For starters, Sam Maynes, Largent Rape, and Ryan Stephens came over from RCC Lewiston and rocked it. Our very own Kelly Indreland played drums with them and I’ve never heard him play so well. It was hot!
The presence of God was thick tonight. For us, these have been somewhat rare times, but becoming more common. I’ll never take these moments for granted.
They introduced 4 new songs tonight. 3 of them were written by the guys from Lewiston. Serious anointing on those guys for music.
I preached on the topic of Salvation tonight. Big topic, but I narrowed it down to these few things: Most of us have settled for something less than what God has intended. If we would collectively believe the life-changing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we would see our city transformed.
I loved to see the Spirit flow the way He did tonight. We had some ministry time after the sermon and James laid hands on people and imparted the gift of faith. I’m believing for greater faith for all of us who were prayed for.
I just love River City Church. I love the people. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want anything to change. But there’s another part of me that knows we are called to reach Missoula with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh the tension. But not really. We must grow because we must reach those who are far from God. We must do whatever it takes.
Tonight was a defining moment for River City Church. One of those once in a lifetime experiences in my opinion.
Why tonight? I don’t really know. Why was the worship so absolutely incredible? It’s hard to say.
All I know is that Jesus showed up in a big way and we were changed forever. I think it’s just a sign that we’re on the verge of something big. Something we’ve been praying for, for quite a while.
It feels like we’ve been climbing this mountain for a while, and it’s been non-stop vertical for quite a while. I feel like we just crested something…not the summit per se, but definitely a milestone.
Not only was worship incredible, but the testimonies tonight were off the hook. Seriously couldn’t plan a more Spirit-filled night.
God is at work in people’s lives. We had so many people want to share a testimony, that we had to cut it off before it got too late. I hated to do that, but we needed to get to Famous Dave’s for dinner.
Seriously though, God is working in people, and working through RCC.
I couldn’t be more encouraged. As usual, we recorded the mini-sermon and testimonies, but for some reason the recording sounds horrible. Not gonna post it.
If you’re a member of RCC and haven’t been in a while, you need to get your butt down here on Sunday eves. I just don’t want you to miss out on a move of God that could change your life.
If this is your first time reading this blog and you’re in Missoula, you need to get your butt down here so that you don’t miss out on a move of God that could change your life.
If you’re reading this from afar, just know this: God is still on the move and working in your life. He is writing a powerful story…your story. He’s not finished with you yet. There are greater things to come.
Sorry for the short post last week. I was busy, and in a bit of a funk to be honest.
This week is different. God is moving so big in people’s lives that it’s hard not to be excited!
I’m reminded that if 1 person enters the Kingdom of God, that all of the angels rejoice. It’s all worth it.
We got a new drummer this week. I put out a call on Facebook for a drummer, and one of our own, Kelly Indreland, texted me within minutes saying he used to play all the time.
So we went to the church yesterday for a couple hours and practiced. He can drum!
Worship went awesome tonight, except that I broke a string on the first song. Of course I’m the only one that noticed. How can that be? I didn’t even finish the first song!
I feel like we’re in this season right now where it doesn’t even matter what our talent level is. It’s more about the heart. Even so, I think worship has moved up a notch in the last month.
Preached on grace again. Big surprise. I think we’ve preached on that the last 4 weeks. Doesn’t get old.
In fact, it’s causing some serious life change for people. I’ll preach it for the next 80 yrs if people’s lives are being changed. Billy Graham did it. If you listen, his message didn’t change for all the years that he preached.
He preached Christ and Him crucified. That’s all. The greatest preacher of all time.
Oh, btw, if you want to know the real driving force behind all the life change, that would be prayer. God is moving RCC to pray more, and it’s working.
Here are some lyrics from David Crowder’s song, How He Loves Us:
“When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory”
“If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking”
“And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss”
The original says, “And heaven meets earth like sloppy wet kiss”. I like that better.
“I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about, the way, He loves us…”
I know I’m slightly biased, but I really like River City Church!
The people. I really like the people.
It’s interesting that we aren’t really growing numerically right now.
But more importantly, we are growing spiritually together, and I’m seeing lives changed.
That is the best reward a pastor can ever have!
My desire is that we could just see more people in Missoula transformed by the power of Christ.
The last 2 weeks I’ve preached the Gospel, and I’m just loving it.
Not that I don’t usually preach the Gospel, but I’ve definitely been more focused the last 2 weeks. There been a change in the spiritual atmosphere for sure, and people are telling me that God is really moving them.
We’re going through the Book of Galatians for the next 6 weeks, and I’m believing for some serious life change as we preach the Gospel for the next 6 weeks!
We had a technological nightmare tonight! Battery went out on my guitar twice, and my microphone once. As a result, the sermon didn’t get recorded. Seriously?
I know for a fact that the enemy was working overtime to distract us, to keep us from entering in to worship tonight. Sorry, didn’t work.
We had the richest time of worship during rehearsal that I’ve had in a LONG time! We were on our faces. It was the most incredible experience. Hard to explain unless you were there.
Regardless of the technological issues, we still sensed the presence of God tonight.
I know for a fact some chains were broken tonight!
I had a very busy week and spent 3 days last week working on a consulting project in Oregon. Needless to say, I got a late start on my sermon.
I actually didn’t even have the topic until driving home from Oregon late on Thursday eve. I was finally able to slow down enough to ask God what He wanted to say to RCC this week.
