THE RIVER

Why Me?

2012-01-27T11:58:00.000-08:00

Why me? A question I ask myself, maybe way to much. Maybe that's why I have always love the lyrics and songs of Johnny Cash: "What have I ever done, to deserve even one, of the blessings I've known." I often sit and ponder those very lyrics. It's like an ever present mp3 going through my mind. Why me Lord? Why did I get called to the greatest adventure ever known to man, vocational ministry. Why me Lord? Why did I get lucky enough to marry a beautiful supportive wife, who like a fine wine grows sweeter and better with the years. Why me Lord? Why did I seem to get a happy go lucky attitude of life that always sees things through rose colored glasses. Why me Lord? Why me? Oh yeah... because You love me!

2011-11-23T06:44:00.001-08:00

TheSHOWING WE CARE! Special Christmas Offering is a call to sacrificial givingwith a goal of raising money for four specific ministry initiatives.

THE PURPOSES OF THIS OFFERING:

Community Service: To support our new ministry to our local community.

WhyCommunity Service? This generation is turned off by churches and people whodon’t live what they claim to believe. They don’t want to hear aboutwhat we believe; they want to see our beliefs in our actions. Ifwe are going to live like Jesus we must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, healthe sick, and love the outcasts—all in the name of Christ. That means it’s notwhat we do in the church; it’s how we serve others outside of the church. If we truly live a missional and Spiritfilled life, this generation might join us and do what we do, then one daybelieve what we believe.

Children’s Easter Outreach: To share God’s love to our community at Easter.

Thishelps pay for the Petting Zoo we have sponsored each Easter. It also partially coverscrafts, activities, games, and candy for our Kidz Krew Ministry. This has beenone of the great highlights of our Easter outreach and provides tremendousopportunities for our families to invite the people from their OIKOS to ourchurch to experience a Christ honoring Easter celebration.

Youth Summer Mission Trip: To support our youth as they learn to serve Christoutside of Idaho. These funds will helpus to develop a one week, cross cultural summer mission trip for our students.

Building Fund: To support our ongoing efforts to provide a physicalchurch home.

Weare looking forward to the future when we will be able to secure our ownproperty and or facility so we are no longer mobile.

This Special Offering will be receivedthrough December 31, 2011. Please use the special envelope in your bulletin ormark your checks or online gifts with “Showing We Care!”

2011-11-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

The River Christmas Offering
Showing We Care!
Now through December 31, 2011

Dear River Friends and Family,

I am excited to share with you information regarding the SHOWING WE CARE! Special Christmas offering that begins now and runs through December 31st. In the past two years we have raised just over $2,500.00! This year we have four different goals.

First base Goal: $1,500.00– This is the starting point. If we raise $1,500 above our regular giving so we can develop and support our four ministry objectives that would be awesome. In baseball a base hit is awesome, but you never want to stay on first base. Can you imagine what could be done with $2,500.00? $3,000.00? How about $5,000! Will you help us to hit a HOME RUN?!

As a young missional church in the Treasure Valley, we are committed to doing everything we can to carry out the vision God has given us; “Helping people find their way to God and teaching them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus”. Our community is not irreligious, it is packed with people who believe in God but have given up on the church for one reason or another. With this in mind we are a non-traditional, modern church for people who have given up on the traditional church, but not on God.

When we began The River, we determined to give our people the best opportunities available to discover what it means to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus. With this offering you
have the opportunity to deepen your commitment to Christ, enlarge your ministry commitment and opportunities, and provide for the needs of others.

This offering is specifically designated to:

Our new Community Service Ministry to help us focus on meeting the needs of the people outside of our church, our Children's Community Easter Outreach, Youth Summer Mission Trip, and our Building Fund.

I hope you will carefully look over the information on the other side that explains this exciting opportunity for us to give sacrificially. Will you join us and begin praying now about what God
would have you give, over and above your regular giving, to our Special Christmas Offering? Allow God to stretch your faith!

Your Friend and Pastor,
Dave Griewe

The Tax Return Challenge!

2011-01-25T14:25:00.000-08:00

Philippians 4:19 (NIV) “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

This is God's promise to meet all your needs, Isn't that awesome? YES IT IS!

How do you claim this promise? For every promise God gives there is a premise. Last Sunday I explained the premises to the promise of God meeting all our needs. (click here to listen to last Sunday's podcast) For review sake here they are: God says if you will...
• Ask for my help
• Learn to be content with what you have
• Begin tithing
• Live with integrity in all your financial dealings
• Trust Jesus with all your heart
God says... I promise to meet ALL your needs!

For many of us the most difficult premise is to begin tithing. I really want you to experience God's blessings just like I do. Therefore, I challenge you to begin to give something, no matter what your financial standing is and watch God bless you. If you are unable to give 10% start with 3% or 5% and commit to buld up to 10% as God blesses.

Here's a challenge that will help you experience God's blessing. It's called The TAX RETURN CHALLENGE. Here's how it works: Before you figure out your taxes, before you know what you will getting back, before you make any plans with what will do with your tax return - CONSIDER GOD FIRST. Commit ahead of time to give 10% , a tithe of your tax return, to your church, before you even know how much it is. When you get your tax return; before you spend it on your bills, a new TV, a vacation or put it into savings, give 10% right off the top to God.

Then sit back and watch God bless! And as God blesses you, share your blessings with your Life Group and with me. I love to hear how God takes care of His children. I'm looking forward to hear how God is blessing you!

Remember, I love you!
Pastor Dave

Looking Back and Moving Forward at The River Church

2011-01-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing that's true about church planting it that nothing stays the same for very long! Everything is always in a state of transition and you have to embrace being transition! That definitely been the case for our Ministry here at The River Church. Over the past year we have changed our location, our mission statement, our philosophy of ministry, and our strategy for reaching people for the Kingdom. Three key families came from sister churches to help us get started and they have since moved on. We started with three pastors all living on raised support and two have moved on as of the end of 2010. Our youth Ministry went through a change of leadership as we hired an intern in September who quit in October. We have since staffed the Youth Ministry with volunteers. Fortunately, and by the grace of God, we have fully embraced each and every transition!

We have seen small but steady growth every month for the past six months adding several new families and individuals who had previously been de-churched. Maybe the biggest change at The River is that we have embraced personal outreach by intentionally changing our world view to OIKOS: a paradigm through which a Christ-follower evaluates life, it’s purpose and events. The Greek word OIKOS translates to "extended family". God has given each of us our own little niche of humanity. Everyone has been given, on the average, anywhere from eight to fifteen people whom God has supernaturally and strategically placed in our relational world. God has placed these people in our OIKOS both for our benefit and for theirs; our benefit because we all need friends and their benefit so you can help them find their way to God. As we are in the process of understanding God's command to reach people for Christ, OIKOS has given us the intentional framework to reflect God's love to others. OIKOS help us see every relationship as a God given opportunity to reach others for the Kingdom of God.

We laid the OIKOS foundation of teaching in September and October and put it into action immediately. We initiated November as "Minute to Win It" month, taking about 3 minutes in our services to play a game for no other reason than pure fun! (Remember John 10:10; abundant life?) It was a huge hit! Also during November we started Friend Day, picking a specific day for everyone to bring a friend to church and our attendance that day grew by 50%! December we focused on Christmas. Our Chamber of Commerce sponsors "Eagle Country Christmas" in downtown Eagle where we had a booth giving away free hot chocolate and smore's. We had huge fire pit where people warmed themselves and "cooked" their smore's and we used that as an opportunity to invite them to our Community Christmas Eve service. Our attendance on Christmas Eve was up 20% from the previous year and we ended the year on a very positive note!

We excitedly looking forward to this what God will do at The River Church this year. Our focus through Easter is on spiritual growth and discipleship, while constantly keeping our eye on our OIKOS and who we can share our faith story with within our relational circle.

We appreciate your prayers for our continued growth; spiritually, numerically, and financially. Our biggest issue is finances. As a new church composed of previously de-churched and new believers giving is a sensitive subject. I will be teaching on giving once in January and once in February. I ask for your prayers in particular for these Sundays. We also face a new contract with the school district in March, which could see us looking for another meeting place; please pray for God's guidance and will to be done.

God bless you!
I love you!
Pastor Dave

How To Give An End Of The Year Gift To The River Church

2010-12-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

We don't talk much about money at The River.

The River is a new church and we are supported by your gifts and donations and a few outside individuals and chuches who support our ministry and vision in church planting here in Eagle, ID.

Unfortunately as we draw near the end of 2010 we have financial needs that are going unmet. This week is the first time since we started the church that we are not be able to pay our bills and payroll on time. We would love to end the year in the black, but as of last Sunday we are behind in our budget by just over $10,000. We obviously don't owe that much as we have cut our budget to survival expenses but we do need $1,500.00 to pay our curent bills and salaries on December 15. If you would like to help us meet our needs this week there are a couple of ways you can do that.

You can use PayPal
Here are instructions on how you can make an online donation free of charge to The River using your PayPal balance or your checking account:

Step 1 Sign in to your PayPal account (if you don't already have a PayPal account you must open one).
Step 2 Select the "Send Money" tab.
Step 3 In the "To" box enter "pastordg@aol" (This is The River's registered email address).
Step 4 Enter the amount of your Donation.
Step 5 At the bottom of the box select the "personal" tab and then "gift" then select "continue".
Step 6 Verify information then select "Send Money".
Your money has been sent! The River is a 501(c)3 Religious Charitable Organization and all donations are tax deductible. Thank you for supporting the Ministry of The River!
Or for a small fee charged to The River (no cost to you) you may make a donation using your debit or credit card.

You may send a check using your online banking account
Simply make a one time payment to The River Church. Our mailing address is 2510 E. Brierfield Dr, Eagle, ID 83616.

Or you may drop off a gift at the above address
Just give us a call to make sure we are here first!

God bless you this Christmas season and thank you for your prayers and support!
Pastor Dave

Showing We Care - The River Christmas Offering, 2010

2010-11-15T05:55:00.000-08:00

Dear River Friends and Family,

I am excited to share with you information regarding the SHOWING WE CARE! Special Christmas offering that begins now and runs through December 31st. Last year we raise $1,495.00. This year we increased our goal to $1,600.00.

As a new church in the Treasure Valley, we are committed to do everything we can to carry out the mission God has given us; “Helping people find their way to God and teaching them to become fully devoted followers of Jesus”. We are not looking for perfect people, in fact we say No Perfect People Allowed! Our community is not irreligious, it is packed with people who believe in God but have given up on the church for one reason or another. With this in mind we are a non-traditional, modern church for people who have given up on the traditional church, but not on God.

When we began The River last year, we determined to give our people the best opportunities available to discover what it means to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus. With this offering you have the opportunity to deepen your commitment to Christ, enlarge your ministry commitment and opportunities, and provide for the needs of others.

This offering is designated to: provide financial support for the hurting, hungry, and needy people in our area, our Children's Community Easter Outreach, Youth Camp Scholarship Fund, New Church Planting, and initial support for Ben and Tracy Slee - the newest Campus Crusade for Christ staff members at BSU!

I hope you will carefully look over the information about this exciting opportunity for us to give sacrificially. Will you join us and begin praying now about what God would have you give, over and above your regular giving, to our Special Christmas Offering? Allow God to stretch your faith!

Your Friend and Pastor,
Dave Griewe

The SHOWING WE CARE! Special Christmas Offering is a call to sacrificial giving with a goal of raising $1,600 for five specific ministry initiatives:

To share God’s love with our community by providing financial help to the hurting, hungry, and needy.

This year more people are suffering from unemployment and under-employment in our area than ever before. So we are partnering with the Eagle Community Food Bank to provide food, clothing, and finances to assist those families who are struggling. We will be collecting canned and non-perishable food along with good, clean, used clothing for both adults and children on December 12 and 19 at our Sunday services.

Children’s Community Easter Outreach.
Before we began The River we hosted an Easter Egg Hunt in the Lexington Hills Community. We put out over 3,000 plastic eggs filled with candy and prizes for the children. We had over 250 people attend this free event. This helped to develop a positive identity of The River and led to a successful Grand Opening Easter service. Last year we changed locations and we did not have time to plan for a successful community event. This year, with your help, we hope to develop a new Community Easter Outreach focusing on children.

To provide summer camp scholarships to help our youth go to camp.
Last summer our youth ministry took 8 students to summer camp in McCall. We provided half scholarships for almost every student making it possible for them to attend. This year our goal is to provide financial resources to send 15 students to camp.

To support New Church Planting in the Northwest and the Pacific Southwest.
Statistically the best way to reach non-churched and de-churched people is to start new churches. The River began with the financial support from individuals, churches, and organizations who are committed to new church planting. We want to be able to support and help other new church starts just as we were helped.

To provide initial financial support for Ben and Tracy Slee with Campus Crusade for Christ.
Ben and Tracy are the newest staff members serving Christ on the Boise State University Campus. Their objective is to WIN students to Christ; BUILD them up in their faith; and SEND them out to reach others for Christ. They reach students through one on one conversations, small group bible studies, and special events on the BSU campus.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why a Special Offering?
As part of God’s plan to grow the faith of the people in His church, He calls us to sacrificial giving from time to time. This Offering is an opportunity for us to grow in our faith and to prepare us for what God wants to do through our church.

What is the difference between the Regular Offering and this Special Offering?
Your regular River offering is the proportional amount (your tithe of 10%) that you give on a regular basis to our church throughout the year. This Special Christmas Offering is one of those occasions where sacrificial giving stretches you and grows your faith. The special offering should be over and above what you give regularly to The River.

How much should I Give?
Since our goal is $1,600, this Special Offering has room for everyone to be involved. Some families within our church can give a large gift. Others are only able to give a small gift. The issue is not equal giving, but equal sacrifice. The precise amount you give is between you and God. Please prayerfully consider a sacrificial gift that will stretch your faith.

When should I Give?
The best time to give will be the next two Sundays. However, you may continue to give until December 31. Please use the “Showing We Care!” offering envelopes or indicate that your gift is for the Christmas Offering. Remember, consistent gifts over time adds up – a person giving $10-$50 a week over a five-week period will give $50 to $250 to this Special Offering!

Can I Give online via bank check, debit or credit card?
You may give online at RiverChristianChurch.com. Select the “about rcc” drop-down menu and click on “support rcc”. Then select the “donate” button. That will take you to our PayPal account. To donate by check online, you must have a PayPal account, otherwise you may use your debit card or credit card. You can also use your bank online payment option to send a check directly to the church. Simply mark in the memo area that your gift is for the “Showing We Care!” offering.

Can I Give In-Kind Gifts of Stocks or Bonds?
Of course! Since The River is a 501c3 organization there can be tremendous tax benefits for you by giving in-kind gifts.

Are My Gifts Tax-Deductible?
YES! The River is recognized by the IRS as a 501c3 charitable organization. All gifts are completely tax-deductible.

Loving The Difficult People in Your World!

