IT  IS  ONLY about five weeks before we gather as a church (and hopefully as a community) for some special strategic training that we all need embedded in our hearts.  

It has to do with the future. It has to do with investing our lives into the lives of our young people. It has to do with seeing that these young people are enlightened about what lies ahead for them. It has to do with encouraging parents and grandparents to be diligent in continually providing biblical direction for the challenges these youth will face in adulthood.

That’s why we have planned the Family Foundations Conference for March 16-17.  Plan to attend; your family will be blessed.

CHRISTMAS is always one of the most joyous times of the year. It's a time for family togetherness, great memories, tasty food, festive music, enjoying colorful decorations, exchanging gifts, doing for others and especially worshipping our glorious Savior. 

That final phrase is the one Marki and I want to emphasize to all Riverbend members. It would be easy to get caught up in all the excitement and forget the real reason for it all.  As believers, and particularly Riverbend believers, let's remember the reason for the Christ-mas season ... and help others to remember it, as well.

IT DOESN’T seem like it has been 11 years since Marki and I sat on the front row in the Worship Center one Sunday and watched for the first time the people of Riverbend drop their offerings into the wooden chest in front of the pulpit.

We can remember tears of joy, excitement and gratitude that flowed from our eyes. But what really was special were the tears we saw flowing from so many of our members.

As a church, we had made a real commitment to missions, and the Chest of Joash march that day seemed to seal it.

We have taken almost those same seats every year since, and there’s still an heartfelt emotional joy to it.

May it continue on Dec. 4.

WOW!  CAN  YOU  believe it? Thanksgiving is staring us in the face. 

What a blessed time of the year. It is a time that our government many years ago set aside so that Americans can pause and reflect on the mercy and grace of Almighty God to our nation.

It used to be taught in the schools that our forefathers came to what they called “the new world” so they could establish religious freedom and biblically worship our heavenly Father. Now we seldom hear that.  

As we gather with family and friends during the Thanksgiving season, let’s be the leaders in reminding everyone of God’s sustaining goodness to us.

WHY HAVE a family conference?, some may ask.  Well, contrary to public opinion, the world’s most attacked entity is not the government, not the public school system, not the labor unions, not even the church.

No, it is the home—the family, the institution God established first. 

If the enemy can destroy the home, all other elements of society will eventually fall with it.

Riverbend desires to use God’s ways to help our families grow stronger in Biblical principles and be better equipped to combat the enemy. As I’ve said in the pulpit, our church will never rise above our families.

A family conference? ... that’s why

IT  HAS  BEEN  AN  exciting few weeks at Riverbend, hasn’t it? We have seen most of the finishing touches put on the Worship Center’s massive renovation project. The exclamation point will be the arrival of new chairs, which should happen by mid-October.

The graded choirs have all resumed rehearsals after the summer break, and  TAG (Truth & Grace Club) for our children is in full swing. Let me say “thanks” to all of you who are working with our children.  You are making a great investment in many lives, helping mold a future generation of godly men and women.

The 9/11...Not Forgotten presentations (photos on page 3) were a stern reminder of what happens when a nation strays from God.  May every anniversary of that 2001 attack be a beckoning back toward the Lord.

It was a great honor for me to be able to preach the sermon for Jeff Eckert’s ordination into the gospel ministry.  Pray for Pastor Jeff as he takes over the college ministry and attempts to develop a gospel outreach on area college campuses. 

Some other events are also exciting—the upcoming Men’s Cookout, the new Foot-care Ministry, the addition of R-mail, the Creation seminar in October.

Exciting days!  Praise the Lord! 

TECHNOLOGY is advancing faster than most people can handle, and we at Riverbend want to keep pace with it as best we can.

Therefore, we are planning to send this publication, the Riverbend Connection, to most of our members via e-mail. Some 319 of us have received the Connection by e-mail for several months. It has worked well on the sending and the receiving ends and saved considerable expense in the church budget. Recipients have been receiving it five to seven days faster than regular mail.

So, if you have e-mail access, be certain the church office has your e-mail address so that you can be included on the speedy mailing list-—and get news/info more timely.

THE SUMMER is flying by. Only a few weeks remain before all the schools in the area will be opening for a new term.

Many Riverbenders use July and August as vacation seasons. So I encourage all who will be traveling to remember that you should be conscious of maintaining your Christian witness in all circumstances.

