Hey everyone. Crazy, last minute change of plans. We just started meeting at Lifestyle Fitness & Kid’s Club a few Sundays ago. But due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn & Conference Center on North Reserve for THIS SUNDAY ONLY! We’ll meet at 11am, and the best way to enter the conference center is through the east entrance.

This is going to be a great venue, even if it is only for 1 week! And to top it off: we will have a stretch Hummer limo to shuttle people to and from the Lifestyle Fitness building! We’re reserving the limo primarily for our guests and visitors who didn’t know of the venue change. But we’ll also have some room for regulars as well. So if you want a ride, be there by 10:25 and we’ll try and get you in!

We’ll be back to our normal routine in the Lifestyle building next Sunday. But in the mean time, let’s have some fun and thank God for his provision for River City Church! He’s in the business of making lemonade out of lemons!

“A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” – C.S. Lewis

So what did Jesus say about himself?

1. Jesus Said He Came Down from Heaven

John 6:38, 42 – “I have come down from heaven.” … They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

2. Jesus Said He Is More Than Just a Good Man

Mark 10:17–18 – As he [Jesus] was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

3. Jesus Performs Miracles

John 10:36–39 – “Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works. …” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

4. Jesus Said He Is Sinless

John 8:46 – “Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?”

5. Jesus Said He Is God

John 10:30–33 – [Jesus said,] “I and the Father are one.” [They] picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” [They] answered him, “… because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

6. Jesus Forgives Sin

Mark 2:5–7 – When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” … [Critics said,] “He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

7. Jesus Said He Is the Only Way to Heaven

John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

8. Jesus Said He Would Resurrect from Death

Mark 8:31 – He [Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

(Taken from Mark Driscoll’s Blog)

Every face a huge obstacle that seems impossible to surmount? That’s when our God shines the most. When we are weak, he is strong. The following is a passage from 2 Chronicles 20. The nation of Israel was facing a huge army that they couldn’t defeat in the natural. But the invading army was no match for God. The King of Israel declared a fast and bowed before God in prayer, asking for help. God told King Jehoshaphat not to fear, that the battle was God’s, not his. Victory was his. Read it:

1 Later the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Some men reported to Jehoshaphat, “A large crowd is coming against you from the other side of the Dead Sea, from Edom. The crowd is already in Hazazon Tamar” (also called En Gedi).

3 Frightened, Jehoshaphat decided to ask for the Lord’s help. He announced a fast throughout Judah. 4 The people of Judah gathered to seek the Lord’s help. They came from every city in Judah.

5 In the new courtyard at the Lord’s temple, Jehoshaphat stood in front of the people. 6 He said, “Lord God of our ancestors, aren’t you the God in heaven? You rule all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess power and might, and no one can oppose you. 7 Didn’t you, our God, force those who were living in this country out of Israel’s way? Didn’t you give this country to the descendants of your friend Abraham to have permanently? 8 His descendants have lived in it and built a holy temple for your name in it. They said, 9 ‘If evil comes in the form of war, flood, plague, or famine, we will stand in front of this temple and in front of you because your name is in this temple. We will cry out to you in our troubles, and you will hear us and save us.’

10 “The Ammonites, Moabites, and the people of Mount Seir have come here. However, you didn’t let Israel invade them when they came out of Egypt. The Israelites turned away from them and didn’t destroy them. 11 They are now paying us back by coming to force us out of your land that you gave to us. 12 You’re our God. Won’t you judge them? We don’t have the strength to face this large crowd that is attacking us. We don’t know what to do, so we’re looking to you.”

13 All the people from Judah, their infants, wives, and children were standing in front of the Lord. 14 Then the Lord’s Spirit came to Jahaziel. (He was the son of Zechariah, grandson of Benaiah, great-grandson of Jeiel, whose father was Mattaniah, a Levite descended from Asaph.) 15 Jahaziel said, “Pay attention to me, everyone from Judah, everyone living in Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says to you: Don’t be frightened or terrified by this large crowd. The battle isn’t yours. It’s God’s. 16 Tomorrow go into battle against them. They will be coming up the Ziz Pass. You will find them at the end of the valley in front of the Jeruel Desert. 17 You won’t fight this battle. Instead, take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord for you, Judah and Jerusalem. Don’t be frightened or terrified. Tomorrow go out to face them. The Lord is with you.”

18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face touching the ground. Everyone from Judah and the people who lived in Jerusalem immediately bowed down in front of the Lord. 19 The Levites, descendants of Kohath and Korah, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with very loud songs.

20 They got up early in the morning and went to the desert of Tekoa. As they were leaving, Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. Trust the Lord your God, and believe. Believe his prophets, and you will succeed.”

How often do we try to take matters into our own hands, when God is waiting for us to give the battle to him?

God is willing, and able, to fight on our behalf. We just have to let him.

• What an amazing day at River City Church!
• It was our 2nd week in our new facility, and we broke attendance records for the last 2 years.
• We had a lot of new families, AND we had 42 kids!
• Our Kidway program has totally stepped up their game. We’ve got a new check-in system that is top of the line. But we did get a bit overwhelmed with the number of kids. We usually have about 20.
• Jasmine and Jamie did “Your Great Name” as a special song and they knocked it out of the park! Seriously, if you weren’t moved by that song, you need to check and see if you have a pulse!
• We took up a special offering for Hellgate Elementary. We’re going to partner with them and help them in any way we can.
• I spoke out of Romans 1:18-2:3. Paul identifies 2 types of people here: the unrighteous and the self-righteous. His point is that even the righteous can tend towards self-righteousness by judging the unrighteous.
• The point is that we all need Jesus. He is our righteousness. We can’t earn God’s approval. It’s by faith alone.
• About 12 people made either 1st time decisions for Christ, or renewed their faith in Christ.
• It was an amazing day! He is risen!

