What a great day we experienced this past Sunday with Alan Sibley and The Magnolia Ramblers singing in both services! We also rejoice in receiving Butch Rose and his son Gabe on transfer of church letter. Please seek an opportunity to meet them and make them feel welcome.
Thank you to Brad Replogle, Gainer Hiers, and Dorothy Jacobs for attending the PRBA Fall Associational Meeting as messengers representing RPBC. The Associational Book of Reports shows that RPBC, for the SIXTH year in a row, led the Association in baptisms! Many of those saved were teenagers. We were so blessed to have Austin Mason for 3 years, a Student Minister who loved our teenagers and wanted them to know Jesus. Let me use this as an occasion to ask you to pray fervently for our Search Committee as they are diligently working to find our next Minister of Youth and Education.
This Sunday’s message will continue in our series of “Journey to the Center of Your World: Developing a God-Centered Worldview.” The title of this message is, “The Bible and a God-Centered Worldview.” Do you know how we got our Bible? Do you know who wrote it? How old it is? What its purpose is? Do you know why Scripture is so vital in you being able to develop a God-centered worldview? I hope you will be here Sunday as we seek to answer those questions and more!
If you have not been to Sunday School lately, you don’t know what you have been missing! We have a new Young Adult class, some new teachers, 4 of our adult classes have swapped rooms because of growth, and the Preschool and Children’s areas have been upgraded. Parents, check out the children’s video and activity rooms! This is the perfect time to reengage or plug in to the largest and most vital ministry of our church – Sunday School.
UPDATE: We were gaining momentum toward bringing drawings and a recommendation before the church to build a gym – and then COVID hit. Our Gym Concept Committee has dusted off the plans, and received an updated estimate. Architectural drawings are being made, and then they will be submitted to the City Engineer to determine that what we envision will meet the city code. Shortly after the 1st of the new year (2022) we hope to be ready to make a special presentation of the proposed gym and bring it to a vote. Please pray diligently that we will be unified in discerning God’s will for our future.
We continue to sense God’s powerful presence and a sense of excitement building Sunday by Sunday. In a very real sense we are emerging from a COVID “trial by fire.” We are stronger. Satan meant us harm, but God has used it for good. We have avoided ‘mask wars,’ ‘vax wars,’ and division. I believe that as a church we have kept the main thing the main thing! We have preached and taught Jesus, and Him crucified. We have loved on, ministered to, and prayed for one another. And, for the past year we led the Association in baptisms (26) and were tied for the most “other additions” (18). COVID caused us to develop a livestream ministry, and now through livestreaming our Sunday morning worship service and Wednesday evening Bible Study, we are reaching many more people overall than we were prior to COVID! We met budget (and have given much more through special offerings), added a new adult Sunday School class, relocated our Youth Wednesday night worship to the Fellowship Hall because they ran out of space in the youth room, and have spruced up and modernized throughout our facility. We held our annual Ladies Luncheon, had a record number who participated in our youth DNOW, conducted Children’s DNOW, VBS, Youth Summer Camp, Children’s Summer Camp, and just completed 4-day revival services. We have hosted Gospel singing groups, participated in Bible Drills, and held a blood drive. On top of all of this, there are so many other things our church has done in just the past year, but space won’t allow me to list them all. In the past almost 2 years, we have been through one of the greatest challenges our church has ever encountered. By God’s grace, we have not only survived, but we have THRIVED! To God be all the glory!
Thank you, Jesus, for your love, mercy, and grace!
Dan
