The River Church Community

 

Hello River People!

Hopefully many of you were able to join us for dinner yesterday!  If you didn't, you missed a great one.  Teruo Utsumi and his army of helpers (Al, Anna, Connie, Del, Gail, Grace, Karen, Kay, Kyle, Lawrence, Nina,Paul, Richard, Sindy, Steven, Tyson, Paul, Janet, Jose, Chris, Matthew, Robyn, Jesse) cooked up an awesome meal of Chicken Marsala, Polenta, Greens, Homemade Bread and a Chocolate Pudding/Vanilla Ice Cream dessert

Thanks to everyone who put on a memorable and awesome meal!  Check my blog for some interesting meal stats and recipies!

Mark and Shannon Thwaite gathered the Small Group Leaders yesterday to begin to talk about the common values that we hold in our small groups.  We had a great discussion looking at pictures of community from Acts and Ephesians and then reflecting on our personal experience of community (good and bad) in our small groups.  One goal we are working towards in these conversations is for all River small groups to articulate a common "covenant" that will state our common values and commitments.  Grab your small group leader if you'd like to find out more.

Tony is continuing to work on the Kindness San Jose projects that are happening on Sunday August 31.  He will be working hard on the logistics this week, so if you didn't have a chance to sign-up at service, please email him ASAP at .

Kyle has been making the most of the summer with the students.  Last week, the students, Kyle and Tony went out around the Ministry Center and handed out cold drinks to people in nearby offices and motorists.  This week they're off to Raging Waters!  Ministry and fun.

Brad, Krista-Dawn and Mark have been working on the next sermon series which will be on Worship.  I think it will start a good dialogue about why we worship and how we worship.

Everybody is working on goals and budgets for Ministry Year 2009 which is right around the corner.

Jill has returned from visiting family overseas - welcome back Jill!

Here are the announcements from this past Sunday:

"Life Together" Book Discussion

• We are reading "Life Together"by Dietrich Bonhoeffer to spur a conversation on how to foster a deeper level of community in our body.

• We will be gathering next Sunday morning from 9:30am - 11:30am at the Ministry Center for our 2nd installment of our book discussion.  The discussion will center on Chapters 2 and 3.

• If you are planning to attend, please RSVP to Dave Kwok at

• See the bottom of this blog post for the discussion questions

 

Welcome Dessert

• 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 hosted by our Lead Pastor, Brad Wong, at his home on August 29th.

• Brad, along with several staff members, 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 Angela Aviles at or call 408.252.5500 x106.

 

RiverFest and Kindness San Jose

• Join us on Sunday, August 31st, for an end-of-summer celebration and community outreach event!

• There will be worship, food, and opportunities for us to engage with our neighbors through kindness projects in the downtown area. The fun begins at 10 am for a shortened worship service at The River Ministry Center. Then we will disperse into ten serving teams that will engage different parts of downtown. Afterwards, we will gather at Ryland Park for a picnic lunch and to share stories about our time together loving our neighbors.

• Check out the playing card you received when you walked in for a list of all the serving projects. Please sign-up for the serving project that most interests you after service on Sundays. Sign-up sheets will be outside the Fireside Room or you may contact Tony Traback, Pastor of Mission Mobilization at , 408-252-5500 x110.

• We would like to get a head-count of who will be participating in which project before August 31st so signing up is greatly appreciated. The leader for each of the projects may also need to contact you prior to August 31 to arrange details.

_______________

Life Together Discussion Questions

 

Context for understanding Life Together

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (BONHOEFFER) wrote Life Together (LT) when his own "confessing church" was suffering significant tensions.  In 1933 the German national

church had made its fateful peace with the Nazi regime, the suppression of the Old Testament (even Jesus' Jewishness) and Hitler's judgment that no Jewish convert could be a member of any congregation, thus making the church a partner in the persecution of the Jews that would eventually lead to the Holocaust.  The "confessing church" formed in 1933 as a result of the National Church's pact with the new Caesar.  Despite its agreement that the Gospel could not make peace with Hitler's agenda, the confessing church was

itself torn by tensions over the types of resistance and the degree of involvement to take in standing with the persecuted Jewish community.  It was in this context  of deep tension within his church that BONHOEFFER penetrated to the heart of what our Christian fellowship is founded upon and what the satanic schemes are, deeply embedded in our own hearts, to seduce, undermine, co-opt, and divide the church.

