so normative, that I often forget its uniqueness. The concept of “God with us” is incredibly unique within the religious world. Other gods are not “with” their people; they are remote, preoccupied, unattainable, unreachable, and so “other” that one would hardly know what to do if they had contact with them. For as unique a word as Emmanuel is, one might expect it to be used commonly in Scripture, but it is not. It’s only used on four occasions, within two books of the Bible. Why is this? Most likely because God is, and has always been “with us.” There was no need to spell out the fact in the gospels, again and again, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was in our midst. He was right there. He was providing food, walking on water, and washing feet. He was tangible, approachable, and “with” us. Join us this Sunday as we explore the song “O C

The Sound of Christmas: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence Each week of this Season of Advent, we’ll be looking at a song of Christmas to see where it finds its roots in Scripture. This week, we’ll look at the song Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, which has its foundations in the book of Habakkuk. In a world that seemed to be darkening and the wicked seemed to be prospering, God spoke His plan of hope through the prophets. Habakkuk is refreshingly honest, as he shares a dialogue between God and himself. The prophet shares his concerns, his fears and frustrations, and finds an answer from God that he never could have anticipated. Join us this Sunday, as we explore this advent season through its music. Pastor Nate Roschen

Pastor Nate completes his sermon series on the Psalms of Ascent.

Community Thanksgiving Service Sunday, November 13th 2022 "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). We are called to live in gratitude, to give thanks in all circumstances. All people give thanks for good food, for their friends and family, the beauty of the world and whatever good things come their way. God does not reward us with a gold star for being happy about the good things in life, for all people enjoy good things and love those who love them (Matt. 5:46-47). Followers of Jesus Christ are called to recognize God, and give thanks to Him in all circumstances. We're called to be thankful, yes, for the many blessings God bestows on us. But also for the Savior who left those good things behind to live and die as our sacrificial lamb. We live in the light of His sacrifice. Our gratitude must be different, let's explore that together this Sunday as a community. I hope that you're