A Quick Who We Are
The River is a diverse group of people looking to follow Jesus as best we can into the things we feel called to pursue. Our motto is one of love and connection. Leadership at The River is open to anyone looking to follow Jesus. It doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are, what gender you are, or what your sexual orientation is. We do our best to support one another through both the good times and the bad. We laugh, cry, pray, and learn together.
It’s All About Connection
The River has a desire to see faith become accessible to the growing sea of people who would identify themselves as spiritual but who may also self-identify as religiously averse. We’re motivated by the understanding that:
- Faith is all about connection—to self, others, the world and God.
- We need connection more than we need answers.
- God is a living God who can find us and be found by us.
- Our tendency to judge is a big problem.
- There is no bad news in the good news of Jesus.
As a church, we are committed to being a nurturing environment where love is at the core of our actions and extends to every people group. This love is first extended to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Our love for God is expressed in our worship which happens both with our mouths but also with our actions. We value small groups as a place where people can learn about God and the Bible as well as extend love to others. We aim to be a place where one can “Belong.”
We are also committed to leaving time for the Holy Spirit to act, speak, and teach. Jesus said that it was good that he return to Heaven so that we would receive the Holy Spirit, and by extension, access to God. We teach about the gifts of the spirit, healing, and the casting out of demons as is demonstrated by Jesus and by those who followed Jesus. This is what we call “Heal.”
We are committed to teaching. We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Biblical text is present in our small groups, classes and services. We follow the model set by Jesus: Jesus acted, Jesus modeled, Jesus allowed others to act under His supervision, and then Jesus sent those people out to repeat the process. We follow this model because we believe it will bring meaning to our lives in a way that merely observing cannot possibly replicate. This is what we call “Grow.”
We are committed to compassionately connecting in our communities. God tells us to clothe the poor, share our food, take care of orphans, widows, and the like. When we exercise the love of God by caring for others, we actuate God’s calling on our lives, and we create an inviting environment for community. God also tells us that every nation and every language will worship God in Heaven. We purpose ourselves to connect with those nations now. This is what we call “Share.”
You may have seen our tagline: Real Life. Real People. Real God.
Real life? The Bible tells us that we will have trouble. But Jesus tells us to take heart because he has overcome the world. The Bible also promises that Jesus will be present to our suffering and will help us to grow. Jesus tells us not to worry because God knows the things we need. So while we will certainly feel pressed in life, we will be taken care of by God in a way that confounds reason and brings supernatural peace. We want to experience all that God has for us each day and we believe that what God has for each and every one of us is meaningful.
Real people? You will notice that we like community a whole lot around here. We have small groups, shared meals, and outreach activities available many days of the week. We get together because we believe that where 2 or 3 are gathered, the Lord is right there with us. And we believe that God will answer our prayers. So we are living out all of that real life stuff with other people. We expect that being honest with each other will bring healing and growth in our lives, that God will turn our lives around, helping us to experience great joy, peace and love.
Real God? We believe that God is alive and active. We believe that when we ask for healing, God has the power to heal today. We believe that God is acting on our behalf and wants only good for us. And we believe that God desires relationship with us.
Remember those four words, “Belong – Heal – Grow – Share?” We want to do our best to live out these four things from now until we breathe our last breath. Without real relationships, without healing, without growth, without passing the love of Jesus on to others, our lives will not feel complete.
More on “Compassionately Connecting in our Communities”
On the individual level, we hope that we are ever increasing our capacity to care about others whether that be opening the door for someone, giving up your seat on the bus, or making a meal for a neighbor. Insmaller groups of people, maybe that means picking up the trash in your neighborhood or participating in a local community center. On the large group level, we hope to someday impact our community through the ability to feed people, provide short-term shelter, provide job training skills, or even have a community center. These large group dreams are only dreams right now, but we are excited to play a part.
So who are we? We are real people with real lives that are experiencing that life with a real God. And that is changing everything.
Sundays at 10:30am
