I am excited about our upcoming Fall Growth Group semester! Every semester we see people growing in their faith, connecting with one another in community, and serving their community in the name of Christ. I believe this Fall Growth Group semester will be one of our best! Based upon the best-selling book, "Radical: Taking Your Faith Back From The American Dream," we will be challenged to obey and follow Christ wherever He leads. Each week I will preach a message based on the words of Christ in the areas of radical living. The Growth Groups will meet throughout the week and will explore more deeply the Scripture passages and message notes. The Radical Workbooks will be used to emphasize key points and will have discussion questions. Life Journals will also be provided to encourage Growth Group members to write down what God is saying to them through the reading of His Word. The Radical Workbooks and Life Journals will be sold together for $10 total.

Now, you may be asking the question, "Why should I get involved in Growth Group?" Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan says, "We live in a culture in which the interests and desires of the individual take precedence over those in the family, group, or community. As a result, a high percentage of people want to achieve spiritual growth without losing their independence to a church or any organized institution...There is no way you will be able to grow spiritually apart from a deep involvement in a community of other believers. You can't live the Christian life without a band of Christian friends, without a family of believers in which you find a place." (p. 114, Transformational Church, by Ed Stetzer & Thom Rainer)

There are several Growth Groups available for everyone in our church. Some are filling up and are full! You can sign up in the foyer on Sunday or by email (http://www.blogger.com/paul@ridgeviewchurch.net), or you can fill out your Connection Card during the worship service. Make the commitment to growth this semester!

Pictured above is an exchange student we hosted for the 2005-2006 school year. His name is Jirawut-Othni Wiraspun. We called him "Ong." Ong is from Bangkok, Thailand and is a Buddhist. For one year Ong lived with our family. Ong also became a part of our Ridgeview Church family. He attended Ridgestudents every Sunday night. Yes, as his American parent I made him go! The Ridgeview family showered him with love. I'm tearing up as I write this. I'll never forget several of our students at Blue Ridge High School invited him to sit with them at lunch and really included him in the social scene. Day after day, week after week, month after month, Ong lived among our family and watched our church intently. He was very quiet and shy. There were times Ong and myself ate breakfast together in the kitchen and after my, "Good morning, Ong," not a lot more was said. But, through it all, God was working through His Spirit, through His Word, and through His people in Ong's life.

I'll never forget a Sunday night as I pulled into the driveway to drop him off for the Ridgestudents gathering. He asked me, "Can I be a Christian and a Buddhist as well?" We sat in my car for at least thirty minutes as I shared the gospel with him and gave him the opportunity to respond. Ong was not ready yet to give full allegiance to Christ. But the seed of the gospel was planted in his heart.

I share that story with you because that's a very small way that I can be radical for the sake of 4.5 billion people who are lost without Christ. It's a drop in the bucket, but it's a start. Did it cost our family financially? Yes. Did it mean I lost some of my free time? Yes. Did it mean we lost some of our privacy? Yes. But these were small sacrifices to pay. Our family gained so much more. Jesus says in Luke 14:33, "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

I want to warn you that this Radical series we begin Sunday will challenge you with the question, "Am I really a disciple of Jesus Christ?" It is going to make you uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable. It is going to make you question some things in your life. But we must grapple with the question: Do we believe this book? And if we believe the Bible, then we must look at it with fresh eyes and evaluate what it says with our current way of life and our obedience to the clear commands of Christ.

Radical series begins this Sunday. I'm praying God would use this series mightily so His glory and fame would be spread throughout our lives and our community and our world.

Milo Wilson - Leaving Ridgeview Church from Ridgeview Church on Vimeo.

This past Sunday Milo Wilson shared with our church the news concerning the next step of God's will for him and his family. That next step will be to join Pastor Darrick Castranova and a new Southern Baptist Church that will have a September launch date in Buffalo, New York. This is a huge gain for the Kingdom of God! We get to have one of our own go and help start a new church in one of the least evangelized areas of our nation. Not only that, one of the values taught in our membership class is the "Multiplication of churches and leaders" (Acts 13:2). Did you know that the multiplication of churches is one of the most effective means of evangelism we have? Did you know that in order to reach our nation for Christ we must start new churches? Praise God for how He has been working in Milo's heart to take seriously his role in the Great Commission. Many lives will be changed in the great city of Buffalo because of Milo & Erin's obedience.

Now what? Obviously, there will be a need to replace his leadership in our worship and student ministry areas. Our Advisory Team will be working with me in finding the right persons to build upon the foundation he has built. I would ask you to do two things: 1) Pray for our Advisory Team as we seek God's will in the ministry search, 2) Let us know of anyone you feel would be a viable candidate for these ministry areas.

