Riverside Community Church Blog

2011 goals for Riverside

As we enter into this new year, it is a time to set some goals for ourselves and as a church.  2011 is the year of the disciple for Riverside.  I will use this blog as a way to teach and inform.  This is the first of many blogs focused on being a disciple.

A disciple defined in the dictionary is “one who assists in spreading the teachings of another.”  The life of a disciple is clearly shaped by who is doing the shaping!  Jesus is our leader and we are His followers.  We strive to know Him and to make Him known.  Being a disciple of Jesus is a lifelong pursuit and it doesn’t end in 2011.  We will focus on being a disciple this year to see a movement begin in our lives that will last as long as we live!  As we dig into books of the Bible like Galatians this January we want you to be aware of three areas.  Those three areas are:  Biblical Diet, Purpose/ Call and Reproduction.

Biblical Diet:

A diet is what we eat.  The basic goal of eating is to keep us alive and healthy.  We know when we are eating right or wrong based on results.  Our health will reflect our diet over time.  Spiritually, a Biblical Diet is not too different.  We are called into a relationship with God and He has given us His word the Bible to keep us close to Him.  He speaks directly to us through His word.  If you want to know God then you have to be in His word constantly.  Notice I did not say consistently!  Being consistent can turn into a routine and lose the passion of a relationship.  I want us to be constant which reveals a life giving need we have for God.  In order to have a full Biblical Diet one must be able to grow to feed oneself.  This is your goal for 2011!  We want everyone at Riverside to be able to search the scripture and be able to study in a way that leads them into a full vibrant relationship with God.   As we preach and teach this coming year our goal is to lead you to be able to study so that you seek out God constantly and you hear His voice through the word. 

We want Riverside to change from a restaurant to a kitchen.  A restaurant is where you go to get great food.  You pay for the expertise of that chef.  Restaurants are great places and they can deliver some great experiences but you become too dependent of someone else’s ability and never develop your own.   A kitchen is a place of learning and development.  It is where the secrets of recipes and skills are shared.  We want Riverside to be a kitchen where God is teaching and developing you so that you will be able to feed and teach others around you. 

We will use Galatians as our first lesson on how to study a book of the New Testament.  You will need to come prepared to learn and develop new skills to be used on your own.  A good suggestion is to have a notebook dedicated for Sunday mornings and a Bible that you can underline and write in.  We will also offer special training opportunities called Synergy throughout the year. Synergy will help us develop in a small group environment and use the skills taught.  This is an exciting time for you to grow in your pursuit of God!

Keep checking this blog as we continue with goals 2 and 3 in the coming weeks.  Get prepared as begin this journey.

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