The Treehouse
Clearly you live in Northern Virginia when you can find a treehouse inside a building. This is your chance to take a peek inside… INSIDE Reston Bible Church’s Children’s Ministry Treehouse!
What it is …
The Treehouse is a special service time for children of all ages (toddlers through 5th graders) whose parents stay during an additional Sunday morning service to either attend an ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) or to volunteer. It’s not always engaging for the little guys to be involved in their QUEST class twice, and so we offer The Treehouse during the 9:30am service as an alternative for the children who participate in QUEST and stay through the additional time.
What it is … NOT.
Although there is a time of teaching and relaxed activities, the Treehouse is not intended to be an alternative to QUEST, but rather an extension of the biblical base gained in the QUEST classrooms. If you spend one block of time on Sunday mornings attending a worship serve and another block volunteering or attending an ABF – and have children – The Treehouse is an awesome opportunity for your kids.
BUT WAIT, there’s more! This fall, the Treehouse’s older attenders (1st-5th graders) will be introduced to a new face that brings the focus more deliberately towards a missions-minded morning.
The Treehouse meets all year at the 9:30am service time, upstairs in Room 238. For further inquiry, find Hannah at the QUEST Desk on Sundays or drop me an email.
Give Blood, Give Life
I want to thank you if you have ever given the precious gift of blood at one of our past blood drives. If you have already signed up for next Sunday’s drive (September 23), let me also offer a big thank you! If you haven’t yet signed up for the drive and are eligible, I would ask that you prayerfully consider donating the gift of life. If you’d like to sign up, you may do so at restonbible.org/giveblood.
There is an immediate need in our area for most blood types. Blood must be available when needed for patients whose lives depend on it. Over 200 blood and platelet donations are needed every day, year round by patients at the 15 hospitals served by Inova Blood Donor Services.
We’re doing something very special again for our next drive. We are once again having two bloodmobiles for this drive. This should dramatically reduce waiting times and the over crowded conditions that we have been experiencing, especially right after services. This will also mean an additional 22 slots will be available for us to fill. Although walk-ins are always welcome, I encourage you to sign up early to get the exact time you prefer by clicking here.
If you are donating next weekend, be sure to eat a good breakfast Sunday morning, get an extra boost of iron Saturday night if needed (steak and broccoli work great), and bring a picture ID with you. Our website has useful information that will help you prepare for Sunday’s drive, including a list of iron-rich foods.
Thanks, again, for helping our community with its blood needs. As you probably know, each unit donated helps up to three people. Therefore, when we collect over 50 units a drive, over 150 people reap the benefits of your generous gift. The last time we had two bloodmobiles, we collected 73 units!
Have a very blessed week and I hope to see you Sunday.
Dale Peak
Administrator
(703) 404-5013
Sunday Rewind | 9.16.2012
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
All Because of Jesus (Romans 8:10) – Burn For You by Steve Fee
Blessed Be Your Name (Job 1:21) – Blessed Be Your Name: The Songs of Matt Redman by Matt Redman
Lord of All (Psalm 97:5-6) – Attention by Kristian Stanfill
God, You Lifted Me Out (Psalm 30:1-2) – For The Honor by Elevation Worship
TEACHING: Runaway Bride – The Mystery of Christ & His Church
It is common today to separate Christ from his church – people want Jesus, but not church involvement. Yet, God has ordained that the church play a major role in His great work of redemption. Jason VanDorsten teaches from Ephesians 5, which presents the church as Jesus’ bride and conveys with great strength and promise the deep, abiding love God has for those who are His in Christ.
CLICK HERE FOR THE AUDIO AND VIDEO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- What comes to mind when you think of the word “church”? What have your experiences with church been like?
- What are the distinctions between the “little C” church and the “big C” Church? How are they different? How are they linked?
- Read Ephesians 5:21-33. What might this tell you about the nature of man? What does it tell you about Jesus Christ?
- What do these verses tell you about Jesus’ relationship with his people, the church?
- It what ways does the analogy of “church as bride” resonate with you? Where do you have trouble grasping the analogy?
- Does your interaction and involvement with the local church reflect the care, encouragement and protection due a bride? In what ways could you grow in loving the church as the bride of Christ?
- Spend some time praying for RBC and other local churches in our area and around the world.
