Waterbrooke Church

"Improving Our Responsiveness to Jesus" Acts 7:17-43 | Pastor Kevin Dibbley

One of the things that we regularly see in the customer service industry is articles on how to improve customer response times. For example, in one study, it was revealed that 70% of the people who evaluated customer service said that the quicker a business responded and resolved customer issues dictated whether they were viewed as having good quality customer service. Your response times indicated how valuable your customers were to you.
This Sunday, our message was from Acts 7:17-43, we are not going to talk about improving customer response times. We are going to look at improving our Christ response times. In Luke 19, there is this great story of Zaccheus, a tax collector, climbing up in a tree to see Jesus as he passed by in the crowds. Luke writes, “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully” (Luke 19:5-6). That picture is a picture of someone who is eager to receive Christ and to follow Him. To hurry to be with Jesus and to joyfully receive Him. 
Are you eager to follow Christ? Are you going out of your way to get above the crowd and the noise to see him and to hear him? How is your Christ response time? Come this Sunday as our sermon is called Improving our Responsiveness to Jesus. I think you will find it encouraging and helpful.  
In Christ,Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

"The Teachable Disciple" Acts 7:9-16 | Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday’s sermon was called “The Teachable Disciple”. We will be studying Acts 7:9-16. As Stephen preaches his sermon to the hostile crowd of religious leaders and Greek-speaking Jews, he begins with these words, “Brothers and fathers, hear me.” My good friend Bill likes to say “Listen to me now. Hear me later.” Hearing means more than listening. It is leaning in with a teachable and humble heart. It is a willingness to learn and to be taught the word of God, the will of God, the ways of God. Discipleship by its very definition is living a life of perpetual listening and learning. Discipleship is actually a life of learning how to listen to the truth of Christ, to hear, and to follow.One of the great criticisms of the people of Israel down through its history is that they were ever “hearing but not understanding.” How about you? Have you stopped hearing God speak to your life? What is the posture of your everyday following of Christ? Have you arrived and have nothing left to learn or is everyday a day the adventure of growing to know and to love Jesus more and more? Come this Sunday and pray that God would give all of us a teachable spirit. May that teachable spirit be not just for Sunday but for the rest of our lives as God’s people. 
In Christ,Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor
Find out more about Waterbrooke Church at www.waterbrooke.church

" The God of Glory Appeared" | Acts 7:1-8 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

There is a huge difference between religion and discipleship. Religion often looks for symbols, traditions, rules, buildings, and physical locations to get one’s sense of identity and religious security. Discipleship is living out one’s already existent identity and security in Christ in the adventure of faith and obedience.
In the book of Acts, the disciples are perpetually under pressure and on the move. They often look like they are the ones being threatened but they are actually living in the freedom and the security of Christ. As we will see this weekend, one of the greatest examples in the New Testament of the journey of faith is a very old, Old Testament character, Abraham. The life of Abraham helps Stephen in his journey as a disciple in Christ. Abraham shows us that the life of faith looks for its rest and joy and confidence not in the law, not in the temple, but in the God who called him. Our hope is in the Lord in the same way.
 
Come this Sunday and may the Lord encourage us together on the adventure of discipleship – following Christ in His mission on the way to the promised land. Our passage will be taken from Acts 7:1-8.  Pray for God’s presence and power to be with us all.
In Christ,Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

"Full of Grace and Power" | Acts 6: 8-15 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday, we will continued our study of the Book of Acts in Acts 6:8-15. Our sermon is called “Full of Grace and Power.” The gospel of the kingdom of God is now about to advance into the Gentile (non-Jewish) world. Monumental advances in the mission of the kingdom of Christ are about to happen. What we will see here is that the mission of God rarely advances in the book of Acts without significant resistance. Or better said, God often uses resistance to direct the advancement of His Kingdom and reveal His glory not only to those who are witnesses to the events happening but those who are His witnesses.
Stephen, one of the first deacons of the early church, is going to experience God like never before. This is not the story of how Stephen changed the trajectory of the church. This is how God changed the trajectory of Stephen’s life and how in so doing, God advanced his mission in the world. God’s people experience His power, His wisdom, and His glory simply by faithfully serving on mission. Do you want more than a head knowledge of the Lord? Do you want to experience God in a way that is real and powerful and life-changing? Let’s study this text together and pray for God to show us and others the glory of Jesus. 
In Christ,Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

