Sermon Highlights from "Why We Have Stuff"

What is the purpose of the stuff we have?

Here is a brief audio snapshot from last Sunday's sermon, "Why We Have Stuff."

A Member's Blog Update

From time to time we like to highlight RCC member's blogs (this does mean we agree w/EVERYTHING they write=). Kirsten Snyder's blog is called I've Learned Thus Far... and here are some links to her recent entries:

Amen!
Encouragement for today
Any given day
My (pro-life) conversion
His hands
Abysmal Sin
Mueller Mondays
This is how you talk to God.


Kirsten's blog can be found at http://wiltfar.blogspot.com/

The Biblical Mindset of Johannes Kepler

Today for our call to worship, I read an excerpt from one of Johannes Kepler's works (Kepler was an astronomer who discovered the laws of planetary motion). Here is an illuminating article about his life, work, and theological attitude. Read and enjoy!

http://www.acmsonline.org/journal/2008_2009/McIntyre2009.pdf

Look especially for the great scientist's paraphrase of Psalm 8. Fantastic!

Adoption Event: 'Wait No More' Results

Finding Families for Arizona’s Waiting Kids Results Overview
Hosted Wait No More at Scottsdale Bible Church on Saturday, February 11, 2012

• Approximately 580 people attended
• Those people represented more than 290 different families
• Of those, 97 families initiated the process of adoption from foster care at
the event; this represents 33.2% of families in attendance (After further conversation, we feel that the people that were fingerprinted certainly count as initiating the process of adoption. Therefore, a conservative estimate of the number of families initiating is actually 144 families)!
• Also, because of the willingness of Arizona state officials, three staff from the
Office of Special Investigations were able to fingerprint 289 people with 44
additional people taking the packets with them
• 6 agencies and ministries were on site to answer participants’ questions and help
them start the process of adoption from foster care
• More than 130 different churches were represented at Wait No More
• All participating families received complimentary copies of Focus on the Family
resources: Handbook on Thriving as an Adoptive Family, Wait No More: One
Family’s Amazing Adoption Journey, and “Wrapping Around Adoptive Families”

INFO provided by Katie Overstreet of Focus on the Family

Repent poem by Tanisha

Repent
a poem by RCC member Tanisha

Speaking words like hip hop, flowing like a freestyle
cause when it comes to God, I can talk a while
my aim is to fall back, let Him shine through
I’m tryna glorify the way, the light and the truth

And that light came to the darkness
and he calls us to repentance
death is sin's sentence
but his death brought acquittance
now don't try to front since
He's got no tolerance for fake allegiance
or the appearance of obedience
While in your heart lust and arrogance are the main ingredients

we should be humble, we need to get low
but if you really want to boast, here's somethings you should know

my God measures the ocean in the palm of his hand
The water, the animals and the sand
Can you do that?

He tells the bear when and where to hibernate
he wakes her- never too early, never too late
Do you dare do that?

He commands the rain when to begin
It doesn’t fall until he sends
You ever done that?

He watches over the affairs of all men and nations, people and places
Throughout all time knowing the beginning and end
Can you…never mind

See He has all things in the palm of his hand
And we cannot begin to even comprehend
When life is going good, we think
We’re holdin it down,
but it isn't by our might, we need our face to the the ground
Realize that, next to the Lord, we are of small account
he's the one who saved when we were down and out
He is the alpha and omega, beginning and the end,
Lion and lamb, firstborn of the dead
The one who is and was and is to come
come

How disconnected I become
when I fail to come
and bow down

lazily lukewarm
calmly complacent
wickedly and willfully weak in worship
no longer in awe of you
like I'm turning my palm to you
I would never say that I don't need your daily forgiveness and grace
but maybe in effect I'm effectively wrecking my soul
allowing my heart to grow cold
living a lie
pursuing my pride like a lion
can the unclean clean himself
can a blind man look into his own eyes?
If I don't put my faith in the son
then I'm basically done
Damning myself in sin
Cause if repentance is turning my back on sin
to pursue the Christ
then clearly there are times when I'm not doing it right
Cause I seem to keep repeating the same old sins
How can my soul claim the victory when its my flesh that wins
And I'm not talking about the kind of sins that I'm struggling against
I'm talking about the ones that I'm doing while hiding behind a fence
of self righteousness
got myself convinced
that since I've got forgiveness
I'm cool
but I'm a fool
cause His grace is not a tool
that we can use like a "get out of jail free" card
Gently rocking ourselves to sleep
with the false assurance that we can keep
sleepin' on His commands
and still take possession of the land
We're guilty AND deceived
We need His forgiveness see
cause we're
no better than pharisees
brood of vipers!
You? Me?
True repentance should be like a seed in the heart
with deep roots
bearing fruit
worthy of repentance
forsaking what is evil
clinging to what is good
true repentance will have you on your knees
with godly grief
Causing you to decrease
And seek peace in the one who already conquered sin on your behalf
You gotta put your faith in his righteousness cause your efforts don't even go up half-mast
your life is going fast
so much time has already passed
This could be your last chance
like high schools last dance
Cause your life is but a mist sort of like a vapor
here today gone tomorrow
The falls greatest caper

I'm tryna point you to the savior
Cause this ship is going down
And if your not trusting in Christ then your all about to drown
And as i look out into the dark waters to see what you're clinging to
I'm shocked to discover that you're holding on to you.
And if you keep that up then you're as good as through
There's nothing else that i can do
You cant save yourself
There's no point in even trying
That's worse than applying more mascara while you're steady crying
or making future plans in the midst of dying
absurd!

so i hope yo hear my words
better yet go read His
cause the Bible's like a love letter from a father to his kids
let it pierce your heart
and tear your pride apart
and while it causes you to humbly grieve
ask for the grace to truly believe

Find Families for AZ's Waiting Kids THIS SATURDAY

Wait No More ADOPTION EVENT

FACT: Arizona has more than 350 kids in foster care who are waiting for adoptive families.
FACT: Arizona also has more than 3,500 churches.
FACT: God has given clear commands for Christians to take care of His orphan children.

