River City Blog

This Sunday we added to our regular corporate worship an expression referred to as "spoken word." Part poetry part music, the spoken word focuses on lyrical content and presentation to engage the listener to consider the words in a way they might not if they are listening to them being simply read aloud. One of our members, Matt Jacques, along with a guitar and the help...

On August 16th, I was honored to preach on the topic of silence and solitude as a discipline for growth in godliness. Unfortunately there were issues with our recording and no audio was captured. Do to a few requests to read through the message on Luke 10:38-42, you may download a PDF of the manuscript here. ...

We're grateful to be a part of Acts29. As a network we want to be about one thing... planting churches. This is a glimpse of who we are as a network and who, by God's grace, we will continue to be as salt and light in the world. For more information check out the new Acts29 website....

As part of our Summer series called "Rhythms" working through spiritual disciplines as a church, we've developed a study guide of sorts working through Psalm 119 methodically through the summer. Sometimes it can be hard to get started (or get re-started) reading the Bible. We want to help you not only read, but want to read, seeking the Holy Spirit to help us to both, und...

The Heidelberg Catechism, written in 1563, was designed, as all catechisms, as a teaching tool. Usually arranged as a series of questions and answers, catechisms help build unity around the basic beliefs or tenants of the faith. While there are a number of good, solid, Bilical and theologically rich confessions and catechisms** -- Heidelberg opens with a gem of a question ...

Hello RC, Traditionally Advent has celebrated with the lighting of candles or the opening of little cardboard doors of stale chocolate. Those traditions are not bad traditions but we want to make sure we don't miss the bigger picture of what God is doing in sending Jesus, fully God and fully man to us. We want to encourage of you, amidst the busyness that comes with this...

It happened again today. I received an email from friends who, through tears, were telling me that the baby they were expecting had stopped developing and that she (the mom) should expect to miscarry within the next week or so. I thought of them, and their other young kids, and prayed that they would all keenly know the nearness of Jesus and the strong and tender grip of ...

Where do your hands go during Sunday corporate gathered worship? Some are stuck in the pockets, only to move if necessary. Some are up in the air. I have felt uncomfortable in this situation in the past because of the questions that spin in my mind. Is it more spiritual to raise my hands? Will people think I am not worshipping if I keep my hands at my side? What if th...

Ralph Martin (in his book Worship in the Early Churchon pg. 17) defines worship in this way, "Christian worship, then, is the happy blend of offering to God our creator and Redeemer through Jesus Christ both what we owe to Him and what we would desire to give to Him." What a joy it is for me to take the small gifts that God has given me to assist our church family in our...

Stewardship - is a word that we typically hear brought up when challenged about our time, talent, and treasure. The question typically goes like this: How are you stewarding the things that you have been given - your time, your talent/gifts, and your treasure/money/resources? In this post, I'd like to challenge you to consider a fourth category into your stewarship thinki...