The River Church Community

Dear River friends,  

This past Sunday, we began a teaching series called “Stranger than Fiction.”  It’s about the mission of Jesus in the world, which is more captivating and intriguing than any action film or mystery novel could ever be.  In our worship response time, we prayed a corporate prayer of confession.  I’m pretty sure it’s the very first time we’ve ever done that at The River.  My guess is that many of us think of confession as something you do when you feel grieved.  But, the older traditions of the church show us another way – that prayers of confession, prayed as a regular spiritual practice, can create reflective space to hear the voice of the Spirit in unexpected ways.  My personal experience is that praying my confession daily, before I feel the weight of sin, is an amazing channel of grace.  I hope you’ll find it to be true for you, too.  Throughout the series, we're going to keep praying this confession.  I think it would be cool if some of us became as familiar with it as we are with our wedding vows (or some other promise that's precious to you).  Our hope is that God will meet us afresh in the place of humility and reveal Himself . . . and prepare us to be people who are able to receive His vision for our lives.

We’ve posted the confession we used on Sunday.  As an experiment, I hope you’ll try praying it daily, on your own or with friends or family. 

P.S.  If you are a sports fan, I hope you’ll read John Feinstein’s article about the basketball Hall of  Fame ceremony, contrasting Michael Jordan with David Robinson.   I found it to be thought-provoking with regard to the importance of personal vision.  Michael Jordan had a clear vision to be the best basketball player ever.  Has it served him well?  Read the article and think about what your vision is doing for you.

Hello Everyone,

There are a bunch of things happening this coming week.  On Friday, there is a welcome dessert at Brad's house for anyone new to the church or wanting to get more connected.  Sunday features a Honduras & Nicaragua ICE trip reception, the Firestarters gathering for those looking for encouragement in evangelism, and a Kids' Community training for volunteers.

Also look out for the start of the Earth Ethics seminarnext Wednesday, September 26.

David reports that the Men's DVD study on "Walking with God" is off to a good start after their first meeting this Monday.  Many men gathered and were spurred to discussion and prayer.

Krista-Dawn wanted to alert you to a couple of cool musical opportunities coming your way:

1. Choir practice Sunday after church, noon to 1:30, ministry center

Calling all singers! Anyone interested in learning the parts to a few of our worship songs is welcome to join the choir this month. The choir operates as a large body of worship leaders for the service every 2nd Sunday of the month. We rehearse on a month to month basis for each Sunday morning. So this month, our rehearsals will be on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 20th from noon - 1:30 (lunch included for you) and thursday evening Oct. 8th 7:30 - 9:00.

You must be able to attend BOTH rehearsals in order to sing on Sunday with us.

Please RSVP to if you are interested in joining the fun!!

2. Worship Jam 101: Ministry Center, Friday the 18th, 7 - 9 pm

Come to the Ministry Center this Friday with your instrument to cultivate your heart of worship. This extra rehearsal is for anyone who would like to develop their musical skills and lead others in worship in the future. Please contact so that she can send you the music you will be working on together.

 A heads-up that the Rock 'n Roll half-marathon is coming up on October 4th.  Downtown residents will want to check out the planned road closures.  Those of you coming from outside of downtown are unlikely to be affected.

Announcements for Sunday, September 13, 2009:

Honduras/Nicaragua ICE Reception
Join us after church from 11:45 to 12:45 on Sunday, September 20th to hear about some exciting ways God worked this past summer on our Honduras and Nicaragua ICE trips.  We'll share some Central American food and drinks as we tell some stories and share some slides from our trips.  This is to thank our church family for their support and also introcduce ICE trips to those who may be thinking about taking one in the future.  Whether you are single, married or married with kids, we welcome you.  Bienvenidos a todo!

Welcome Dessert - Friday, September 18th from 7:30 to 9 pm
If you have recently starting attending The River or are looking for ways to connect deeper into the life of our church, we invite you to a Welcome Dessert at the home of our Lead Pastor, Brad Wong. We will provide a brief history of The River, explain our values as a church, offer ways for you to get involved, and answer any questions you may have. But mostly, we just want to get to know you over some delicious desserts and drinks in a relaxing, friendly environment.

Please let us know if you can make the event so we can provide you with address and directions. Email or call 408.252.5500 x106.

Firestarters - Encouragement for Evangelism
Sunday, September 20th from 7 to 8:30 pm at the Ministry Center
 
We'll be spending time brainstorming and helping one another to better reach those around us for Jesus.  Please come with conversational scenarios in mind that you'd like input on.  We'll spend time with each scenario to provide suggestions and possibilities for how to introduce Jesus into the conversation.  This workshop will be totally driven by you, the participants.  If you've been wondering how you can witness to a particular person in your life, you don't want to miss this!  For more details and questions, please contact or find him at the Connecting Table.