 

The Church in America does not face the same types of pressure as the German churches of the 1930's.  They faced the seduction and violent pressure of nationalism, racialism, etc.  We face the inner pressures of individualism, spiritual consumerism, etc.  But, their issues writ large and BONHOEFFER's clarion call to Biblical community can help us identify the areas for growth in our friendships, family, and community life, both at the small group level and in the River as a whole. 

 

Reflection Questions

 

Chapter 1 - Community

1.  BONHOEFFER calls us to a life of radical gratitude for any fellowship we

share with other believers.  Why is this hard for us?  How can we appreciate

what Christian fellowship truly is?  How can you foster this godly gratitude

in your family? Your small group?

 

2.   BONHOEFFER emphasizes that our fellowship with one another is "under the Word"

and "in Jesus Christ" (21).  Is this how you understand your fellowship with

other believers?  What do you make of his claim that we have not "direct"

relationship with another believer, that Jesus Christ always stands between

you and another believer? (32, 35)  Is his exposure of psychic vs. spiritual

community good news to you? Why is it hard for us to see our own "human

loves" in the Light of Christ for what they are, especially contrasted to

the gift of spiritual love? (34f)

 

3.  He contrasts our "wish dreams" for community and emotional highs with

actual community, which is a gift from God we can only receive and live in

day by day. (26f)  How does the healthy disillusionment he describes on p.

27 connect the dots in your own spiritual journey?  How about in the River's

history and your River experience?  How can we move through disillusionment

without falling into cynicism?

 

4.  He strongly cautions against small group communities, which, having

experienced a spiritual high, distance themselves from the larger Body of

Christ. (37)  Why do you think this is so dangerous?  How can we balance

strong small group life with strong Body life? 

 

 

Chapter 2 -The Day with Others

1.  BONHOEFFER claims "Morning does not belong to the individual, it belongs to the

church . . . " (41)  and that each AM is a remembrance of Christ's

resurrection.  How can this be applied in our contexts? (mothers, commuters,

house-mates, etc.)  How can our AM routines be redemptive vs. anxious and

consumed with work? (43)

 

2.  He lays a high priority on praying the Psalms, and particularly,

understanding our prayer of the Psalms as being united with Jesus' prayer of

the Psalms. (44f)  Does this have merit in terms of our prayer life as

individuals, small groups, and the River as a whole?  What would beginning

to pray the Psalms look like?

 

3.  What do you make of his argument for Christians to read whole chapters

of the Scriptures together, to master the Scriptures? How about his

conclusion, "But one who will not learn to handle the Bible for himself is

not an evangelical Christian"? (55)  What would need to change in our lives

and small groups for the story of redemptive history to become our

narrative, for us to see ourselves in all the ups and downs of the Jewish

people and the early churches? (53)

 

4.  Why does he include singing after personal prayer and the reading of the

Word? (58)  What blocks our hearts from singing freely?  What would it take

for us to sing in our small group or our family in the simple "unison" a

capella singing he recommends?  What blocks us?

 

5.  BONHOEFFER encourages festive communal meals vs. eating alone, hurried,

distracted.  (68) How can this become more of a reality for your

family/household/small group?  Regarding work, have you ever broken through

the "it" of your work to the "Thou" behind it?  How does work ground us in

reality? 

 

6.  He writes, "It is perilous for the Christian to lie down to sleep with

an unreconciled heart" (74) How can you practice forgiveness at the end of

each day with those closest to you?