Italy team update 6/27/13

 Italy team is safely in Rome to enjoy a day of touring before heading home!  Pray for continued ministry opportunities and safe travels.

Italy Team Update

Wow, what a week it's been! These last couple of days have been more than full with a historic city tour smashed in the midst of full days of ministry. We are seeing the Lord's faithfulness first hand in the conversations we are having. Many seeds have been planted and a lot of questions are being asked. Tomorrow is our last day in Naples. We will complete our morning ministry time in the neighborhoods we've been in for the last several days. This will be our last contact with the shop owners and personnel we've been interacting with. Please pray that those last conversations would go according to the Lord's plan. Pray for us to have boldness and courage. After lunch tomorrow, we will head to Rome, which is about three hours from Naples. We will spend Thursday evening and all of Friday there. Please pray for safe travels and a great send off as we recap all that has happened this last week. 

The last couple of days have been fruitful and encouraging, but also exhausting. Many of us have hit walls physically and emotionally; yet, The Lord is so good and so faithful. There haven't been any breakdowns or anything of the sort. (Praise God!) Our team has pressed on and continued to maintain positive attitudes. Please pray for continued encouragement among our team, continued strength, health, and protection. Above all, as always, pray for The Lord to be glorified in ALL that we say and do. 

Much amore,

Jessie

June 19th // Midweek Recap

Message by: James Copeland (interim student pastor)

Blog post written by: Alex Dowell (summer intern)

How to Sabotage Your Life—Wrong Relationships

No one wakes up one morning and plans to ruin their life with bad decisions.  It happens gradually, over time.  Last week James taught on how we can sabotage our life by making the wrong choices with our relationships.

Ultimately, our goal and desire is to become mature, well-adjusted men and women who love and follow God, love people, and live for God’s glory.  So, it’s important to know what not to do.

Do you parents ever show concern about who you hang out with?  Do they have little wise sayings about friends?  (One bad apple ruins the whole bunch, if your friends jumped off a bridge would you, birds of a feather flock together, etc….)

Wrong relationships can take on many different forms. It could be a boyfriend or girlfriend that is not good for you, a group of friends that is a bad influence, or just simply the people you surround yourself with.  It could also be the lack of surrounding yourself with other people, by isolating yourself.  This is one of the quickest ways to compromise ourselves and sabotage our spiritual growth, by allowing bad influence in our lives.  

We are designed by God to be in community with others.  We are made in the image of God, which involves the need for relationship.  So, the desire to be close to people is a good one, we simply distort that sometimes.

7 ways to sabotage your life with wrong relationships

1.     Do anything your friends do, no matter the consequences.

2.     Always try to fit in, no matter what.

3.     Make people and friends the most important thing in your life.

4.     Always only listen to the advice of your friends and peers.

5.     Isolate yourself from all other people except for 1 or 2 friends.

6.     Have low standards for friendships.

7.     Have low standards for dating relationships.   

The book of Proverbs has important insight about relationships

-Proverbs 13:20—Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

-Proverbs 5:1-6—My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.

Above all else, guard your hear. Does that mean we are to live in a bubble, and never interact with anyone who is not a Christian? No!  We are the light of the world, the salt of the earth…we simply must be wise about who we surround ourselves with.

2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1

We will sabotage our lives with wrong relationships.  We must learn to be wise and avoid the traps of wrong relationships.

"We've Got Issues"... Homosexuality // RECAP

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Obviously this is a huge and current issue in our culture… Homosexuality is sexual immorality.  So…What is sexual morality?

-Genesis 1:27 and 2:20-25

·      The bible defines marriage as 1 man, 1 woman.  This is the context for a healthy sexual relationship. 

·      Anything outside of that is sexual immorality.

·      So, homosexuality is sin.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20 says that we are to flee from sexual immorality.  This includes homosexuality.

SO, as Christians, how are we to act towards homosexuality?  We are to treat it as sin, just as any other type of sexual immorality outside of marriage. We are to treat people with the love of Christ.  That does not always mean accepting someone’s sin.  Sometimes it means confronting sin.

We are all born into sin, and each person has their own unique struggle with sin.  For some it may be greed, pride, lust, alcohol or drug dependence, etc.  For some it may be homosexual feelings.  If someone has these attractions and yet does not act upon them, it is not sin. 

If I see a woman and think that she is attractive, that is not sin.  It becomes sin if there is lust in my heart, or if I was to act upon those lustful desires. It is the same with homosexual attraction. 

How should the church treat homosexuality?

If a person who is homosexual walks into Ridgecrest, would they be welcome here?  The answer should be “Yes.”  Does that mean we accept or agree with the lifestyle?  No.  It means we love them as children of God, and that we would seek to lead them to Jesus and away from immorality—whether it is homosexual or heterosexual. 