2010-09-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

In our ever-changing relational world, there are 3 types of people:
1- Non believers- Some members of your oikos are non-believers, or better yet, pre-believers. Your role for them is that of evangelist, seeking to help provide them connection points with Christ.
2- Believers who are not walking with the Lord- Some will be Christians who, for whatever reason, have become distracted and aren’t presently attending church. This makes up the largest number of people in our area. Your role, with them, is to help them get back on track and pick up where they left off, with you as their biggest cheerleader.
3- Believers who are presently walking with Christ- If they are involved in church and already intentional about their walk with Christ, then your role in their lives will be to encourage them to keep moving forward in their faith.

Now there is problem: The problem is that there are some people who are in your OIKOS, who for whatever reason, you have a hard time with or they have a hard time with you. And the truth is you wish God had put them in someone else’s OIKOS! But you’re stuck with them and they’re stuck with you!

So how do you change your world when someone in your world is difficult to love?

When you think about it, everybody’s difficult, at least part of the time. And if your desire is to be effective as a worldchanger then you must learn how to love the difficult people that are in your OIKOS.

Jesus said John 13:34-35 "By this shall all men know that you're My disciples that you have love one for another." Jesus says that the number one characteristic of a believer is love. It makes sense, God is a loving God and He wants us to become like Him.

The fact is if you’re a Christian you should be a loving and caring person, if you’re a non-loving Christian that’s what’s called an oxy-moron: or maybe you’re just a moron! Jesus expects us to love everybody, even the difficult people in our lives. After all, love is what attracts most people to Christ.

If you're going to be a world changer then you'd better learn how to love the difficult people in your world. In Romans 12:9-21 Paul gives us 3 characteristics that we must develop if we are going to love others and be effective worldchangers. Check it out!

For more information listen to my podcast.

OIKOS - Change Your World!

2010-09-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

God wants to change the world. That’s why He sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth.

The world not only needs to be changed, it’s practically begging for someone to change it.

Now get this, it doesn’t matter if you’re a new believer or if you’ve been a Christian for a long time, God says I’ve got a job for you. “I want you to change your world; it’s a simple task, but not an easy one.”

Changing the whole world might sound like an overwhelming task for any individual believer to take on. That’s why God hasn’t asked you to change THE WHOLE world; He’s asking you to change YOUR world.

The truth is God has asked a few select people to take on a specific call to do something global that actually impacts the whole world, people like Billy and Franklin Graham, Luis Palau, and a few others, but that doesn’t apply to most of us.

Now, don’t misunderstand me, that doesn’t mean that what He calls us to do is any less important than what He’s called them to do.

The fact is God has given each of us our own little niche of humanity. Everyone has been given, on the average, anywhere from eight to fifteen people- individuals whom God has supernaturally and strategically placed in our relational world.

The Greeks called that circle of influence your oikos- and over the course of the next 4 weeks, both in our teaching time here at church and in our small groups meeting in homes throughout the week, we’re going to help you discover who makes up your world.

These people who are in your world, your OIKOS, are on God’s radar screen. And He wants to reach out to them through the one element they all have in common- YOU.

God wants YOU to be a world changer!

Community Christmas Eve Servce

2009-12-23T09:56:00.000-08:00

Showing We Care! Special Christmas Offering

2009-11-22T19:37:00.000-08:00

The River Christmas Offering
Showing We Care!
Now through December 31, 2009
GOAL: $2,000

Come As You Are, Love Jesus, Serve Others, Tell The Story

November 2009

Dear River Family,

I am excited to share with you information regarding the SHOWING WE CARE! Special Christmas Offering that begins now and runs through December 31st.

As a brand new church in the Treasure Valley, we are committed to do everything we can to carry out the mission God has given us; leading people into a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ by encouraging them to: Come As You Are, Love Jesus, Serve Others, and to go out and Tell The Story! We are not looking for perfect people, in fact we say No Perfect People Allowed! One significant thing we have discovered about our community is that it is not irreligious, it is packed with people who believe in God but have given up on the church for one reason or another. With this in mind we have set out to be a non-traditional, contemporary church for people who have given up on the traditional church, but not on God.

When we began The River seven months ago, we determined to give our people the best opportunities available to discover what it means to become a fully devoted follower of Christ. With this offering you have the opportunity to deepen your commitment to Christ, enlarge your ministry commitment and opportunities, and provide for the needs of others.

This offering is designated to four purposes: providing financial support for IberoAmerican Ministries; Servant Evangelism to our city, beginning a Benevolence ministry to our own members, and support of our own youth ministry – STRIKE!

I hope you will carefully look over the enclosed information about this exciting opportunity for us to give sacrificially. Will you join us and begin praying now about what God would have you give, over and above your regular giving, to our Special Christmas Offering? Allow God to stretch your faith!

Your Friend and Pastor,

Dave Griewe
pastordg@aol.com

The SHOWING WE CARE! Special Christmas Offering is a call to sacrificial giving with a goal of raising $1,500 for four specific ministry initiatives.

THE PURPOSES OF THIS OFFERING

To support Jeff Phillips; Founder of IberoAmerican Ministries: a mission dedicated to reach Muslims in Southeast Asia.

Jeff Phillips and his wife Kathy left for Chile the day after their first wedding anniversary immediately after graduation from San Jose Bible College (now William Jessup University). They have been in living in Chile for the past 33 years. All four of their children, as well as their four grandchildren were born in Chile. They have seen 20 churches planted during that time which are now beginning to reproduce churches on their own. Each of these planted churches has national pastors and elders. Most recently, Jeff took a team to a Middle Eastern, war torn country, to live among and love Muslims. There he started a Women's Center to help the hurting people. IberoAmerican Ministries goal is to mobilize 1000 Latinos to move into and start churches around the world focusing on reaching people where there is no Christian testimony or churches. Two of Jeff’s children and their families have answered that call and are currently working among needy people. For more information: www.iamweb.org

To share God’s love to our community through Servant Evangelism.

Last year The River hosted an Easter Egg Hunt for the Lexington Hills Community, the community where our church meets. We managed to put out over 3,000 plastic eggs filled with candy and prizes for the children and their families. We had over 250 people attend this free event to the community. This helped to develop a positive identity of The River in our community and led to a very successful Grand Opening Easter service. This year we hope to open it up to even more people within the city of Eagle.

To begin a Benevolence Fund to assist members of our church.

It is our desire to begin a Benevolence Ministry to come alongside our people in distress due to difficult financial times, a death in the family or a need for Christian counseling.

To support STRIKE! our youth ministry to Junior and Senior High students.

Our youth ministry continues to grow and in its short time has seen 15 teens make decisions for Christ! Our goal is to provide financial resources to help our youth ministry send students to camp this summer. Last year’s summer camp saw four students commit their lives to Christ.

This Special Offering will be received through December 31, 2009. Please use the special envelope in your bulletin or mark your checks or online gifts with “Showing We Care!”

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why a Special Offering?
As part of God’s plan to grow the faith of the people in His church, He calls us to sacrificial giving from time to time. This Special Christmas Offering is an opportunity for us to grow in our faith and to prepare us for what God wants to do through our church in 2010. This offering is to position us to make a greater impact in our city, in our church and around the world in 2010.

What is the difference between the Regular Offering and this Special Offering?
Your regular River offering is the proportional amount (your tithe of 10%) that you set apart on a systematic basis and give to our church throughout the year. From time to time, there are opportunities to give in a sacrificial way. This Special Christmas Offering is one of those occasions where sacrificial giving that stretches us causing us to grow in our faith. The special offering should be over and above what you give regularly to The River.

How much should I Give?
Since our goal is $1,500, this Special Offering has room for everyone to be involved. Some families within our church can give a large gift. Others are only able to give a small gift. The issue is not equal giving, but equal sacrifice. The precise amount you give is between you and God. Please prayerfully consider a sacrificial gift that will stretch your faith.

When should I Give?
The best time to give will be the next two Sundays. Please pray about giving your best gift on that day. However, you may continue to give until December 31, 2009. Please use the “Showing We Care!” offering envelopes or include a note designating that your gift is for the Special Christmas Offering. Remember, consistent gifts over time adds up – a person giving $10-$50 a week over a five-week period will give $50 to $250 to this Special Offering!

Can I Give online via bank check, debit or credit card?
Yes. You may give at www.RiverChristianChurch.com via online giving, simply select the “about rcc” drop-down menu and click on “support rcc”. Then select the “donate” button. That will take you to our PayPal account. To donate by check online, you must have a PayPal account, otherwise you may use your debit card or credit card. You can also use your bank online payment option to send a check directly to the church office. Again, simply mark in the memo area that your gift is for the “Showing We Care!” special offering.

Can I Give In-Kind Gifts of Stocks or Bonds?
Of course! Since The River is a 501c3 organization there can be tremendous tax benefits for you by giving in-kind gifts. For information on this type of giving, simply contact Pastor Dave.

Are My Gifts Tax-Deductible?
All gifts to The River, whether via your regular offering or this Special Christmas Offering, are completely tax-deductible. Your gift will be deductible in the tax year given (i.e., gifts given in 2009 will be deductible on your 2009 taxes). Please be sure to include your name and address when you give so that a receipt can be sent to you for your tax preparations. You are not required to utilize a tax-deduction for your gift, but it is available for all gifts.

How Will I Know if We Reach Our Goal?
Please pray for God’s guidance as we all give sacrificially. You will be updated on our giving progress during our Sunday services. Reaching this goal will be a celebration of what we can do together as we stretch our faith under God’s leadership.

Have additional questions? Please contact Pastor Dave Griewe at pastordg@aol.com

Welcome To The River!

2009-10-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

At The River we work hard to provide a unique environment in which anyone, and we mean anyone can be comfortable.

We seek to provide a diverse, judgment free zone where a lasting, active relationship with God can be discovered and developed at your own pace.

As we grow and develop as a church family we are seeking to continually provide a safe, energetic environment, where everyone feels accepted and respected.

We know that no one is perfect, except God, but we also know that God wants us to continually be in the process of becoming more like Him, so we are here to encourage you to be everything that God created you to be.

Therefore The River is committed to be a place where you can become and belong.

Our Mission: Come as you are, Love Jesus, Serve Others, and Tell the Story!

We are The River!

Getting into Fall at The River!

2009-10-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

We are completely enjoying the Fall here in Idaho, the temperature has dropped, the leaves are changing, and it’s time to focus on growth! I am excited; I love the Fall and everything it brings. I am really looking forward to it bringing new people to The River! That’s why we are here: to introduce people to Jesus Christ and help them grow in Him!

· Please pray for us to grow and mature as a church.
We are just over 6 months old; running an average of 100 people and we have seen nearly 20 commitments to Christ. We are not satisfied! Our community is over 22,000 people and there are over a half of a million people in the Treasure Valley. We have discovered that the majority of people do not attend church; they are not irreligious, but they are lost and disconnected. Most non-churched people here have some form of religious background but for some reason they have disconnected from church, not God, just church. That doesn’t mean they know Jesus, they are most likely religious; making them very difficult to reach for Christ. They have been infected with enough religion to make them immune to a relationship with God. Our mission is to reach those people where they are, break down their religious barriers, and help them to fall in love with Jesus. Pray for us to accomplish this vision!

· Pray for our people, the people of The River, to reach out to their friends and invite them to church. Pray for divine appointments for them to talk to them about a relationship with Christ.
· Pray that my messages on marriage and family will reach our community with God’s practical and invaluable council on developing great families while pointing people to the life saving grace of a relationship with Jesus.
· Pray for our small groups to grow and develop as they work through applying each Sunday’s message to their life.
· Pray for the growth and development of our worship teams. Heather and Phil share the responsibilities of leading our worship on Sundays. We are struggling with having enough musicians to put together a weekly band and our goal is to have two or more complete worship teams. Pray for God to lead the right people to us and for us to recognize them and get them involved. We see playing an instrument as an opportunity to reach musicians who don’t know Jesus.

Cathy and I are both doing better physically; thank you for your prayers! We are not 100% but we feel we are getting there. Cathy joined my gym and she is going with me every day! Pray for her as this is huge lifestyle change. I love her going to the gym with me (I’ve tried to get her to do this for 30+ years)! Pray for her to develop this as a habit and to learn the right kind of exercises that will be best for her and will accelerate her healing and lead her to complete health.
Pray for our finances. Our outside support has been cut in half in the past two months. As a new church we are doing OK averaging nearly $1,000 a week in offerings, but it takes a minimum of $8,000 a month to meet our needs (that includes my support but not the rest of the staff who are on support). September brought a shortfall of nearly $900. Since our Grand Opening we have put ourselves $6,304.99 in debt. We know that statistically it takes 3 years for a church to be self supporting, but we don’t have that much time, so we are asking God for a miracle to pull us out of debt and to meet our needs every month. Maybe God is asking you to be part of the solution.

Click here to support The River!

Faith... Most of the time!

2009-06-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

I trust God completely, most of the time... It's a strange thing to live by faith. Several times in my life I have taken pretty big steps of faith trusting God for everything to survive, and God has always met my needs. But then something weird happens; I start to "help" God, I don't know why. It's like I think, living by faith is Ok for short periods of time, but after a while I need to get back into control.

I feel like the Israelites in the wilderness. They trusted God for a while, then they tried to do things on their own. After a while God removes His blessing and they suffer. They realize they have forsaken God so they repent and trust God again and He blesses them again. At least until they forget Him again. It's a cycle that is repeated in the Old Testament over and over again.

What disturbs me is that it happens to me too!

I was reading in 2 Chronicles 15 & 16 about Asa, one of the Israelite king's who loved and trusted God, most of the time. The prophet of God came to him and said, "Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you." And Asa determined to trust God and God blessed him and all Israel.

But after a while, a problem came up and Asa didn't think of asking God for help, he asked another king to help him out. It seemed to make sense. He had a problem, another king provided an easy solution. It wasn't an evil decision, it made human sense, it's the way things had been done many times before. But he didn't ask God for His help.

Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: "Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand... When you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." OUCH! God wanted to give Asa a full blessing and freedom for the Israelites. Asa wanted the same thing, but did it his way, not even realizing he wasn't trusting God.

God wants us to trust Him, lean on Him, and turn to Him all the time, for everything! When we do, He blesses us. When we forget Him and turn to other means to meet our needs, whatever they may be, He removes His blessing and lets us get by on our own.

I NEVER WANT TO GET BY ON MY OWN! I want to trust God every day for everything. But it is so easy to get comfortable and forget. He meets our needs, we are pleased, we give Him praise and then we just sort of forget and when the next problem comes up we try to solve it on our own, but without God's blessing because we didn't ask Him for His help.

I understand Paul's cry of anguish far too much, Romans 7:15 & 24-25 "I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate....Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Thank you Jesus that you love and died for imperfect people like me. Now Lord help me to always trust you and not forget you. Amen.

Why I love the church and hate the church...

2009-05-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

I love the church, it is the body of Christ. So why do I struggle with liking the church?