It was so cool the way He spoke to me on that drive. For some reason I just started thinking about scars. First I thought about all of the scars that I have on my left hand from playing with knives as a kid. I actually have 8 scars on my left index finger alone!
The best scar was one that cut right across the knuckle straight to the bone. I can remember seeing the bone and tendons when I did it.
Funny thing is, when I think back on that day, I don’t remember the pain of the wound, but I do remember it being one of the best days of my life.
You see, that day I shot the largest buck I had ever shot. I cut my finger cleaning the deer. To be honest, I didn’t even care that I cut my finger because I was so excited.
All of us have scars. Some of the scars bring back painful memories, and some bring back good memories.
Sometimes the scars that hurt the worst are the emotional scars deep down. But God does not intend for our scars to be painful. He intends them to bring healing.
There are a lot of men in the Bible who had deep scars. Jacob walked with a limp after wrestling with God. Jacob wrestled his whole life so that he could obtain blessing. He wrestled with his father, he wrestled with God. Finally, God blessed him, but not until after he dislocated Jacob’s hip.
Jacob walked with a limp the rest of his life. But I bet if you asked Jacob about that limp, and what happened that night, he wouldn’t have told you about the pain. He would have told you that GOD BLESSED HIM THAT NIGHT!!!
Job was also a man with many scars. Job was the richest, most influential man of his time. He was also a man of integrity, a worshiper, a man who shunned evil.
Satan came to God one day and said, “The only reason that Job worships you is because you’ve given him so much. Just take it away and he’ll curse you.” So God said, “I don’t believe it. Go for it.”
So Job lost his riches, his children, his wife, and the rest of his family. Even so, Job did not sin. Instead, he said, “Naked I came into this world, and naked I’ll leave. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
Then he got boils. From the bottoms of his feet, to the top of his head. Nasty boils. He sat in a pile of ashes and scraped his boils with a piece of broken glass.
That causes scars. In fact, when his 3 friends finally showed up, they didn’t even recognize him because he was so scarred.
His friends were so traumatized by Job’s appearance that they just sat with him for 7 days and said nothing.
At the end of the day, God blessed Job with twice as many riches as before. He also restored his household.
Job lived the rest of his life with scars to tell his story. But the most painful scars wouldn’t have come from the painful boils on his skin. The deepest wounds would have been the apparent betrayal by his wife, his family, his friends, and even his God.
But I bet if you would have asked Job about those scars, he would have said something like, “Those scars are a reminder of the goodness of God. Those scars are a reminder that God gave me a double blessing!”
Scars are inevitable. Living with pain doesn’t have to be.
There was another man in the Bible who had scars. When Jesus rose from the dead, for some reason his disciples did not recognize him. I think it was because he was in his glorified body. The same body he dwells in today at the right hand of the Father.
Interestingly enough, he still had the scars in his hands, feet, side, and probably his back.
In John 20:24-28 when Thomas didn’t believe that Jesus was alive, Jesus graciously showed Thomas his scars.
Jesus didn’t complain about his scars. He didn’t complain that his disciples betrayed him. He didn’t complain that he didn’t deserve to suffer and die. Instead, Jesus scars were a sign of God’s grace towards all of us. A sign of his forgiveness for the sins of mankind.
I think the deepest scars that haunt most of us are caused by emotional wounds. Wounds of unforgiveness. Just like scar tissue can build up and end up causing more pain at times, unforgiveness can cause spiritual and emotional scar tissue to build up, becoming more and more painful with time.
What was meant to be healing actually starts to become painful.
Jesus’ scars remind us that we’re forgiven. We need to accept God’s forgiveness and move on in our lives.
Jesus’ scars also remind us that we need to forgive. Unforgiveness causes scar tissue to build up and become painful over time.
God works all things out for good, for those who love him. Also, what the enemy meant for harm, God will turn into good.
God’s in the business of trading old hearts for new, trading our sorrows for joy.
Merry Christmas! It was so fun doing a Christmas service today.
Worship was great. I say that because as I looked out I noticed more people passionately worshiping today than I have ever seen.
We’ve been praying as a worship team for breakthrough in this area. It is so cool to see it come to pass.
The kids recited a story today. It was so cute! I’m going to podcast it later. Stay tuned.
I absolutely loved the message today. I can say that because I didn’t speak much. I started with a video, ended with a video, and told a couple of stories in between.
Emmanuel, God is with us. That simple truth will change your life if you can comprehend it.
Even without the video, the message below is a powerful reminder of the significance of Jesus’ birth.
Oh yeah, and I made a big announcement at the end just in case you’re interested.
I must have told Abigail at some point that December 25th probably isn’t Jesus’ real birthday, and in fact we don’t know what day he was actually born on. So, she has decided to go with “Every day is Jesus’ birthday”. Abby just figures since we don’t know His actual birthday, we should live as if every day is Jesus’ birthday! What do you think? Could we change the world if we truly celebrated the birth of our Savior each and every day of our lives? I’ve got a lot to learn from my little Abby.
I want to thank you for visiting River City Church today. It was refreshing to meet with you. I know you’ve visited before, but it seems that it has been a while. I know many of us truly appreciated your presence during the service today. It seems that whenever You show up, lives are changed and we leave different than when we came. You always seem to point us towards Jesus, and for that I am thankful. I would like to extend an invitation for you to consider making RCC your home. We would welcome your presence and ministry not only every Sunday, but in our lives every day of the week. Please consider my request. I know I am not alone in my desire for more of You. And once again…thank you!
Sincerely,
Brian
Oh by the way, you can listen to the sermon below….