"God's Providence in Our Problems" | Acts 6: 1-7 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday’s message was from Acts 6:1-7,  is called God’s Providence in Our Problems. One of the foundational convictions of the apostles in the early church is that Jesus is both Lord and Savior of the church. That means, Jesus is not just the subject of the mission. He is the Director of the mission. He isn’t just the Savior of His people. He is the Sovereign over all things. He is large and in charge. 
In last Sunday’s passage, Acts 5:30-31, Peter speaks to the religious leaders in Jerusalem and he says “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” The book of Acts is not the book of Accidents.  It is the story of the mission of Christ. King Jesus is building his church and even the problems aren’t problems for him. They are predestined for the salvation of souls and the expansion of His kingdom. This is super helpful to us as his people. Life is full of disappointments and failures and events that we would never choose. The church is so often palpably struggling. Yet, God chooses to work in a way that is so different than any of us would work. He does this so that we might see that salvation completely belongs to the Lord. It helps us to recognize that He is gloriously God and we are definitely not. Thank God for that!
 
The apostle Paul in Romans 11 puts it this way: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Come this Sunday and be reminded that Christ is a solid hope and his kingdom is a sure thing in a world of perplexities and problems. This is such a comfort. It is such a hope. 
In Christ,Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

"All for the Name of Jesus" | Acts 5:17-42 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday, we continued our study of the book of Acts. As it is the beginning of a New Year, there are several things from this passage that I think will be super helpful as we consider how to approach discipleship in 2025. It is clear that the mission of the early church happened in a less than friendly environment.  The apostles were repeatedly threatened and often imprisoned and yet, they are not only able to persevere, they thrive! It’s clear that the twists and turns and the disappointments and failures of ministry as broken people in a broken world are not hindrances to the gospel or to their growth. God’s mission is to advance his kingdom further out into the world and further into the disciples’ hearts. Are you wanting to grow as a Christian? Is 2025 a year where you want to grow in your knowledge and love of Jesus? Acts 5 teaches us that discipleship is the deep and ongoing work of God in the lives his people that happens through the medium of His mission in the world. When God works through us, He also works in us. When God shows the world the glory of Jesus through His people, He also shows the glory of Jesus to His people. Our sermon is called “All for the Name of Jesus” and let’s pray that God will prepare us to pursue a deeper relationship with Christ this year as individuals and as a church family. In Christ,Kevin Dibbley, Senior Pastor

"Worthy of Praise" | Colossians 4:7-18 by Andy Keppel

We enter the new year with the last of the messages from our study in Colossians. In this section, Paul closes out his letter to the church in Colossae and sends regards from the believers in prison with him in Rome. While we might be tempted to skip over a list of names like this, each one represents a unique story of salvation and faithfulness which helps us understand our own realities and relationships in light of the Gospel. The good news of Jesus and His love for us fuels a passion for relationships in a world of shallow or apathetic friendships and gives meaning to our labors; it's not just a meaningless grind, everything and everyone is a mission field (including us!)

"Remaining Steadfast in Jesus" | 2 Thessalonians 1-12 by Bruce Washington

A lot of times, especially as we head into a new year, we tend to not look back over the previous one. That’s usually because we don’t like to think about the struggles we’ve experienced or are still experiencing.Join us this Sunday as we look at Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, where he encourages the believers in Thessalonica to live with an attitude of thankfulness even in the midst of our struggles.

"A Christ-Centered Christmas" Philippians 2:1-11 | Life in Him

This sermon is called “A Christ-Centered Christmas.” It’s meant to be a very practical message on how to negotiate your way through the next few weeks as a disciple of Jesus.
The Christmas season offers many of us the opportunity to be together with people, family, and friends, with whom we often don’t usually have the time just to have an extended hang out. It really is a privilege to be with people we love. Yet, for many, this can be challenging for numerous reasons. Painful histories. Current conflicts. Differing beliefs. There are some who would suggest that it is best to avoid such potentially hazardous situations. However, Christmas is a time to take up your cross and follow Jesus. It is time to grow and to show that our lives are not our own but belong to Him.
My prayer for you is that each of us would find a way to really make Christmas about Christ - not just in the songs we sing and the words that we say but in the sacrifices and the selflessness that Christ showed when He came to earth and became one of us. 
Let’s pray that this Christmas would be powerfully Christi-centered. 
Join us on Christmas Eve as we celebrate Jesus' birth at 5:30PM