The church as God designed it is a loving accepting home for any and everyone. Unfortunately that is not what the church seems to be. Honestly, there are many churches who do show grace and acceptance, at least for a while. But for some reason as soon as a person who really needs grace, comes to church, we begin to try to change them. Not that change is bad, it is God's will, but we seem to think God gave US the responsibility to change people. He didn't. That's the job of the Holy Spirit. Our job is to love people, accept them, nurture them, teach His Word to them, encourage obedience, and then love some more; with the same grace God extended to each and every one of us and then leave the results up to GOD! Why can't we get that?

Try to love the unlovely for a while. The back slidden Christian, the self committed atheist or agnostic. Try to love those who are different than you; someone of a different ethnic group, a different lifestyle choice, a different economic class, a different sub culture than you. It's not easy, but it's God's command. We are to love people just like He loves us. Jesus said "Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down fr his friends." John 15:13 (NIV) That's the standard.

It is sad to me that one of the great commands of Christ is that we love one another, but it is that same command that convicts us all and turns the world away from Christ. Let's learn to love like Jesus; totally and completely accepting of all people, no matter what the background, race, lifestyle preference, culture, or actions. We are to love people to Christ and let Him change their lives. That is my prayer for the church. That is my prayer for you.

The Mission of The River-Part 4; TELL THE STORY!

2009-03-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

Our Mission is simple:
· Come as you are- No perfect People Allowed. We’re a church for those who have given up on the traditional church but not on God and we are a judgment free zone!
· Love Jesus – That’s why we’re here, it’s what God created us for – to have a relationship with Him by falling in love with His Son Jesus.
· Serve Others - using the gifts and abilities God has given us to serve Him by serving others.
· Today I am wrapping up this series by talking about the fourth part of our Mission – Tell the Story.
God has given every believer the responsibility of telling the story of God’s love for us and what He has done to prove His love for us and provide us with the opportunity to have a relationship with Him.

In fact Paul instructed Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:5 (NIV) “do the work of an evangelist” even though he was not an evangelist.

In fact look at what Jesus told His followers…
Luke 14:23 (LB) ‘Go into the country… and urge anyone you find to come, so that my house will be full.”
Jesus says that’s our job! Bring people to church and to Him!

Institute for American Church Growth put out these statistics about how people first come to church:
= 2% Special needs
= 3% Walked-in
= 6% Pastor
= 1% Home visitation
= 5% Sunday school
= 5% Evangelistic crusade
= 3% Programs
= 79% Friend/relative invited them to come
Jesus says that one of our main jobs as Christians is to go out and tell everyone we meet to come to church and then tell them the Good News about who He is. We are His ad campaign.

Madison Ave discovered this years ago. They discovered that the greatest advertising strategy around is word of mouth.

Jesus Advertising campaign was simple:
Go tell people about Me and bring them into My house.

What did He do to bring them in?
= Did He take out ads in the Jerusalem Times?
= Buy radio time on the popular radio stations?
= Send out postcards via camel express? No.

It was all word of mouth.
Think of TV commercials. Most commercials don’t ask or even tell you to buy their product.
Most Advertising, with the exception of infomercials, is based on word of mouth advertising.

They work tediously to portray an intimate setting where you are privileged to be a fly on the wall to watch a private conversation and hear all the great things a particular product does by "someone just like you."

= Commercials show people talking directly to me telling me of all the good things that their product could do for me.
= Or, you see people having the times of their lives, doing things that could only be enjoyed by people who used a particular product.

Every commercial is less than subtle in telling you about their product without ever yelling at you or condemning you for not using their product. They simply make very strong insinuations that your quality of life would improve if you used their product. And it is all done with the illusion of using someone we know, admire, want to be like, or relate to; personally talking to us.

But Jesus didn't have a Madison Avenue public relations team promoting him. Everything He did was passed on by word of mouth. And His message of love spread like wildfire!

People whose lives were radically changed by Christ told everybody they came into contact with what had happened. Even people, who didn't experience significant life change, saw life change in others and they told others what they had seen!

John and Peter were ordered by the rulers of their time to stop talking about Jesus; but look at what they said…
Acts 4:20 (NIV) “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

It's like that really old Faberge' ad, I told two friends and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on...

That’s how the good news about Jesus Christ spread around the world; word of mouth, one by one, people would tell their friends, neighbors, relatives, and coworkers about Christ.

We have a word for that strategy of word of mouth advertising when it comes to Jesus, we call it evangelism.

That’s how Jesus grew the first church, word of mouth evangelism. Eyewitness accounts, and one on one testimonies.

Now for some reason the word evangelism strikes fear in most people’s hearts. Now before I tell you three ways to talk to your friends about Jesus let’s talk about some...
I. MISCONCEPTIONS OF EVANGELISM.

A. YOU MUST BE AN OBNOXIOUS BIBLE THUMPER.

For many people the term evangelism brings up all sorts of unpleasant images:
· Hellfire and brimstone Bible Thumpers,
· pushy salesman types,
· slick, insincere celebrities,
· money grubbing televangelists,
· bizarre, cult like figures,
· hustlers, con men,
· Jim and Tammy Faye, Jimmy Swaggart, and so on.

Most of us find the hard sell approach impersonal, overbearing, and obnoxious. We tend to mistrust the sincerity of the person talking about Jesus. We feel like we are being sold something; and that doesn’t feel sincere!

If we think this is the only way to talk about Jesus, we will probably want to stay as far away from this role as possible. We fear that people will think we’re religious fanatics.

But you don't have to be a bible thumper, just be yourself.

B. YOU MUST KNOW THE WHOLE BIBLE.

That's like saying before you ever play the game of baseball you have to know all the rules and how to play every position before you even try.

Many of us are afraid that someone will ask us a question that we don’t know the answer to and we’ll look stupid. Or that there is some secret formula that we discover only after we have learned the entire bible and if done right everybody we talk to will beg us to tell them about Jesus.

We think that we must have an answer for every question.

You know what? God doesn't give us all the answers! We're just not supposed to know everything; if we did we would be God!

If you don't have the answer to a question someone asks you, don't panic! Just tell them that if there’s an answer you will get it for them.

Then study the question, or call me or someone else who can answer the question or at least the ability to find the answer if, there is one.

C. YOU MUST BE PERFECT.

You can never lose your temper. You can never do anything wrong.

Let's face it - we’re going blow it; we’re not perfect.

So don't ignore your mistakes, admit them and correct them. Don't hide them, but don't publicize them either.

When you blow it, recognize that it is not an unforgivable sin, work to correct it, ask for forgiveness, and move on.

That’s the beauty of God’s grace. God forgives us and forgets what we did. Our slate is clean before a gracious God. Remember Jesus died for our sins to forgive us.

In contrast to those misconceptions….

D.L. Moody said, “If this world is going to be reached, I am convinced that it must be done by men and women of average talent. After all, there are comparatively few people in the world who have great talents.”

It takes average people, just like you and me to spread the Good News that Jesus died to forgive us from our sins. It’s our job to go out into our communities, tell people about Jesus and bring them into His church. It takes average people like you and me; there are no superstars in the Christian Community.
Remember Jesus ad campaign? Go tell people about Me.

Look at these two commands of Jesus:
THE GREAT COMMANDMENT:
Matthew 22:36-39 (NIV) "LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR as yourself."

THE GREAT COMMISSION:
Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) "GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Jesus says, be committed to love God and love our neighbors and then be committed to make disciples, devoted followers of Christ.

If that’s the command of Jesus; then how do we do that? How do we love God and our neighbors enough to tell them about Jesus? Let's look at …
II. THREE KEYS TO TALKING TO YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT JESUS.

A. LIVE WITH A GREAT COMMITMENT

The greatest impact the average Christian will ever make will be through their life and actions.

Many of us have heard about the Sermon on the Mount. It’s where Jesus taught a large crowd of his followers.

A significant part of that message is Jesus explaining to his followers the true nature of their calling. They would be His light to the world.
Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

In other words Jesus said let your life be an advertisement for me! Let them see me through you.

Don't hide your Christianity. Make sure you are doing good things, and then when those good things are noticed tell them it's Jesus who is shining through you.

Doing good deeds is a way of loving people into the family of God.
1 John 4:7-8 (LB) "Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God, and that they are getting to know him better. But if a person isn't loving and kind, it shows that he doesn't know God - for God is love."

Let me ask you a question: If your neighbors had to depend on you to find out about Jesus, how much would they know?

You live a great commitment by loving people enough to let the light of Jesus shine through you by living in a way that people say, I want what you have.

Your Christianity should be contagious. That’s what we should be - contagious Christians.

A Christian who maintains an ongoing personal contact with a non-believer is far more effective than the polished appeal of an evangelist, because they are able to show their whole life as a witness. Our friends will almost always more easily relate to us than someone they do not know, and the trust that is built up through a relationship helps create open doors for talking to them about Jesus.

So if you want to talk to your friends about Jesus; love them by living a life worthy of imitation and let the light of Jesus shine through you!

Here’s a warning: everything you do is a reflection on Jesus. So
· If you’re loving to your neighbors it’s a good reflection
· If you’re the crab of the neighborhood, it’s a bad reflection
· If you’re happy despite the circumstances, it’s good
· If you’re the complainer…
Think of it like this, if you’re contagious, what will people catch from you?

Once we have a great commitment to live contagiously for Christ, then we need to explain why we live differently…
B. LIVE THE GREAT COMMISSION

We need to be prepared to talk to people about Jesus.

2 Timothy 4:1-2 (LB) "...I solemnly urge you before God and Christ Jesus, ...to preach the Word of God urgently at all times, whenever you get the chance, in season and out..."

There are many different ways to talk about Jesus.

1. The first thing you have to do is tell YOUR story.
So you have to learn how to tell your story. It’s pretty simple really; just take a few minutes and write it out.

Here is a simple three point outline to write out your story. Just write one or two paragraphs on…
What was your life like before you became a Christian?
How did you become a Christian?
How has your life changed since becoming a Christian?
Simply take about one minute for each point and skip all the gory details. Sometimes people get hung up on talking about how bad they were… in detail. It will derail your story.

If you like I can email you a simple worksheet to help you tell your story. Just ask for it on your connection card, and make sure I have your email address.

Once you have told your story you need to be able to tell a person how to become a Christian.

2. There are all sorts of tracts that are published that allow you to simply read it to another person. They’re designed to take you all the way through to a prayer of commitment. They are simple and easy.

3. But my favorite way to talk to people about Jesus is called the Roman Road.

I have memorized several verses in Romans that present the gospel completely. I can use these verses and make a short simple presentation or a longer more complete presentation.

They are
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
That’s the Roman Road. It’s a simple way to tell the Good news of Jesus Christ. You don't need a Bible handy, you don't need to carry a tract, if you memorize it; it's always there.

David was hiding from King Saul in the desert and he said
Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you." He didn't have a scroll tucked away in his tunic; he had memorized scripture to carry it with him all the time.

1. So we live a great commitment through a lifestyle of love recognizing that we are not perfect, but striving to do all that we can to bring glory to God. Remember, People take your example far more seriously than your advice.

2. And we live the great commission as we back up our lives with words, a verbal presentation.
1 Peter 3:15-16 (LB)"Quietly trust yourself to Christ your Lord, and if anybody asks you why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him, and do it in a gentle and respectful way."

C. Live Strategically

Acts 20:24 (ICB) “The most important thing is that I complete my mission. I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.”

In other words, develop a plan to tell the story and talk about Jesus with your friends...

· I’ve been talking to people about Jesus ever since I moved here. In fact the very first people I talked to were the movers who unloaded our furniture from the moving truck. Today one of them plays a key part in our church.
· I go to the gym 5 days a week and I have developed relationships with several people there. Two families have come to our church as a result of my building a relationship and talking to them about Jesus and our church.
· One guy I have met with several times and talked to him about Jesus. He has not come yet, but He will!
· I have talked to every neighbor on our block and invited them to our church.
· Cathy and I have built a casual friendship with a checker at a grocery store and we have invited her to come and check us out.
I have a plan; and that’s to talk to everyone I can about Jesus and The River. I am intentional and deliberate everywhere I go.

The point is you need to live strategically. You need to deliberately look for opportunities to invite your friends to church and talk to them about Jesus.

You say, Pastor Dave of course you talk to everyone about Jesus and the church; you’re the pastor and it’s easy when people know you’re a pastor!

Not true! I don’t tell people I’m a pastor. When they hear I’m a pastor they think I’m a hired professional!

Who do you think do you think people trust more - the hired professional or the satisfied customer? The satisfied customer!

Your friends trust you. They see changes in your life, they see a difference in your life; and they want to know why? What makes you different?

The apostle Paul said,
1 Corinthians 9:19-22 (Msg) “I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life”

Paul lived intentionally! And he related to everyone without condoning their actions or taking on their way of living. He worked to see things from their point of view just so he could talk to them about Jesus.

That’s what it means to live strategically!

One caution... the people your talking to about Jesus must not get the impression that they are your save the world project!
= You invite them as you have earned the right through your relationship.
= You love them with your actions with no strings attached.
= Even though we hope and pray for them to develop a desire to know Jesus, we love them consistently whether they accept the invitation or not.

So live strategically with a great commitment to the great commandment and you will have the great joy of introducing your friends to Jesus!

Maybe today when I talked about the Roman Road, Christianity made sense to you for the first time. Then take the first step, invite Jesus Christ into your life.

New media link for The River podcasts

2009-03-17T05:39:00.000-07:00

To listen to messages from The River click in this link:
http://theriver.podbean.com/

Serve Others- Using What God has Given Me

2009-03-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago I began a series teaching on our Mission at The River. Our Mission is simple:
· Come as you are- we are a judgment free zone!
· Love Jesus – This is our ultimate purpose for being here, it’s what God created us for – to love Jesus
· And today part 3; Serve Others - using what God gave you. That’s what God wants us to do. He wants us to use the talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts He gave us to serve others.

Check this out: Several years ago, a fire destroyed a building that contained tons of ice. Although the building contained enough material to extinguish the fire, the water was not in usable form. The building was literally full of frozen assets.

I think that describes most of us. We have all kinds of potential locked up inside of us, yet it remains frozen, unused, and wasted.

For those of us who are Christians, We have even more potential because God has given each one of us an extra helping of abilities, skills, and talents called Spiritual gifts. And God wants us to use those abilities and gifts to serve others.

Let me review three things that God gives to us the moment we fall in love with Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Savior…
I. GOD GIVES ME THREE GIFTS WHEN I accept CHRIST
God does more than forgive me of my sin, He also gives me…

1. Eternal life. When I open my life to Jesus Christ, instantly I'm given eternal life.
Romans 6:23 (NLT) "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
I never have to worry about my future; I know I'm going to heaven. It's solid and I’m secure.

2. The Holy Spirit. The moment I gave my life to Jesus Christ, God gave His Spirit to me to live inside me.

Romans 5:5 (LB) “…God has given us His Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”

And He'll never leave you and you'll never be alone. God is with you for the rest of eternity.

3. A special ability to use for His purpose.

Romans 12:6 (LB) "God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well."
(NASB) “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly."

