Come celebrate Easter with River of Life! Our mission as a church is to lead people to become growing followers of Jesus Christ. This season we are excited to proclaim to our community the joy of our Risen King! Easter is the celebration of the day Jesus rose from dead after being crucified and buried three days before. This is a time of birth, renewal and victory! It is the day Jesus, God in the form of man who lived a sinless life, overcame the grave therefore setting us free from sin and its punishment, death.

We are anxious to celebrate this coming Easter season by not only having an Easter Sunday service, but also putting on an Easter Egg Hunt in our community. The hunt will be held in Tawasentha Park on Saturday April 7^th from 1-3 PM. This event will go above and beyond any ordinary Easter egg hunt. It will feature a live DJ, bounce house, petting zoo, plenty of food and more. There have even been rumors that the Easter Bunny himself might show up. The egg hunt will be for children up to twelve years of age, and if you plan on participating please BYOB (Bring Your Own Basket). This event is entirely free because we at River of Life are excited to reach out and meet new members of our community during this season of new life and rebirth!

The following morning, Easter Sunday, there will be a service at 10 am at our church. This service will start just like any other, with worship music played live by our own worship band. Following the music our lead Pastor Anthony Foxworth will speak. This particular Sunday will also be including regular members of our congregation as they joyfully share with you the ways in which Jesus has saved their lives. You will see and meet people who have overcome real struggles in this life thanks to our Savior. There will be people available to pray with anyone who seeks it. If you are curious or just looking for a place to worship and share the joy of Easter, we eagerly welcome you at River of Life.

“Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all
His wondrous works and devoutly praise them! Glory in His holy name;
let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!”
-1 Chronicles 16:9-10close1 Chronicles 16:9-10 9 Sing to him; sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
10 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! (ESV)

Friday March 23rd, our worship band at River of Life Church is
holding a “Worship Night”. Every Sunday morning before Anthony Foxworth,
our lead Pastor, preaches his sermon our Congregation experiences four
or five songs of heartfelt worship. Worship Night will begin at 7 PM and
will extend about an hour to an hour and a half. You can expect to hear
some of your favorite worship songs played regularly at church. There will
be occasional scriptures read, and people available to pray over others.

The Gospel calls us to worship our Father and by putting on this
event our goal at River of Life is to provide our community with an
opportunity to go deeper than usual with him. We hope to create an intimate
environment with our Father by extending the length of worship. It is an
opportunity to grow closer as a community as we come before God together
with our concerns and heavy hearts as well as our joy. It will be a great
time to pray and celebrate the peace of God.

“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”
-Psalm 34closePsalm 34 Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 11 Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (ESV) : 3

The church is not just a building that we go to on Sunday mornings. It is a group of people, the body of Christ. That goes far beyond the walls of any paticular building and extends into the relationships we have with other people. This is just one of many reasons why Life Groups are important to us at River of Life. They have shown to really bring our congregation together. They’ve proved to make River of Life a community where people know and care for one another and we desire for all of our community to be a part of that.

This coming Sunday October 30th, Life Groups at River of Life will be starting up again! If you are new to River of Life, or have yet to be involved in a Life Group we greatly encourage you to give one a try. Life groups are small groups of people that get together to grow and support one another. They are regularly scheduled gatherings that focus on the bible and how God’s Word fits into every day life.

At River of Life we emphasize and encourage three major aspects of living. We believe that as a christian it is important to connect to God, commit to community, and work towards changing our world. Life Groups are a great way to work on all three. Reading and striving to understand scripture is a great way to connect to God, regularly meeting with the same body of people is committing to community, and supporting members of our community through life’s challenges is a great way to begin changing the world. Each life group takes on a community service project as we feel a sense of responsibility for our town and our neighbors.

“After getting married and moving away from the church I had grown up in I was really missing my church family and all the friends I had at my previous church. When [my husband] Jay and I began attending River of Life church we got involved with Life Groups and began hosting one in our home. At first I thought it would be just a Bible study, but it ended up being a lot more. I found a church family again. My Life Group allowed me to grow in Christ side by side with other Christ followers and grow into a family with them as well. It really has been a great experience.” -Aimee Graciani, ROL member

Christians of any age and with any amount of experience find themselves in challenging situations. Fellowship with other people who strive to live and understand a Godly life helps keep us strong through perspective and support. We are all just human but can get through the trials of this life with each other. Anthony Foxworth, our lead pastor explains “God has created us for community and the best way that we can grow in our faith is to be in community with other people who are seeking to be changed by Jesus. Life Groups are key to being held accountable in our lives and [in our] faith (which all of us need whether we admit it or not), having a sense of belonging to others (we are not in this alone) and that we are cared for and are able to care for others when they are in need. All of us have a next step we need to take, Life Groups is the place to find out what your next step may be!”

You may be asking yourself “How do I sign up?”. Well, there are a few ways. You can make a note of it on your connection card at church on Sunday and someone will contact you. You can click on “connect” on the River of Life home page which will lead you to another link for “Life Groups”. There is a sign up station and listing of current Life Groups in the church at the “Connection Point”. But also, if youre bored and in need of fellowship one night, please don’t hesitate to just show up at any of the groups. You are always welcome!

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
-John 4:24closeJohn 4:24 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (ESV)

Worshiping our God is something that goes beyond raising our hands and singing loudly Sunday morning at church. Our physical expression towards our Father should be motivated by an inward heart movement. True worship is something that is required in a healthy relationship with our Father. God calls us to worship him, and promises blessings to those who do. Here at River of Life we want to see our congregation blessed by intimacy with our God, and the blessings he desires to pour out into our lives.

On Thursday, July 7th, our worship band met to discuss the fundamentals of being worship musicians and what it means to lead people into God’s presence with music. They discussed first “What does it even mean to worship?”. We believe this is something not only important for our worship leaders to understand, but just as important for the congregation as well. What is God really asking us to do when he calls us to worship him?

Jerry Henderson, our worship team coordinator, says “When we think about worship, we often think about the most familiar expressions of worship, which are singing, praying, serving, or several other religious and/or seemingly spiritual acts. Yet, genuine worship comes from our heart, our inner most being. It is us offering up what little we have to honor our Creator, Savior, and most reliable companion. As cultivated by God himself, it is a heart of love, thanksgiving, and surrender, which results in a life of obedience and faithfulness to His calling for our lives.”

At River of Life we strive to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. We also believe worshiping our Father is crucial to our relationship with him. This Sunday, instead of just singing along, or idley raising your hands, ask yourself what is that you need to do right in that moment to demonstrate to our father that you are his. Our worship band is not there to perform, they play music every Sunday to lead you into God’s presence.