"The Word Became Flesh" John 1:14-18 | Life in Him

Christmas can be one of those profoundly lonely seasons for people. Grief, abandonment, job changes, personal moral failure, political and global turmoil can leave a person feeling deeply alone and acutely isolated even in the hustle and bustle of the season. In John’s gospel, we encounter several people who feel long forgotten. For example, in John 5, the apostle John describes a man who was paralyzed. He was lying beside a pool that was supposed to provide healing waters. John writes, “One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?” Jesus saw him lying there.  This is no accidental encounter. He knew that he had been there a long time. The man replied, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool…”. Do you hear that? I have no one. This man was deeply alone until Jesus showed up. Be sure of this, Jesus didn’t just show up. He came for this man … just like, He came for us.Friends, the story of Christmas, the story of the incarnation, is the remarkable truth that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God saw us. God came to us. God came for us! 
As we celebrate Advent, we are going to rejoice in the glorious truth that “The Word Became Flesh.” I can assure you today that we are no longer alone, unseen, or forgotten. The message of the Incarnation declares to you that God sees you. God knows you. God, in Christ, has come for you. The theme for Advent this week is joy. 
Let’s gather together in the Word becoming flesh for you and for me!
Blessings from Pastor Kevin!
Join us on Christmas Eve as we celebrate Jesus.  5:30PM

In the Beginning John 1:1-5 | "Life In Him" by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

“In the beginning was the Word…”
Jesus is the One that gives everything its meaning, its purpose, its life. He is the Source,Center, the Goal, the Gift.
Jesus isn’t merely the “Reason for the season.”
Jesus is the Reason for everything.
“God knows how much we need the creation-to-destiny themes of the biblical narrative inorder to make sense of our lives, so he lovingly gives those dominant themes right up front…Since God created us to be meaning-makers, he immediately presents us with the wonderfuland awful realities that we need to understand in order to make proper sense of who we areand what life is really all about.”Paul David Tripp

"A Necessary Dose of Holy Fear" Acts 5:1-16 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday, our message is taken from Acts 5:1-16. The title of the sermon is “A Necessary Dose of Holy Fear.” We often lose sight of the holiness of God. In our busy lives, we can simply begin to take God for granted and forget that the God we serve is the God who is real. He is “holy, holy, holy”. He is not a good luck charm or an add-on to our list of priorities. He is not the genie in the bottle of our earthly ambitions. He is the One who calls all the nations to bow their knee and surrender their lives to His chosen King, our King, Jesus. He is Yahweh, the Lord God. In Acts 5, we will see a married couple, Ananias and Sapphira, live like God isn’t really holy or truly present. They offer the apostles a very generous gift but they lie about the amount. They pretend that they are giving God everything when they are only giving God a portion. They forget that God isn’t an idol. He is real. So, they learn the hard way that God is not mocked.Friends, we do this. It is easy for us to drift towards God as a conceptual idea rather than a very real present and a truly Holy God. We need the reminder that God is real.  God won’t be dismissed. God won’t be treated like all the gods of the nations. He is the true and holy God. So, here for the sake of His glory and for the good of the church, and for the advance of His mission, God reminds them that He is who He is. This Sunday, we are going to look at this text and ask God to remind us to live before Him in holy fear. We will see that holy fear is not only right but it is good. We all need a good dose of holy fear for our joy and for His glory. Looking forward to Sunday. We are taking the Lord’s Supper so prepare your hearts and invite a friend. Pray for one another.
 
