Oct 16, 2022

Live Stream

October 16, 2022

Thanks for joining us today at Riv! Check out the links above to stay connected with what’s going on.

Holt Venue

For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.

Colossians 1:9-12
 

In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:14-17
 

Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him  —  if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

Colossians 1:21-23
 

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift —  not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

Ephesians 2:8-10
 

Holt Venue

REO Town Venue

Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life.

Philippians 2:14-16
 

Grumble [Gruhm-buhl]: to cast doubt and express displeasure in an unjustified ways; secret murmurings and complaints against God, leaders, or fellow believers that arise from pride and lead to disunity.

 

Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

James 5:9, NIV
 

These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Jude 16, NIV
 

And don’t grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer. These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.

1 Corinthians 10:10-12
 

As Christians, we are responsible to maintain the unity of our local churches, and to do that, we need to protect our relationships with our brothers and sisters… As long as sin remains in us, conflict will remain in the church. Though it is unfortunate, it is also inevitable. There will be times when we disagree with others. There will be times when we need to confront other people for their sinful actions or attitudes or to dispute with others to contend for the truth and guard the gospel. But both must be handled with love and grace. Both must be seen as opportunities to further unity rather than further disrupt it. Both must be seen as threats to our calling to shine as lights in this dark and needy world.
– Tim Challies

&nbps;

Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

James 4:11-12
 

To Shine Like Stars:

  • Talk to God (first)
  • Let (some) stuff go
  • Engage with teachable humility
  • Look to Jesus
  •  

    Lord, my every desire is in front of you; my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart races, my strength leaves me, and even the light of my eyes has faded. My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction, and my relatives stand at a distance. LORD, do not abandon me; my God, do not be far from me. Hurry to help me, my Lord, my salvation.

    Psalm 38:9-11,21-22
     

    Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

    Proverbs 19:11, ESV
     

    “Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye, but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam of wood in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter in your brother’s eye.

    Luke 6:41-42
     

    Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life.

    Philippians 2:12-16
     

    REO Town Venue

    Westside Venue

    As we’ve done this research, what we’e discovered is that, frankly, we don’t like any of them. Instead, what we do is we listen to all of them, and we take bits and pieces from each one. And we blend that together into a customized worldview that describes what we feel, what we think, what we want, where we want to go, how we want to live. – George Barna.

     

    For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?

    1 Corinthians 3:1-3
     

    What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you? You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.

    James 4:1-4
     

    Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions — is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

    1 John 2:15-17
     

    Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

    Ephesians 5:1-2
     

    But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

    1 Timothy 4:7-8
     

    “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.

    John 15:18-19
     

    I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

    John 17:14-18
     

    Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

    James 1:27
     

    When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

    Leviticus 23:22, NIV
     

    When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

    Leviticus 19.33-34, NIV
     

    I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

    Jeremiah 1:5
     

    So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.

    Genesis 1:27
     

    For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.

    Psalm 139:13-14
     

    Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

    John 14:6
     

    There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.

    Acts 4:12
     

    My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father — Jesus Christ the righteous one. He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

    1 John 2:1-2
     

    The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

    Matthew 11:19
     

    Westside Venue

    Riv communities are multi-generational groups of 20-40 people that meet twice monthly in homes or other public spaces all around the Lansing area. While we gather during weekend services as a large church family in each of our venues, this is a chance to invest in, and be connected with, those that live near you.
     
    We’ll talk about life and how our faith intersects with what’s going on currently in the world and in our lives. Each community looks a bit different, there might be food, some hanging out, conversation, some video, maybe music, serving opportunities; but overall just a place to be with others and have a chance to know others.

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    Chaos: 7-8th grade, Sundays from 4-6pm at our Holt and Westside Venues.

    Element: 9-12th grade, Sundays from 6:30-8:30pm at our Holt and Westside Venues.

     

    Chaos & Element will not meet at Holt this weekend. We’ll be at the Country Mill in Charlotte. If you’re interested in joining, meet inside Door 3 at 12:30pm. We’ll be back around 5:00pm.

     
    At riv we’re passionate about investing in the next generation. Our student ministries create a space for students to not only hear the Gospel through teaching, but through faithful relationships with leaders. Each week we’ll play games, eat snacks, meet with life groups, and hear one of our leaders teach. We’d love to see you Sundays at our Holt and Westside Venues!

    Sunday, October 30

    During Weekend Service

     
    Baptism is a way to share with your people that you’re committed to following Christ. Because of this, baptisms are some of our favorite weekends here at Riv! We look forward to celebrating the ways God is working in your life and walk alongside you as you continue to grow in your faith.

    If you’re interested in getting baptized at our Holt, REO Town, or Westside Venue, click below to sign up.

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