• Worship set: You Deserve, Rooftops, Higher than the Mountains, Lord I Need You, My Reward
• I thought that worship was good on Sunday. We introduced a new song, “Lord I Need You”. Good stuff.
• We’re still missing a drummer, but it’s still sounding ok. I’m told that I’m the only one who really cares that we don’t have a drummer. The problem is…I care!
• I believe the purpose of our music ministry is twofold: 1) is to lead our people into worship, and 2) is to be evangelistic in our music. In other words, it should be done with excellence and should be culturally relevant.
• And that’s why I care when we don’t have a drummer.
• The good news is, it looks like we’ve got someone to at least fill in for a while beginning this Sunday. We’ll see how they work out.
• Seems like we had about 4 or 5 first time guests, which is awesome because I preached one of the more difficult messages that I’ll preach this year. Oh well, I’m not much into giving people what they want to hear, just what they need to hear
• We continued the series, Jesus did not say… with Jesus did not say, “The church is about what you can get out of it. Make sure you are being fed.”
• Consumerism is plaguing the American church. We’ve got to stop thinking about what the church can do for us, and instead develop a mindset of what we can do for the church.
• All of us have to be ALL IN  if we’re going to take Missoula and beyond for the Kingdom of God.
• I challenged everyone to step it up a serious notch or two when it comes to giving and serving.
• If we’re going to do what I think God wants us to do in 2012, we’re going to need the people of RCC to be all in.
• Btw, we finally have our new podcast page working!!!
• You can listen to the sermon here.

We’re continuing with our “Jesus did not say…” series this week at 11am at the Best Western. Come on out!

Ever get an intense, uncontrollable desire to study Christian doctrine? The kind of urging that keeps you up at night? Yeah me neither. But the truth is we need to understand the essential, life-changing, eternal truths found in the scriptures. And we’re going to do just that…but it won’t be as boring as it sounds. We’re going to focus on truths found in the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as the books of Acts and Revelation. You see, there are a lot of important things that Jesus said…and there are a lot of things that Jesus did not say, but that we think he said! Things like, “God helps those who help themselves”, and “To thine own self be true.” I can’t wait to tackle some major myths regarding the Christian faith, while at the same time bringing some life-changing truths that Jesus indeed shared with us. So be sure and invite someone this week. It could change their life. It could change your life. We’ll see you on Sunday!

We will be having a service on Jan 1st at our regular time and we’ll be celebrating the New Year by sharing a communion meal together immediately following! I’ll be talking about aligning your personal/family goals with God’s mission for 2012.

As far as the communion meal goes, we’ll be doing a potluck so we’d love to have you bring something to share. Main courses are in short supply, so if you can bring something that will stay warm for 45 min or so that would be great. We can plug crock pots in if you bring one.

We’ll see you on Sunday at 11am at the Best Western!

Just a reminder that we will not have any services this weekend. Take the time to spend with friends and family. Take some time to pray and worship together. Read the Christmas story to your kids. In other words, have church at home! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Today was our Christmas special. What an amazing, crazy day! I don’t think we’ve ever had a more technical program as we did today. We had a few hiccups, but our team totally rocked it!

• Worship set: O Come All Ye Faithful, We Cry Out, Christ Alone, How He Loves, Joy to the World.
• The kids did an amazing job today! It was so cute watching them do the ABCs of Christmas. And they did 3 Christmas songs as well. They did so well I think we should have them lead a few songs each week!
• Because it was our Christmas Special, we had a lot of visitors this week. We literally ran out of chairs. We had the hotel bring us more chairs two different times, and then we just ran out of room and people had to stand in the back. Not ideal, but sort of fun anyway!
• Not everyday you get to say, “STANDING ROOM ONLY!”
• Short sermon today. Kicked it off with a video called “Four Words Christmas”. The 4 words are “God Is With Us”.
• I asked how we would live our lives differently if we really believed that God was with us.
• Overall, had a great day today. Thanks everyone for bringing your friends and family. Your kids were amazing.
• Anyone else praying for Tebow today? As I write this it’s the 4th qtr. Doesn’t look good for Denver. Just wondering…

Sorry for the delay on this one. James and I took off for Lewiston, ID Sunday afternoon to do some steelhead fishing and didn’t get back until late Monday night. And yes, we caught 3 and lost 1!

• Worship set: Firm Foundation, Blessed Be Your Name, God of Wonders, The First Noel, O Come All Ye Faithful.
• Great to see some new faces and be able to connect with them. We have a great team who always makes our guests feel at home.
• We continued the “Jesus Did Not Say…” series with Part 3. Here are the 3 things I spoke on today that Jesus did not say…

1. “All things in moderation.”
2. “Dream really small dreams and make sure you never ask for anything big!”
3. “Don’t be a risk taker. It’s better to play it safe than to end up dead for my sake.”

