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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
We’ve entered the pig roaster into the homecoming parade in Missoula this weekend. If you want to join us in the parade, come on down to the corner of Railroad and Woody St in downtown Missoula. We’ll be staging there starting at 9am. The parade starts at 10am. Then we’ll head to our tailgate spot at the game. Bring a side dish to share!
There’s a story in Mark 2:1-12 about 4 guys who wanted so badly for their friend to meet Jesus that they climbed up on the roof of the house and cut a hole in it so that they could lower their friend down to Jesus. It was the only way to get their friend inside since it was so crowded in the house.
When was the last time you had this type of determination for a friend or family member who needed an encounter with Jesus?
This Sunday, more Americans will be willing to attend a church service than any other time of the year. In fact, studies show that 80% of people who are invited to attend a church service on Easter Sunday will actually say yes.
I’m not asking you to literally tear a hole in the roof. I’m just asking you to make a simple invitation. Here are some ways that you can help introduce someone to Jesus this Easter:
Show up in the parking lot tonight or Tuesday night to help hand out door hangers in the neighborhood. I realize this scares the whatever out of a lot of you, but it would be good for you to face your fears. Seriously, it’s not that big of a deal. And we’ll probably go to Cold Stone afterwards.
Personally invite friends and family. In fact, invite them to an Easter dinner at your place or at a restaurant afterwards.
Pray for people. Pray for your friends and family. Pray for your co-workers. Pray for the people of this city.
I would love to see some of you get a little fired up about your faith this Easter. Maybe tear open a roof or 2. Do something to stretch yourself.
We’re moving! In about a month we’ll begin meeting at the LifeStyle Fitnessbuilding on North Reserve, in the Arby’s parking lot.
You may be wondering why we’re making the move. I spent the evening laying out the rationale for the move and fielding questions. You can listen to that below. But I’ll try and summarize it here.
We’ve been talking about our mission for the last month, which is to “Make followers of Jesus wherever we go.”
Our mission flows out of God’s mission, which is to “Grow His Family and Kingdom”. When God looks at the world, he sees a whole bunch of people that aren’t a part of His family. Radical problem.
Radical problems call for radical solutions. His solution was to send His only Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. He appointed His church, us, as the messengers of this radical solution.
If you’ve ever heard someone say that God doesn’t care about numbers…well, they’re wrong. There’s a book in the Bible titled “Numbers”. Hmmm. Also, read the book of Acts. How many times does the Author boast of thousands being added to the church daily? Sounds like it might be important.
Numbers aren’t everything, but God wants to grow his family, so numbers obviously have to matter.
Since RCC has made the move from Sunday mornings at the City Life building to Sunday eves at Convergence, our avg attendance has dropped 30% and stayed there.
As your pastor, I’m here to tell you, “That’s a radical problem!!!” We can’t be satisfied that we’re doing everything we can to reach this city for Jesus when our church isn’t growing.
We need a radical solution.
Don’t get me wrong. I love our church. I believe that God is moving among us, and we’re seeing lives changed. I’m not questioning that. But there appear to be some barriers that are keeping our church from growing.
The first barrier is our meeting time. Sunday evenings just aren’t the best time to meet. In fact, it is the worst time to meet. Particularly for young families. Many people WILL NOT come to RCC because of the time. Something needs to change.
The second barrier is our location. It’s not bad, but it’s just not good. For the last 2 1/2 yrs we’ve met on the south end of town, which is saturated with church buildings. We feel strongly that God has called us to meet on North Reserve, which has very few church buildings (see map), and is the fasting growing part of our city.
We’ve been knocking on doors in that area for the last 3 yrs but haven’t found any open…until now.
The LifeStyle group fitness building has become available and will make a great meeting location.
The third barrier is lack of momentum. We haven’t reached a critical mass at our church that provides the momentum necessary to move us forward. This is working with the 1st two barriers to keep us from growing.
Radical problems call for radical solutions. We could just stay where we’re at, and hope for the best. But that’s not the type of leader I am.
As long as you are a part of RCC, I will challenge you to do whatever it takes to reach this city for Jesus Christ. I will never settle for good as long as we have the potential for great.
So in about a month, we will be moving to Sunday mornings on North Reserve. Don’t know the exact time yet, or the exact date we’ll be moving, but it’s happening!
In the fall, we’re going to create some momentum by doing a huge Grand Re-Opening in our new location.
So what needs to happen in order for us to make the move?
We need to raise about $3500 to do this right. Good news is that we’ve already raised $1500! We’ve only got $2000 to go. The 2 largest expenses are chairs and a cargo trailer to keep them in. We’ve already got the cargo trailer. Now we need 100 chairs.
Here’s how we’re gonna do it: I’m asking each one of you to help out by purchasing a chair for yourself and each person in your family. However, if that’s all we did, it would be a little shortsighted, because we want the church to grow, right?
So I’m also asking each of you to purchase an additional chair for each person in your family.