When you become a Christ follower, God gives you a brand new purpose for living, and along with that new life purpose He gives you a special gift or gifts to fulfill that purpose and he expects you to use those gifts, they’re what we call spiritual gifts. The Bible has a lot to say about spiritual gifts.

Every Christian gets at least one spiritual gift. That's different from a natural ability. Everybody has natural abilities. But only believers have spiritual gifts.
· When you were born physically, God gave you physical gifts like hearing, taste, touch, sight, smell Maybe He gave you athletic abilities, the ability to write, do math, think outside the box. Those are natural abilities and everyone gets some.
· But when you become a Christ follower God gives you some spiritual abilities or spiritual gifts to serve Him. Every believer has at least one. They are given to you at the moment of salvation.
Now God chooses which gifts you're going to get; you don't get to choose. They're given by grace; you don't earn the gift, it's God's free gift to you.

There are several lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible.
Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; and Ephesians 4:7-16; 1 Peter 4:9-11

I don't think these lists are exhaustive. I think they're simply examples. When you include the special gifts mentioned in the Old Testament I think the list is much larger than the list of gifts that’s actually mentioned in these passages. I think they're just examples for us in Scripture.

Here’s my point: any time you're serving God and you're doing it well and you're having fun doing it, you're demonstrating giftedness; you’re using the gifts God has given you.

II. THE IMPORTANCE OF MY SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Why is it important to know my spiritual gift? Because, if I'm a Christian, God gave me at least one, probably several, and if He gave them to me He expects me to use them.

As a believer, there are 3 very important reasons, to discover, develop and use your spiritual gifts. So let’s look at them.

I need to know what my spiritual gifts are because…
1. MY GIFTS DETERMINE HOW GOD WANTS ME TO SERVE OTHERS.

I Corinthians 12:4-6 "There are different kinds of gifts but the same spirit. There are different kinds of service but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but the same God works in all of them."

Your spiritual gifts determine how God wants you to serve Him.
Once you understand what your spiritual gift is, it answers a lot of questions. For example:
· "What is God's will for my life?"
· "What does He want me to do now that I'm a Christian?"
· "What should my ministry be?"
· "How should I spend my time?"
· "Where should I focus my life?"
Each of these questions are answered when you understand your particular spiritual gift.

Every Christian is called to serve the cause of Christ, but your spiritual gift shows how you, individually, are to serve Him.
· If you're gifted in leading then God wants you to be a leader.
· If you’re gifted in teaching then you need to be a teacher.
· If you're gifted in music then you ought to sing or play music
· If you're gifted in talking to non-Christians about Jesus you ought to be an evangelist.
However you're gifted determines how to use your life for God.

Notice the word different in 1 Cor. 12:4-6 it’s used 3 times.
· It says there are different kinds of spiritual gifts
· There are different kinds of service
· There are different kinds of working
Every gift in your life is unique, meaning God doesn’t want you to copy other people's spiritual gifts.

There is always a temptation to copy other Christian's gifts, because their gifts seem cooler or more important than yours.

But God doesn't want you to copy anybody else; He knows what gift is best for you. That's why He is the one who determines what gift you will get.

Spiritual Gifts explain why Christians who believe the same things see things differently.

Have you noticed that even though we believe the same, Christians disagree about a lot? Why?
It's because of giftedness. We see things differently. We tend to emphasize what we're gifted in.

Check this out… If seven spiritual gifts were represented in a family and somebody dropped their desert on the floor here's how each person would respond according to their giftedness:
· Mercy – Put your arm around and empathize
· Preaching - That's what happens when you're not careful!
· Administration - Jim, would you get the mop? Sue pick it up.
· Serving - Let me help you clean it up!
· Teaching - The reason it fell is because you weren’t carrying it right and it was too heavy on one side. They are practical.
· Giving – Can I buy you a new desert?
· Exhortation – There is a deeper reason you dropped your desert, the bible says….

Truth is we're all different. That’s how Christians become divided; they tend to over focus on certain gifts.
· Some people think the most important gift is teaching so they go to a strong teaching church.
· Another says the most important gift is evangelism. So they go to a very evangelistic church.
· For another it's miracles so they go to a miracle church.
But they’re all equally important. The key is to not expect your gift to show in others and don't project your gift onto others.

All the gifts are important and they’re all necessary. What you need to know is that your gift shows God's plan for your life.

I need to know what my spiritual gifts are because…
2. MY GIFTS SHOW ME THAT I’M IMPORTANT.

1 Corinthians 12:27 "All of you form the one body of Christ and each one is a separate and necessary part of it."

You're needed. You're important. There are no little people or little jobs; truth is all the gifts are needed.
You’re just as important in the body of Christ as I am or anyone else. Every gift is needed.
· My gift is the power God gives me to bless others.
· God gives you a spiritual gift to bless other Christians too.
· If I don't use my gift, you get cheated.
· If you don't use your gift, I get cheated
The fact is if we don’t use our gifts everybody gets cheated.

God designed you to make a unique contribution. You're not gifted by accident; without you the picture isn't complete.

It's like a jigsaw puzzle with one part missing. Every Christ follower is needed in the body of Christ.

I need to know what my spiritual gifts are because…
3. MY GIFTS ARE THE KEY TO MY FULFILLMENT IN LIFE.

Everyone has the desire to be used in some way. And every one has the desire to accomplish something, to feel significant, to feel like your life makes a difference.

When you use the spiritual gift that God has given you - you're not only productive, but you’re doing what God has gifted you to do, and when you do what God designed you to do - you enjoy doing it.

John 15:8 & 11 (PH) "This is how my Father is glorified --in your becoming fruitful (productive) and being my disciples… I've told you this so that you can share my joy and that your happiness may be complete."

· Real joy does not come from making a lot of money.
· Real joy does not come from having a lot of pleasure.
· Real joy does not come from things.
Real joy comes from knowing my life is productive, that it counts, that it matters that I'm not just taking up space.

You find real joy and happiness by being what God meant you to be, by taking the gifts and abilities He's given you and using them. You feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.

The Bible says that spiritual gifts are given to help other people.
God gives me one to bless you.
God gives you one to bless me.
And there is enormous personal satisfaction that comes from being used by God.

Nothing else to compares to the feeling of serving God. Being used by God is the greatest feeling and thrill you can experience in life.

Some of you can't comprehend that. If you've never experienced what it means to feel used by God you're missing out on real joy, the joy that God wants you to experience.

Nothing compares to knowing that God gave me a gift and I'm using it and God is blessing it.

God wants you to feel that feeling. He wants you to unwrap and use that gift. He wants you to use it so you can experience a satisfaction that compares to nothing else.

III. WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO DO WITH MY GIFT?

He wants you to do three things:

1. Discover it.
1 Corinthians 14:1 "Eagerly desire spiritual gifts."
One of the marks that proves you’re a Christian is that you have a desire to know your spiritual gift and to use it serving God.

In fact, if you have no desire to know your spiritual gift, develop it and use it, you ought to question whether you're a Christian or not.

The mark of a genuine Christ follower is they have a desire to know the gifts that God's given them and to use them.

God gave you your gifts - so it only makes sense that He wants you to know what your spiritual gift is.
I Corinthians 12:1 "Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.” God says, I don't want you to be ignorant of gifts. I want you to know them.

So how do I discover my spiritual gifts?
Examination and experimentation. By examining my Christian life and by experimenting with different kinds of service.

1. Examination. First, I discover my spiritual gifts by looking back on my Christian life and saying,
· In the ways I've served God so far, and what have I really enjoyed doing?
· What has God blessed?
· Where have people been impacted?
· Where have I seen results?
If you've never gotten involved in serving in a ministry since you've become a Christian there's no way you're going to know your gift.

2. Experimentation. Secondly, if you don't have anything to look back on you're going to have experiment with different kinds of ministries and service.
So what interests you? Try out some different ministries:
· Greeting
· Small groups
· Hospitality
· Teaching children
· Work with youth
· Start a singles ministry
· Rock babies in the Nursery
· Sing or try to sing on the worship Team
· Play in the band
· Get involved with set up and take down
· Sound tech, computers, lights, etc.
One of them will feel like your niche. If we don’t have a ministry that fits… make one up! Truth is if your gifted in something that we are not doing, then God has put you here to start it! Use your gifts and start a new ministry here at The River.

You need to do what God's gifted you to do. It will be enjoyable and you'll like doing it. When you do that you've found your gift and your ministry!

If you had told me 30 years ago that someday I’d plant a new church in Las Vegas and then another one in Eagle Idaho, I'd have said, "You're nuts!" I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be a church planter. In fact at that time, I never thought I would be a senior pastor. I was a youth pastor and I loved it and I never wanted to be a lead pastor! But I discovered I’m good at it, I’m gifted at it, and now I love it!

Taking spiritual gifts tests can help. There are a bunch of them online. But every test has to be somewhat standardized and we're all unique.

If I'd taken a test, never in a million years would I have discovered I have the gift of Apostle; one who starts a new work or plants a new church.

When I planted my first church in Las Vegas the only way I could have known I was gifted to plant a church was to do it!

So we trusted God, packed our stuff and moved to Las Vegas. I found out I had a special gift for starting churches. Then 12 years later, did it again when we moved here.

The only way you discover your gift is get out there and start doing something. Try it.

2. Develop it

Paul tells Timothy
1 Timothy 4:14 (GN) "Don't neglect the spiritual gift that is in you."

Many of you already know what you're good at. You know how God's gifted you. But if you're not using it for God's glory, then you're neglecting your spiritual gift.

Why? Maybe you think…
· I'm too busy
· I'm not good enough
· What if I fail or embarrass myself?
Satan will do everything he can to keep you from discovering and developing your spiritual gift.

He'll even try to get you involved in all kinds of good things to keep you from the best thing so you don't know the thrill of being used by God.

So follow God’s direction….
2 Timothy 1:6 (JB) "Fan into flame the gift God gave you."

Strengthen your gift, deepen it, increase it, and cultivate it. Don't get discouraged. Don't quit. Get some training, go to conferences, read books, find someone who is good at it to help you.
Just because you're gifted in an area doesn't mean it's easy. You may be gifted in counseling or caring for people who are hurting but that's not easy week after week. You may be gifted in organizing events but that doesn't mean it's easy.

I can tell you from experience it’s not easy starting a new church or teaching every Sunday, but I do it, it’s hard work but I love it!

So don't give up. Keep on doing until it feels good - or until you figure out it’s not your gift, then try something else!

3. Use it.

1 Peter 4:10 "Each one should use whatever spiritual gift he has received to serve others faithfully managing God's grace in its various forms."

God wants you to use the gifts He has given to you -- and the church is the place to discover and develop and use your gift.

Ephesians 4:12 (LB) "Why is it that he gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is that God's people will be equipped to do better work for Him, building up the church, the Body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity."

God's plan is brilliant: Every Christian gets a spiritual gift…
· so that everybody can contribute,
· so that everybody's important,
· so that nobody feels insignificant,
· So that we all function together in harmony.

He says, I'll give every Christian a spiritual gift so that every person can be a partner with God in the most important task in the world, building His kingdom.

So here’s God's plan:
· some people set up,
· some people organize,
· some people make artistic signs, banners, or decorations
· some people do music,
· some people teach,
· some people work with kids,
· some people know how to raise money
Everybody's important. No one is more important than the others. It's all God's plan. It takes everybody.

In Matthew 25 there's a story called the Parable of the Talents. Jesus tells this story to say, "One day you're going to stand before God and He’s going to ask you, `What did you do with what I gave you?'"

When you stand before Jesus one day and He asks, "Why didn’t you discover, develop, and use your gift?" What are you going to say?

Folks this is serious stuff. One day there's going to be a final exam and as your pastor want you to be able to give the right answer.

What we're talking about here is of vital importance.
· God is not going to hold you accountable for gifts He didn't give you.
· But He is going to hold you accountable for the gifts He did give you.

1 Corinthians 4:2 "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."

God has made an investment in you and it is a sin to waste what God has given you. So don’t waste it!
God has given you spiritual gifts that are to be discovered, developed and used.

WRAP-UP
We are getting ready for an out pouring of God’s blessing next month. As we have our Grand Opening I believe God has positioned us here in Eagle to further His kingdom in a significant way.

There are so many things that need to be done as we kick off.
· There are new ministries that we need to start
· We need to build up and support all our core ministries, like children, youth, small groups, setup, tech, worship, greeters, and hospitality.
· I would love for us to start a drama team, a food bank, a helping hands ministry where people can find someone in the church who can help them do something they cannot do for themselves, for free!
· We need people who are willing to go door to door and tell people that a new church is starting.

There is much to be done. Jesus Said…
Matthew 9:37-37 “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

I’m asking God to send you out into the harvest field, serving others for His sake.

OUR MISSION AT THE RIVER – Part 2

2009-03-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

Love Jesus – The Foundation of Our Faith

Our greatest desire at The River is to help you discover what it means to love Jesus. We will never push religion, God, Jesus or our church on anyone.

We want to celebrate what it means to be a Christ follower!

So we tell people come as you are, check us out, ask questions, take as much time as you need, but our goal is for you to fall in love with Jesus.

But what does that mean? There are so many misconceptions about what love is that if we're going to really understand how to love Jesus we have to start with understanding what real love is.

Love is a word that we use and misuse in many different ways. We say things like:
· I love my wife.
· I love pepperoni pizza. I hope I feel differently about Cathy than I do about pepperoni pizza or at least maybe more passionately
· I love America.
· I love apple pie.
· I love you.
Same word, different meanings.

What does the word mean? That's the key. If I'm going to love Jesus, I've got to understand what this word is all about.

First let’s look at some popular misconceptions that confuse our understanding of love.

1. Love is only a feeling. I get a feeling, a quiver in my liver, an ocean of emotion, or a tingle in my toes. But love is more than a feeling. It affects my feelings powerfully, but it's more than just a feeling.

2. Love is uncontrollable. A lot of people use words like I feel giddy, my head's spinning, or I'm weak in the knees. It sounds a lot more like being sea sick than love struck, but that's the words that we use to describe love.

We've all heard people say, "I fell in love." Like you're walking down the street one day, tripped, and fell in love. When you say that what you're really saying is, “it just happened, I couldn't help it; I had no control over it.”

That's a dangerous misconception. Because if you can fall into love, then you can fall out of love.

You may not realize it, but you can control love, in fact the Bible teaches that love is controllable. It is actually up to you to determine if you fall in or out of love.

In fact Jesus actually commanded us to love one another.
John 15:12 (NIV) “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

If He commanded it, obviously it’s something we can control.
That means I have control over when I love and when I don't love. Who I love and who I don’t love.

God’s love, Agape love is a different kind of love than we’re used to. His love is powerful, complete, and unconditional. He loves us and He wants us to love Him back and to love others.

So if love is more than just a feeling and you have control over it, then what does God say about love?

1. God says, Love is a choice.
Colossians 3:14 (NIV) "And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together." Circle "put on love". Love is something that I choose to do. It’s an action that I take. If it were a feeling, or just an accident, then God couldn't command it. But it’s a choice so He can command it and that leads to the second thing God says about love.