If you’re reading this blog for the 1st time, I want to personally invite you to our Easter service on Sunday at 11am. Our hope is to provide an experience that you won’t forget. We have some special music this Sunday, and some amazing videos that I believe will truly stir you. If you haven’t been to church in a while, don’t consider yourself the “church” type, or just want to try something new, then I want you to know that I’ve been praying for you. We want to change the way you think about the church. Come on out on Sunday morning and see what River City Church is all about. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how fun church can (and should) actually be. See you on Sunday!

Someday God’s gonna do it. He’s going to blow the roof off of River City Church and we’re not going to be able to contain the growth. He’s going to bring the people, by the droves. And it won’t be by my efforts. It will be a miracle. It will be about Jesus. That’s my prayer.

Someday God’s gonna do whatever it is that you’ve been praying for. That crazy, audacious prayer that you’re afraid to even tell people about because it’s so absurd.

Let me assure you: it’s only absurd to people. It’s called normal to God. It’s Ephesians 3:20, “Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we could ask or even think.”  But most of our prayers are so safe, we’re not even sure if it was God or circumstances when they come to pass. But we know that our God is the God of Romans 4:17 “who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.”

Crazy, audacious prayers are those that call those things which do not exist as though they did. It’s believing for the absurd. Believing against all odds. Believing for something to appear out of nothing.

So here’s my crazy, audacious prayer: I’m praying that God would bring so many people this Sunday that we’d have to do a 2nd impromptu service after the 11am service. I’m praying that attendance wouldn’t drop off the week after Easter, but that it would keep growing. I’m praying that God would speak to people through the 1000 door hangers that went out this week. I’m praying that every person you invite would show up AND bring a friend. In a sense, I’m praying for revival to break out.

Would you pray this with me? I mean seriously take some time in the next few days to ask God for this?

In return, I would love to pray your crazy, audacious prayers with you. Tell me what it is you are praying for and I’ll also take time to believe and pray with you.

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:

1. 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.
2. Personally invite friends and family. In fact, invite them to an Easter dinner at your place or at a restaurant afterwards.
3. 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.

Let’s make this Easter the best one yet!

• 1st day in our new facility! Our team is amazing. They pulled it off without a hitch!
• Our very first visitor showed up about an hour before the service started…and we promptly sent him away in the back of a police car!
• Seriously though, he was inebriated and had a weapon. We really tried to be graceful, but eventually gave up. Hopefully he’ll come back when he’s not being disruptive.
• On a positive note, the entire setup looked and worked great. The worship team rocked it. The Kidway area was all over it. The sermon wasn’t too bad either:)
• We kicked off our series through the book of Romans. I’m super stoked to go through this book. No other piece of literature has had more eternal impact throughout history than this one.
• This is the book that gripped Martin Luther and sparked the Protestant Reformation. This is the book that stirred in John Wesley and resulted in the Great Awakening.
• Literally billions of people have been impacted by this book.
• Yesterday I spent most of the sermon discussing Romans 1:17, where Paul writes, “The just shall live by faith.”
• This is the theme that we will be exploring throughout the entire book. This was Paul’s battle cry. This was Martin Luther’s battle cry.
• This will be our battle cry.

The Book of Romans has been called the single most influential piece of literature in all of human history, and rightly so. It is this letter to the Christians in Rome that lit the fire in Martin Luther’s heart and brought about the Protestant Reformation that changed the history of the world. The Book of Romans had a great impact on John Wesley, who ultimately led the Great Awakening that saved England from the fate of France and arrested the decay of English life, completely altering the history of the world once again. Ultimately, billions of people around the world have been impacted by this mighty letter penned by the Apostle Paul nearly 2000 yrs ago.

Although this letter touches on nearly every Christian teaching to some extent, Paul’s battle cry throughout is found in Romans 1:17 “The just shall live by faith.” Another translation says it this way, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

What does it mean to be “just”? How do we become “righteous”? Is faith really enough?

Do you have God’s approval?

Find out this Sunday @11am as we begin an in-depth study through the Book of Romans. See you then at our new location!

• It’s official! We are now meeting at 11am at the Lifestyle Fitness and Kid’s Club at 3075 N. Reserve St.
• Thanks E3/Convergence for partnering with us over the last 15 mos and letting us use your facility. It has worked out great.
• But it’s time to move on!
• We set up and did a worship rehearsal at the new facility this last week and it looked and sounded great. I can’t wait for Sunday!
• It was amazing how God orchestrated our worship set last night. Eric didn’t know what I was speaking on when he picked the songs, but I felt that every song was significant.
• I spoke on taking a step of faith and taught out of Joshua chapter 3. God told the priests to step into the raging Jordan River. Then and only then would he stop the waters.
• God goes before us, but signs and wonders walk right beside us.
• Often times God is waiting for us to make a move. He’s given you a dream or vision, and he’s waiting for you to step out in faith before he’ll do a miracle on your behalf.
• I dare you to move.