A Message from the Goodnight Family
Thank you for the many who attended Leigh Goodnight’s memorial service last week.
If you would like to express condolences, Leigh requested donations be made to the following ministries:
Clarity Ministries International, Inc.
PO Box 10
LaGrange, WY 82221
http://www.clarityministries.org/news/
and
Open Arms Brazil
c/o Kim Reynolds
1562 Woodcrest Drive
Reston Va 20194
http://openarmsbrazil.blogspot.com/
Meals have also been set up for the family at:
http://www.takethemameal.com
Last Name: GOODNIGHT
Password: LEIGH
Please feel free to e-mail her dear friend Terry Schulman with any questions.
Thank you for your continued prayers for Paul and his family.
Dale Peak
Administrator
(703) 404-5013
Sunday Rewind | 9.9.2012
MUSIC
Exalted One (Psalm 121:1-2) – For The Honor by Elevation Worship
Beautiful Jesus (Romans 1:20) – Attention by Kristian Stanfill
With Us (Psalm 46:10-11a) – God Is Able by Hillsong
I Have Decided To Follow Jesus (Matthew 8:18-19) – Original Arrangement
Jesus Paid It All (Colossians 2:13-14) – North Point Live by Kristian Stanfill (North Point)
TEACHING: Son Burn
In Luke 24, the risen Jesus walked with two disciples and “explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Their response – “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” May we, too, know what it is to have burning hearts for the Son of God from the Word of God.
CLICK HERE FOR THE AUDIO AND VIDEO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Read Luke 24:13-35. What might this tell you about the nature of man? What does it tell you about Jesus Christ?
- Can you think of examples of people in the Bible who had “Son burn”?
- In what ways do we tend to apply “Son block” and shy away from the Word of God? How can we keep ourselves from falling into such excuses?
- The Scriptures refer to itself under a variety of analogies (lamp, hammer, water, sword, light, milk, meat, etc.) What others can you think of? What particular analogy do you resonate with in regards to Scripture?
- What is your particular area of “Son burn”? What topics in Scripture do you find yourself particularly passionate about?
- Would you categorize this season of your life as “on fire” for Kingdom of God? Why or why not? Spend some time in prayer for yourself and for those around you, that your hearts would “burn within” for Jesus.
Summer Review: Youth Summer Camp
Back in July, we had our yearly youth summer camp. We had over 160 students and 50 leaders for our weekly camp. It was a great time to get away from the day to day distractions and really focus on the LORD and His Word and learn more about our relationship with Christ. We also had a blast with our youth as we participated with them in several of our camps activities which included: Paint Ball, water sports, caving, rappelling, rock wall climb, white water rafting, hiking, and a day of service to name a few activities.
We had a great time at camp and really saw God working in many of our teens’ lives throughout the week and even saw some kids place their trust in Christ for the first time.
-John Lyver (Jr. High Youth Assistant)
Thank You, Host Team!
We love to take the opportunity to thank those who serve at Reston Bible Church… which is exactly what we hoped to do at the Host Team Appreciation Dinner last week.
Our dinner was western-themed, complete with cowboy hats, bandanas, root beer, country music and a square dance! The goal of our evening was simple: express appreciation to those who serve throughout the whole year – and have fun doing it.
What a blessing to see our volunteers fulfilling the vision to be stewards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to guests and our congregation by demonstrating love, expressing value, and offering practical support at weekend services.
Week after week, our Host Team joyfully serves our congregation. They have helped transform the culture of our church toward loving hospitality and we who attend get to reap the fruit of their service.
We are so thankful for those who serve on the Host Team at Reston Bible Church.
Generosity & The Next Generation Project
This fall, the leadership of Reston Bible Church will introduce what we are calling The Next Generation Project.
We have rejoiced at great blessings from God since moving into our new church home two years ago. Since our relocation, we have seen our church family grow, and with it, our ability to know Christ and make Him known locally and globally. We are deeply thankful to God for this wonderful season of growth and momentum.
Our church is a family, and like most families, we have a mortgage on our home. This is no surprise and was part of the plan when we built this campus. A major portion of The Next Generation Project is purposed to aggressively reduce our church’s mortgage balance. We are in excellent financial condition, thanks be to God. But In this season of growth, it is our desire to proactively move forward and invest our finances in ministry, while unhindered by a mortgage balance. Simply put, the sooner we reduce the balance on that mortgage, the less we’ll spend on interest and thus the more we can invest in our current ministries and in new ministry opportunities.
