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.
Did you know that approximately 85,000 in the Missoula Valley do not attend church regularly?
Did you know that the mission of River City Church is “Doing whatever it takes to reach people who are far from God and making them genuine followers of Jesus Christ”?
Seems like a perfect match!
Seriously though, since we moved times and locations back in January, we haven’t made a concerted effort to let people know about it.
We think that God is shaping River City Church into a unique community of people, and that there are a bunch of people in the Missoula area that would love to be a part of what God is doing with us.
So, we decided that it is time to get the word out.
We will be doing some outreaches in the community, including a neighborhood block party and pig roasts at the Griz football games.
In addition, we will be doing some advertising, including direct mailers, invite cards, posters, etc.
We are trying to raise a bunch of money to get this done. So far we have 4 of 5 pigs donated, and we’ve raised $1000. We’ve got a good start, but we’ve still got a ways to go.
If you’d like to contribute to the campaign, you can send a Paypal donation to giving@rccmissoula.org, or follow this link.
Check out the pig roaster below. It’s gonna be awesome!
We’ve been traveling like crazy this summer. It’s been fun spending so much time with the family, but I’m getting burned out on being gone so much. Leaving for Seattle this week for 3 days, then hunting begins on Sep 4th. Gonna be gone a little more it looks like!
First of all, the sermon on Aug 8th was on breakthrough. Each of us needs a breakthrough in our lives. It’s worth a listen. Click here.
We started a series called “Really Big Words”. The concept is this: the Christian faith is made up of a bunch of big words that describe essential doctrine that we subscribe to. I’m going to break it down into really simple, LIFE CHANGING sermons. Seriously, you don’t want to miss them.
I’ve been reflecting on many of the highlights of what God has done through RCC in the last couple of years. Thought I’d just share a few with you:
·We’ve seen numerous people make decisions to follow Jesus
·We’ve seen 2/3 of our church getting involved in small groups
·We’ve seen people grow enormously in their faith
·We’ve seen marriages healed
·We’ve baptized 15 people
·We’ve dedicated 10 babies
·We’ve donated over $5000 to the Missoula Food Bank, and donated an additional 2200 lbs of food to them
·We were given a mobile home which we were able to donate to a family in need of a home
·We dropped 20,000 plastic Easter eggs from a helicopter and watched as 5000 people participated in the 1st Annual Missoula Egg Drop
·We gave back the offering at Easter and watched as people all around our community were blessed by the creative generosity of RCC
·We gave $1000 to the One Prayer initiative, which has in turn started over 1000 churches around the world in the last 2 years
·We partnered with RCC Lewiston to raise $2400 to help provide tents to the victims of the Haiti earthquake
It’s good to take time and remember all that God has done in and through River City Church, as well as through each of the people who have been a part. I’m praying we’ll do even greater things in the next 2 years!
GuideOn is a non-profit that supports the children and families of our fallen soldiers. Here’s an excerpt from James Clark, founder of GuideOn and a leader here at River City Church:
The older I get, the more compassion I have for others. As the father of three boys, I realize the importance of a role model in a child’s life. I often think about what would happen to them if I was no longer around. This is why I have started GuideOn.
In May of 2006 I was notified that my friend Matt had been shot down and killed by enemy fire in Iraq. He was a member of the Night Stalkers, an Army Special Operations unit and was flying the MH-6 during the attack. He is survived by his wife and two little boys. After finding out about the loss of Matt and other fellow aviators, I decided that I could not just sit back and hope that these kids would be okay. I wanted to make sure that after the loss of their father that I could somehow have a positive affect. I started having visions of kids who had lost their world, their idols, their everything. I had visions of taking care of these kids to see the beauty of a smile on a child’s face again. I want you to think of how a little heart has been broken, weeping and fallen.
Tonight as I kissed my four-year -old son good night he asked me, “daddy can I have a hug and 100 kisses?” I obliged his request of course, and as I was leaving his room I wondered who was going to fill the requests of Matts’ boys. We cannot take the place of these fallen heroes, but we can certainly have a deep compassion for the little heroes that they left behind.
Please partner with us and be a light to heal some little hero’s hearts.
James D. Clark
Founder
GuideOn is looking for 400 people who would commit $10/mo to support their mission. In other words, give up 3 Starbuck’s drinks a month or 3 beers a month to help out a child who doesn’t have a father anymore. Doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice compared to what they’ve sacrificed, does it?
I’ve pledged $20/mo and I want to challenge you to pledge at least $10/mo to help them out. All you have to do is click this Paypal Link and you can pay with a credit/debit card or your Paypal account. Let’s spread the word and bless these kids!
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.