What if they wanted to join the church?  The answer would be no.  If they joined the church, we would have to go to them and confront their sin.  We do not knowingly allow any kind of open immorality without confronting it. What are your thoughts on this? Share them with us.

Sunday, June 23rd // Recap

Hit the Road—Week 1

Matthew 28:16-20

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

From this passage we see that all Christians have been called to go and make disciples of all people. Maybe you have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity to share your story. Maybe you’ve even been happy to sit quietly by, hoping others would share instead. But God wants to use you to reach others with the Gospel, and He wants to use you to help them grow in a relationship with Him. There is no greater experience in this life than to let God use you to point people to eternal salvation in Him and help them experience fuller life in Jesus. You were made to have an eternal impact.

Jesus told His disciples He had received all authority “in heaven and on earth.” Jesus’ resurrection validated His teachings and proved to the disciples all authority over everything rested with him. Then the disciples knew the true nature of Christ. The scope of Jesus’ authority frees us to share His message with the world, because we realize who is truly in control.

But Jesus has still commanded us to act. We are called to make disciples by going, baptizing, and teaching, and be prepared to share the Gospel.

In light of this, there are some questions we should consider to check our hearts when we hesitate to share the Gospel and make disciples. Some examples are:

                  -What is the most challenging part of “making disciples” for you?

                  -How do we teach people to “obey all Jesus has commanded”?

                  -What is the most difficult part of sharing the gospel?

                  -How does God respond when we choose not to share the Gospel?

Consider these questions as you seek to imitate Christ more and lead others to Him by carrying out His mission to make disciples.

Italy Team Update

Hello from Naples!

We are enjoying a bit of Sunday afternoon riposo, or rest time. Downtime and wifi/Internet access are a little tricky to come by, which is why there's been a gap in updates. So sorry! We are all doing great and thoroughly enjoying Italia! 

This morning we went to a Baptist church here in Napoli, which was great fun! This evening we will go to the bay to hang out with Napolitanos. Please continue to pray for good health, strength, energy, etc. Also, pray for our language skills. Tomorrow we will have an Italian language test, which very few of us is truly prepared for. Please pray we can retain vocabulary, not just for the sake of the test, but for the sake of communicating and building relationships. Continue to pray that doors would be opened, the Kingdom would be advanced and that The Lord would be glorified.  

Thank you so much! We are praying for y'all as well! I'll try to post again in the next couple of days, if the wifi will cooperate. :)

Much love,

Jessie 

Italy Team Day 3 Recap

Today was the day of long days! It is currently just after 11pm in Naples and I hear nothing but the sounds of sleep.

We arrived in Naples around 11am and hit the ground running with lunch, a tour of the city, worship time, our first ministry challenge, dinner, then our team meetings. It was a wonderful day! I wish I was coherent enough to share all the details, but this 36+ hour day has caught up with me. 

All is well. Our team has done a tremendous job adjusting and extending grace  to one another. Please pray that continues, along with good health, energy, safety, courage to speak Truth, and open doors to initiate conversations. Thanks!

Ciao,

Jessie

June 23rd // The 411

Italy Team Day 2 Recap

Hello from Munich! We just landed at the Munich airport, and are eagerly awaiting our last flight into Naples. We have been so blessed with smooth flights and healthy bodies so far. Please pray that all continues. Once we land in Naples, we have an hour long bus ride, followed by team orientation and training today. Needless to say, it has the potential to be a long day. So far, spirits are good and attitudes are super positive! God is good! 

Thanks for praying! We will keep y'all posted on our arrival in Italy!

Jessie

Italy Team Day 1 Recap

Well, we made it to Memphis last night and got a great night of sleep! Praise The Lord, we had NO travel hiccups yesterday...just a few potty breaks. :) 

This morning we are up and at it! We are currently on our way to the airport to catch our first flight. Our team is I great spirits!

Please pray for health, safety, peace, and smooth and timely flights today. Also pray for an overflow of the Holy Spirit so that when we get bumped around, He pours out. Thanks so much! We will update again later.

Italy or bust,

Jessie 

rbcstudents Small Groups, June 16

          

  Are you afraid of the dark? When we are afraid of the dark, we are actually afraid of what’s in the dark. When the lights go off, your closet turns into a haven for monsters and under your bed turns into a dark abyss of fear. When the lights are on however, your closet is just your closet, and under the bed is just a tight space where you used to stuff your toys.

            Spiritually, when we live in the dark, we are without God. When we accept God into our hearts, we have the light. Living in the dark is constant sin without repentance. The longer you stay in the dark, the more natural it feels. So, you do not perceive what you do as sin, when it really is. When you accept God, you don’t really leave the dark. You have a light so that you can better perceive sin.  When you walk in the light it does not mean you will never sin, it just means that you can avoid sin better.

