The Current (January 2022)
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. (John 7:38, NIV)
Good morning, everyone! We pray that you would be filled, comforted and challenged by the presence of Jesus this morning, this week and this month.
Now, for some updates …
Upcoming Events
New Sermon Series (starting Sunday, Jan. 9): Join us for “Teach Us to Pray,” a new series about further engaging God’s presence through prayer.
Serve Team Meeting (Saturday, Jan. 29, 10 a.m.): Anyone who serves on a schedule or regularly volunteers at TRVC is encouraged to attend. Come for updates and/or to ask questions about TRVC’s new location.
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Notes from Leaders
Pastor David Welker: We’re still looking for a couple more people to join our Cleaning Crew! Contact me if you have any interest.
Krista Brandt (Voyagers): Voyagers ended the year with a holiday light scavenger hunt competition and a stroll through the Kiwanis Lights. We will resume Jan. 5 with pizza, games, and creating an “Ebenezer list.” In the Old Testament, an Ebenezer stone (meaning “stone of help”) was a stone of remembrance that God's people would display to remind them of God's victory and power in their lives. When the Israelites walked by it they would remember His kindness and it was a way to talk of His goodness again. We'll take a look back at our year and display the many ways God was victorious in our teens!
We'll also continue our study in 1 and 2 Kings.
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Let’s Walk Into 2022 Together: A Message from Pastor David
In 1900 an article went viral. It appeared in magazines around the country and around the world, written by a guy by the name of John Elfreth Watkins. The name of the article: "What Might Happen in the Next One Hundred Years." In the year 1900, Watkins predicted digital photography within a hundred years' time.
John wrote: "Photographs will be telegraphed from any distance. If there be a battle in China one hundred years hence, snapshots of its most striking events will be published in the newspapers an hour later. Photographs will reproduce all of nature's colors." Pretty amazing for the year 1900. John certainly had his thumb on the pulse of technology.
This guy made an astonishing prediction that we know as a reality today. Not only that, but he said that Americans would be an average of two inches taller within the next hundred years, which was also accurate. John also wrote that wireless telephones would span the world. Isn’t that crazy?
But then there are those whose predictions were way off! For example, in 1967 experts predicted that by the turn of the century, by the year 2000, technology would have taken over so much of our work that the average American work week would only be 22 hours long. And that there would be just 27 work weeks per year. One of our biggest problems, the predictions went, would be deciding what to do with all of our leisure time. Now we know, if anything, all of the technology has made us crazier! We now have cars that can text and park for us. Technology has sort of taken over our lives and made us busier.
So here we are at the beginning of 2022, wondering what the next year will be like. The truth is, we don’t know. We’re still faced with so many uncertainties. I’ve heard it said that we don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow. And that's the hope of the Christian as we walk into a new year. We know that God has this whole thing under control.
The Apostle Paul knew that, and with that somewhere in his mind and in his heart, he wrote a letter, the Book of Ephesians, to a church that he spent three years pastoring. But as he writes this letter, he is no longer with them. By the time he writes this letter he is in a Roman prison, a jail cell.
He writes to encourage them and to admonish them both in what they should know and in what they should do, and that's basically the purpose of his letter to the church in Ephesus.
In this letter, Paul uses the word “walk” a lot to describe the Christian life. Sometimes he says it's a run, but more often it's a walk. It's that steady onward pace. It's the lifestyle of the believer. It’s the lifestyle of one who is dependent on and a follower of Jesus. One simple step of obedience at a time. I think this spiritual truth is illustrated in a book that I can remember reading as a young boy: “The Foot Book,” by Dr. Seuss. The premise being that there are no insignificant steps. That no matter fast or slow, each step is important. Each step moves us forward. I’m praying that as a church, we would grow in community and in faith this year. That we would celebrate each step that we take in growing closer to Jesus. That 2 Corinthians 5:7 would become more real than it’s ever been: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Friends, I don’t know what 2022 holds for us. It may not always be easy and we’ll likely experience some ups and downs. We’ll have our challenges and celebrations. But in it all, it’ll be good, because He is. And my prayer is that by the end of 2022, Two Rivers will look more like Jesus.
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Giving and Sharing
One of the ways we worship God is through our tithes and offerings. Consider giving back to TRVC with a donation.
Also, did you know that we're getting noticed online? Reviews mean a lot when people are looking for a church. Have you considered letting others know what you love about TRVC by leaving a review on Google or Facebook?
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Contact
Have something to share in the next newsletter? Or just a general question or comment? Feel free to contact Cody Benjamin (cody@trvc.org) or Pastor David Welker (david@trvc.org). Find us on social media: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram.