Wow! What a great way to end the old year and start the New Year! We had 24 baptisms on Sunday, December 27 and so far we have had baptisms every Sunday in the New Year! The church that started on the Day of Pentecost in the book of Acts saw people coming to the Lord daily, so one of the big bold prayers that I’m praying is that we will have more than 365 baptisms next year!
In the Old Testament book of Proverbs, King Solomon gives the following advice to the people -
“Know well the condition of your flocks...” (Proverbs 27:23 ESV)
Now, no doubt, this verse refers to actual sheep and the advice is primarily to those who tend actual flocks. However, there is an important principle here that applies to the ongoing ministry of any local congregation… including RVCC.
If you like to take care of your finances online, remember that we now offer the option of online giving. This is a safe and easy way to support the ministries of Rainier View Christian Church.
We've created a new Fan Page on Facebook that we'll be updating as construction takes off in the next week or so. If you're already on Facebook make us a fan so we can send you updates. If you don't have a Facebook account yet, now would be a great time.
If you just don't want to do the Facebook thing, you don't have to have an account to follow this link and check for updates yourself.
More good news to share about the generosity of our congregation through the recent holiday season...
42 families were provided with Thanksgiving dinner in the Thanksgiving Baskets that you helped put together with your donations of money and food.
We collected gift-filled shoe boxes to help share the love of Jesus with 620 children in China, Mongolia, Peru, Indonesia, and the Philippines through the ministry of Operation Christmas Child.
More than 50 families came to the Christmas Family Store where they "shopped" for gifts that you brought after taking a tag from the Giving Tree. The items that were left were left after the Christmas Family Store were shared with the Family Renewal Shelter and Care Net Pregnancy & Family Services.
"We thank you so very much for your blessed donation of clothing and toys this Christmas. Our clients were able to have presents for their children. Your donation was greatly appreciated by all of us. Blessings and Happy New Year!" ~Care Net
"We can't thank you enough for offering a helping hand to these families when they though they were all alone. We are so grateful for your donation of toys for Christmas in December of 2009. Your friendship and support allows us to continue to be a place of renewal. A place where Christmas, although different, will be beautiful." ~ Family Renewal Shelter
We also want to give a "Way to go!" to our Sewing Seeds ladies who gave 50 children's hats, 15 infant hat and bootie sets, 18 adult hat and scarf sets, 60 women's and children's hats, 43 fleece scarves, and 90 adult scarves to The Salvation Army, blessing 276 people with their handmade gifts.
"We thank each and every one of you for your thoughts, time, talent and energy. What a tremendous effort! Often there is not much we can do for our clients except offer them a word of prayer and a little food. Giving them a hand knitted scarf or hat brings a sense of caring and concern to the individual. Please feel good about the work your group does for the needy families, handicapped and elderly folks here in Eastern Pierce County." The Salvation Army, Puyallup Valley Corps
Baptisms on and since December 27, 2009
• Rebekah Boettcher • Daniel Cook • Cindi Curry • Deborah Demorest • Carolyn Fechter •
• Jackson Forbes • Molly Ford • Rick Gorman • Terry Headley • Jade Helde • Jennifer Johnson •
• Billy Levison • Darby Levison • Heather Little • Corey Parker • Eva Petty • Kristin Remmey
• Sharon Robinson • Jeremy Samiec • Colleen Sanders • Perry Settles Marvin Stewart • JP Stockwell •
• Ed Stryker • Daniela Summers • Lisa Ulrich • Scott Winslow • Travis Yakis •
As you see these folks around, be sure to give them a word of encouragement and congratulate them for taking this great step of faith!
In our series, QUESTIONS: What Questions might God Ask Us as We Begin a New Year? we are hearing some very important and probing questions.
On January, 3, we considered the question, WHAT: What Big Thing Will You Ask Me To Do? What big things are you praying for this year? In addition to praying for 365 baptisms at Rainier View this year, I’m praying for the attendance of our Graham campus to double by year’s end! What BIG prayers will you pray that honor the SIZE and POWER of our BIG God? I can’t wait for the testimonies of answered prayer to start coming in!
In week two of the series, I challenged you to imagine God asking you this question: HOW: As You Begin A New Year, How Will You Help Spread the Story of Good News? Perhaps the best action point for this message is for you to take the time and actually write down a list of people’s names that you want to invest more time and effort in developing a quality friendship with for the sake of their eternity. Then ask God to help you plant the seeds of Good News with wisdom and confidence, looking for an opening to invite them to hear more about the life-changing, eternity-altering Good News of Jesus.
We have three more important questions to consider in this series:
WHO? Sunday, January 17 WHERE? Sunday, January 24 WHY? Sunday, January 31
You’ll have to be in our services on those three Sundays to find out just what the questions are that God might ask.
Matt will kick off a brand new series on February 7 called, God, Help Me With My Relationships. The first installment in the relationship series is The Secret Ingredient For All Healthy Relationships. In week two Cheri will help me with a message for Valentine’s Day, Reigniting The Romance In Marriage! Week three, on February 21, is Are We Speaking The Same Language? and the final week in the series is When Your Relationships Need Boundary Lines. Sometimes all of us could use a little coaching to make things better in our relational world. Perhaps one of these upcoming messages is THE one that God will use to give you the help you need to improve your relationships. Maybe one of these upcoming messages will be the one to really help your For-the-sake-of-eternity friends. Now is the time to be investing and inviting—for the sake of eternity!
Throughout the New Testament, those with the responsibility for leading and caring for God’s people are urged to…
“tend my sheep… feed my lambs…feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17 ESV)
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28 ESV)
“shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Peter 5:2 ESV)
The image of the congregation being “sheep” and the leaders being “shepherds” is rich in Scripture… it is also very enlightening when we consider how a congregation is to care for one another.
As we move into 2010, one of the ministry goals for RVCC is the continued development and deployment of our Shepherding Team Ministry. The basic goal of this team is to “shepherd the flock of God” known as Rainier View Christian Church. A starting place for that ongoing ministry comes directly out of Solomon’s words in Proverbs 27… we need to “know well the condition of our flock”.
You can help us with this… and it’s pretty easy to do. Each Sunday there is a Welcome Sheet in the bulletin with space for your name and prayer requests, as well as other information. That sheet is the first step for our leaders to properly shepherd the flock here. When you fill it out, you are giving us a very basic piece of information… that you were with us in worship. By looking at the information from the Welcome Sheets, the Shepherding Team, elders, and pastors gain understanding of the condition of the RVCC flock. It is when we see that someone’s attendance has shifted, that they have missed several weeks in a row, that we know some Shepherding/Pastoral attention is called for.
How can you help us? It’s quite easy… simply fill out the Welcome Sheet each Sunday that you are with us. Now, if you don’t have new address, phone, or e-mail information, don’t worry… you don’t have to fill out that part (those spaces are there so you can keep us informed of any new information we may need in that regard). The spaces for prayer requests and comments are there when you need them, as well. Each week, though, you can fill in your name and check the box to let us know which campus you were at.
It’s really that easy. And it will really help us to “know well the condition of our flock”.