            1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Living in the light will expose our sins. However, God promised forgiveness of our sins if we confess and repent from our sin. By confessing and repenting from our sin we are walking in the light of Christ.    

(Lesson summarized by Jimmy Gove)

           

We've Got Issues - Fear, Disaster, and Terrorism

We’ve Got Issues: Fear, Disaster, and Terrorism

Last Wednesday rbcstudents began a weekly discussion we are calling: We’ve Got Issues. In these discussions we will talk about real issues that affect our real lives, and how God meets us in the midst of it all. Our first subject was “Fear, Disaster, and Terrorism.” Here’s what was shared:

Do you remember 9/11?  Where were you?  How old were you? What about the Newtown shooting or the Boston Marathon bombings? What about storms like Joplin and Moore, Oklahoma?  Do you know anyone who has been directly impacted by any of these things? Several students and parents knew individuals directly affected by these tragedies.

What kinds of emotions do these events create in you? Students responded with an array of feelings from fear, to anger, shame, frustration, and also sadness.

We live in a world where terrorism and violence seem to be common and increasing in frequency.  Why do you think that is? Technology has made the world smaller, and because of that, people of differing ideas and beliefs interact more often. This means tensions can build much faster and spill over into violence.  Also our culture has become desensitized to violent actions in the first place. Our movies, music, media, and video games depict it with ever increasing regularity, and so, violence doesn’t seem like something out of the ordinary.

Why do you think bad things like this happen? To a degree, we as sinful human beings invite bad things to happen to us by our choices—but this goes back to an even deeper and more foundational problem. We discussed how back in Genesis 3, after the Fall, the earth was put under a curse. Work would be harder, nature would resist man’s dominion, and we would struggle for peace. Until Jesus comes back to fully redeem all things we will always live with a degree of tragedy.

Do these bad things change the way we live?  Should they? We live in a broken, sinful world.  It’s tough, but there are not always easy answers as to why stuff like this happens.  The truth is that we have a loving God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Job faced more challenges and sorrows than most men ever, yet never disdained God. He trusted the LORD.

Isaiah 54:10 says, “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed…”

What are your thoughts about fear, disaster, terrorism, and faith? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

midweek sermon from Joe Nelson (from June 12, 2013)

Joe Nelson: midweek 6/12/13

The question I have for you tonight is simple…WHY? Why do you exist? What is our purpose for being here? If you had to say it in one word what word would you use? When I figured out the answer, it gave purpose to everything in my life, even the things that didn’t seem t have purpose. The answer I came to is simple…GLORY. Why did God create us? For his Glory! Everything in life comes back to this! That means it’s not about YOU! It’s not about ME! It, and by IT I mean EVERYTHING, is about HIM! From this fact, we should recognize three important points:

1) We were created for God’s glory—Romans 11:33-36. Is there a difference when someone HAS to do something as compared to when they CHOOSE to do something? As a father I sometimes give my kids the opportunity to make the choice. Sometimes they make a good choice, sometimes they don’t. I believe God gives us the choice to glorify Him, but that is why He created us.

2) We live for God’s glory—1 Peter 4:10-11 & 1 Corinthians 10:31. This means the places you, the conversations you have, the jokes you tell, the websites you visit, the friends you have, the way you treat friends/family/parents/siblings/those in need, the sports you play, classes you take, etc…should all be done to bring God the most glory possible.

3) Jesus died for God’s glory—John 12:27-28. Jesus died for God’s glory because in his death and resurrection, we glorify God when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. It’s not about US!!

God has created us to glorify Him in EVERYTHING we do. The only way that can happen is by placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our savior. This coming week, what are some ways you can live your life in such a way to point others to Jesus and glorify God?

Sunday, June 16th // The 411

Summer Missions: Project Springfield // Information

We are SO excited for our first Project Springfield day... can you believe that it's happening this coming Wednesday?!

If you are planning on participating in Project Springfield you need to get registered & make sure you have a current medical form on file.

Here's the plan for Proj. Spfd. #1...

9:00-               Meet at RBC

9:15-               Devotion & Team Building #1

9:40-               Load Buses

10:00-             Arrive at Mary-Ann’s House

12:00-             Depart for RBC

12:15-             Lunch @ RBC

1:00-               Team Building #2

1:20-               Depart RBC

1:30-               Park Clean-Up at Nathanael Greene

3:00-               Depart for RBC

3:10-               Quick stop at RBC (pick up shower stuff)

3:25-               Shower & Clean-Up at Chesterfield Family Center

4:15-               @ RBC

… Recap & feedback from the day…

… Rest time for students…

5:15-               Dinner @ RBC

6:30-               Midweek:SUMMER

8:00-               Depart for Andy’s Frozen Custard

9:30-               Arrive @ RBC; GO HOME!

