Preparing for Sunday | January 8
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Honey in the Rock | [listen]
Brooke Ligertwood
Psalm 81:16
Great Are You Lord | [listen]
Leslie Jordan, David Leonard
2 Corinthians 4:6
My Jesus I Love Thee | [listen]
Adoniram Judson Gordon and William R. Featherston
1 John 4:9-10
Holy Forever | [listen + lyrics]
Brian Johnson, Chris Tomlin, Jason Ingram, Jenn Johnson, Phil Wickham
Psalm 145:21
Promises | [listen]
Aaron Moses, Carrington Gaines, Dante Bowe, Keila Alvarado, Lemuel Marin
Psalm 113:2-3
SERMON TEXT
Genesis 22
MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE
So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” (Genesis 22:14)
Preparing for Sunday | January 1
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Agnus Dei | [listen + lyrics]
Michael W. Smith
Revelation 5:12
King of Kings | [listen + lyrics]
Brooke Ligertwood, Jason Ingram, and Scott Ligertwood
Revelation 19:16
What A Beautiful Name | [listen]
Ben Fielding, Brooke Ligertwood
Hebrews 1:3
Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me | [listen + lyrics]
Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren, Rich Thompson
Galatians 2:20
SERMON TEXT
Leviticus 20:8
MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE
Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you. (Leviticus 20:8)
Preparing for Christmas Eve | December 24
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Christmas Day | [listen + lyrics]
Andrew Bergthold, Scott Cash, Franni Cash, Ed Cash, Ed Cash Jr.
Isaiah 49:13
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel | [listen + lyrics]
John Mason Neale, Henry Sloane Coffin, Andy Melvin
Isaiah 7:14
Away in a Manger | [listen]
James Ramsey Murray, John Thomas McFarland
Luke 2:11-12
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing | [listen + lyrics]
Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Sterling, Charles Wesley
Luke 2:14
King of Kings | [listen + lyrics]
Brooke Ligertwood, Jason Ingram, and Scott Ligertwood
Revelation 19:16
Angels We Have Heard On High | [listen + lyrics]
Hymn, possibly from the 18th century; translated by James Chadwick (1862)
Luke 2:9
Behold the Lamb of God | [listen + lyrics]
Andrew Peterson, Laura Story
John 1:29
SERMON TEXT
Luke 2
MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! (Luke 2:14)
QUEST: Preschool Lesson for December 18
This week’s reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible:
The Light of the World, p.184
This week’s Big Idea:
The Good News About Jesus Is For Everyone, Everywhere!
This week’s Key Verse:
Luke 2:11
Aiding Ukraine Together
A long-time RBC attender, Sandy Varney, was born in a barn while her parents fled from Ukraine during World War II. She would become a refugee in Germany then eventually immigrate to America. Eventually she would marry, practice dentistry and raise a family in Reston. In May of this year, Sandy went to Germany as a translator in a Ukrainian refugee camp. That became a springboard for a later trip into Ukraine where she met relatives, assessed urgent needs and found reliable on-the-ground organizations where the gospel of Jesus Christ would be spread in conjunction with delivering material needs.
As with all war, devastation and destruction leave people without adequate shelter and basic things for life. This is coupled with the mental and emotional trauma many experience. As a congregation, we have not forgotten about the needy and poor of Ukraine. Together, RBC recently supported a large purchase of sleeping bags that protect to -20 degrees. These bags will keep people in some targeted villages from freezing in their bombed-out homes. Generators were also purchased for churches so people can be fed and kept warm.
The generosity of the RBC congregation allows us to extend the love of Jesus to Ukrainians in need. Please continue to pray for an end to hostilities and for many to turn to Jesus Christ. Thank you for being a generous church. Below are some pictures of the villages where this aid was sent.
Preparing for Sunday | December 18
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Open Up The Heavens | [listen | lyrics]
Meredith Andrews, Stuart Garrard. James McDonald, Andi Rozier
Isaiah 64:1
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing | [listen + lyrics]
Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Sterling, Charles Wesley
Luke 2:14
Angels We Have Heard On High | [listen + lyrics]
Hymn, possibly from the 18th century; translated by James Chadwick (1862)
Luke 2:9
Hosanna | [listen]
Brooke Ligertwood
Mark 11:9-10
Let There Be Light [listen]
Bryan Torwalt, Katie Torwalt, Hank Bentley, Mia Fieldes
Genesis 1:3-4
SERMON TEXT
Genesis 17
QUEST: Preschool Lesson for December 11
This week’s reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible:
He’s Here, p.176
This week’s Big Idea:
God’s Promised Son Came To Live With Us.
This week’s Key Verse:
Luke 2:11
Preparing for Sunday | December 11
SONGS WE’LL BE SINGING TOGETHER
Joy to the World | [listen]
George Frideric Handel, Isaac Watts, and Phil Wickham
Psalm 98:4
Christmas Day | [listen + lyrics]
Andrew Bergthold, Scott Cash, Franni Cash, Ed Cash, Ed Cash Jr.
Isaiah 49:13
The First Noel | [listen]
Luke 2:8-9
A Thousand Hallelujahs | [listen]
Brooke Ligertwood, Phil Wickham, Scott Ligertwood
Psalm 92:4-5
SERMON TEXT
Luke 6
Read an Excerpt from ‘Stay the Course’
The following is the preface from Pastor Mike Minter’s book, Stay the Course: A Pastor’s Guide to Navigating the Restless Waters of Ministry.
I once read Open, the autobiography of the legendary tennis player, Andre Agassi.
I don’t play tennis, so why would I read his story? Well, because it took me into a world I never knew existed. I learned about string tension, the difference between hard courts and grass courts, and the mental anguish that comes before each tournament. It was all fascinating to me. The experience was palpable. I could practically feel the sweat trickling down my face as I was moments away from hoisting the Wimbledon trophy before thousands of adoring fans. Agassi had me step into his life and feel every throbbing heartbeat of match point.
After that, I read The Accidental President by A. J. Baime, a very different book that threw me into the world of Harry S. Truman and the messy universe of politics. It was almost overwhelming to comprehend the apprehension that President Truman felt before giving the green light to bomb Japan with a nuclear device.
Good books, whether fiction or nonfiction, bring readers into unfamiliar environments. What string tension will he use on a grass court? What matrix will be employed to tip the scales in favor of dropping a bomb that will eradicate thousands of lives?
This is a book about pastoral ministry and the local church. It is written for pastors, but not exclusively. I hope it proves valuable for anyone who wishes to peek behind the curtain of ministry, as I did with tennis and politics. It is a book for anyone who has a heart for the local church or is concerned about the lack of unity in the body of Christ. There are wonderful things taking place in the global Church, particularly outside of the United States, but there is also plenty of room for growth. Division is rampant, and the debates that rage among Christians often make Democrats and Republicans look like buddies. It’s tragic, really. And it may seem that Christ’s prayer that “all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:21) is not even close to being realized.
It is easy to be discouraged as wars are fought among fellow believers. I want pastors to stay the course and be the generation that will be the answer to the Lord’s prayer that we would be one.
Purchase from Amazon Purchase from ChristianBook.com Purchase from LifewayQUEST: Preschool Lesson for December 4
This week’s reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible:
God Makes a Way, p.92
This week’s Big Idea:
God makes a way where there is no way.
This week’s Key Verse:
Exodus 6:7