Join us for Christmas Eve Service at Waterbrooke Church - 5:30PM - Details

"Unintimidated" Acts 4:32-37 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday’s sermon was called “Unintimidated”. In Acts 4:32-37, we see the fruit of the collective praying of the early church disciples. The number of the disciples had been growing rapidly. There were now at least 5000 of them (Acts 4:4). With that growth, there came an increased opposition from the temple leaders. The chief priests, the Sadducees, and the temple guard arrested Peter and John and threatened them. Their goal was to stomp out this fast-spreading fire quickly. They hoped to do what they had done earlier. Fill the disciples with fear and watch them scatter. Instead, the opposite happened. 
The church immediately went to prayer (Acts 4:23-31). As a response to prayer, the Holy Spirit filled them and the place where they were gathered was shaken. Interestingly, the Holy Spirit didn’t change the religious leaders' threats. The Holy Spirit changed the church. What the Lord intended was to create a community that had fear-resistant characteristics.  The community was now characterized by something that the fear of man could not threaten. We studied how the Holy Spirit uses the gospel to produce in us the opposite of what fear intends to produce and that creates a community that cannot be intimidated. Pray for God to build these characteristics into our lives at Waterbrooke Church and to build a movement of grace that reaches far beyond the walls of our church building. 
Thank you for listening today, friends.  If you want to connect with me or our church, go to waterbrooke.church and click contact Us.
Download the Sermon notes HERE
Watch this Message HERE

"Praying Together for Courage" Acts 4:23-31

This Sunday, we examined the subject of praying for courage as we seek to share the hope of Jesus with others. 
In Acts 4, Peter and John are remarkably bold in speaking about Christ to the religious leaders who are threatening them. These are the very same religious leaders who had recently arranged and successfully carried out the crucifixion of Jesus. 
The boldness of the disciples was not natural. 
It was supernatural. The timid Galilean disciples had recently fled in fear. Now, they faced the threats of the religious leaders with amazing courage (Acts 4:13). So much so, that even their enemies were blown away. What we see after this, however, is that Peter and John immediately went back to the others and they joined together in prayer. No bravado. No “We showed them!” No post-touchdown taunting in the end zone. Courage required the help of the community, and specifically, the help of a community on its knees. Courage in evangelism is a gift from God. Let’s learn how "Praying Together for Courage" (our sermon title) is one of the core privileges God has given us as His people with one another.  Let's worship our King Jesus.  Remember, He reigns!
Pastor Kevin Dibbley
To find out more about Waterbrooke Church, please go to www.waterbrooke.church.

"Uncommon Courage" Acts 4 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled "Uncommon Courage." If there is any chapter that indicates a radical shift in the lives of Jesus’ disciples, it's Acts 4. Luke writes in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” The religious leaders were astonished at the change in Peter and John! They had gone from fearful cowards to openly courageous evangelists. This Sunday, we will looked at how the Holy Spirit transforms God’s people so that we can’t help but share the greatest part of our lives – Jesus, crucified, risen, and reigning! Let’s pray for Holy Spirit birthed boldness for each of us as we seek to be God’s witnesses to a world in need of Jesus! 
 
Pastor Kevin Dibbley
We would love to invite you to join us on Sundays at 9 & 11. Go to Waterbrooke.church and click "Plan a Visit"

"Repentance & Restoration" Acts 3 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday's sermon was taken from Acts 3.  Luke recounts the story of the first healing miracle in the Book of Acts. Peter and John encounter a lame man who is begging for alms at a place in the temple called “The Beautiful Gate.” 
 
Here’s the great news: Jesus is the Beautiful Gate opening to a glorious new creation. That lame man represents all of us spiritually. More than just us, the lame man represents a lame world. 
 
Sin has broken us.
 
It has deeply shattered the world. 
 
But with the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, everything is about to change. Sin has been defeated. Christ has been exalted. He is now making all things beautiful through the gospel. 
 
The gospel is not just the announcement of sin being forgiven. It is the glorious news of God’s cosmic restoration project. For our world where sin and war and trauma and brokenness dominate the horizons of our lives, the gospel is really gloriously good news.
Come as we listen to the apostle Peter preach his second sermon in the book of Acts and as he announces how great the good news is and how we can be a part of it as His people. Our sermon is called Repentance and Restoration. Join us on Sundays at 9 and 11. Pray and bring a friend. 
Plan a visit by going to waterbrooke.church

