Dear River Reach Family,

“And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. ¹⁵ ‘For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ ‘Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’

Acts 22:14-16

Due to the radical differences between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world, the world will on occasion become angry at believers for failing to fit their mold. We live for two separate kingdoms that will at times face unavoidable conflict. In our passage for this Sunday we rejoin Paul as he is in the middle of giving a defense of his service for the Lord to angry Jews and confused Roman officers. The risen Lord and a life transformed by faith in Christ propelled Paul in a direction that led him directly into conflict with both groups of unbelievers. While it should be our desire to live in peace with all men when possible (Romans 12:18), when conflict arises we must remember our Lord’s authority and remain faithful to Him even when opposition increases. To successfully navigate these tensions, we must be ready to give a defense of the Lord to a confused world while also wisely employing providentially provided resources to help our situation. In a relevant turn of events Paul will use his Roman citizenship to avoid unnecessary physical abuse from his new captors.

Sermon: “Explain Your Mission” – Acts 22:6-29

Live Streaming Links

• Live streaming to Zoom available for all services
  • Morning Worship: https://zoom.us/j/360308233
  • Wednesday Prayer and Bible Study: https://zoom.us/j/225762120
  • Backup Plan: If Zoom goes down we will move to Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/qbm-xhcd-vxf

Zelle Online Giving available

If you would like to give an offering through an electronic means, you may now give through Zelle. You will find our church listed under the email address: give@riverreachbaptist.org

If you put in the email address correctly Zelle should recognize the recipient as “River Reach Baptist Church, Inc.” If you have any questions, please contact me.

Prayer Requests:

• Churches in CA facing governmental intimidation and opposition for worshipping the Lord
• Peace and righteousness in our land
• Susan’s health
• Those who are fighting Covid
• Our missionaries to be encouraged in the Lord
• Our leaders to have wisdom
• Opportunities to share Christ in these uncertain times
• Spiritual growth and strength for each one in our church
• 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

Blessed to be your Pastor!
Matthew Rowley