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Can you believe it? January is almost over, and it feels like 2024 started only last week! If you joined us during the 21 Days of Surrender with the Riverwood family, we want to say thank you! If you don't have a plan yet for continued Bible reading, we suggest you check out the Bible Reading Plans on our website here. Or, be sure to check out the Prayer apps mentioned below in the announcement section "Just For Fun." We pray that this has been a time of digging deeper into the Bible and spiritual growth that will continue well past these 21 days.
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Since time seems to be flying by, let's jump right in to Erin's returning series, One Thought...
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Let Love Be Genuine
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It's been a short while since I've written in this space. If you are part of the Riverwood family, hopefully you participated in our 21 Days of Prayer. A HUGE shout-out goes to each of the authors of the devotionals! What a joy and privilege it was to be encouraged by different members of the Riverwood family to follow Jesus and explore the various areas of life in which we need to surrender to God.
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Why Romans 12?
Years ago, when I was on staff at a Bible church in Cedar Rapids, my pastor said, "Want to know what a Christ-follower should look like? Just read Romans 12." Because my desire for us is that we would truly embody the heart of Christ and not just simply be "nice people," I thought it would be a healthy practice for us to ponder a portion of this important chapter from Scripture to help us consider how we can "live like Jesus lived and love like Jesus loved."
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So to get started, let's tackle the first phrase from Romans 12:9: "let love be genuine."
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"Genuine?" Love
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Now, before you emotive types cheer me on, "You tell 'em, Erin!" let me turn to you. If you are a Jesus-follower, you are not to be controlled by your emotion. Rather, you are to be controlled by (filled with) God’s Spirit.
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For instance, I dearly love my wife and would give my life for her. But I "love" her more when she does all of the cooking and cleaning, when she sews my ripped sweater and spares me from Walmart runs, when she takes care of the pile of mail on the kitchen counter and doesn't ask me to do very much despite her packed schedule as a math teacher and robotics coach.
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Stunned, I realize that at times my love isn't always "genuine." Rather, it is often marked by various conditions, expectations, and selfishness. That's not an authentic, true, honest, transparent, "genuine" love at all! That's a me-centered love that only cares about what I can get from my wife rather than what I can do to honor, serve, and care for her.
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Genuine Jesus
To know what genuine love looks like, we only need to look at Jesus. While on earth, He didn't love us for what He could get from us. He loved us with a true, honest, authentic love. As we read the Gospels, we can see His love in His actions towards humanity, hear it in His teaching, and understand it through His cross.
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To follow Jesus is to imitate Him. This means that as we imitate Him (albeit, imperfectly), others will see genuine love through our actions towards our neighbor, hear it in our words, and understand it through our selflessness.
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So as I close, let me ask this question: What is one thing you can do today to genuinely, and not selfishly, love someone that God puts in your path?
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Riverwood's Annual Report
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We will be presenting our 2023 Annual Report after our Vision Sunday Worship Gathering on Jan. 28. We invite you all to stick around and hear about how God has been moving at Riverwood and in our community this past year!
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“Open FISTs” in February
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Join us during the month of February as we embark on our new 4-week sermon series “Open FISTs”, where we will explore what it looks like to open up our lives to God and giving of our Finances, Influence, Skills, and Time.
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Volunteer Appreciation
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Mark your calendars! We love all of our volunteers, so we're throwing a party to honor and celebrate all of them and their hard work at the Riverwood Building on Friday, February 9th! Doors will open at 5:30pm, followed by dinner at 6:00pm. No childcare will be provided, so please plan ahead. Please RSVP via email ([email protected]) or through your Connection Card on Sunday morning.
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Just For Fun
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Did you grow from implementing a regular habit of prayer during our 21 Days of Surrender? Explore these prayer apps to help keep your routine going! Echo helps you keep track of your prayers, sends you reminders to pray throughout your day, and lets you share prayer requests with others! Similarly, Prayminder is an app designed to send you gentle prayer reminders to help refocus your day.
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