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

Hey folks! This Sunday, Aug 12th we will be celebrating with other Missoula churches by having a joint service at the fairgrounds at 10am. So our regularly scheduled service will not be held at the building.

Entrance to the fair will be free that day, so plan on spending some time there after the service. The service will be in the grassy area south of the grandstands. The Strength Team will be there performing and bringing the message that morning. Should be a great time of worship and fellowship with the other churches in town. Your family and friends will really enjoy it so invite as many people as possible! Also bring some lawn chairs and/or a blanket to sit on. See you at the fair!

Jesus’ mission, and the mission he gave his followers was to help save lives. That’s why we’re kicking off our new series How To Save A Life. As a follower of Jesus, we should be passionate about those who are dying spiritually. If we’re not passionate about that, we probably don’t know the heartbeat of God. He’s passionate about his children. He’s passionate about those who are lost and dying.

How To Save A Life is not about how to evangelize the lost. It’s about growing up in Christ. It’s what we call discipleship, or becoming a follower of Jesus. You see, when we grow up in Christ, we become more like Him. Our hearts break for the lost and dying. We WANT to help save lives. It’s a natural byproduct of following Jesus.

So join us as we explore what it means to be a Jesus follower! We’ll see you Sunday @10am at River City Church!

Join us as we worship together and celebrate all that God has done through Meadowview Church at their northside location. Pastors Josh Gray, Brian Moser, and Nathan Wise will each share their vision and passion for doing whatever it takes to reach Missoula with the hope of Jesus.

Pastor Josh will also “pass the baton” to River City Church and Remedy Church, as we begin holding church services in the building, while Meadowview North will merge with their main location, beginning April 1st.

This is going to be a great service and you won’t want to miss it. There will be activities for your entire family, including activities at Mismo Gymnastics for the kids, so come on out!

We’ll be having a reception afterwards so bring some appetizers to share!

Please note the time change to 10am!!!

Click here for a link to the Facebook event.

I’m excited to let you know that Andrea and I will be taking a 6-8 week
sabbatical starting at the end of Feb. We’re believing that God
blesses times of rest (Gen 2:3) and that he is going to bless us during
this time with renewed vision and an even greater passion to lead our
church and to reach the lost.

I write this because I know that whenever a church leader steps aside,
even for a time, there may be questions as to the reasons/motives
behind it. Let me assure you that our motives are pure and there is
nothing hidden that needs to be disclosed. Furthermore, our family is
healthy and doing well. We have the full support of our elder and ministry
team in this.

Simply put, Andrea and I have realized that in the last 5 yrs, we have
been doing a lot of doing, and doing less being (with Jesus that is) than
we would like. Just as in the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10, we have
realized that we need to take some sabbath time to rest in Jesus and be
refreshed. Life and ministry is more of an ultra-marathon than a sprint.
How we finish is more important than how we start. I want to finish well.
I’m sure that you would agree. And part of that finishing well is that we
take times of rest.

So please know, this isn’t the end of River City Church. We have an
AMAZING ministry team who will take up the reigns during this time. Our
sending church, RCC Lewiston will be providing speakers during our
sabbatical time. River City Church will continue to do whatever it takes
to take ground for the Kingdom of God here in Missoula.

You can listen to the announcement and get more details from this podcast
from last Sunday.

Thank you and blessings on you!