In preparation for The Next Generation Project, the leadership is asking every adult in the church to read an excellent little book written by Gordon MacDonald called Generosity: Moving Toward Life That is Truly Life. It is biblical and very helpful. We pray you will take time to read Generosity, pray for our church as we move into The Next Generation Project and consider what your part might be in that.
– – –
Generosity is available for download on Apple iBooks and on Amazon Kindle.
[UPDATE: Previously, we had mentioned that Generosity was available for free on Apple iBOOKS and 99¢ on Amazon Kindle. It has come to our attention that the download is still available; however, there is now a $3.99 charge. If you would like to proceed with the download for $3.99, please follow the steps below.]
On September 16, we will also have hard copies available at the Welcome Desk during weekend services.
To download a copy of the book on Apple iBOOKS:
» Access the iBooks app on your device and tap the STORE button at the top of the screen. (Don’t have iBooks? It is available for both iPhone and iPad – you can get it here.)
» Enter “Gordon MacDonald Generosity” in the search bar.
» Select the Generosity entry and then tap the FREE button.
» Enter your Apple ID password to begin downloading.
To download a copy for 99¢ Amazon Kindle:
» Click here for the Kindle edition on amazon.com. (If you have problems with the link, go to www.amazon.com and search for “Gordon MacDonald Generosity” using the search bar and click the KINDLE EDITION link in the search results.)
» Select which device you would like to have the book delivered to from the “Deliver to” dropdown menu.
» Click the “BUY NOW WITH 1-CLICK” button. The book will be available immediately on your Kindle device or on the Kindle Reader app, if you have one installed on a compatible smartphone or tablet.
(We are happy to reimburse you for the $3.99 cost of downloading Generosity. There will be a table available at the Ministry Fair this Sunday, September 16th, where you can submit a request for reimbursement. If you are not able to make your request this Sunday, please email Barb Ruffner at barbruffner@restonbible.org for a copy of the reimbursement form. All requests for reimbursement must be submitted by Monday, October 1,2012.)
Reflections on a Year of Community Outreach
I want to share some astonishing numbers with you. And I want to share what the Lord has done in one year of our Community Outreach ministry. Through the sacrificial giving of time, talents and finances of the body here at RBC, amazing things have been accomplished by the grace of our Lord. This is mostly facts and numbers, and doesn’t adequately represent the many lives that have been changed through this ministry – one of which is my own. However, I hope that it will at least show some of the many areas that we have been able to make a difference for our neighbors.
From September 2011 – July 2012, RBC has received over $135,000 in donations towards Community Outreach. Of that approximately $61,000 was designated for the food pantry, and $18,000 was designated for Guilford Elementary, the rest was undesignated. We have spent approx. $90,000 of what has come in. That means a couple of things – we have funds as we move forward, and it means that the giving for this ministry has sustained. RBC has shown we want to reach the community for Jesus Christ.
So, let me share some of what the Lord has accomplished through you this year and share a little about our upcoming plans.
Sunday Rewind | 9.2.2012
MUSIC
God Is Able (Ephesians 3:20-21) – God Is Able by Hillsong
Hosanna (2 Corinthians 4:18) – Saviour King by Hillsong
Unending Love (Romans 8:39) – God Is Able by Hillsong
In Christ Alone (Philippians 3:7-8a) – Original Arrangement
The Solid Rock (Psalm 18:2) – Original Arrangement
TEACHING: Foundation of Hope
In Romans 15, Paul prays that God’s people would “abound in hope.” What does that hope look like, and how can Christians find it in times of joy or times of trial? RBC’s Executive Pastor Ed Nalle teaches on the eternal hope of Christ Jesus.
CLICK HERE FOR THE AUDIO AND VIDEO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- How would you define “hope”? Does that definition fit your life?
- How can our foundation of hope help to create unity among the church?
- Read Psalm 27 and look for the various expressions of hope that David uses. Where else in Scripture is this kind of hope revealed?
- Take a moment to praise God for the blessings of fulfilled hope from this week or for His great gift of salvation.