When Church Becomes Family! Saturday & Sunday June 28-29.

June 25, 2014 by Pastor David Rathel

When Church Becomes Family!

This week at RiverTown’s LIVING INSIDE OUT Vacation Bible School I bent down and picked up a little girl I thought I knew. Her name is Sophia! This time she was different. I see her and her family often and I knew that she was growing up, but she surprised me! I didn’t really have words for what I felt. You might know the feeling.

I thought she was smaller. I thought she was lighter. I remembered her younger and more of a toddler than a talkative little girl. She could clearly tell me and her mom all about her day and the fun she was having at VBS. I’ve not been able to get that moment out of my head.

Here’s why. I love being a Pastor! I love really getting to know families and keeping up with them. I love seeing people grow. Their prayers, needs, and victories, all mean so much to me. The love I felt in that moment for Sophia just represents the kind of Godly love that is the power of a Church family.

Sophia’s growth as a little girl reminded me that my favorite thing about God’s Church is seeing people grow up in their relationship with Christ and with each other.

CHURCH BECOMES FAMILY simply by showing up, growing in Christ, and loving each other.

This Sunday morning you’ll get a taste of that family feeling that only a child like Sophia can give. RiverTown’s Sunday Morning Family Experience will take the best of our VBS week and put it on display with new songs from our worship band, children’s songs and skits, as well as teaching for adults in a fun and interactive environment.

Before Sunday rolls around this week you’ll have a chance to connect and serve together with your family and the RiverTown family this Saturday at THE BIG SERVE!

BIG SERVE Opportunities:

10AM – Nursing Home – RiverTowne Center on Schomburg Rd.

Address: 5131 Warm Springs Rd, Columbus, GA 31909

Phone:(706) 332-2305 Penny Carter, POC

11AM – Homeless Ministry – Highland Community Church.

Address: 3400 5th Ave, Columbus, GA 31904

Phone:(706) 330-4297 Ryan Ratliff, POC

2PM – Block Party In The Projects – Wilson Apartments off South Veterans Parkway.

Address: 107 Clinton Place, Columbus, GA

Phone:(706) 269-2634 Renee Johnson, POC

Show Up At One, Two, or All of the BIG SERVE Locations On Saturday. No childcare necessary. All of these opportunities are kid friendly environments.

ALL FOR JESUS,

Pastor David Rathel

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.