I love my Daily Devotional New Testament, published by Crossway. I think I’m on my third year through it.
On September 20, the reading was from Hebrews 12:18-24:
For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Here's an encouraging excerpt from the devotional comment:
This unspeakably wonderful and mysterious insight tells us that there is some sense in which Christians are already participating in the heavenly community of God’s kingdom together with angels, the “assembly” of believers throughout time, God the Father, and our Savior Jesus.
Though this profound spiritual reality exists for all genuine believers from their first moment of faith, the invisible nature of this heavenly fellowship makes it difficult to fully appreciate. While we are here on earth, there is no greater experience of this heavenly gathering than when we gather with other believers in our local churches to worship Christ, hear the preaching of the gospel in God’s Word, and partake of the Lord’s Supper. The weekly gathering of Christ’s church is the clearest picture of heaven on earth. [Emphasis mine.]
Amen! Praise the Lord for our weekly gatherings! May we all grasp the full significance of our Lord’s Day corporate worship.
Amy and I love you and thank God for placing us in the RCC family!
Pressing on with you, with our eyes fixed on Jesus,
Pastor Butch
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Book of the Month - "Devoted To God's Church" by Sinclair B. Ferguson |
Being a Christian is not an individualistic or isolated activity. Believing also involves belonging. Being a Christian, by definition, involves belonging to the church.
This is not a book full of ideas about how your church ought to change or what it needs to do in order to grow or to be successful. Rather it is about how we fit into our own church. There are hallmarks of church life that should be stamped on all our churches because they are applicable everywhere and anywhere — New Testament values for any size of church, in any part of the world, at any time.
Devoted to God’s Church will serve to help new Christians understand what it is to be part of a church, and will also be a refreshing reminder to every Christian of what it should look like to belong to the family of God.
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Click on the book image for more information and to order your copy today! |
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Here are the notes from our last meeting on September 16, 2020:
- Mark opened our meeting with prayer.
- We discussed current body life, focusing on those with sicknesses.
- Butch gave a brief report on the recent Deacon meeting. We thank God so much for our Deacons and all they do to serve our church family!
- We discussed the new modular unit that is being planned for the youth. Please pray with us for the resources to accomplish this. Much is involved, such as disposing of the old units, reconfiguring the decking and walkways, new awnings, etc. We believe this is a priority for the next year, and will be a much needed improvement to our campus. Our goal at this time looks like this:
- Keep unit #4 for the “Band of Brothers” on Wednesday night, with a storage area (configured like unit #1).
- Discard units 1, 2, and 3, and replace them with a double-wide unit for the youth.
- In the area of technology, we are looking at adding a security camera for the new counseling office and a TV in the mother’s room of the nursery area for watching the service while feeding or taking care of babies.
· We approved a discussion group for the women, to be led by Shana Latimer. The Women’s Ministry will provide more details later as to the subject, time, and location of this gathering.
· Covenant Sunday will be September 27, from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm, on the church grounds. There will be outside games and fellowship, and each family provides their own food. Bring folding chairs also. It’s going to be fun!
· We continue to thank God for our church family, and we pray for God’s grace to be the shepherds that He desires. Praise God for our Chief Shepherd, our Lord Jesus! Keep your eyes on him!
· Jeremy closed our meeting in prayer.
Working together with you for our joy in Jesus,
The Elders of RCC
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Midweek Fellowship and Prayer Night |
We are still gathering at RCC on Wednesday nights for Midweek Fellowship and Prayer Night. Gathering begins at 6:00 PM outside in the picnic and playground area. Families are welcome to bring their own dinner (optional) and eat with other families, but there will not be a covered dish meal.
- There are organized games for the Kids Rock age kids, and volleyball and basketball are an option for the youth/anyone who wants to play.
- Men and women will alternate every week going into the sanctuary for either a prayer meeting or Bible study.
- Youth are welcome to go in as well, since there will be no official youth activities at this time.
- Whoever is not meeting will stay outside with the kids. In the event of rain, there will be no outside activities but prayer meeting will begin at 6:45 for whoever's turn it is.
Important: There will be no gathering on October 14th due to Fall Break!
This week (October 7th) will be the men's turn. When we resume after Fall Break (October 21st), it will be the women's turn. This will continue until we resume regular mid-week activities.
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But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me. |
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This year for Kids Rock, we would have been going through the book "God's Gospel" study from Truth:78. This would be a wonderful discipleship tool for families to do during the week while we are not able to meet in person for Kids Rock! If you're interested, you can order it from the Truth:78 Website by clicking on the image.
Donna Lingerfelt also has old Kids Rock studies available for check-out in her office (the Next Generation Ministry library). See her if you're interested, or email her at [email protected].
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Announcement - Youth Pumpkin Carving Contest! |
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On Sunday, October 4th, we will have our first youth activity at the Burkholders' house. There will be volleyball, s'mores, and a pumpkin carving contest! The time will be 5:30-8:30 PM. We are asking everyone to bring your own picnic dinner or eat ahead of time.
Families are welcome to attend. If younger siblings are attending then one parent must stay as well. Please let us know if you plan to attend so we know how many pumpkins to buy and teams we will have for the contest. Looking forward to spending time with y'all!
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Women's Ministry Update - "Conversations on the Culture" |
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The women's ministry would like to announce that we're hosting "Conversations on the Culture": coming in November! This will be a gathering facilitated by Shana Latimer. See the message from Shana following. Each time we gather (schedule TBD), we will examine a topic that affects the culture, and our aim is to consider it through a Biblical lens. We would love to invite you to be a part of this at whatever level of engagement you'd like. As the women's ministry began to pray and consider what opportunities we can put out to the ladies of RCC, we all found ourselves eager for Biblical perspectives, grounding us in the Word, on cultural conversations.
Has anyone else felt overwhelmed at all the topics in the news feed: COVID, racism, fascism, politics, gender, etc.? Shana is a PhD candidate and professor at Georgia State University. She has the unique position to hear what conversations and issues are being given consideration and weight at the university level. Unfortunately, the academic minds of our time are largely anti-Christian. It can be helpful in our engaging the culture for the gospel to be privy to the influences seeping in to the culture and ultimately the church through academia. We will examine different topics each time, throughout the year. Specific information on our first meeting will be sent via email in the next few weeks. We pray this will be a blessing to our sisters in Christ at RCC! Please see the following message from Shana:
On a recent visit to the Creation Museum, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture Ken Hamm was giving. Before Hamm began his lecture, he asked the audience if anyone in attendance had read Charles Darwin. No audience members raised their hands. Hamm talked about how important it is for those who believe in creation as articulated in the Bible to understand the opposing worldview articulated by Darwin. As a Christian academic in a predominantly secular environment, Hamm’s approach resonated with me. An understanding of the opposition often develops and strengthens a person’s position on an issue and makes their argument more effective.
Last month, Bekah Kirkland asked me if I would be willing to facilitate discussions for Christian women who want to better understand our current cultural climate. Our goal for these sessions is to provide information, develop discussion, and analyze social issues from a biblical perspective so that we, as Christians, can more effectively engage others and articulate our position on social matters. In the first session, Understanding the Marxist Influence on American Culture, I will talk about how Marxist ideology was appropriated by feminist scholars, transformed academia, and is the impetus for much of the turmoil we see in America today.
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Upcoming Dates:
October 8 - Deacon Meeting
October 27 - Elder Meeting
December 11 - "Behold the Lamb of God"(tentative)
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2455 Old Salem Rd SE
Conyers, GA 30013
Phone: 770-922-0107
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