Men’s Retreat 2011 Recap
Men, it has been a few weeks now since we were at the 2011 RBC Men’s Retreat. Three weeks is typically about the time it takes to instill a new habit in our lives. Hopefully, you were encouraged to begin to walk closer with the Lord, but maybe you couldn’t attend or maybe life is just back to normal. For any of those circumstances, the Men’s Ministry wanted to provide you with the following resources to equip and encourage you to continue strengthening your walk with the Lord.
As you may remember, our overriding theme was Strength in Numbers – that we are stronger in fellowship with other Christians than we are alone (a 3-cord of strands – Ecclesiastes 4:19-21). We experienced great teaching from Pastor Steve King and great fellowship with other RBC men, all at a great location with amazing scenery.
Steve gave us four challenging keynote messages. Below, we are providing a brief synopsis of each one, as well as links to the audio so you can re-listen as needed. We pray this will serve as a helpful post-retreat reminder of some of the things we learned and experienced there.
SESSION ONE: The Realities of Living by Faith – Pastor Steve taught on how properly setting expectations for our lives on the Lord and his promises will increase our joy. We should filter the world through God’s Word, not vice-versa. We are designed to live by faith and God tests our faith for our good and our growth. Listen to full session audio here. Session Slides are here.
SESSION TWO: Living in the Community of Grace – We are loved by God, and we are to show hospitality (love) to others. Marriage is to be honored and our contentment is valued by God. This sounds simple, but why is it so hard? We drift and too often allow ourselves to be deceived, become dulled, then defiant – which results in being disciplined by God. Listen to full session audio here. Session Slides are here.
SESSION THREE: “Whatever!” – We can experience the ‘whatever’ of relationships or we can experience Jesus in ‘whatever’ circumstances we are in. The most significant relationship other than with God is the one with our spouse. The Lord uses our marriage to refine us. As a husband/father we have the most significant role in the moral direction for our family. Listen to full session audio here. Session Slides are here.
SESSION FOUR: How to get Honey from a Rock – We can experience contentment & joy in the midst of trials because God will never leave or forsake us. Life is a wilderness, and God is our greatest treasure and reward. This world won’t ultimately satisfy us. We must worship God even when we don’t feel like it. Listen to full session audio here. Session Slides are here.
You can view the retreat photos below! (Thanks to Dave Waldrup, Mike Emory and Kim Strickland for the images.)
Mark your calendars now for next year! On October 5 & 6, 2012 we will be hosting Alistair Begg as our speaker. You can listen to him daily (weekdays) on WAVA 105.1 at 8:00 am.
As always, you are welcome to contact me with any questions or comments regarding Men’s Ministry here at RBC.
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Brad Hummel, Men’s Ministry Director
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VIDEO: First Fruits
First Fruits is a service project that has rallied the RBC church body for over 20 years. It is a unique serving opportunity for families, shepherd groups, and individuals to come together and make a difference in the lives and families of others in our area who are in need of help and encouragement. Join us and you will be blessed to see the tangible “fruits” of your labors!
Learn more & get involved at www.restonbible.org/firstfruits
VIDEO: Ordination of Aaron Osborne
On September 18, 2011, the pastors and elders of Reston Bible Church joyfully ordained Aaron Osborn as a pastor. Please pray for Aaron as he continues his work with our Junior High students here at RBC!
Starting Point at Fuel
Starting September 20 at FUEL, we will begin a 10-week study called Starting Point. If you know anything about Starting Point, you probably know it is designed for people who have questions about faith as well as those who want to learn about basics of the Bible and Christianity. So why are we going through Starting Point at Fuel? During this time, we will have the opportunity to re-explore the foundational aspects of the Christian faith in a way that is relevant and engaging while also strengthening community among our men. Our desire is that we could continue to be rooted in our walks with Jesus and that going through the Starting Point curriculum would also open up venues for sharing our faith.
VIDEO: Men’s Retreat 2011
We invite you to join the men of RBC this fall at our annual Men’s Retreat where we will be challenged to live out the abundant life (John 10:10) in the context of Christ-centered community. This year, we’ll hear four addresses from Steve King, Senior Pastor at Cherrydale Baptist Church in Arlington. Pastor King will be speaking on Strength in Numbers. We will study Ecclesiastes 4 and see how relying on Christ-centered community can radically change our walks and thus our personal, family and corporate lives. Like as individual aspects of our walk such as faith, hope, love and the word, we will also see how prayer and evangelism are stronger when utilized in unison.
https://www.restonbible.org/mensretreat
VIDEO: Katie Gates
Katie Gates shares how an experience in the Amazon opened her heart to sin and the fullness of the Gospel of Christ and how that is leading her to minister to the poor and oppressed.
VIDEO: Women’s Bible Studies – Fall 2011
New RBC women’s Bible studies kick off in September 2011! For more info and online registration, visit https://www.restonbible.org/women/biblestudies
VIDEO: REVEAL Survey Update
In March of 2011, the RBC congregation was asked to take a survey that would help gauge the health of our body and provide insight as the leadership looks ahead in planning ministry strategy. In this video, Executive Pastor Ed Nalle gives a brief overview of the survey findings. (From June 2011)
Reston Bible iPhone App Now Available
I’m excited to let you know that the Reston Bible Church iPhone app is now available in the iTunes App Store!