2. Love is a matter of conduct. It's how I act.
1 John 3:18 "Let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and truth." Actions -- that's what love is really all about. It's how I act towards another person. You can talk about love until you're blue in the face, but your actions will always determine what is real.

3. Love is what God has for us unconditionally.
Romans 5:8 (TEV) “God has shown us how much He loves us; It was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us.”

When you understand God’s love, it includes a forgiveness capacity that strains anyone’s imagination.

God doesn’t say, “Clean up your act first and then come to Me.” God says, “Come to Me. Receive My love and I will help you clean up your act.”

When we receive God’s unconditional love He forgives us for everything we have ever done.

Luke 24:47 (LB) “There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.”

It’s like this: Imagine that God gave you the ability to remember everything wrong you’ve ever done– every bad thing, every sin, everything you’ve ever done and you had to write it down in a notebook. Some of you are thinking, “That’s a lot of notebooks!” You’re right. Now God says give Me your notebooks and He drops them into a trash can that says “FORGIVEN”. Then He walks you into a party, a celebration. There’s music going and streamers and people are hollering. And it’s a party for you.

That’s what heaven’s like. And Jesus tells us three stories to explain it. He tells us a story about…
a woman who lost a coin,
a shepherd who lost a sheep,
and father who lost a lost son.

Guess what happens when the coin, the sheep and the son are found? They celebrate! God and all the Angels in heaven party!
· He’s not rejoicing because all the problems of the world have been solved.
· He’s not rejoicing because all human pain and suffering are over.
· He’s not rejoicing because thousands have been converted and are now praising His goodness.
He rejoices because that which was lost has now been found. He rejoices because one of His creations has been found.

If you’re here today and you are just checking things out, today’s your day to be found. It’s your day to respond to God’s love and to receive it. God wants to throw a party in your name, today!

John 1:12 (NLT) “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave them the right to become children of God.”

That’s what a Christian is - a child of God. If you’ve never received God’s love, what are you waiting for?

All you have to do is say, “God, here I am. I want to be your child. I accept your Son Jesus Christ.” That’s what being a Christian is.

So let me make it simple, here are the ABC’s of loving Jesus.

What do I have to do to love Jesus?
A - ACCEPT GOD'S LOVE FOR ME.

This is what we have been talking about. But think about it like this:
Your deepest need in life is to feel totally and unconditionally loved.
· Not for something you could be or should be,
· But loved just as you are, total acceptance.
That is your deepest inner need.

And only God can love you with as much love as you really need. God loves you every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year.

There's never been a time in your life when God didn't love you. Nobody else can do that. Only God can love you as deeply as you really need.

So if to be loved is your deepest need, and God loves you as much as you need, why people avoid God? Because they don't know what He's like. They don't know how much He loves them.

It's ironic to me that when you need God's love the most is when you tend to run the other way. Guilt causes us to run from God instead of running to God.

That started way back at the Garden of Eden. Adam, after eating the forbidden fruit says, "I was afraid and I hid myself." And people have been afraid and running from God ever since.

I used to have a big sign in my office that said, "If you feel far from God, guess who moved?" It’s not God, God hasn't moved. He's never stopped loving you. In fact He continues to pursue you.

But some of you say, "But you don't know what I've done! I've blown it too much. God can never love me." Wrong.
Romans 8:39 (NLT) "… indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God has never stopped loving you. That doesn't mean He approves of everything you've done, because He doesn’t, but no matter what He's never stopped loving you.

Some say, "I don't feel like I'm a bad person but I just don't think God's interested in me." You're wrong too!

Luke 12:7 (NCV) "God even knows how many hairs you have on your head. Don't be afraid, you are worth much…"

You’re worth much! In fact you ever want to know how much you're worth, just look at the cross!

What’s the starting point? Accept God's love for you.
It's one thing to know about God's love. It's another thing to accept it. You're never going to understand it until you accept it.

That means saying to God, "God I know You love me and I receive Your love. I don't want to just know about You. I want to know You."

The Bible says God created you just so He can love you. He knows everything there is to know about you. He knows everything you’ve ever done and He still loves you and wants you to know Him. He still wants to have a relationship with you.

He loves you unconditionally; don’t you think you should love Him back? That makes Him worth our acceptance of Him.

To love Jesus, first I have to accept God’s love for me, then I...
B - BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE FOR ME.

Psalm 14:1 (NIV) “The fool says in his heart there is no God.”
Let me be totally candid with you here: You have to have more faith to believe that creation happened by accident than to believe there's a creator. When you have a creation there must be some creator.

It takes more faith to not believe in God than it does to believe in God. If I took a watch all apart and put all the pieces in a bag and shook it up - do you think it could come out as a working watch? No way! Somebody had to put it together. And it's an even bigger leap of faith to think the universe happened like that.

Its one thing to believe about a person but it's another thing to believe in a person.

Romans 10:9 (NIV) “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Some people say, "I believe there's a God." So what?

There’s more to loving Jesus than just head knowledge. It's not just believing about God, it's believing in God. The Bible says even the demons believe that God is real but you're not going to find them in heaven.

I believe Lenin was real but I'm not a Communist. I believe Hitler was real but I'm not a Nazi. I believe in Jesus and I'm a Christian. Why? Because I've committed myself to Him.

The Greek word for believe in means to trust in, cling to, rely on, adhere to, sell out to, commit to.

It's like the chair you're setting on. You say, "I believe this chair will hold me up." It's one thing to say you believe it. It's another to sit down on it. The moment you sit down on it, that's real belief. You relied on the chair to hold you up.

You need Jesus in your life. You need to have a relationship with God, not because you're going to die tomorrow, but because you're going to live tomorrow BUT you’re going to die someday. And only a fool goes through life unprepared for what he knows is going to happen. That's foolish. So be prepared.

So to love Jesus I need to accept His love for me. I need to believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave for me. And finally to Love Jesus I need to take that final step and…
C - COMMIT MY LIFE TO CHRIST.

Romans 10:9 (NIV) “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’… you will be saved.”

That’s what separates Christ followers from religious people. Religious people confess their religion; whatever that is… and Christ followers confess Jesus as their Lord.

You say Jesus; I commit my life to You.

You accept His love for you, you believe in your heart that Jesus died on the cross for you and rose from the grave and then you commit your whole life to Christ.

I lived in Atlanta for several years. I served as a youth pastor at a church and then I went out on my own as a youth evangelist. I began speaking at camps and youth groups and I was even booked on a Christian cruise to the Bahamas. Most of the churches who booked me were Southern Baptist churches. They network, once you do a good job for one, they tell all the other Southern Baptist churches and you’re in. Then one day someone asked me, What are you? I said a Christian. They said no I mean are you a Southern Baptist. I said, no I’m a Christian. Now you have to know that most of my ministries had been at Baptist churches and I was originally ordained at a Baptist church. But the truth is I have always disliked being put into a mold; to me a religious title was never comfortable. And I saw this strong religious attitude that said, I’m a Southern Baptist so I’m saved. But I knew a lot of people who claimed to be So Baptist that didn’t know or love Jesus, they were just religious. Shortly after that, all my speaking opportunities dried up. The word was out, he’s not a Baptist! I hate religion!

1 Peter 3:14-15 (GN) "Don't be afraid of anyone and don't worry, but have reverence for Christ in your heart and honor him as Lord."

· How many of you would say "I try to follow the Ten Commandments."
· How many of you even know all Ten Commandments?
· How many of you have seen the Ten Commandments?
· Do you know what the first commandment is?

Exodus 20:6 "You shall have no other gods before Me."
That's number one on God's big ten! The Bible calls the opposite of that idolatry.

Any time you put anything, any person, any career, any job, any decision, any religion, anything in first place in your life instead of God; that's called idolatry.

It can even be a good thing, but if it's in first place in your life where God ought to be, you've made it god.

Any time you put your house, your job, your bank account, your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband of wife - before God that's called idolatry.

1 Peter 3:14-15 (TEV) “Do not be afraid of anyone, and do not worry. But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honor him as Lord."

That's not a word we use a whole lot. We don't have lords and ladies and counts in America. This is a democracy. So what does it mean to honor Christ as Lord?

It means let Christ be the manager of your life. Let Him be the boss. Let Him call the shots. He doesn't want to be resident in your life, He wants to be president in your life. You say “God, You be number one." That's what it means to commit to Christ, to make Him Lord. And that’s what it means to love Jesus.

Maybe you feel like things aren't fitting together very well in your life right now. Maybe you're feeling a sense of incompleteness.

You’re wondering why am I here? What’s my purpose?
Is this all there is to life?
If you've had those feelings, congratulations!

Where do you think those feelings are coming from? God!
God is putting a hunger for Himself in your life. He's saying "I love you and I want you to love Me.

He creates a dissatisfaction in your life that says, "There's got to be more to life than this!" Because there is!

There's a God-shaped vacuum in each of us. Nothing else can fill it. If you don't fill it with God, it will fill with something else.

Nothing else can substitute for God.
· It doesn't matter how much human affirmation you get,
· it doesn't matter how many awards you put on your shelf,
· how many achievements you get,
· how many possessions you stockpile,
Because nothing can substitute for God in your life; God says, I love you and I want you to love Me back.

Maybe you made a commitment to Christ a while back, but you got stuck in religion. It’s time to repent. Know what that means? It means to turn around and go the other way.
In other words, turn from religion and turn to Christ.
Stop being religious and start loving Jesus.

That’s why this is a key value and the second part of the Mission of The River, is to Love Jesus. We want you to fall in love with Jesus. He is the answer to all of life’s problems.

At the River we have discovered the keys to living life to the absolute fullest and it is found in a relationship with God who loves you so much he sent His Son to die on the cross for you.

That’s the foundation of our faith. It’s the foundation for life.

COME AS YOU ARE-NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED!

2009-02-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, my parents used to go to church all the time and my sisters and I went to church with them. I remember going to Sunday School and vacation bible school. I even joined a special program just for boys that my Sunday school teacher led. I don’t remember much about the program except that we went camping.

On my very first camping trip I was 10 years old. We went to a camp with lots of other boys from other churches. It was rustic camping and the first thing we did was lay out our sleeping bags on the grass in a big meadow. I was the last one done, so as I finished I took off running after the other kids. But I didn’t get very far before my leader called me back.

Apparently when I ran after the other kids I stepped on some sleeping bags leaving my footprint. My leader told me that I had broken one of the rules; I had stepped on someone else’s sleeping bag. He explained to me that no one wanted footprints on their sleeping bag. Then he told me that there was a punishment for breaking the rules and he pulled out the bottom of a tennis shoe and proceeded to swat me with it. I don’t remember anything else about that camp.

When I went home I told my parents, I am never going to go back to church again. They saw how hurt I was, they knew I had had some trouble with some of the boys in my Sunday school class; I was the fat kid and they made fun of me; and the worst kid in my class was the son of my Sunday school teacher. See when someone made fun of me at school I just punched them, but at church, that wasn’t the way to do things… after all God was there! So when I was 10 years old my entire family stopped going to church.

I didn’t have much use for church after that.

When I was in 10th grade a girl invited me to go with her to a high school club called Campus Life. They were having something called a burger bash which was basically a free hamburger dinner! Finally someone was speaking my language; free burgers and I was invited by a girl!

I found out that Campus Life was a Christian club for High school students, but unlike my previous church experience - it was a lot of fun. They played games, there were girls, they always had some kind of food at the end, and there was some kind of talk about God. That was cool; I figured that I had gone to church when he was a kid, so I was cool with God. I mean I assumed that I was a Christian because I used to go to church.

I went to Campus Life all through high school. It was a regular part of my life that I looked forward to every week.

High school was good to me. I may have grown up a fat kid but in high school, things changed and I went from being the fat kid that kids made fun of and basically ignored to a really big guy. I started playing football and I found my niche, I was a jock! I just wanted to fit in someplace really bad and finally as a football player I experienced some kind of acceptance.

That’s all I really wanted was to feel accepted. Unfortunately, as an athlete you’re accepted as long as you play well, make a mistake and everyone turns on you. So my acceptance in High school was partially due to athletics and partly due to fear. I thought that if people feared me they would accept me, so I became a bully; I made the kids pay for making fun of me and I began pushing other people around, getting in fights, and acting as tough as I could.

But that wasn’t really satisfying. That wasn’t real acceptance. People weren’t my friends because they liked me, it was self preservation. It didn’t matter to me, I wanted to be accepted and I was willing to do anything to at least think people liked me.

My senior year of high school my campus life club went on a water ski trip to Lake Havasu for spring break. A whole week camping, hanging out in the sun, water-skiing, BBQ every night and girls in bikinis, what more could a guy want!

But as great as those things were that wasn’t the highlight of my week. For the first time in my life I felt totally accepted. I didn't have to be a bully, or a jock, or funny, or anything. They cared for me just because I was there. There were 150 kids there who were happy, I mattered to them and not just because they didn't want to get beat up.

They had a speaker on this ski trip who was a USC offensive lineman and he had just been drafted by the New England Patriots. He was also the Captain of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at USC.

He spoke about God as a loving, caring God who accepted everybody for who they were. I wanted this relationship with God he was talking about but I had this effeminate view of Christians. None of the really tough guys I knew were Christians, and being tough was a significant part of my life. I was very interested in how this huge All American Linemen could play football, a really tough sport, and be a Christian.

One night after He finished speaking I asked to speak with him alone. We sat on a log and talked. I asked him "How can you be a Christian and be a football player? After all football was a violent sport. And I loved the violence: I played to win at all costs, even if that meant playing dirty."
He said football is a game - not a way of life. He said you can’t live your life as if it was a football game, and you can't play football as if it was your life.

And He told me that the most important thing I could ever do with my life was to begin a relationship with God who loved and accepted me so much that He sent His Son to die for me on the cross.

That week I asked Jesus to be my Savior, and for the very first time I experienced complete and total acceptance.
· For the first time in my life I found peace and fulfillment.
· For the first time I began to understand the joy and unconditional acceptance the other kids were experiencing and that I had been looking for.

That began a lifetime of changes in my life. But it almost didn’t happen. I almost gave up on God because the church had treated me badly.

Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who has a story of rejection, un-acceptance or hurt by the people in the church.

Over the past several decades huge numbers of people have left the church because of being rejected as not good enough, being hurt, broken trust and irrelevance.

But it shouldn’t be that way! We have the keys to the kingdom of God. God has entrusted us with the responsibility of telling people about Him, His love for us, and how He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross just so we could have a relationship with Him.

Our American culture has shifted away from the church. And now we live in a postmodern society that not only doesn’t understand the church, but they don’t understand God. And many of those who do have some kind of understanding of God have given up on the church.
But again, that’s not the way it’s supposed to be!

There is so much misconception of what the church is supposed to be that it has buried the truth of what God designed the church to be. So when we try to tell people about who God is and how He loves them, they get hung up on the church.
· All they think about is that the church just wants their money,
· Or the church wants to make people be just like them,
· Or the church is full of a bunch of rules and regulations.
They are willing to find out about God, most Americans say they believe in God but their view of the church stops them cold.