MAKE SURE YOU BRING THE FOLLOWING WITH YOU...

1. Sack Lunch
2. Towel/Shower stuff
3. Change of clothes
4. $10.00
5. Close-toed shoes
6. Work Gloves (if you have them)

Another Memphis Update...

First of all, we want to say thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for our Memphis team and to those who have supported us through our preparation and our journey out here. We have been having an amazing time here in Memphis, TN.  We only have about 24 hours left here with Impact Ministries and we know God is going to work in incredible ways in between now and the moment we leave here, as He already has.

We've already posted a couple of updates since we've been here, but I'll quickly recap.
We started VBS on Monday morning and then got to spend the afternoon at a local nursing home, which you can read about here.  Then on Tuesday we had our second day of VBS in the morning and then worked in the thrift shop here at Impact Ministries in the afternoon, as well as did a car wash out in the parking lot... stay tuned for some great pictures! :)

So now to update you on yesterday.  Now, while all of the trip has been amazing, I must say that for me personally yesterday may have been my favorite day.  Why? Because our students were AMAZING! We had our third day of VBS in the morning... and it just seemed different.  The kids have really warmed up to our students and you can tell that there are some amazing relationships being built.  During every session I stepped into I was able to see students connecting with the kids and the kids really understanding the gospel.  Our mission is to plant seeds here, which is exactly what our students are doing and I am so proud of them.  They are all such blessings.

Speaking of seed planting, yesterday afternoon we were able to go and spend time working in the Bellevue Loves Memphis garden.  Bellevue Loves Memphis is Bellevue Baptist Church's community outreach program and they have a garden where they produce several different foods to donate to local food shelters.  We were there for three hours... pulling weeds, driving stakes into the ground, mowing, weed-eating, tilling, etc... and about 30 minutes of that was spent in the POURING rain... but our kids never stopped.  They just kept working.  I had a moment while I was pushing the mower (in the rain) and I stopped and looked up at all of our students... and it was just beautiful.  Everyone was so determined to get all of the work done that needed to be done.  God has blessed us with energy throughout this entire trip, which has been wonderful.  But more importantly, He blessed us (the staff) with amazing students, parents, and interns who have such a desire and passion to truly serve Lord and impact God's Kingdom. 

Last, but not least, we were able to spend yesterday evening at Impact's Wednesday night bible study.  The way it was structured is definitely not something our students are used to, but I think they did amazing.  There was a time to share things that we are thankful to God for, and a number of our students stood up and shared beautiful stories of thankfulness.  Then at the end of the bible study two of our students raised their hands and asked the pastor if we (Ridgecrest) could circle around the people of Impact Ministries and pray over them.  The pastor then split the room into about four different circles.  Each group was about half people from Ridgecrest and half from Impact.  We all held hands and went around the circle and prayed together... The presence of the Holy Spirit was absolutely overwhelming. I could go on and on about the work that God has done so far this week, but I'll leave it at that.

Please continue to pray for our team.  We're almost done here, but I know God has more in store for us and the people we are coming in contact with.

Memphis missions

We are having a great week here in Memphis!  The VBS is going well, and our students are doing a great job with each of their roles, and with interacting with the kids. 

Tuesday afternoon, we spent time working in the thrift ministry here, sorting clothes and cleaning up some rooms in much need of cleaning. Then, we did a free car wash for the community, which have us the chance to share the Gospel and pray with many people. 

Keep praying for God to do great things in Memphis!

Memphis Missions Day 1

We arrived safely in Memphis yesterday evening and after some basic orientation with Impact Ministries an incredible ministry here in Memphis and a good night's rest we woke up and prepared for our first day of Vacation Bible School.

Our team was phenomenal in every area as they lead classes, taught music, played games, and led crafts for kids from the inner city area of Memphis. We hope that more kids will come tomorrow so that they, too can hear the message of Jesus and that our students will have opportunity to share His love with each child that attends VBS this week.

After VBS ended and we refueled with some lunch, we had the honor of visiting a local nursing home where we sang songs (old & new) and spent time having conversations with the sweet people who live there. Our students truly enjoyed this time and were amazing as they interacted with complete strangers to share the love of Jesus. Some of the students were able to visit with a World War II Purple Heart recipient and see his awards and medals displayed proudly in his room. What an honor and a moment they will not soon forget!

Please continue to pray for safety and good health for each team member. Also pray for many salvations as we continue to share the Gospel with the children tomorrow and the rest of the week!

Sunday, June 2nd // The 411