Dear River Reach Family,
They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:59-60
It is natural to assume that the Lord blesses His most godly and faithful servants with visible ministry success and personal comfort. I mean if God is happy with you then life will be pleasant and peaceful! Right? The early church selected Stephen to be a deacon based on his readily visible love for the Lord and Holy Spirit empowered ministry (Acts 6:3, 5). The Lord blessed Stephen’s personal witness for Christ with accompanying signs and wonders to authenticate his testimony for Christ. Not too long into his ministry Stephen ran into a group of fiercely zealous Jews and in the will of God became the first to testify of Jesus through martyrdom (Acts 7:59-60). Was Stephen’s life a waste? Did God fail Him? How do you witness for Christ to those who are hardened in their hearts? This Sunday morning we will learn from the life of Stephen how to witness for Christ to hardened hearts.
Sermon: “Sharing Christ with Hardened Hearts” – Acts 6:8-7:60
Picnic @ the Rowley’s this Sunday evening!
If you don’t have other plans this Sunday evening, we would like to invite you over to our house for a summer picnic! We will plan to start at about 6:00. You are welcome to stay as long or as short as you like. We look forward to a good time of fellowship with you! The food will be provided including: hamburgers, hotdogs, coleslaw, chips, strawberry shortcake, etc!
Praise the Lord for a wonderful VBS!
Thank you for your prayers for VBS this past week! We thank the Lord for the hard work and ministry of 39 teenagers and sponsors from Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis who put on a wonderful VBS program. Several young people made professions of faith in Jesus and the Gospel was shared with young person and parents. Please continue to pray that the Lord would bless the efforts of this week with long term fruit. A big thank you to the Powells for their time and labor this week preparing meals and keeping the team moving forward! The teens were also able to get a lot of work done on our grounds.
Upcoming Events:
- Sunday 6/23 – 9:25am – Sunday Classes (Adult and Children’s classes)
- 10:30am – Morning Worship: “Acts: Your Part in God’s Plan”
- 6:00pm – Summer Picnic at the Rowley’s house
- Wednesday 6/26 – 6:30pm – Prayer Time / Bible Study
- Friday 6/28 – 6:00pm – Ladies Night Out
- July 27-28: RRBC 10th Anniversary weekend celebration
Prayer Requests:
- Fruit from VBS for the glory of our Lord
- Dianne’s husband David’s health
- Emjay’s back to heal
- Safety and and enjoyable time for those on vacation
- Spiritual growth for those being discipled
- Our nation to repent and turn to God
- Someone that the Lord can use you to lead to Christ
- Someone that the Lord can use you to lead to follow Christ
- Peace in our nation and around the world
- Our missionaries as they serve the Lord around the world
Blessed to be your Pastor!
Matthew Rowley
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