They don’t trust us to tell them that their misconceptions of church are wrong, especially since they can walk into many churches where the very thing that turned them off is still going on.

Maybe you’re one of those people who have been turned off by the church. I will make you a promise, The River will be different! Listen why I explain what will make us different.

God has given us, as the church, the responsibility of telling people about His love for them, His acceptance of them and His desire for them to spend eternity with Him in Heaven.

1 Corinthians 5:19 (NLT) “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

That’s our job! But how do we reach people with the good news of God’s love and acceptance when they are struggling with misconceptions of the church and their own personal struggles with acceptance, trust, brokenness, truth, and tolerance?

One word: GRACE!

Theologically grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve. In other words we don’t deserve forgiveness. We don’t deserve a purpose for our lives. We don’t deserve a future home in heaven. But God loves us and He gives it to us anyhow, that’s grace.

The church has always understood receiving the grace of God, what it has struggled with is extending personal grace to an undeserving world. It’s developed rules and regulations, expectations and standards; and it’s been very judgmental of people who don’t measure up.

It’s amazing to me is that those of us who have experienced the total acceptance and forgiveness and grace of God, that we did not deserve, do not offer that same grace to others; just like Jesus did.

Jesus was absolutely non-condemning. In fact the only time Jesus ever condemned anyone was when they were self-righteous and religiously pious! And that’s exactly what many non churched people think about the people in the church! They think the church is nothing but self-righteous and religiously pious people!

You say, how is the church self-righteous?
· I was at a church board meeting one time where they spent thirty minutes discussing what to do about a couple who came to church… wearing shorts!
Think about this, have you ever noticed how some people treat those who are different than they are?
· Those who have chosen to decorate their bodies with tattoos or piercings?
· How would you react to discover that the person sitting next to you in church was an alcoholic, a drug user, struggled with pornography, had an abortion, struggled with a sexual addiction or homosexuality, was living with someone they are not married to, or they had a prison record?
· How would you treat a Jew, a Mormon, an atheist, a Jehovah Witness, a Buddhist, a Muslim, Christian Scientist, a witch or a warlock?
· How about someone who is African American, Hispanic, Asian, Iraqi, Iranian, or Pakistani?
· What about a street person, a poor person, under privileged?
For years the church has turned away people who desperately need the love and acceptance that God offers. Instead they have condemned, criticized, and ostracized.

Or the church opened its arms to them and once they started attending or indicated that they were spiritually interested they dumped a bunch of rules and expectations on them and turned them off.

Part of the problem is the church has misunderstood part of the Great Commission.
Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Some think that teaching them to obey means that it’s our job to make people obey, to force obedience; often times forcing them to obey God even before they know God personally.

That’s not our job; that’s the job of the Holy Spirit!

So you have to ask yourself, what would Jesus do with the kind of people I just mentioned?

I know that sounds trite, but think about how Jesus treated the outcasts, the sick, the demon possessed, and the prostitutes. What did He do? HE LOVED THEM UNCONDITIONALLY!

He said in Matthew 11:28-30 (Msg) “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Jesus said the answer to life’s problems, burdens, and issues is to come to Him, lay them on Him, and learn to live freely and lightly. You can’t do that under rules and regulations!

He said I won’t put anything heavy or ill fitting on you who are already struggling; instead He says I will show you grace, I will give to you freely what you do not deserve! Forgiveness from their past, a purpose for today, and a future home in heaven!

If that’s what Jesus would do, then so should we! The question is how? How do we show grace to others, no matter what their background, problems, or issues are?

We do it just like Jesus. We tell people; just come as you are! There are no perfect people at The River in fact there are no perfect people allowed at The River. So come as you are!

God doesn’t expect us to change anything to come to Him. He just says come as you are, and when He says that He means:
· You don’t have to dress a certain way or look a certain way
· You don’t have to Act a certain way
· You don’t have to Fit a certain lifestyle
· You don’t have to give money
· It doesn’t matter what your religious background is, your class or your socio-economic position.
Jesus says come as you are! Bring your baggage, your issues, and your problems. God loves you just as you are and we should do the same!

In fact…At The River we are working diligently to create a come as you are culture.

What our world needs more than anything else is real grace, not just talk about grace – but grace that seeks out people who are far from God and accepts them just like God does.

We want to create a culture at The River that is tolerant, loving accepting of people no matter what their background is, who or what they are, what they believe, or how the look or dress.

We will be completely loving and accepting…, just as God is, and just like God we will love people enough to help them be transformed into the image of His Son Jesus Christ.

In other words: come as you are; but once you know Jesus don’t plan on staying that way!
Romans 12:2 (CEV) “Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him”
Circle “let God change the way you think”

It’s God’s job to change people through the power of the Holy Spirit, not ours; and when God is ready to change a person, He will! Our job is to love them before, during, and after that happens!

So how do we do that? How do we practically practice this all accepting grace, just like Jesus did?

The answer comes in what is referred to as the Great Commandment. Jesus was asked, what’s the most important commandment?

Matthew 22:37&39 (NIV) “Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus gives us two key values that ought to permeate our lives. If we are going to treat others like Jesus would then we have to learn to live these two commandments. First we must learn to…
1. love God with all our whole being

Matthew 22:37 (NIV) “Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Jesus says that a person’s total being must be involved in loving God. Nothing must be held back because God holds nothing back in loving us and He proved that by sending His Son to die on the cross for us.

Jesus used the words “heart,” “soul,” and “mind” to express the different and dimensions of our love for God. In other words He said we are to Love God with our whole being.

If we are going to love God with our whole being we cannot separate the heart from the soul or the mind.
· That would be like saying, “I will love God today with all my heart… while my soul and mind are otherwise occupied”.
· That’s not loving God, that’s just fooling ourselves into thinking we’re loving God.
The heart, soul, and mind must all function in harmony if we are going to love God with our whole being.

Let me explain these three functions of loving God:
· Heart refers to our emotional response. When we think about love, we usually stop with emotions. The roles of “soul” and “mind” become clear when our emotions or heart fail us.
So what do we do with the command to love God if we don’t feel like it? That’s where our soul and mind comes in.
· Soul includes the willful, decision-making part of us. Loving God with our soul covers those times when we love God apart from our feelings. Kind of like when we forgive someone who did us wrong while part of us still feels like taking revenge.
· Mind refers to the intelligent component of our love for God. In a world where faith is often described as characteristic of people who don’t think, Jesus’ says it’s important to engage our mind as a central aspect of what we believe.
Of course, loving God with our mind covers much more than just thinking about God, It takes into account being obedient to Him and His Word. Our soul and mind prove our love for God as we think through His commands and act accordingly.

Get this: the word for love here in the Greek refers to agape love, a totally unselfish love; a love of which we are only capable of with the help of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit helps us love him with our heart, soul and mind.

Jesus said we’re to love God with our whole being and we are to
2. love others for who they are

Matthew 22:39 (NIV) Jesus also said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Think about it like this: We all love ourselves, some more than others, and as we love ourselves - we give ourselves grace.

That means we accept ourselves, with our flaws, faults, and failures. When we make a mistake, we say oops, I made a mistake, my bad! And we move on.
· We don’t beat ourselves up,
· We don’t ignore ourselves,
· We don’t put ourselves down.
· We don’t gossip about ourselves.
· We accept our mistakes.
We know we are different - and we accept our differences.

Jesus says, this is the second most important thing you can do. First you love ME then you love others. He places an extremely high value on loving others, second only to loving God!

How are we to love others?
· We accept them for who they are.
· We care about them even when they are different.
· We accept them and love them even when they make a mistake either on purpose or by accident.
· We accept them and love them even if they live a different lifestyle, values, skin color, or appearance.
We love others by accepting them just as they are.

And we’re in luck! God gives us a whole chapter on how to love others. Here’s a portion
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not become angry easily. Love does not remember wrongs done against it. Love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always continues strong. Love never ends.”

I don’t have time to go through all this to help us understand all the nuances of love - so let’s focus on just the last part:
“Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always continues strong. Love never ends.”

Basically, God says if we are going to love others as we love Him, we will accept everyone hoping for their best in Christ, and we love intensely never giving up.

That’s why the mission of The River begins with COME AS YOU ARE.
· That means we will accept you just as you are hoping and praying for your best… and your best comes when you discover God loves you!
· We say, no perfect people allowed, because there are no perfect people!

We don’t expect you to be perfect, we’re not perfect, you’re not perfect; and that’s OK! I’m not Ok, you’re not Ok and that is perfectly OK!
· It doesn’t matter who you are, what you have done, or what you are doing.
· It doesn’t matter what your background is, what your lifestyle is, or what you do for a living.
The only thing that matters is that God loves you unconditionally and so do we!

So come as you are; we want to help you to discover who Jesus is and what He has done for you. Take your time; investigate the claims of Christ and Christianity.

I am thoroughly convinced that whoever does that will begin a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.

Prayer and Fasting

2009-02-18T06:33:00.000-08:00

Acts 13:2-3 (GW)"While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me. I want them to do the work for which I called them.' After fasting and praying, Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen placed their hands on Barnabas and Saul, and released them from their work in Antioch."

Matthew 17:20-21 (NASB) "... for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 'But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.'”

We are only a week away from beginning the next phase of launching The River (Our Preview Services begin Sunday, February 22). This is the end of phase one and the beginning of phase two... and so far God has supremely blessed! We have been experiencing God's awesome blessings and miracles. And I have been absolutely humbled by His faithfulness.

Now it is our turn to show our faithfulness. Normally God says "you first", but so far, based on what we have experienced, as God has blessed our socks off, we have simply watched Him show His grace and power as He has been establishing The River; having churches commit to helping us plant, gathering an awesome staff, and developing a committed core group of faithful believers.

So what are we to do? The Bible is clear, there is nothing we can do to make anything happen, it is only God that empowers, blesses, and grows. But there is ample teaching in the Bible that says we have a part in releasing His blessings. One significant thing we can do is pray and fast! Honestly, I don't understand in my own finite human mind (and my hungry body) how fasting works; however I do know that Jesus says, when I faithfully pray AND fast it empowers my prayers and releases God to do what He really wants to do.

What is fasting? Simply it is refraining from food. All through Scripture we see examples of fasting; fasting when seeking God's will, fasting to humble oneself before God, fasting to honor and worship God, fasting to sacrifice, etc.

As we enter phase two of launching The River I am calling on all our prayer partners to consider this Wednesday (2/18) as a day of fasting and prayer. I am not asking you to put on a monks robe and go to a Monastery in a self debasing way. Just fast, refrain from food, not water, and as you go through your normal day - pray! As you feel hungry let that be a reminder for you to pray. Pray when it comes to your mind. Pray during what would be meal times. You will be surprised at how often you will think about praying when you are fasting.

Will you commit to pray and fast with us this Wednesday? Please send me an email to let me know. I want to pray for you too!

Here are several things to bring to God in prayer for The River as we prepare to launch phase two.
-Pray that we can reach out to the non-churched people in our area; both those who have left the church for some reason and those who have never known God and lead them into a life changing relationship with Jesus.
-Pray that we can help people discover their God given shape and begin to equip them to serve Him, by serving others in and through The River.
-Pray that God would supernaturally charge all our advertising, newspaper inserts and handouts, so it is noticed and people respond by coming to The River.
-Pray that as people come onto the school property they would sense a spirit of love, caring, acceptance, and God's Spirit.
-Pray that we will fill up the school auditorium with people! Immediately forcing us to go to 2 services - even before Easter!
-Pray that we will bring Glory to God through every facet our services ; song, media, drama, teaching, announcements, communion, and the offering.
-Pray that as we plan our services we will experience the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to be creative, biblical, and point people to Jesus.
-Pray that God would spiritually supercharge our services with joy, encouragement, fun, discovery, and multiple challenges to new commitments to Jesus.
-Pray that we can develop a committed set up/take down crew that will view their hard work as serving the Lord not just a job.
-Pray for safety from the evil one. That God will bind him and not allow him to interfere, influence, or destroy anyone or any thing that is a part of The River.
-Pray for our staff: Don Steinke-Pastor of Connections, Dave Rowe-Pastor of Care, Kason Wedel-Worship Leader, Phil Eastman-Youth Director. Susie Tilton-Children's Director.
-Pray for all our volunteers who serve in hospitality, greeting, worship team, set up/take down, tech crew, children's ministry, youth ministry, and media.
-Pray for the staff at Seven Oaks Elementary School - that our use of their facilities will being blessings on them and their classes, and that they would recognize God's blessing.
-Pray for our finances. That God will continue to provide for our every need, and that our people will learn the value of giving.
-Pray for Cathy. Cathy was finally able to go to the Dr this past week. She has been given medication that prayerfully will begin to help her get back on track physically. She also did several lab tests and that suggested that there may be some other more serious physical problems. She has been referred to another Dr that she will see this week. We are praying for a miracle, we are praying for her complete healing either with the Dr's or not.
-Pray for me. I went back to the Dr on the blood clots in my leg and I have been referred to a vein specialist who I will see next week who will hopefully remove the veins. I am also scheduled for a full physical this week. Pray for a healthy outcome and no surprises!

God bless you!
Thank you for your prayers. We love you and appreciate all your prayers and support.

God's Love and Protection

2009-02-11T06:28:00.000-08:00

"A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. But I came to give life—life in all its fullness" John 10:10 (ICB)
"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. " 1 Peter 5:8

I so appreciate God's love for us and how He has kept us safe and continued to bless us. We have had very little interference from the evil one. Yes Cathy and I have struggled with a couple of health issues, but all in all, God has blessed and the enemy has been restrained. Now I think part of this is because the Devil doesn't understand faith. I think he probably sat back like so many others and thought, who would go to Idaho, with no money, no church, and no people? Why would anyone make such a scary and silly decision? Well, like I said, the Devil doesn't understand faith. I think he sat back expecting us to fail, God to fail us, or for us to give up; not a chance! God has blessed and part of His blessing has been His restraint of the Devil and his followers! Thank you Lord for Your protection!

However, I must say he has taken notice of us, I am beginning to see his attacks on our church staff and some of our people. Now, understand, I am not a "the Devil is under every rock" kind of guy. But I know he is real, and I know he is dangerous. I have seen him work to take apart churches from the ground up. He is powerful, but only as powerful as God allows! For God is still in control! He is sovereign and He loves us! Praise the Lord!

We are coming down to the home stretch, so to speak, as we start The River, beginning with 7 preview services leading up to Easter Sunday when we will have our Grand Opening. Pray for us. Pray for God's continued blessings. Pray for God's continued protection from the evil one who hates the idea of another church reaching out to the unchurched and people far from God. Pray for us to know and understand what God is doing here and to have the wisdom to follow Him.

Pray for the staff of The River:

Dave Griewe - Lead Pastor
Don Steinke- Pastor of Connections
Dave Rowe - Pastor of Care
Kason Wadel - Worship Leader
Phil Eastman - Youth Director
Susie Tilton - Children's Director

God has miraculously assembled a talented and gifted staff with a huge heart for reaching the lost and seeing them grow in Christ. They truly Love the Lord and want to see people come to Christ and grow.