QUESTION: If the command is clear and the need is apparent, why are these kids still waiting?

This Saturday (February 11, 2012) at Scottsdale Bible Church come explore what the Lord may be asking you to do. Together we can ensure that no child in Arizona is waiting for someone to call mom or dad.

No Child Waiting in Arizona - website and Facebook
http://nochildwaiting.org
http://www.facebook.com/pages/No-Child-Waiting/159857210741889

Wait No More - website and Facebook
http://www.icareaboutorphans.org/Arizona.aspx?gclid=COqL8K6qj64CFQ8yhwodP0Yagw
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wait-No-More/130105791139?sk=wall

Video for Conference - http://vimeo.com/31151257
Audio for Conference - http://www.icareaboutorphans.org/Doc/Arizona%20WNM%20General%20Info.mp3

Wait No More: Finding Families for Arizona's Waiting Kids
Saturday, February 11, 2012 from 1:00 - 5:00pm
Scottsdale Bible Church
7601 E Shea Blvd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Sermon Highlights from "The God Who Gives Generously"

Do we act as though we serve a generous God?

Here is a brief audio snapshot from last Sunday's sermon, "The God Who Gives Generously."

RCC Presents: The Littlest Lyricist TONIGHT!

Friday | February 3, 2012 | Fellowship Hall | 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Come walk through a celebration of babies lives inside the womb. See amazing detailed pictures and watch a video of belly's moving and babies playing inside the belly. Hear the Psalms in a new way; from the Littlest Lyricist.

For more information or to send your pictures, please contact Kirsten Snyder at realtysnyder@gmail.com

Volunteer List:
Security
Set up
Walking the streets passing out flyers
Prayer
Clean up
Ultrasound Pictures along with current pictures of the child
Pregnancy pictures (mom's face will not be displayed)

Money: God or Gift

Currently at RCC we are going through a series on Generosity.

To compliment this, the home groups are working through a very practical
book by Jamie Munson called Money: God or Gift.

Here are some resources on the book:
About the author and the book Money: God or Gift
Downlaod a Free Chapter of Money: God or Gift
Read some reviews and buy Money: God or Gift

If you attend RCC, please do not forget to pick this up and bring it to homegroup!

Thoughts from the Sermon, “The God Who Gives Generously”

Thoughts from the Sermon, “The God Who Gives Generously”

by Vermon Pierre, Lead Pastor

1. Americans increasingly spend more on themselves. This is noted especially well in the book, Passing the Plate, by Christian Smith and Michael Emerson:

“Generally, between 1959 and 2000, while the financial giving by American Christians was declining (today it’s around 1-3%), the personal consumption expenditures of Americans increased for eating out in restaurants, toys, sports supplies, live entertainments, foreign and domestic travel by U.S. residents, lottery tickets, casino gambling, photography, sports and recreation camps, and other entertainment expenses.”

2. Our culture teaches an ethic of” mine.” We believe we are better off holding on tight to whatever we can get. God wants to lead us to a better ethic, an ethic marked by generous giving.

3. Becoming a generous giver begins with understanding that God owns everything (Ps 24:1-2, Ps 89:11-12, Rom 11:36). To say that God owns everything is to also say that God owns us. The human race comes from God, owes its existence to God, and as such belongs to God.

4. Amazingly, while we human beings came into this world with nothing, everything was given to us (Gen 1:28-30). God graciously appointed us stewards over the whole world inviting us to live in it and enjoy it under his authority and care.

5. Unfortunately we rejected God’s gracious gift. We believed the lie that God was somehow not generous enough and so we reached out and grabbed for ourselves. The result was spiritual bondage. The things of life that we could have enjoyed as God’s gracious gift to us have now been perverted and become our masters. We have become enslaved to things like money, sex, power, fame, relationship.

6. God however continued to show gracious generosity towards us. He gave to us yet again by giving the ultimate gift, the gift of his only Son Jesus (John 3:16). There is not greater gift than this. Our rejection of God’s gifts have brought ruin and frustration to human existence. But God giving us the gift of his Son Jesus has turned around our ruin and frustration and brought us life (Rom 5:15, 17).

7. By trusting in God and receiving in humble faith the gift of his Son, we end up gaining everything again (Rom 8:32). This is remarkably freeing, since if God has promised to give everything to us, we can generously give of our time, talents, resources, and money knowing that whatever we give we never actually lose. It will come back to us, and it will come back to us in a way far more satisfying than if we had kept it for ourselves. Thus, we can give money away knowing it will come back to us in kids being educated and healthy. We can give talents and time away knowing it come back to us in lives being saved and people being built up in our their faith. What will you give up so that it can come back to you better and bless you more and give you more joy than if you had kept it the whole time for yourself?