So for myfamily of 6, that would mean buying 12 chairs. At $10 each, that’s $120.
Now maybe you don’t have any extra cash right now. I understand.
That’s why we’re doing a church eBay garage sale! All you have to do is bring in your items that are worth $25 or more, and we will list them on eBay for you and sell them to raise funds for the move.
I’ve already found enough items to raise at least $250 for our portion. I’m sure most of you are just like me, and have stuff lying around that you haven’t used in a while. Bring it in next Sunday!
So for the next 2-3 Sundays we will be accepting offerings to help pay for the chairs. If you decide to give money, just write on your envelope “Chairs” so we will know that it is not your usual offering, but it is above and beyond to help pay for the move. Also bring in your eBay items. We’ll take care of the rest.
I hope you can get excited about what God wants to do with RCC. Our goal is not to become a mega church, but to reach as many people with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ that we can. It’s to see this city transformed by the love of God. And by the grace of God, we’re going to see that happen!
Can you believe that with me? Will you do whatever it takes to see that happen? Me too!
Last night was great. Worship was phenomenal. Both Eric and Darin shared some passages that God placed on their heart.
I love it when people hear God and respond by serving. That’s what it’s about!
We continued with our Wherever You Go series.
Last night I talked about who it is that God has called us to reach here in our city/community
We watched a scene from the movie “The Village”. If you haven’t seen the movie, it appears to be set in the 1800s. A bunch of people live in a village. Surrounding the Village is a forest where “Those We Don’t Speak Of” live. Anyone who tries to venture into the forest usually doesn’t return. Beyond the forest are “The Towns”…wicked places where wicked people live. Everyone in the Village is afraid to ever move beyond their comfortable perimeter. The irony is revealed in the end when one of the Villagers makes it through the forest and to the Towns. Turns out the monsters called “Those We Don’t Speak Of” are the Village elders trying to keep the Villagers from venturing out. The Towns are modern-day cities. They have been living in a wildlife preserve in rural Pennsylvania this whole time.
For too long the church has acted like the Villagers, having holy huddles and not daring to venture beyond the comfortable perimeter of our church relationships, family relationships, and safe friend relationships. We don’t dare reach out to “Those We Don’t Speak Of”.
But God has called us to mission, a mission of reaching out to those he has placed in proximity to us.
Here’s the YouTube clip that we watched during the sermon. The message will make much more sense if you watch it.
I want to remind you that we need your participation tomorrow at the tailgate spot. You see, this has been an amazing opportunity to rub shoulders with a bunch of folks who used to think that going to church meant giving up the good life, putting on your Sunday best, and suffering through 60 minutes of someone telling them how bad they were.
You should see the surprised looks on their faces as we pour a beer and offer them some free BBQ! We’ve had a ton of people tell us that they think they could be a part of a church that still knows how to have fun. A church that’s just trying to keep it real.
So, you may not have an interest in football. You may not have an interest in beer. And you may not have an interest even in the roasted pig…
But, you should have an interest in the people that we are reaching through these events. That’s having the heart of Jesus. And it’s not that hard.
Here’s all you have to do: show up and hang out with some people. We won’t make you share your faith. We won’t make you hand out tracks. We won’t make you share your testimony.
We just want to show these people that we’re Real. We want to get to know them, just for the sake of knowing them. No tricks. No bait and switch.
Remember, it’s about Real People. Real Grace. Real Change. We’re trying to make it Real easy for you to do your part.
So come on down. Even if it’s only for an hour. We’ll be there…and so will a couple hundred people who are starting to think that perhaps being a part of River City Church wouldn’t be such a bad thing!
Don’t miss out on our Trunk or Treat and Bonfire this Sunday from 6-9pm! We’ll have a bunch of free candy, hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, inflatables, and marshmallow roasting! It is hosted by River City Church and Convergence Ministries. Stop on by and bring a friend.
Hey everyone don’t forget that we’ll be roasting a pig down at the Griz game this Saturday starting at 10am. Come on down, get some free food and drinks, and help serve the college students. We had a blast last time! Go to GrizPigRoast.com for more info on the pig roasts.
Also, we’re teaming up with E3 Church to throw a neighborhood Trunk or Treat Party and Bonfire on October 31st at the church building. So let’s get the word out to our friends and family, and particularly those who live in the Target Range area.
We also did a block party last weekend and fed a whole bunch of our neighbors as well as had bouncy houses, cotton candy machine, snow cone machine, popcorn machine, and more!
We’re stoked about all the outreach we’re doing right now. In 1 week we have 10,000 mailers going out to all the households in Missoula with children. We’re excited to get the word out about RCC.
Preached today on Overcoming Obstacles out of Joshua 3. This was a change up that I made this morning. Something I’ve never done. I like predictability. Stability. But you can’t put God in a box. He’s not a formula. Sometimes he calls an audible.
Anyway, I think it went pretty well. Talk to you next week!