Pray for us as we get ready for regular Sunday services beginning on February 22, just two weeks away! Pray for people to step in and get involved, particularly in set up and take down. We are excited about opening the church with a full ministry and staff to provide leadership for each area. Pray for creativity as we program to reach the non churched and pre-believers in our area.

Praise God for His unimaginable gracious gifts and blessings! He has really blessed us every step of the way as we have followed Him preparing to give birth to The River!

Thank you for your prayers!

God is blessing!

Hope and Politics

2008-11-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

1 Samuel 12:20 “Do not be afraid,’ Samuel replied… ‘do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.’”

These are the words of the prophet Samuel after he told the people that asking for a king to rule them was evil. They were afraid that God would punish them. But Samuel set the record straight; yes asking for a king was evil, and God would give them a king to rule over them, but if they would not look to the king for their salvation but to God, they would be OK.

This past week we went to the polls and choose a new president. Some people were very happy with the outcome, others disappointed and some downright depressed. No matter how you voted, God had His hand in it. We are not to put our faith in our government, our president, the congress or senate. God is clear; our faith, our hope is to be in Him alone. The government will come and go; presidents, congress, and the senate all will pass away, but He is eternal, we are to put our faith and hope in God who gave us His Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior. It doesn't matter how you voted, as long as your hope is in Jesus and not a president!

PLAYING IT SAFE - NOT!

2008-10-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

You can’t please God by playing it safe. You say, I’ve got my cushy, comfortable life here and I’m going to coast the rest of my life. If you’re coasting right now, guess what? You’re headed down. You’re not improving your life, it’s deteriorating.

Why does God say you can’t please Me if you’re playing it safe? Because God wants you to learn to trust Him; Trust is faith.

One of the great lessons of life is learning to trust God. You can’t trust God if you never take any risks. In order to have faith you have to take some risks. God says if you’re not taking any risks in life, if you’re not doing anything that stretches you, then you don’t require faith. And if you don’t require faith in your life you are being unfaithful.

Romans 14:13 (KJ) “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”

God says I want you to learn to trust Me. It’s one of the great lessons of life. The only way to do that is putting yourself out on a limb. Never be afraid of going out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is. Don’t be afraid to rock the boat if God’s in it with you. He’s going to help you, He’s going to protect you.

If you want to please God, If you want to live life abundantly, if you are ready to grow in your faith, quit playing it safe and take a giant leap of faith.

God would rather have you attempt to do something great and fail than attempt to do nothing with your life and succeed.

We have taken on a huge goal of starting a new church. Most people aren’t willing to try something that’s risky. Everybody wants to success but they want it the easy way. If you talk to anyone who is successful in any area they will tell you they made it because they took a risk, maybe calculated, maybe not, but they took a risk and that led to their success.

If you have lost your joy; or you’ve lost your enthusiasm for life; There’s no spark. You just don’t feel totally alive any more. Maybe it’s because you’re playing it safe.

Step up, step out, live for God, and quit playing it safe!

Prayer mail 10-9-08

2008-10-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

"I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations." Psalm 89:1

God is so good! I sense God's presence and power with every step I take. It is such a blessing to be doing what God wants me to do, and know and to feel His approval. That is the way I feel about the ministry here at The River right now. I know there will be difficult days, but for right now I am basking in God's unparalleled blessings!

I have been waiting, sometimes not very patiently, for our first Bible study for The River and we finally had it this Wednesday! It went great! There was good attendance with 18 people in total attendance with several people who planned to come but did not make it for one reason or another. I began a three part series called "How to Spend a Day With God". It went very well. We are struggling with meeting at Rembrandt's Coffee House. Wednesday night is a pretty good night to meet, not as big of crowd, but we are in a room right next to the counter and the blenders and counter noise is very distracting. Pray for us to come up with a great solution. I love being at Rembrandt's, everybody knows where it is, it is a very popular place in Eagle, but if God has anther option, pray that I will hear Him clearly and be willing to follow His lead.

As a church, we are in the core building stage. My focus is on building a core of committed believers who can and will carry on the bulk of the ministry. At that same time I am putting together my staff and leadership team. I am finally talking to someone with experience and availability that may take on our Children's ministry! Please pray, I have said this before, but this is a key position as Eagle is VERY family oriented and we need to have a significant ministry to Children if we are going to really reach into the community. Please continue to pray for the other staff positions I have mentioned previously. There are two very qualified pastors who are ready to make commitments to The River and begin raising support. I hope to announce their names to you soon so you may pray for them individually. I am still looking for a worship leader/team and a youth leader. Again very vital parts to reaching the non churched in our area. And having a worship leader is key to starting any preview services, without one, we will not begin.

While I am doing all that I can to build the core group, I am still reaching out to people in our community who are far from God. I have been building a relationship with a man at my gym for a couple of months and I asked him to come to our Bible study last week. He was speechless, in fact could not speak to me for at least 10 minutes. It was the first time he found out that I am a pastor and I think he was replaying everything he had said to me (not Godly stuff to say the least...) and had no idea how to respond. I don't think he has ever considered God as an option. On Tuesday I was in the middle of a set of sit ups and he sat next to me and just began to vomit out his life, bad choices, issues in his marriage, issues with his step children (18 & 20 yrs). It just poured out of him for about 10 minutes. Then all of a sudden he realized where we were and jumped up to leave. I had finished my sit ups, put my hand on his shoulder and asked if I could pray for him. Again, speechless... he looked around and said, "Th... th... this is not an appropriate place." He was very uncomfortable so I said no problem, He could go his way, but I wanted him to know that I would pray for him, and he bolted! Haven't seen him for two days, but that's not that unusual. Pray for this man, his name is Bob and he really needs the Lord! Pray for more opportunities, divine appointments, where I can gently weave in the message of God's grace, and that he would respond. This is why I am here! I love these conversations.

Praise God that Cathy continues to heal. She told me that Tuesday was the first day she had no headache and she could actually feel her finger tips! More progress! Two steps up, one step back. God is healing her, slowly but surely. Thank you Lord for Galen Danielson, owner of Rehab Authority, who volunteered to treat her physical therapy for free. We could not have done it without him. As for her job, she took in a letter to announce her leaving and looking for another job. Her manager decided she really needed her so she designed a job for her as a co-teacher in a 2-3 year old class. She was offered a regular schedule and less chaos. Cathy and I have prayed about this a lot. In fact this week I was praying and fasting asking for God to do something significant. We feel He has. It will not be perfect, far from it, unfortunately, the center is more concerned about accomplishing their goals and business than they are in loving and nurturing children. And Cathy is all about loving and nurturing. She believes the co-teaching position might work well. The biggest variables, besides their erroneous theory of child care, is if her manager can manage to let her staff do their jobs and not create additional chaos. It should be interesting to see if she can. Keep praying for Cathy, she has been the light of Christ at her place of business. I am very proud of her as she has maintained integrity and worked hard in the face of adversity and physical discomfort and pain, all the time keeping a smile on her face. She is ministering to the workers, loving the children, and looking forward to extending that loving care to the parents of the children she works with.

We had someone volunteer to give us a complete portable sound system with a built out 20' trailer to haul it with last spring. We have been trying to follow up on this offer, but there have been several snags, mostly with people being out of town . Pray that we can make the necessary connection and that the offer still stands... and that if we are going to get this equipment that we can get it by November 1 so we can learn the system and be able to use it; that is if we have our first preview service on November 23rd. Pray that either the offer for equipment comes through or that God will provide other options for a sound system and equipment transportation.

Thank you for your prayers and support!
God bless

Dave Griewe
1-208-570-3732
http://www.riverchristianchurch.com/

Prayer Mail 9-26-08

2008-09-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

"So you must be brave. Don't give up! God will honor you for obeying him."
2 Chronicles 15:7 (CEV)

My wife has this verse pasted on her computer screen. It's one of several verses that she leaves there most of the time. She is great at finding encouragement from God's Word. This verse is particularly powerful for us as we have taken a risk and stepped out in faith, uprooting our lives and moving to Eagle to plant a new church. We gave up everything we had, moved from our children and their husbands and our grand kids, with no security or guarantee of the future, just trusting and believing that we are being obedient to God's call. We have been here for a couple of months, working quietly but diligently while looking forward to what God is going to do with us here at The River. Finally, last Wednesday night we had our first information meeting; a meeting to gather people we have been talking to about starting a new church. Let me put this in perspective; when I started Desert Horizons Church, after 5 months we had our first meeting and we had two people show up. This week after 2 1/2 months we had 12! God is awesome!

God brought several different people with different backgrounds to come and check us out. I shared my testimony and the journey that led us to Idaho. Then I shared two key values and our mission statement. All 12 people indicated great interest and excitement about being a part of something new for the Lord.

One man I invited from my gym talked to me after the meeting. He said that when I invited him, he wasn't sure if he was going to come or not, but when he looked at our brochure he read on the front cover one of our key values, "No perfect people allowed". After reading that he said he had to come and find out what we were all about. He said he is a Catholic, who loves God but not the church! (Another key value for us: "We are a church for those who gave up on the traditional church but not on God"). He was very excited about finding a church that emphasized grace and forgiveness. I heard a very similar comment from another man who attended; he was one of the men who helped move us into our home back on July 1.

Cathy and I are so blessed that God is working like He is. We have had a quiet confidence and faith that God would provide, and He did. Now we are looking forward to October 8 when we begin our weekly bible Study and begin to develop our core group.

This Sunday I will be speaking at both services at Eastwind Community Church and meeting with their board to share my vision so they may consider providing financial support for the next year. The following week their pastor will meet with people who live in or around Eagle (about a 30-40 minute drive to their church) and he will be encouraging them to come and help us get started. The following Sunday I will be at a meeting at First Baptist Church where their pastor has invited people to come to an information meeting and he will challenge them to consider being a part of our church plant and I will share the vision God has given me for The River. Honestly, I have never been around pastors who were so kingdom minded that they were willing to give away their people for the sake of build the kingdom of God! It is refreshing and an absolute blessing! May God bless them!

Our next step is beginning our Bible study on October 8th. We are praying for a good turnout.

I will attend a Regional Pastors Conference next Monday through Wednesday. I am looking forward to meeting other ABC-NW pastors and sharing the vision of The River with them.

Our Crown Small Group study has begun and I am very excited about the truths we are encountering and learning. It's a real blessing to attend a group and not lead it! I am praying that we can begin crown small groups at least three times a year. The truths, if practiced, are absolutely life changing!

Prayer requests:
Pray for me as I speak on Sunday and a positive response from the people at Eastwind Community Church and from their board.
Pray for a positive response from the people at First Baptist.
Pray that God would send a solid core of committed believers from both churches providing the core group that will provide a spiritual and financial foundation for The River.
Pray for wisdom for me as I seek God concerning putting together the right team of pastoral leaders for The River. I am hoping to make some significant decisions in the next two weeks. God has led me to two excellent and Godly men who may form the core of ministry leadership for The River.
Pray for God to lead us to someone who is qualified and trained to start and run a children's ministry and another person to lead a youth ministry.
Pray for God to provide His person that can lead our worship ministry and band.
A note on Cathy:
This has been a much better week for Cathy. Last week was one of the worst, and this week has been one of the best! It seems that she is not in as much pain, the physical therapy seems to be working! We know there will be good days and bad days, we are praying that her good days begin to out number the bad ones and that she will be totally healthy soon. One of our big concerns has been she is struggling with speech and memory issues. Cathy has always had a near photographic memory but that seems to be affected. We had renewed a prescription her OB gave her after her hysterectomy and I read all the possible side effects and it seems that everything she is struggling with could be related to the medication she has been taking! It did not create her nerve and soft tissue damage but it may be hindering her healing and creating other issues (speech, memory, and unusual body pain). So Sunday she stopped taking it and we are waiting from her Dr. Please keep praying for her healing. Even if the medication has caused problems she needs for her nerves and soft tissue in her neck to be "regenerated" according to the PT, or what we call HEALED.

Thank you for your prayers. We couldn't make it with you! Keep on praying!
God bless,

Dave

Prayer Mail 9-12-08

2008-09-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1

Thank you so much for your prayers, I really needed them this week! Last week I shared how it seemed like God was putting together a team of ministry leaders that would lead the River into it's start up and Grand Opening. This week, I am less sure. God continues to remind me that this is a faith venture, not in my abilities, but in His ability to provide for His children!

First let me share where God has established a solid and committed team: The River start up Advisory Board. I am excited about the Godly men with different gifts and skills that form the board. Since last week I finalized the board one finial member to round out our board. That means the Advisory Board of The River is Bruce Young (Pastor of First Baptist Boise), Mark Traylor (Pastor of Eastwind Community Church. He is our newest member who rounds out the board with his experience in church planting and his kingdom minded heart.). Phil Eastman (founder of Leadership Advisors Group and my personal coach), Randy McKinney (Crown Ministry Trainer and The River financial secretary), and of course me. Please pray for these men as they seek God's will to help give direction and leadership to The River.

Another answer to prayer is Cathy getting physical therapy for the problems that came from her surgery back in June. She is in a lot of pain and struggling physically. She is in physical therapy three times a week and is sore and hurting more than ever due to the fact that she is doing exercises to open up the nerves in her shoulders and neck as well as trying to strengthen her arm and hand which has lost considerable strength, control, and dexterity. We thank God for Galen Danielson, owner of RehabAuthority Physical Therapy who offered to treat Cathy for free. Now she is heading toward better health, but she is hurting more than before. The therapist said that is to be expected but she will begin to feel better. The pain is also causing her to not sleep well. Pray for her to work hard at her therapy and for God to heal her quickly.

Please continue to pray for God to put together His team of ministry leaders/pastors to work with me to minister at The River:
WORSHIP - God has something in store for us in worship, I'm just not sure what! The young man who I talked about last week will most likely be a part of our ministry, but does not feel led to lead the worship team at this time. Having a great worship team is absolutely vital to getting started. I met with the worship leader at FBCB who is doing what she can to help us find a qualified worship leader that can lead worship and put a worship band together. Please pray for God to lead His choice to us as soon as possible.
YOUTH - I am waiting to hear back from the young man I mentioned last week as a possible youth leader for the River.
ADMINISTRATION - I am still in conversation and prayer with someone to fill this important role.
CONNECTIONS/DISCIPLESHIP, SMALL GROUPS - Yesterday I met with a man who is in between ministries right now to discuss his joining our staff. I believe he could be a great asset to our team. He is praying about the opportunity. There are some significant road blocks to hurdle if God calls this man to serve at The River, but hey, God is God and he can make whatever He wants to happen... happen! Pray for God to be clear to both this man and to me if he is to join our staff. And if this is not God's man for this position, pray for God to show me who it will be!
CHILDREN - Again, no candidates for this ministry right now.
The kicker for each of these positions is that they are volunteer or support raising positions. Each person must evaluate not only their skills, gifts, and call, but their personal support as well. I know from experience that if God wants you to do it, He provides a way. Let's pray for His will to be done in each of these key roles for The River.
Leadership is vitally important to The River starting well and being a prevailing church. Pray for God to assemble His team of Godly people to lead at The River.