• I wrapped up the sermon with the story of Benaiah in 2 Samuel 23:20-22. It’s one of my favorite stories in the bible, and one of my favorite books, written solely on this passage, is In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson. I’d highly recommend it!
• Next week we’ll have our Christmas service and the kid’s will be doing their recital. Be sure to practice those lines and songs, and show up a little early next week!

We are buying gifts for a family in need this Christmas season. If you’d like to help out, click the link below to see what gifts haven’t been purchased yet and signup to help. Thanks for your generosity!

We are actively searching for some brave, dedicated souls to move to Missoula, MT and become a part of the RCC Ministry Team. We are currently looking for a Children’s Pastor and a Worship Arts Pastor to join us.

River City Church is one of the newest churches in Missoula, MT. Missoula (pop. 100,000) and is nestled in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of western Montana. Missoula is the home of the University of Montana, and has a growing population of college students and young families. River City Church is continuing to build its core team in preparation for a possible re-launch in 2012. We are looking for motivated individuals to join us in reaching Missoula in a culturally relevant way.

Please check out the links above for more information. We would also welcome hearing from you even if you don’t fit the 2 job descriptions above. Perhaps you have another passion/gifting to offer? Let me know if that’s you!

• Worship Set: Joy to the World, Forever, Rooftops, Your Great Name, Adoration
• Turns out we had a drummer last minute, so I played electric guitar and we had a full band! It’s been a while. Thanks Kelly for stepping up and drumming!
• We had a new computer,  new presentation software, and it took forever to get set up. Looked like it might be one of those days when the worship team just struggles through…but not even. We kicked the 1st song off and absolutely nailed it. It was like we had practiced all week together.
• I have to say I love the way Alex leads, particularly when it comes to arrangements. He’s got a knack for putting songs together and being creative with it. Love ya man.
• Very excited to see new people each week and return visitors from the week before. Welcome to RCC! I really hope that you feel like you can be a part of the RCC family.
• I realized recently that I’m constantly evaluating our Mission Statement, our Vision, and our Core Values. I think it takes a couple of years to really figure out as a church who you are and what you’re about.
• I’ve been trying to figure out what to tell new people about what to expect at RCC if they choose to join us. I’m thinking about saying something like this:

• We probably won’t wow you with our musical skills. Our meeting location isn’t the most hip. Our sermons are OK but probably won’t be aired on TBN. But if you’re looking for an authentic church where you will be welcomed and feel like part of a family, then RCC may be the place for you. We love people and we make relationships our #1 priority. Don’t get me wrong. We care about all the details on Sundays, but we major in truly connecting with people.

• Let me know what you think.
• I continued our series “Jesus did not say…” and focused today on the Christian life. Here are the 3 things I preached on today that Jesus did not say:

1. Jesus did not say, “Follow me and I will show you the easy life.”
2. Jesus did not say, “Believe in me, and then live however you want.”
3. Jesus did not say, “Your faith is a private matter. Keep your beliefs to yourself.”

• This is a challenging series for me personally. Jesus said a lot of things that I really don’t want to hear if you want to know the truth. Things like, “If you really want to follow me, then you’re going to be beaten and persecuted for doing it.” and “If you really want to follow me, then you’re going to have to give up everything that you valued, including your friends and family, even your own life.”
• I began following Jesus because he saved me from my sin. He set me free. He gave me joy and peace that I didn’t have before. But Jesus told us to count the cost before we followed him. He said it wasn’t going to be easy. He said we couldn’t continue living for ourselves. We would have to give it all up. The American Dream is nowhere to be found in the gospels.
• I think most, including myself, have yet to figure this out completely.

• Worship Set: Forever, Rooftops, Sing My Love, My Reward, Joy to the World
• Still looking for a drummer! If you know of anyone who might be interested please have them contact me brian@rccmissoula.org
• Setup and media was a little harder this week as Bud and Tara were out of town. We missed you guys!
• Thanks to Jarrod and Jonah for stepping up and helping out.
• Turnout was a little low probably due to turkey weekend. However, we did have a new family and saw someone there who hasn’t been around in quite a while. Thanks for joining us yesterday!
• The kids will be doing some songs and such on December 18th, so each child got song lyrics and a CD so they can practice. If you didn’t get one be sure and pick one up this coming Sunday.
• We’ll also have gift tags to pick up this Sunday for the family that we are adopting this year.
• We kicked off the new sermon series, “Jesus did not say…” yesterday.
• Here are the 3 things that I covered yesterday. Jesus did not say…

1. “God helps those who help themselves.”
2. “All roads lead to heaven.”
3. “Say a prayer asking me into your heart and you shall be saved.”

• Hopefully we’ll get the podcast up this week so that you can listen. I had a blast preaching this and can’t wait to tackle some more myths this next Sunday!
• If you want to know what Jesus did say about those 3 issues, shoot me an email and I’ll send you my sermon notes with all of Jesus’ quotes.
• As of now we are planning on meeting at the Best Western indefinitely. However, we are continuing to pray for a permanent location that we can call our own. Please be praying for us and let me know if you know of any space for lease in the North Reserve area.