“The Fellowship of the Spirit.” By Pastor Kevin Dibbley

When Christ takes hold of our hearts, the Holy Spirit doesn’t produce a reluctantly obedient group of people who are dutifully carrying out a list of religious behaviors. The Holy Spirit creates a new community with a shared passion for Christ and the kingdom of God. Life in the Spirit flows out into life in community with God’s people. It is supernaturally “natural” for Christ followers to want to do life together.
This explains why genuine Christians often struggle. The busyness and noise of life often work in counter purposes to what our new covenant hearts desire and what the Spirit is calling us to – a deeper relationship with God through deeper relationships with one another.
Come as we witness in Acts 2 how the Holy Spirit produces a deep devotion to growing and going together as God’s new temple community. We are His temple indwelled by His Spirit and His Spirit builds His church by bringing us to share life in Christ together.
If you are in Christ and the Spirit of Christ resides in you this is what you were made for – Life Together. Pray for a real work of grace in all of us as we meet and worship our Lord and King together. 

"Pentecost: When God Came to Stay" Acts 2 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday we studied one of the most exciting passages and important passages in the New Testament. Acts 2 records the crucial event of Pentecost. God Himself shows up big time and the trajectory of human history is now and forever changed. God is here. God is on the move. God will extend his reign to the ends of the earth. Pentecost is the biggest game-changer for the church and its mission after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. God’s blatant determination to usher in an age of global advancement of His kingdom has now been placed directly upon His own shoulders. Aslan is on the move! Come and be encouraged this Sunday as we consider the historical and missional implications of Pentecost. Our sermon is called – "Pentecost: When God Came to Stay". Pray that God would grip our hearts with His unfailing commitment to claim the nations and to claim our lives for His glory. We are celebrating the Lord’s Supper this week. Pray for hearts that are receptive to His Holy Spirit as we worship the King together. 

"Waiting on God Together" Acts 1:12-26 by Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday’s message is called “Waiting on God Together.” Jesus gave his disciples clear directions when He ascended to the throne of heaven. His charge to them was that they were to go to Jerusalem and wait for God to send the promised Holy Spirit. So, 120 disciples gathered together in an upper room and waited together. We often are placed by God in seasons of waiting. Some of those seasons are longer than others. For those of us who aren’t good at waiting patiently (which is most of us), it can feel like we have been put in “time-out” by our heavenly Father. We cry out with the Psalmist, “How long, O Lord?” (Psalm 13:1). What the Book of Acts teaches is that waiting on the Lord is meant to be a regular discipline of the Christian life and the local church. In Acts, a pattern begins to form where we find God’s people gathering together and waiting for God to work in them and through them by the power of the Holy Spirit especially when they are facing hostility and opposition to their mission. Whether you find yourself in a season of waiting on God because of health, work, or relational challenges or whether you are finding it hard to slow down and wait on the Lord, this Sunday’s passage in Acts 1:12-26 will be helpful for all of us. We need to learn to wait on God and we need to learn to do it together as God’s people. 
Join us on Sundays at 9 & 11 as we worship together!  We would love to see you there. 

"The Ascended King" Acts 1:1-11 - NEW SERIES! By Pastor Kevin Dibbley

This Sunday, we BEGAN a new series in the book of Acts. The book of Acts is a careful recording of the advancement of the kingdom of God into the Gentile world despite hostility and hardship. We constantly need to be encouraged and reminded that the mission of God happens through the unlikeliest of people (ie., Saul of Tarsus) in some of the most hostile environments. This happens precisely because our God reigns. Where are some of the hardest places that we least expect the gospel to advance? Who are you least hopeful would respond to the message of Christ? Waterbrooke Church’s mission statement is this: Waterbrooke seeks to be a gospel-centered multi-ethnic family that is captivated by Jesus, compelled to love others, and called to make disciples to the glory of God. What brings more glory to God than the salvation of the least likely people and peoples?Would you pray for yourself and our church community that we would grow in our confidence in God and His gospel? Take a little time and think about hard and seemingly impossible people or people groups and begin to ask the question, “Is anything too hard for our God?” Acts is a book intended to fuel the mission of the gospel to the ends of the earth. It’s designed to show us that nothing is too difficult for our God and King. The series is called “No Other Name.” The message this week is entitled “The Ascended King”. Luke begins his gospel with Jesus ascended and seated upon the throne. That’s the truth that drives global and local missions. Let’s start praying for a fresh movement of God for the salvation of our neighbors and the nations.
 
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