Brian and Andrea

• 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 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: Your Love Never Fails, Your Grace Is Enough, Rooftops, King of All Days, One Thing Remains, All
• In case you haven’t noticed, we’re leaning a lot on Jesus Culture songs right now. It’s common for them to make up 50-75% of our set list. Lovin’ it!
• Alex and the team did a great job. If you were there, you will notice that we’re still looking for a drummer. Anyone?
• We were back at the Best Western this week. These guys have been so good to us. They’re even giving us some storage space for free. Can’t beat that!
• We had some new faces this week! Great meeting you guys! Even had a guy who was staying at the hotel and he heard the music and came down and joined us. Turns out he’s from the Lewiston-Clarkston area where we moved from and we have some friends in common.
• Today I talked about the tension that is created when we as Christians live in the world but are not of the world.
• I took Mark Driscoll’s method of evaluating what parts of culture we should embrace or reject. He calls it Receive, Reject, or Redeem.
• Receive: Some things we can receive as is. I don’t have to worry whether my iPhone is holy or not. I can just receive it and the operating system it uses. (some of the apps may be questionable!). There is nothing inherently evil about it even though Steve Jobs was a confessed Buddhist.
• Reject: Some things in our culture are clearly rejected because God has clearly rejected it through His Word. For example, there is nothing good about pornography. I’m not going to try and use it in any way to connect with others. It is evil and destructive and we must reject it. It is not allowed in my house!
• Redeem: Some things may not be inherently evil, but perhaps are being used for evil. However, just as Christ has redeemed us, these things may be redeemed by the church and used for good.
• There will always be many opinions on controversial subjects about whether or not they can be received or redeemed, or flat out rejected. For example, I believe that I can redeem a beer so that I can connect with someone to share the gospel with them. In fact, I did this last weekend. However, there are many who would believe that this is evil and would flat out reject the use of alcohol in any form. Perry Noble used the song “Highway to Hell” as an opener for their Easter services this past year, and saw many people come to salvation during his services. Many people feel that was inappropriate but Perry feels that they were able to redeem the song for good. The Puritans hated Christmas. The Revivalists hated hymns. The list can go on and on.
• Bottom line, is that you must know what the Word of God says about a particular subject. If the Bible clearly rejects, then so must we. But there are many things in pop culture that the Bible is silent on. Therefore, we must check our motives. If we are going to receive or redeem something that may be questionable, then why are we doing it? Paul says in 1 Cor 9 that he became all things to all men so that some may be saved!  He didn’t do it to be the cool pastor or for shock value. He did it to help share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lastly, listen to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit may tell you to redeem something to reach a people group God has called you to, and he may tell someone else something different. Paul preached against circumcision in general as a necessary means for salvation, but then required his young disciple Timothy to be circumcised so that he could reach a certain people group. Hmm.
• We’ll see you next week at the Best Western. Invite a friend or family member that you’ve been praying for. We’re kicking off a new series titled, “Jesus did not say _______.”  It’s gonna be good!

I’m ready to start the Sunday Replays again. Here’s what happened today at RCC:

• Worship set: You Deserve, Rooftops, One Thing Remains, Adoration, My Reward.
• Great worship today. Aidan Beeson from RCC Lewiston drummed for us last minute and nailed it. Eric and Jamie did an amazing job leading as usual. Passionate and Spirit-led.
• Good turnout today considering we had to make a last-minute venue change to the Hilton. Some new faces and return visitors. Thanks for joining us today!
• I have to admit I’ve been a little cranky the last 2 months about our meeting location (or lack of a steady one). But I decided to repent of my stinky attitude and be thankful that God has provided a location each week. I like the Hilton, where we were today, but the Best Western has been very accomodating and is practically giving us the meeting rooms each week. It’s hard to beat that.
• I keep telling everyone that the church isn’t defined by 4 walls…but I sometimes wonder if I really believe it or not! While a permanent meeting location would be great, God is certainly not confined to a particular location.
• So we’re going to keep doing what God has called us to do: make followers of Jesus wherever we go!
• I’m so grateful for Kevin Beeson and his family coming all the way over from RCC Lewiston to preach today.
• Kevin is a great friend and is also my pastor. River City Church in Lewiston sent us out to Missoula 3 yrs ago and has been our greatest supporter. It’s good to know someone’s got your back!
• Kevin preached a message on Lazarus from John 11 that was the most unique word I have ever heard on that passage.
• The main emphasis was on John 11:44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
• Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and could easily have unwrapped him and cleaned him up…but he asked the people to do it instead. Jesus wants to use each of us to help remove the grave clothes off of each other. The graveclothes of our past. The unforgiveness. The addiction. The jealosy. The anger. The shame. The ___________.
• What grave clothes are you still wearing? The only way that others can help you is if you are living in community with them. Biblical community like that found in the book of Acts. Unselfish community.
• BTW, we have some ways for you to get connected and live in community. We’ll be having a Welcome Dinner for our newest guests here soon. Keep checking back for the time and place. We have a men’s group that meets on Thursdays at lunch. We have a women’s group that meets on Tuesdays at 10am. We have a Financial Peace University that meets on Wednesday eves at 6pm. We constantly have ways to connect through various events. In fact, we almost named our church “Connect Church”. Not kidding.
• One of the things that RCC does really well is provide ways to connect. If you can’t connect here, you probably aren’t trying that hard!
• We’re working hard to get a new podcast page up. Keep checking back because we should have it up some time this week and we’ll be posting sermons from the last 2 months.
• Ah, it’s good to do Sunday Replays again. Be sure and join us next Sunday at the Best Western so that you don’t have to read the blog!