River Church - Chattanooga Tennessee

In Exodus 15:26 God reveals Himself to the Children of Israel as, “The Lord your healer.”  Throughout the pages of Scripture we discover on numerous occasions that simple truth is affirmed over and over.

Perhaps never before has the understanding that God is our Healer, been more necessary.  sickness, depression, broken relationships, and personal bondage can only truly be removed from our lives by the Healer.

So over the next four Sunday’s we are going to set out on a journey through Scripture to better understand that God is our healer, why He allows sickness to come to our life and what our responsibility is if we truly desire healing in our lives.

If you would like to meet the Healer, join us this Sunday at RiverChurch.

If you have a need that you would like for us to pray for with regard to your healing email prayer@riverchurch.me

Expect to see miracles when you encounter the Healer.

Almost one year ago to this day, RiverChurch began to show its very first signs of life.  A handful of people began meeting in the living room of one of our families, and for over six weeks, we simply prayed together for this new community of faith.  A few weeks later we began meeting together on Saturday nights, where we prayed, we dreamed and we asked God to make a Church that truly reflected the Church that Jesus desires.  Then in January, we officially opened our doors to the public by gathering on Sunday mornings.  Since then we’ve spent an extensive amount of time examining what it means to be a disciple, and over the last ten weeks we’ve all made changes to our lives that would help us become the kind of Christ follower we were meant to be.

So for RiverChurch its Celebration Sunday, and as you can see we have a lot to celebrate.  Besides the milestones that we’ve crossed over the last year, we’ve seen some significant life change in so many of our people.  Some have stepped into the very areas of ministry they were destined for.  Some have decided to “give church” one last chance and here they’ve found a safe place, in our community of faith.  Some were without hope and hope is being restored to their lives, daily.

Perhaps the thing that, as the pastor, I’m most excited about is that today, we celebrate with those who have decided to go public with their faith in Jesus, by following his example in water baptism.  I’m so proud of these guys because they’ve been here as we’ve talked about living the life of a disciple, and as they step into the waters of baptism today, they are saying, “I’m serious about this!”  Man, that’s exciting!!!!!

So, yeah, its Celebration Sunday for RiverChurch.  We’re celebrating with hamburgers, hotdogs, and all kinds of fun summer food.  We’re celebrating with games; cornhole, volleyball, and even some splashing around in a swimming pool.  We’re celebrating with worship outdoors in the cathedral of God’s creation.   We’re celebrating, and I fully expect Jesus to be right there with us in the middle of it all celebrating with us.

Its time to Celebrate!

For the last 8 or 9 weeks, we’ve been talking about the simplistic life of discipleship, and what that looks like.  We’ve talked about important elements of the life of a disciple and we’ve practiced those important elements on a week by week basis.  As our journey in looking at the life of discipleship comes to an end, we’re gearing up to Take It To the Streets.

This weekend, an annual Chattanooga highlight begins, best known as Riverbend Music Festival.  Organizers expect anywhere between 50 to 60 THOUSAND people to attend from June 11 through the 19th.  Now as you would expect there are all kinds of people at these events; people from all walks of life, and we’re heading out to meet them.  We’re not taking tracts, or huge posters that say “Turn or Burn”  we’re simply going to be present with different “evangelistic tools”  One night we’re going to be equipped with trash bags, and we’re going to walk through collecting people’s trash.  Why?  Because its the right thing to do; serve.  Another night we’re going to be armed with wet wipes, that we’ll give away to people while their eating some of the best BBQ in the area.  Why?  Again to serve.

More importantly because we believe this is exactly what Jesus would do.  And that’s what the life of discipleship is all about doing what He would do.

So if you think about it, pray for us.  If you’re close by why don’t you come join us as we take it to the streets.

This week begin week three of the Quest by focusing on forgiveness, hear these words of encouragement as we take on this portion of the Quest to be more like Jesus:

03 QUEST Forgiving_our_Enemies

So how’s your week been?  More importantly how is Quest 2 going?  This weeks quest can be a challenging one, but the final result will far outweigh the process.  Remember to pray for one another this week.  Take a couple minutes and listen to these challenging words:

QUEST B The_100

The journey has begun and you’ve started well.  Hear these words of encouragement as we take on Quest 2 – Personal Repentance:

02 QUEST Personal Repentance

Our first week of the Quest is almost over.  So how has the week been for you as you’ve focused on Environmental Repentance?  We’ve heard some encouraging reports from several of you as you’ve shared how you’ve been cleaning house, spiritually.  As the week winds down, think about the question offered in today’s challenge:

QUEST A Can_you_name_the_teachings_of_Jesus_-1

Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will fid it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” – Matthew 16:24

Now if I were trying to get people to sign up to help me do something, I probably wouldn’t try to scare them senseless before they could even get out of the box.  I don’t suppose Jesus was trying to scare his followers in Matthew 16:24, but I do think He was letting them see a realistic picture of what it meant to be his follower.  Simply stated, it meant losing your life.

None of us relish the thoughts of losing anything, especially our lives.  Our human instinct to protect ourselves, to run from the hint of danger and death are so strong, that hearing a sobering declaration like that from Jesus is hard for many of us to digest.  Especially when we are so accustomed to hearing that God only wants good stuff for us, He doesn’t want us to face danger, hardship, or suffering. Sadly, too many people have been given that marshmallow theology, and when hard times come they’re blown away, “But I thought this wasn’t God’s will for my life.  Why is this happening to me?”

Truth be told, God certainly doesn’t want to see any of us suffer, or go through hard times or trouble, but sometimes He does allow those kinds of circumstances to enter our lives to strengthen us or to fulfill a greater purpose.  Laying our life down, losing it for the sake of Christ means we don’t try to oppose Him, when he does allow bad stuff to happen to us.  That kind of surrender is what Jesus calls us to if we are to truly be his disciples?  That kind of life is the life that says, “God I trust that you have a plan for my life and if that plan involves good stuff and bad stuff, I’ll take it, because I TRUST YOU!”

This is where the life of discipleship begins.  This is where the true follower of Christ stands out from the crowd.

So are you willing to lose your life, to Christ?  Will you trust Him to be fully in control of your life?

What do you have to lose?

Join us this week @RiverChurch_ as we continue our series “The Loser”

By now the images have all been burned into our mind and many of us have been moved to tears and sorrow.  But we must be moved to action to do something now for the nation of Haiti.

RiverChurch is partnering with Operation Compassion a disaster relief organization that has already mobilized and providing immediate help in Haiti.  We will be taking a special offering this weekend at our gathering to go to Operation Compassion for Haiti.  If you would like to partner with a reputable organization go to Operation Compassion’s website and make a donation

Regardless of who you partner with, don’t just be moved to tears, be moved to action.  Do Something Now for Haiti

Its a fashion must-have – your very own RiverShirt!!!!

Okay, maybe a little overkill but you can get yours for $10.  Just email info@riverchurch.me to order yours!!