No Perfect People.... Really?

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 people 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.

So... come to the River Church... and come as you are! Our prayer is that when you come you will experience total acceptance and begin the process of transformation. (Romans 12:1-2)

Looking Back and Moving Forward at The River Church

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

OIKOS - Change Your World!

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!