Remember, your true character is displayed not so much by your actions but rather by your reactions. May your reactions to certain situations reflect the character of Christ.

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YOU should be aware by now that three consecutive Wednesdays are coming when our new synthetic floor will be installed in the Worship Center.

We are allowing a week to rip out the old carpet and make the concrete foundation as flawless as possible, another week for the actual installation and a third week to apply epoxy paint (basketball lines) on the new surface and be certain that it has the required 72 hours to properly dry.

Thanks for being patient as we move closer to our renovation project being complete.

The new floor, approved for basketball games, will enable the Academy team to play its home games in the Worship Center. Praise the Lord.

APPS, a short form of the word for applications, has become a prominent way to describe the various programs that can be activated through the latest "smart" devices—cell phones, computers, tablets, laptops, etc.

Because Apps are becoming a fast, efficient, practical way to access almost anything, we at Riverbend have decided to catch up with technology and make our two websites more available worldwide. Pastor Kent Pletcher, Matt Riccaboni and Ropbb Coleman have designed and created the content for two apps that are now available—FREE!—through iTunes. This means everyone who has an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch can install the Riverbend and GracWorx apps now.

Hopefully, these apps can be added for Android users in the future.

Here is a description fo what these apps provide:

RIVERBEND — Live sermons on Sundays and Wednesdays ... my recorded sermons (recorded chronologically) ... other sermons from the Riverbend pulpit ... listing of weekly church events ... link to the Riverbend website.

GRACEWORX — Live sermons on Sundays and Wednesdays ... complete recorded sermon series ... GraceTrax blog ... GraceWorx on TV ... GraceWorx on Radio ... sermond highlights ... Facebook/Twitter links to our pages ... donating to the ministry ... link to the GraceWorx website.

Both apps provide the ability to download the sermons you activate, enable you to stop in a sermon and later pick up where you left off, allow you to comment (e-mail, Facebook, Twitter) about each sermon, etc.

ALL RIVERBENDERS need to be diligent in prayer about some ministry enhancements that will be coming soon—some of them most likely this fall.

Our staff and church leadership have already begun planning, developing and intensifying some of these ministries. In particular, I want you to keep these ministries both in your heart and before the Lord:

— Family — more intentional training in the various aspects of family life (marriage, child-rearing, financial stewardship, family worship, etc.) ... three or four seminars a year.

— Theological Training — seminary-type education, with a heavy emphasis on practical, hands-on application for young preachers ...

— GraceWorx — an ever-expanding, developing ministry through the internet and the world-wide web ... plans include Riverbend worship services on-line to assist newly planted churches whose pastors are trained at Riverbend ...

— Evangelism — implementing a more intentional biblical strategy for the church's evangelical outreach ... includes some group training seminars ...

These are four of the several ministry areas that will be emphasized. For these ministries to work properly will require Riverbend members fulfilling the biblical mandate that all Christians are to be involved in ministry.

Watch for more information as these ministries are developed. And ... be prayerful and thoughtful about your future involvement in ministry at Riverbend.

THE PHOTOS have been made, so it should be only a matter of weeks now before the new on-line pictorial directory is available to Riverbend members.

Marki and I are certainly excited about the way this type of directory can be updated regularly without it being a major ordeal. It's going to make it fun for all of us to be able to put faces with names.

On behalf of our entire membership, I want to say a big "thank you" to the Persevering Saints (adults 55-up), who took on this major, major project of providing the directory.

Eddie and Tricia White are to be applauded for their diligence and expertise in doing the photos, setting up the room, providing the equipment and meeting such a time-demanding schedule. A phenomenal job!

No professional outfit which does directories for a living has ever shot better photos. And no one has ever done a directory anywhere with a better spirit of love and cooperation.

More than 300 family units in the church were photographed--all in a matter of three weeks. More than 270 families ordered CDs containing family photos.

Big thanks go to the "behind the scenes" folks who did the scheduling, devised accurate spreadsheets, made reminder phone calls, adjusted the schedule and served as hosts and hostesses.

Thank you, Kay Moody, Sandy Leisner, Dave & Brenda Van Zuiden, Kathy Pletcher, Jo Gibson, Carol Stanley, Pat Roberson, Linda Giovanni, Sam Race, Pat Massebeau, Lola Affolter, SueAnne Dolin, Judy Nero and all the others who were involved. Riverbend loves you all and appreciates your sacrifices for this project. May God richly bless you.