Additional prayer requests:

Crown Financial small group meeting is this Wednesday evening.
The River information meeting is still set for September 24th
Our first Bible study is set for October 8th
Our first Preview service is set for November 23rd.
Our home still needs to be sold in Las Vegas, new lower price $229,000; it's a steal!
Pray for God to send the right people from First Baptist Boise and Eastwind Community Church to help us launch The River.
Praise for our financial support but we need to see that increase to meet the needs as we are going public. Support for August was just under $4,000 and that does not meet the needs. Hopefully some churches will begin to support us as well as the ABC-NW. Also we will begin to take an offering at our bible study in October. We are praying that some committed Christians will join us from FBCB or Eastwind and begin supporting The River right away.
Thank you for being prayer partners and supporters. God bless you!

Serving Him,

Dave Griewe

Prayer Mail Sept. 5, 2008

2008-09-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

We are getting closer to things getting started for The River. I have been meeting with many people to set up the right team of people to launch The River. As you know the biggest thing I have asked you to pray about is leadership and it seems that God is assembling a great team of servants. Here are some things you can specifically pray for in this area.
WORSHIP - God has been working on the heart and mind of a very talented young man who is a deeply committed Christian. He comes from a solid Christian family and has been effectively trained in ministry as well as music and worship. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you his name yet, but He will lead our worship team in a very contemporary style of worship and he will assist in our youth ministry. Pray for him as he makes the plans to transition his ministry to The River. Pray for him to assemble a group of qualified musicians who understand worship and are committed believers.
YOUTH - I am talking to another young man who is also a deeply committed Christian and has received excellent training in youth ministry. He and his wife are praying through the opportunity to take a leap of faith and start a youth ministry for The River. He would also be a part of our worship team.
ADMINISTRATION - I am meeting with a highly qualified man who has served in full time in vocational ministry in many aspects including a senior pastorate. His gifts and skills would be an excellent match for handling the administration for The River. He is praying through the opportunity. My prayer is that God would call this man to The River and provide the needed income and resources to meet he and his wife's needs.
CONNECTIONS/SMALL GROUPS/DISCIPLESHIP - I am meeting with a man next week who might just be God's answer to a discipleship pastor for The River. Pray for God to make clear to both of us if he is to be a part of The River Leadership Team.
CHILDREN - There are currently no candidates for this area. Pray for God to lead the right person to us that can step in and develop a dynamic Children's ministry.
ADVISORY BOARD - God has put together a select group of highly qualified men to be the first board of The River. This board will work to get the River off the ground with the plan to hand it off within a year or so. The board consists of Bruce Young, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Boise; Phil, Eastman II, advisor, consultant, coach, and founder of Leadership Advisors Group; Randy McKinney, Owner of Agency Insurance - He is a qualified Crown Ministry Trainer and he will set up and run The River financial's; and of course ME! Pray for these men as they seek God's will and direction for The River.
Additional Prayer requests
We are starting a Crown Financial small group on September 18th to teach God's financial principles to set people free to serve God and fund His ministries. Pray for the leadership at The River to be able and willing to participate in this 10 week small group.
The River information meeting on is set for September 24th at Rembrandt's Coffee Shop. Pray for a great turnout of people who are interested in starting a new church.
We need to be set free from our house in Las Vegas. Pray that something happens soon!
We truly appreciate your prayers for Cathy. God is doing something with her, we are just not sure exactly what it is yet. As a incredible answer to prayer one of our prayer partners met with a local Dr. who owns several physical therapy offices in the Treasure Valley. He mentioned Cathy's problems to him along with our lack of insurance and he volunteered to evaluate and treat her for FREE! That is how God works! That's a miracle! She will go in on Monday for evaluation and begin physical therapy. Praise the Lord! Her job is another issue all together: The Childcare facility she works at is doing all they can to keep her working there. Even with her physical limitations, they really like her. Starting Monday she is going to become part time working only in the afternoons with grade school children and then at the end of October she will go back to full time and take over the infants area. But there are some huge issues with this facility. They have some very new age philosophies on childcare and raising children that we strongly disagree with. The facility is very poorly managed leading to a an average staff stay of 2 MONTHS! Needless to say it is lacking in leadership and that is very frustrating to her. We are praying that she can make it until the end of October and take over the infants area where their weird ideas of building self esteem and character will not affect her. She will be able to just love babies and care for their needs. Please pray for her, she is struggling with their philosophies of childcare and with a total lack of leadership from management. Pray for her to find her niche there or to feel free to resign and pursue other employment that would meet our financial needs, allow her to use her gifts and abilities to the fullest and be gratifying to her as well.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Serving Him,

Dave Griewe

Giving Grace

2008-09-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

"It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah." Ephesians 2:1-6 The Message Translation

I constantly praise God for His GRACE! God in His incredible mercy does not give us what we deserve, and in His grace He gives us what we do not deserve, forgiveness, freedom, and a future home in heaven! Thank you LORD!

The grace of God is a key driving factor for my desire to reach people with the Good News of Jesus Christ. I want everybody to know what God has done for every one of us if we just accept His gift. That's why The River will be a church where Grace is not just given but experienced. We will love everybody, just as God does. We will accept anyone from any background, just as God does. But we will not be satisfied to let them stay far from God and His will, we will do all we can to be used by God to lead others into a life of transformation. That is why at the Rive we say, "No Perfect People Allowed!" Our mission is simple, "COME AS YOU ARE, LOVE JESUS, SERVE OTHERS, AND TELL THE STORY". Obviously that is a power packed statement, but we will do all we can to help people far from God to discover God, grow in their relationship to God and others, and then turn around and tell others about what He has done for them.

Serving Him,

Dave Griewe

Our Journey To Plant a Church

2008-08-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, Cathy and I began to sense that God was making some major changes in our lives. With our daughters raised and gone, we felt God asking us to take a new step of faith. It was rather unsettling, sensing that God had something different for us; we had grown comfortable in our home, our church, and in Las Vegas. We had no idea what that change was going to be, but we quietly began praying and seeking God’s Will as He gently tugged on our hearts.

We visited Boise last fall for what we thought was a visit to check out Boise State University for our youngest daughter, Emily. The last thing on our minds was packing up, leaving the rest of our family in Las Vegas and moving to plant a brand new church! It caught us completely by surprise; but God used that initial trip to plant a seed in our hearts for the people and community of the Treasure Valley. Honestly, we didn’t know what to do with our desires at that time. Neither Cathy nor I discussed it openly with each other. We both thought it was just a silly idea in the back of our minds. But as we prayed and committed to seek God’s will, the desire continued to grow intensely. When we moved Emily into the BSU dorms in January, we drove the entire ten hours home talking excitedly about the strong pull we both had for the community. We still didn’t know what to do about it, honestly it confused us greatly. We knew we had a wonderful church family in Las Vegas that loved us dearly and that we loved ministering to.

Beginning last January we prayed, fasted, and sought the prayer support of close friends, pastors and family to help us discover what God’s next steps would be for us. Immediately after Easter, I sensed God very clearly telling me: Dave-go plant a church in the Treasure Valley!

Why? Idaho is currently the third fastest growing state in the United States. The Treasure Valley is the fastest growing area in the state and is expected to grow by 40% in the next ten years, to over one million plus. According to the Southern Baptists, nearly 90% of the people in the Treasure Valley do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. Statistics continue to prove that new church planting is the quickest and most effective way to reach people with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

In an exploratory trip to Boise last Fall, Cathy and I met with several pastors, most notably Bruce Young of First Baptist Church, Mark Traylor of East Wind Community Church, and Jim Steinert of Second Baptist Church. God had already been preparing them for our meeting. Each shared that they, along with some other pastors, had been praying about planting a new church! God bound our hearts together and each pastor committed their support. They next question was where would we plant a new church? I met with business people and pastors and every single one agreed the place with the greatest opportunities and need was Eagle! I went back to my church in Las Vegas and shared God’s new call for my life and began making plans to move to the Treasure Valley.

We rented a house in Eagle and moved in it on June 23rd. We have had our house on the market in Las Vegas since April. Knowing that we are trying to sell it during the worst housing market downturn ever in that area we decided to move to Idaho on faith leaving our home in God’s hands. We have it listed as a short sale and we are praying that God sells it before we lose it, but whichever way it goes, we are at peace. We trust that God is in control. We raised partial support before we left Las Vegas and we are living on that and our savings until we get the River started and it is able to support us.

We are excited about the opportunities to further the kingdom of God here in Eagle. God continues to open doors, but we cannot do this alone. We are asking you to partner with us, as your pastors have, through prayer and support.

Specifically:
· We need your prayers! If you will pray for us we will send you a weekly “Prayer Mail” email. It generally comes out the end of every week.
· We need your financial support. Church planting costs money! There are many needs that are unmet right now and there are even bigger needs in the near future. Here are several ways you can help meet those needs. You may support us on a monthly basis or you may choose to donate towards specific needs; i.e. office expenses, advertising, health insurance, rental space… If you are interested in financially supporting The River let me know and I will show you how.
· One of the greatest ways you can support us to join us! Again there are several options available to you: You may choose to make a commitment to help us in the start up phase. You may choose to make a one or two year commitment to The River or you may choose to make the River your new church home!
· We need God’s people to fill vital leadership roles for The River. Specifically we need leadership over connections/small groups, Worship/Youth, Children, and Administration. These are all key and vital roles that need to be filled if we are going to effectively reach non churched people and minister to the whole person and their family.

God bless you!
Serving our Savior,

Dave and Cathy Griewe

Taking Risks

2008-08-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

I'm a risk taker. When I was younger I would take on any kind of risk, no matter how dangerous (or stupid) it might seem to be. Now that I have a few years under my belt, my risks are more calculated and a lot less physically dangerous! It seems, I may have grown up, at least a little bit! Actually, the risks I enjoy taking today are predominately God inspired. I am not the kind of person who enjoys the status quo or just getting along, or just getting by. That's boring to me. I love trying to figure out what kind of risks God wants me to take, and then taking them.

Planting a new church in Eagle, ID is one of those HUGE risks that God has led me to take. It was a risk to leave my Church in Las Vegas along with a regular paycheck. It was a risk to talk to people about supporting us as missionaries to plant a new church. And it was a risk to move to to a community we had never lived in before with the purpose of planting a church with the vision of reaching unchurched people with the Good News of Jesus. BUT we are here. With some financial support, our personal savings, and a call from God to "Go therefore into all the world..." Meaning we are to go into Eagle to tell people who are far from God about a God who loves them so much He sent His Son to die for them!

This is risky business! What if fail? What if we run out of money? What if we never get started? the first step is always the hardest... But we have done the work God's Word says to do when making risky decisions: I researched the Treasure Valley to see if a new church aimed at reaching unchurched people was needed, the answer is ABSOLUTELY! I analyzed what it will cost me in time, money, emotions, energy and effort. And we decided the risk was worth the rewards of seeing people become Christ followers and grow in their new faith. I developed a strategy; seeking wise counsel, anticipated problems, and we have prayed and prayed from the very first moment. And God gave us a plan. We announced our intentions to our home church in Las Vegas, to our friends, and family and anyone else who would listen, as a statement of faith saying we believe God wants us to plant a new church in Eagle! And now we are taking steps of faith. We left our home in Las Vegas and rented a home in Eagle. I have met with some godly pastors who totally support us planting a new church, and now we are completely trusting God for the results.

There is something absolutely freeing about living by faith, knowing that there is nothing I can do that will make this church successful. It is God, He is the One who makes us able to do all that we do (2 Cor. 3:5 NCV). That's true freedom!

Prayer Mail 8-22-08

2008-08-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

"Whenever we pray for you, we always begin by giving thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard how much you trust the Lord, and how much you love his people."
Colossians 1:3-4 (TLB)

When I read this passage this week it reminded me of your prayers and support. Thank you for holding us up every day in prayer. We are excited about the opportunities that God is providing us.

Yesterday we did a garage sale to meet the neighbors and get rid of stuff. It went great. The weather was sunny, in the low 80's and we met and talked to many people in our neighborhood and used that opportunity to talk about The River. A couple of people took information and two people left their information for me to contact them further! All in all it was a great day!

We are very excited and blessed that Cathy has found a job right here in Eagle. She is a Lead Teacher for her class at The Horizons Academy and Preschool. She began her training last Wednesday and Monday will be her first full week of teaching. It is a great opportunity for her to do what she does best; nurture children and their parents! She has a unique knack of weaving her faith into all of her relationships and she does a great job of "mentioning" our church to almost everyone she comes into contact with. It really is her niche for ministry.

I had several great meetings with people this past week as I continue to lay the foundation for The River. One of the more important meetings I had this week was with Phil Eastman. Phil happens to be my daughter's boyfriend and his father is my coach! Make sense? Anyhow Phil and I have talked on and off for months about his possible involvement with The River. He is a truly solid young man and a deeply committed Christian. His desire is to develop a Christian band and travel to churches, camps, and retreats sharing Christ. We talked about him putting a band together to be The River Worship band while at the same time using this opportunity to grow his band and see if God would use this to launch them into a ministry outside the church. It's a great idea. I am excited for him and for The River. It is as ministry should be, helping one another for the Glory of God. We also talked about him possibly developing a youth ministry for us at the same time. Please pray for God's will here and for complete clarity as Phil seeks to put together a band of committed Christians and qualified musicians.

I am speaking at First Baptist Church of Boise tomorrow (August 24) at all four of their services. Pray for God to speak through me to challenge people to take risks for God.

I am still planning to begin a bible study at Rembrandt's Coffee Shop the end of September. I am planning 4 preview services before our Grand Opening: November 24 and either December 22, or Christmas Eve; January 26, and February 23 and then continuing Sunday services until April 12 (Easter), when we will have our Grand Opening service. One of the issues is location. I thought I would be able to rent the Hilton Garden Inn, however they just told me that they only rent their conference space to groups who have a block of rooms at their hotel. I went to the Chamber of Commerce to ask about meeting space and they pointed me towards a place called the Kandor Building. I have a call into the owner, I have no idea what the space is like or if it will work or not. Please pray for God to supernaturally provide a great space for us (that we can afford) to begin our Sunday Services.

Financial support for June was $4,251, July was $3,648, and so far for the month of August we have received $2,863. I am hopeful that we will receive another $1,200 to $1,400 before the end of the month. So far that is the total income for personal support and church expenses. As you can see it does not cover the needs. I am praying that, as I get the bible study off the ground, and we have some mature Christians join us from First Baptist Boise, Eastwind Community Church, and others, we will begin receiving offerings in October.

I have put together a budget covering August – December of this year. You may email me for a copy to send to you to look over and prayerfully consider where you might give an additional offering above whatever support you may already be committed to.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Serving Him in Grace,
Dave Griewe1-208-570-3732www.RiverChristianChurch.com
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