Join us for an Easter Celebration and Egg Hunt on March 31st at 10am at River City Church. During the service, your kids will go to the Mismo Gym next door to learn about the Easter story as well as play in the gym. We will have Mike Williams Photography on site before and after the service to take family portraits. The sitting fee will be waived and prints will start at $10 each if you want to purchase one. Lastly, we’ll conclude with an egg hunt in the Mismo Gym after the service around 11:30.

Be sure and invite your friends and family. They won’t be disappointed! For more information, visit the River City Church website.

Have you ever noticed it seems like some guys have all the luck? Everything they touch just turns to gold. We also see throughout the Bible a handful of people who “found favor” with God and others. Where is this “favor” and how do we find it? Join us as we explore the mystery of God’s favor. What is favor? Who gets it? How do I find it? Come and find out!

Sundays at 10am at River City Church!

Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers. God isn’t offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren’t impossible for you, they are insulting to God. Why? Because they don’t require divine intervention.

Join us on Sunday mornings at 10am @ River City Church as we find out what it means to pray audacious prayers! We’re believing that as we step out in audacious prayer during this season, that God is going to show up big time!

“Most Christians aren’t in imminent danger of ruining their lives. They’re actually facing a danger that’s far greater: wasting them on things that don’t matter.” -  Steven Furtick

What if the life you’re living isn’t what God had imagined for you? What if God’s best days for you are ahead of you, not behind you? What if God has greater things planned for your life than you could even think or imagine? What if you didn’t have to settle for the status quo?

Jesus said in John 14:12 that we would do “Greater things”. We’re believing that 2013 is going to be greater than 2012. We’re believing that tomorrow is going to be greater than yesterday. We’re believing that the life God has planned for us is greater than the life we’re currently living.

Join us on Sunday mornings @ 10am at River City Church as we take a  look into what it means to do “Greater things” and live a “Greater life”.

We’re kickin’ the New Year off in a greater way and we want you to join us!

Click here to listen to previous sermons in our Greater series.

I wanted to share some good news with you. So far we’ve raised $5500 for the To Save A Life Campaign! We’re getting really close to our goal of $8000. That’s amazing for our church, especially during this time of year. Thank you to those who have given so generously!

In case you haven’t heard, let me fill you in on what I’m talking about. Last month we made a decision to reach 200 people this fall with the life-changing hope of Jesus. In order to do this, we need to raise $8000. That may seem like a lot, but it’s only $40 for every man, woman, and child we are able to reach. This is not going to be an easy task, but I know that God and His people are up to it. How do I know this? Because it’s God’s will that none should perish. He sent his Son because he loved the whole world, every last person. And He’s an Ephesians 3:20 God. And I believe He would do whatever it takes to reach the people of Missoula. And we as a church want to have (and should have) the heartbeat of the Father…a heart for his lost children. A heart to see them reconciled and made whole. And we should be willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.

So although we’re well on our way to raising enough money to see 200 new people come through the doors at River City Church, we’re still $2500 short. Here’s where we need your partnership.

1. We need you to sponsor some lost souls. It’s $40 for each person we’re trying to reach. We’ve had one family sponsor 62 people. Another has sponsored 50 people. And yet another has sponsored 25.  That’s amazing. And that leaves us with 63 people left to sponsor.  And it doesn’t matter if you sponsor 1 or 50. But please consider sponsoring at least 1 person. If each of us did this, we’d be well on our way to easily reaching our goal!  Click here to make a one time donation.
2. If you don’t have the cash to sponsor someone, no problem. We’re having an RCC Yard Sale on Aug 25th. Please consider donating some items and helping out on that day so that we can raise some additional funds. But please, consider donating some items of value. Remember, each $40 could change someone’s life forever!
3. Please commit to praying for the people you are sponsoring. Ask God to show you your people, and pray and believe that God is going to change their life this fall through this campaign.
4. Invite, invite, invite! You need you to be inviting your friends and family. We’ll be kicking off a new series Sept 16th (see below). Invite them on this Sunday. We’ll have invite cards for you soon.
5. Last but not least, we need people to step up and contribute by serving. We need help in children’s ministry, greeters, worship, food and drink, setup, and LifeGroup leaders. If you haven’t already, please let me know how you can help to welcome and minister to all of the new people who are going to be coming through the doors in the next 2 months.

Here’s the plan for this fall. We’re going to be kicking off a series starting Sep 16th called “The New Normal”. The bottom line is this: Normal isn’t working. The normal American family is broke, stressed out, overworked, too busy, and lives a life of broken relationships.

There IS a better way… it’s the new normal. A normal where families have more than enough. A normal where families spend quality time together and aren’t running around frantically. A normal where relationships are whole and prosperous. It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it is possible for you and for all families. You’re going to want to invite your friends and family to this one.

We’ll also be kicking off a variety of LifeGroups. Relationships are the heart and soul of River City Church. And what better way to experience relationships than through hanging out with a group of great people each week.

So please, let’s partner with the others in your church who are giving generously to this campaign. It’s what RCC is about. And we’re not going to stop until we’ve done whatever it takes to reach Missoula with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

For HIS Kingdom!

Brian

I hope you like the graphic! But more than that, I hope you’ll get your tail to River City Church this Easter! Along with our usual modern music and practical, life-giving teachings, we’re going to provide an amazing experience for your kids that they’ll never forget!

Every week we partner with Mismo Gymnastics to provide a fun learning environment for your kids. They’ll spend time in Missoula’s most popular gym learning how to live a “balanced” life, as well as how to face and conquer “obstacles” in life through faith in Christ. This Easter we’ll also be doing an egg hunt in the Mismo Gym. Believe me, your kids are going to love it!

So come on out to our new location at 1900 W Broadway at 10am this Easter Sunday. We’d love to have you join us!

Click here to view the event on our Facebook page!

• 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!

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!