I mentioned Sunday that God has always provided great staff team members at Ridgeview. We will all miss Milo, Erin, Daylia, & Hazyl and their presence with us each Sunday as they transition out Sunday, October 24. But, as I said Sunday, I see some neat partnerships developing between Ridgeview Church and The Well Church in Buffalo. I am excited about what God is going to do in their lives and what God is going to do in our church! He is able to do "immeasurably more than all we could ever ask or imagine..." (Ephesians 3:20).

In Christ,

Pastor Tommy

Fall 2010 Growth Group Semester to be one of our best!

Brace yourself! I believe that if you sign up (& attend) a Fall Growth Group semester at Ridgeview you will be a radically different person by the end of this year! No small claim to make I know. But, I am passionate about the journey we will take as a church. Our theme will be "Radical: Taking your faith back from the American Dream." Much of the study will be based on the best selling book by Dr. David Platt. The power of this semester will be in its concentration. I will be preaching for 8 weeks on the radical theme. Our Growth Groups will align their study with the messages.We will be challenged by the words of Jesus and what it means to truly be His disciples and to obey what we know. We will also be challenged to take the "Radical Experiment," a one year journey of discipleship that will transform how we live in a world that has so many needs.

Here is what you will receive in the Fall Group Semester:

1. The Radical Growth Group material

Each Growth Group will go over specific facilitation questions related to the passages studied on Sunday morning and will explore them in more depth.





2. A Life Journal

Each Growth Group member will be challenged to read through the Bible and to journal daily. We will have Life Journals included with the Growth Group materials that will show you how to journal using the S.O.A.P. plan. Also included will be read through the Bible passages that will help you stay on track.




3. Summit Groups!

Our Ridgekidz will also be going through this material on Wednesday evenings during the Fall semester. We are changing the name to "Summit Groups" from Champions 4 Christ (C4C). They will also be provided a Life Journal known as SOAPY with a reading plan. The kids journal has a reading plan for different ages. Kids ages 8 and under read the first (pink) column of Scripture (usually 2 or 3 verse), kids age 9 & 10 read both the first and second (yellow) columns of Scripture (about 6 verses) and kids 11 & 12 read all three columns (purple is #3) and that's around 15 - 20 verses long. And of course, they can read beyond their age group if they want to!


I strongly encourage you to sign up for a Growth Group this semester. Our Growth Groups are listed below in the Grow section of this email newsletter with options on how you can sign up. I also encourage you to involve your Ridgekidz or Ridgestudents in the groups we have for them. I believe this will be a time of unprecedented spiritual growth in the life of our church. I look forward to seeing you on this journey!

In Christ,

Pastor Tommy

What is God's Will?

 

What is God's Will?

 

This Sunday I will begin a new series entitled, "What's God's Will For Me?" There are so many decisions to be made in life. Should I get married? Is it him or her? Should I go to college? Should I take that job? I already have a good job. Should we have another baby? Should we adopt? Our decisions do matter! It's been said we make our decisions and then our decisions make us. Many people, perhaps even you, wonder what is God's will concerning the particular issue they are facing. I look forward to this series as we unpack this great question many have, "What's God's Will For Me?" I am not promising a mechanical formula of step one, two, three equals knowing the will of God. What I am promising is God wants you to know His will and there are things you can do today to discern it.

 

One thing I do know; God's will is that we seek to be a bridge of His love to all people. 1 John 4:18 states, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." I am so proud to be part of church that puts actions behind it's love. Pictured above is Blue Ridge High Principal Renee Watson (center) and teachers as we served them Wednesday morning with Panera bagels and coffee. We're serving the Blue Ridge High marching band dinner Thursday night. We served over 90 kids last week through the Mega Sports ministry and we saw over 40 receive Christ! God's will is being accomplished at Ridgeview Church!

 

See you Sunday!

 

Owning our Community

Owning our Community

 

Last night we began our first night of Mega Sports Camp with Northwood Baptist Church (see picture above). It got off to a great start and I came home grateful for the volunteers from Ridgeview and Northwood who made it happen. It is a Kingdom thing and it's great to see two churches working together for one purpose: to see kids come to know Christ and to help them grow in their faith. I've been challenged this year to "own" my community. That is to say, to take responsibility for every man, woman, boy, and girl in Blue Ridge. I want to make sure that every one of them has an opportunity to hear the good news of Christ, to repent of their sins and trust Christ for salvation, and to see their lives transformed as they live for Christ and not for self. I also realize that our church cannot reach them all. We must partner with other churches in our community. It is not about being the biggest church in our community (and yes, we want to grow numerically) but seeing our community churched. So, if a church down the street is doing a wonderful job in a certain ministry, let's pray for them, support them, encourage them, etc. Let's celebrate they are reaching people and look at a need in our community that no one else is meeting. It is about the advancement of the Kingdom of God! To this end we must labor!

