Our Performance Or Christ’s Pleasure? Sunday July, 13th

July 11, 2014 by Pastor David Rathel

Our Performance Or Christ’s Pleasure?

Dear RiverTown Family,

My heart was stirred this week with a message from Christ. He first pointed it at me! My pure-hearted service for Christ’s pleasure can easily turn into something ugly and strange if I begin to focus instead on my performance for other people. This happens when my selfish nature draws my attention to what I’m receiving from people when I should be only thinking about God’s purposes. It’s wrong. Plain and simple! The message this week is entitled Why We Serve!

I’ve found that this sickness of serve-us through service is a common ailment. I’ll share all the symptoms on Sunday but suffice it to say that they all revolve around getting instead of giving. This is a perfect message for the series Hands and Feet because we all need to make sure our motives are pure.

I praise God that almost 50 people are traveling to serve this week on our second summer mission trip to Century, Florida. We are all leaving this Sunday after the 11am worship service. Please pray for us as we attempt to be the Hands and Feet of Jesus in this impoverished town. This is a tremendous opportunity to grow as a disciple of Christ through lasting and loving service and evangelism. Please pray that we will lead many to the feet of Jesus and that they will accept Him as Savior.

Please don’t forget to come during the week next week on Wednesday night at 7pm. Ken Heald was a long term pastor in our community before joining RiverTown. He will be leading our Church family in a worshipful Lord’s Supper service in Columbus. At the same, I will be leading our mission team in the same service on the beach near our mission point in Florida.

I want to thank you again for the opportunity to be your Pastor. I am missing many of you who are traveling throughout the summer. Don’t miss the chance to view RiverTown’s Sunday Services on my YouTube Channel. You can also Tithe Online through our paypal account so that our ministry stays fully funded. The blessings of complete obedience are immeasurable!

All For Jesus,

Pastor David Rathel

Last Sunday’s Message:

About Pastor David Rathel

My wife, Melanie, and I moved back to Columbus with our two week old little girl, Hannah, after finishing Graduate School in Fort Worth, Texas in 2001. RiverTown Church was born in a movie theater on September 9th that same year with a vision to be “a church for people who don’t go to church” here in our hometown. God has blessed us since then with a great location on Schomburg Rd. near my old neighborhood and High School. New people are coming to RiverTown all the time and discovering that God can “transform their lives into the likeness of Jesus Christ” through a church family where you can Believe, Belong, and Become!

From our first prayer meetings in a living room in nearby Phenix City, to our preview services and grand opening the Hollywood Connection movie theater, and finally to our current property and buildings on Schomburg Rd. God has led us all the way.

My wife and I both grew up here, so we know the people and love it here. Melanie keeps me going! We’ve been through all the good, the bad, and the ugly of life and have found that everything is sweeter together. You’ll never find us at a church event on a Friday night. We’ve had date night on Fridays since my first day as a Pastor. We met while working together in a Franklin Graham evangelistic crusade here in Columbus in 1996. Our second child is named Graham for that very reason! Our first child, Hannah, was born in Forth Worth just before we finished Seminary in 2001. Two weeks after she was born in Fort Worth, we were on the road back to Columbus to knock on doors and start RiverTown. She and the church will always be the same age!

On this blog, you'll be the first to know what God is teaching me and teaching through me to our church family. We'll laugh together and sometimes cry together. Most of all, you'll be challenged to take your next step in following Jesus Christ.