June 12, 2026

Dear Rockford Reformed Church family and friends,

Here’s a quick note with an added summary of God’s provision for our finances. Many of us are taking trips and breaks in various ways, but ministry and planning goes on over these summer months. As you will see on Sunday as you enter the worship space, a week of VBS gets underway that evening. Bible studies, youth trips, and fall planning for our progress with our vision toward maturity and community impact.

We are all being catechized by our culture, social media, doom-scrolling, news, and our relationships every day. Our fall planning is leading us toward a focus on deeper discipleship with being increasingly catechized with biblical truths, life-transforming doctrine, and daily application. Biblical illiteracy is much more dangerous than cancer. And so, we need a steady diet of gospel truth to overcome the apathy, temptations, and resistance of our sinful hearts and the cultural air we breathe.

No one is exempt from the need for daily immersion in God’s Word and the relational nurturing of prayer. Family worship and devotional times will yield fruit for all of us. You are also encouraged to dig into the foundational, solid resources that you find in the Curated Collection shelves in our fellowship lobby. Excellent additional resources such as daily/weekly devotionals can be found at PaulTripp.com or thegospelcoalition.org.

We have so much to be thankful for relating to our facilities after the renovation and continued upgrades in many parts of the building. The livestream worship services are an excellent way to stay connected while you are away this summer. We are continuing to work toward improving the livestream and the sound system. You should also know that our WIFI has been significantly upgraded so that it is consistent and strong throughout the facility. This is important in part because much of our sound, worship, and livestream equipment is dependent on it. As well, the WIFI is now equipped with access restrictions to reduce the temptations for improper use. Access on our WIFI can also be monitored and isolated to identity where improper use comes up.

Keep in touch through the bulletin and the weekly Prayer List so that you can be supporting our church family and ministries with prayer. It’s easy to forget that the battle is spiritual and reassuring that despite all the chaos in our world and lives, we can take heart because Jesus our King has overcome the world (John 16:33)!

I look forward to sharing two important texts over the next two weeks about the dangers of pride and how we can take the path to humility. On this Sunday, we will focus on Daniel 4 (along with celebrating communion together) and next Sunday, we will turn to 1 Peter 5:5-7. Invite your neighbors, co-workers, and friends to join us. 

One of the greatest needs, commands, and challenges is for us all to extend hospitality and invite others into our orbit of friends and relationships. There are always guests and newer members who need and long for connection. Use this summertime to look for those with whom you can build a relationship. People need more than friendly, they need friends!

See the financial report below from our treasurer, Jerry Swett. We praise God for his provision in so many ways. 

Grace and peace,

Pastor Tim

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Dear Congregation,

As Summer makes its appearance, I’m always reminded of God’s promise of new seasons. As we begin our new fiscal year, the financial statements have been completed through April 30, 2026. Thanks to your faithful giving, through April we have a small surplus with contributions exceeding expenses. Total Ministry and Missions (M & M) contributions were $246,023, which was 100.5% of the budgeted amount. Total M & M expenses were $232,032, which was 94.5% of the budgeted amount. That left us with a $13,991 surplus for the four months ending April 30, 2026. Thank you for your continued giving to the operations, programs and missionary support of our church.

The Deacons were also blessed with a Benevolence offering amounting to $10,147. Thank you for your continued support for this fund. The Deacons will be able to continue supporting those in need with these additional funds.

As of April 30, 2026, our outstanding loan balance on the Welcome/Expansion debt was $737,527. In April, along with our regular payment of $7,474 we were able to pay down an extra $240,000 on this debt thanks to your generous giving to the challenge match gift. Thank you. As we go forward, we will continue to have monthly loan payments of $7,474 which are over and above the M & M budgeted amounts. Please consider giving a monthly amount to the Welcome Renovation Fund to help cover this expense and to help us to pay down our outstanding debt more rapidly.

We are currently in the process of updating our streaming capabilities and sound system. This will take a little while, so let’s be patient. The good news is that the funds are all available for this work.

Are you aware that on the backs of the sanctuary chairs there are envelopes for giving? There are two different kinds of envelopes, a general one for support of the Ministry & Missions fund and a pink Welcome giving initiative one for support of debt reduction. Just thought I should clarify this as the deacons have recently received questions regarding the purpose of these envelopes.  

Double-Up Sunday may be returning. This involves asking the congregation to double-up on their giving for one Sunday in the last month of each quarter. This extra amount will be used for a specific purpose such as paydown of debt, replenishment of the Capital Planning Escrow Fund or for Benevolence. Please be praying about how you might be able to support this.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support,

Jerry Swett

Treasurer