If you look at the RBC mission statement, you’ll see the who, what, how, and where of our church. Reston Bible Church exists to know Christ and to make Him known. As a local church body, we believe that the primary means God is calling us to accomplish that mission is through biblical preaching/teaching, as well as authentic Christian community. We believe God is calling us to fulfill His purposes specifically in Northern Virginia – our primary location – but also around the world through global missions.
This app supports our church mission statement by expanding our ability to put solid biblical teaching and event opportunities directly into the hands of anyone, anywhere with an iDevice. The RBC app allows users to easily access media and web content optimized for iPhone/iPod Touch and share that content with friends. Specifically, you can use the app to:
- Stream audio and video from recent sermons to your device
- Check out current RBC happenings and upcoming events
- Read the latest blog posts from our staff and leadership
- Share sermons, events or blog posts with friends via email
- Access myRBC, RBC’s online community tool, optimized for iPhone/iPod Touch
- Access the RBC Twitter, Facebook and Vimeo feeds
- Easily email and call the church or get map/directions to RBC from your device
I’ve written before about why RBC uses social media as a tool for the advancement of the gospel, and I think this app certainly falls into that category. My friends at Mars Hill Church in Seattle point out:
God has often used technological advancement to spread the Gospel through the church. At the time of Paul it was the Roman’s system of roads. For the Reformers it was the printing press. For Billy Graham it was sound amplification systems and stadiums.
Likewise, we live in a country and an age where Internet and cellular technology is generally accessible and widely used. We are blessed to be able to redeem aspects of this technology with the purpose of knowing Christ and making Him known. My hope for this iPhone app is that on your daily commute, walk, or lunch break, you will have further opportunity to know Him and make Him known.
The leadership of RBC is grateful to God that the app was built and developed at no cost to us by an RBCer who volunteered considerable time and talent to make it happen. I’d personally like to thank Dave Smith of Cross Forward Consulting; Dave approached me last fall and offered to develop an app as a gift to RBC. He has been absolutely fantastic in walking us through the development process from beginning to end. We are deeply thankful to God for Dave’s generosity.
The RBC app is available for free at the iTunes App Store here, or you can search for “Reston Bible Church” from within the App Store application on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Please download the app, leave comments and ratings, and pass it on others so that more people might come to know Jesus and make Him known.
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UPDATE: So why doesn’t RBC have an Android app as well? Since releasing the iPhone app, many folks have asked why we don’t also have an Android version. The short answer is that we were able to develop the iPhone app at no cost to the church due to a generous gift of time and talent by an RBCer who develops apps professionally. We would love to develop an Android counterpart, but even simple apps can cost thousands of dollars. If you are an RBCer who develops Android-based apps on a pro level and would be interested in working with us on Android app development for our church, we’d love to hear from you – just email Jason.
Marriage Conference: Dinner Questions
It’s almost here! I’m excited about this year’s conference. It’s going to be great to just spend some time with my wife and focus on strengthening our marriage. A marriage conference is kind of like an oil change. Get one every 3000 miles and the car tends to run a lot better. Forget to change the oil and it’s just going to be a matter of time before there’s major engine damage. Of course, RBC marriage conference’s are a whole lot more fun than oil changes! To that end we want to get you started thinking about Friday’s dinner date and the overnight conference.
Remember that the plan is for you and your spouse to go out to dinner on Friday and arrive back in the RBC Sanctuary by 8pm. You’ll really want to get back to RBC around 7:45pm so that you can check in at the registration table and find your seat in the sanctuary. We want to mix the tables up with couples of different number of years married. So when you walk in the sanctuary you’ll see colored circles on each table in front of the chairs. Just find a colored circle that fits the number of years you’ve been married and have a seat. It’s really easy.
We have some discussion topics for your dinner date. The discussion is meant to open the lines of communication with your spouse and to help frame the conference for you as a whole. Take some time to think about your responses to the discussion items, particularly #1 and #3. Make sure your spouse has a chance to see them in advance of Friday as well. That way the two of you can make the most of your time together over dinner discussing your thoughts. Here are the discussion items:
1) Describe to your spouse how you feel about each of the below aspects of your marriage. Include your thoughts on things that are going well and why, and things that could be improved. Be honest and transparent. For things that could be improved, share how you feel without being judgmental (e.g. “I feel like…” instead of “You don’t do…) — Physical intimacy, including sex — Emotional, friendship bond between you two — Spiritual side of your relationship with your spouse
2) After hearing each other’s views, which area of your marriage do you feel there is the greatest difference of opinion between you and your spouse?
3) What do you hope happens as a result of this marriage conference?
One more thing. For the Ice Breaker time at your table, be prepared to tell one of your favorite local places to go, say within an hour’s drive, that others might not know about. It could be a restaurant, a park, a local activity, anything that might not be as well known. Each table will have a piece of paper to write these places down. We’ll collect them and e-mail them all out to everyone who attends after the conference.
That’s it! Get ready for a great time with your beloved! We have over 80 couples attending making this one of the largest marriage conferences at RBC yet.
See you there,
John & Jana Smith
Marriage Conference Coordinator