 

 

Mega Sports, Mega Bridge!

Mega Sports, Mega Bridge!

 

Next Monday, August 2, Ridgeview will join forces with Northwood Baptist for our second year partnership of Mega Sports Camp. Last year, around 100 kids enjoyed sharpening their basketball, baseball, soccer, and cheerleading skills. Not only that, the worship time rally, the huddle coach times, and the gospel presentation Thursday night all worked together to see many kids place their faith in Christ. There are several things I am asking everyone to do as we lead up to camp:

 

1) Pray that many kids would come to know Jesus Christ as forgiver of their sins and leader of their lives.

2) Pray for rally worship leaders and speakers, basketball, baseball, soccer, and cheerleading coaches along with the huddle coaches.

3) Invite the families and kids that live all around you to come. There will be invite cards in the program this Sunday.

 

Many thanks in advance to those of you who will be participating in this bridge event, especially our director, Beth Farmer. It takes a lot of work, time, money, and people to pull something off of this magnitude. But, to see kids give their lives to Jesus makes it all worth it!

 

See you Sunday!

--
Tommy Hargrove

Bridging Out In August

In our email newsletter this week you will find many opportunities to get involved in being a bridge of God's love to our community. I am especially excited about the month of August. I don't believe we've ever had so many opportunities for outreach as we have in August. I especially like the fact we are partnering with other churches in our community. We as a church will not be able to reach everyone in our community. We must partner with our sister churches in our community and own our "circle of accountability" which is the Blue Ridge area. So, peruse the many bridge opportunities in this newsletter. Then, sign up and get involved as we partner together with God's people not only in our church but sister churches to give every man, woman, boy, and girl the opportunity to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

 

Tommy

 

Connecting & Growing!

Connecting & Growing!

 

Pictured above is the Eill Growth Group that meets on Tuesday nights this summer. I've enjoyed being a part of this group! We are studying the book of John, praying together, and connecting as a group in fellowship. I enjoy the times before and after the "official" group time where we share some food and desserts, catch up on how things are going, and just hang out. A couple of weeks ago several people stayed over at my home to watch the college world series after the Growth Group Bible study time was over. We had a blast!

 

This summer we continue to do what Christ has called us to do; seek to bridge people to Himself. I'm fresh off our church mission trip to Staten Island, New York. I get a chance to catch my breath and then bam! August will be here. During this month our church will be partnering with Northwood Baptist for Mega Sports Camp. Then, we are involved in a community back to school bash. Then, we will provide a meal for the Blue Ridge High School marching band. There's a "whole lotta" bridging going on! But, there's a "whole lotta" connecting going on as well through our Growth Groups.

 

I believe spiritual growth occurs through bridge projects that our church does. But, I also believe we must have a steady diet of God's Word in our Growth Groups and times for just enjoying the fellowship of one another in those groups. There's a giving out and a taking in. Some Christians are always looking to be fed and the taking in of another sermon, Bible study, conference or retreat, etc. Other Christians are always looking to bridge and serve others and never take time to care for their soul and they wonder why they are burned out.

 

Let me encourage you in this mid point of the year and this very hot month of July to strike a balance between the giving out and the taking in. Don't let your burden for those who do not know Christ wane. Take the summer bridge challenge seriously! But also, don't neglect to care for your soul. Hebrews 10:25 states, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching." By engaging with others in our Bible study Growth Groups your soul will be fed and you will be encouraged! All of us need to be engaged in both the taking in and the giving out!

 

In Christ,

 

Pastor Tommy 

 

Every Member A Missionary

This week Brian Bowen, Brian Green, Milo Wilson, and myself are on our church mission trip to Staten Island, New York. We are involved in a sports camp in the mornings and have done free bottled water giveaways on behalf of Crossroads (Southern Baptist) Church. We are seeking to build bridges with people here in order to connect them to Christ and His Church here on the island.

Every person who calls Ridgeview home is on a mission trip this week. You may not be 12 hours away but you are on a mission nonetheless. As you go to work, take a walk in your neighborhood, etc., look at those around you with missional eyes. What kind of impact could we make in our community if we went about each day as a mini mission trip?

On mission with you,

Tommy Hargrove
864.630.9459
tommy@ridgeviewchurch.net