Light for the Path:

The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world;the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. – Psalm 97:1-5

Everyone is talking about the US Presidential Election these days. And no doubt, it is a very important (perhaps pivotal) time for our nation. Many are worried because their candidate is losing, or ecstatic because theirs is winning, and others are depressed because they don’t like any from this pool of candidates and don’t see a bright future for our nation.

In this election cycle, let’s keep things in perspective. Our hope is not in any politician or political party. Our hope is in the Lord. Kings and presidents come and go – and their power is of limited significance in the scope of history. The Lord sovereignly reigns forever! In 10,000 years, no one will remember the Super Tuesdays of 2016. But God will still be ruling from his everlasting throne.

So in this election year, by all means get involved. Pray, vote, educate others and do what you can to be good citizen. But don’t let this become everything for you. Remember and be glad: the mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

To Keep in Mind:

• This Sunday, we are launching a new sermon series called, On Being the Local Church. Romans is still our main series, but when the students are on break (like next Sunday) and during the summer, we will be looking together at what it means to be the local church. I can hardly wait.
• There will be no Sunday School this Sunday (March 8) for any age group. Our worship gathering and Christ Kids on the Ridge will begin at the normal time: 10:30AM. You might want to check with your home group leader to find out if your group is meeting on Sunday night.
• There will be no Awana or Chadron Men’s Group next week.
• There is a new member’s class beginning soon during the Sunday School hour. There are a few spots still open, so if you want to be a part of that please let us know. The class is four weeks long. We will set a starting date once we know who’s participating (we want to make it work for everyone’s schedule).
• April 22-24 is our Reach Conference, a panhandle missions conference focusing on cross-cultural missions. The missions team is planning a lot of great things for this weekend, including (possibly) an international meal. It should be great, so make your plans to be here.
• VBS Planning is in full swing. Go to our website to volunteer. All the teachers not currently serving in children ministries at Ridgeview or Chadron Berean will need a background check, so please volunteer early.

Missionary of the Month: Our missionaries of the month are Burt & Amanda Newman. Burt & Amanda serve right here in Chadron. They lead the Revive Campus Ministry at CSC and also lead the Youth ministry at Ridgeview. Burt & Amanda are very involved in discipleship and serve in many other ways at Ridgeview. Burt is coordinating the Reach 2016 conference as well. I am so thankful to the Lord for the ways that Burt & Amanda serve God here at Ridgeview.

Let’s do what we can to encourage Burt & Amanda in March. Here are a few things you can do this month: 1) Pray for Burt & Amanda every day for the rest of the month. 2) Write them a card to let them know you are thinking of them. 3) Give a generous financial gift towards their ministry. 4) Take them out to lunch or invite them to your home. And finally, 5) Pray for Burt & Amanda every day for the rest of the month (and yes, I know I repeated that one – just do it. :-).

Light for the Path:

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life…

With the image of slavery still as the backdrop, Paul gives more reasons for Christians to fight sin in Romans 6:20-23. He tells us that the end of “those things” (our former sinful lifestyles) is death and shame. Sin is a bait and switch of sorts; it promises something desirable, but delivers only shame, brokenness, pain, and death. But Christ has set us free from that. Now we are “slaves” of God. And this new path we are on because of Jesus ends in eternal life. So we have substantial reasons to fight sin in our lives. Paul ends the chapter with all of those reasons neatly packaged: for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

For more, listen to the sermon preached on January 17, called The Wage of Death and the Gift of Life.

To Keep in Mind:

• All small groups are in full swing now. If you are not a part of a small group, we encourage you to join one.
• The Men’s Group kicked off this morning with its new study (Counter Culture, by David Platt). We think it will be a great study. All men are invited on Thursday’s at 6:30AM in the Ridgeroom. Workbooks are available in the church office.
• There will be a College Meal this Sunday after the worship gathering for all CSC and Job Corps students.

Upcoming Events:

• Reach 2016 Missions Conference on April 22-24: Our dual focus will be cross-cultural church-planting and short-term missions. Several major mission agencies will participate, and the speaker line-up is outstanding. Also, there will be great worship throughout the conference. Make your plans to be here for this potentially life-changing event.
• 2016 Vacation Bible School– Mark your calendars! Ridgeview Bible Church is hosting Vacation Bible School June 20th – June 23rd, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM for kids ages 4 thru 6th grade. Like our page on Facebook to get the latest. We are in need of volunteers to make this a great week. Everything from Teachers, Teen Helpers, Music, Sports, Snack Coordinators, etc. If you can help, please sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4faba82da5ff2-volunteers
• Feb. 13th 6:00 pm Couples Night Out. See bulletin this Sunday for more information.

Missionary of the Month:

Please make a point this month to pray for Sergei Z and his family. Sergei is church-planting/pastoring in a small village about 150 miles from Moscow, Russia. The work there is often difficult, so let’s pray for steadfastness in ministry, and that many more there will trust Christ as their savior through the work God is doing.

A Word in Season:

David, many centuries ago, expressed amazement at the handiwork of God in creating human life. In Psalm 139:13-14 he wrote, For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Human life is a demonstration of the wonder and glory of God’s mighty and creative hand. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. How amazing is that?!?

Of course, not everyone who looks at human life shares David’s amazement at God’s handiwork. In our society there is a sustained attack on the wonder and value of human life. It’s called abortion.

Tomorrow (January 22, 2016) marks 43 years since the US Supreme Court’s ruling in the case called Roe v. Wade. This basically made abortion legal at any time during pregnancy and for any reason. Some will celebrate tomorrow. The US President will likely publish a statement (as he has every year since he’s been in office) celebrating what he calls the protection of a “woman’s reproductive rights”. I think it is more fitting to weep for the 57 million unborn babies that have perished since 1973. Half of those were little women – and none of their rights were protected.

I don’t write this to wax political or to champion any political cause. I write this because I see abortion as one of the greatest on-going tragedies of human history. I write this because every single victim of abortion is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. And I write this because Christians who love God and recognize the wonder of human life must speak about this. We simply cannot sit silently by. Tomorrow marks 43 years and 57 million victims. What will we do to help stop this? – Pastor Mike

Editor’s Note: It is our hope that this new format will be helpful to you as we face the New Year. You can expect a similar post every Thursday. We also send this out via email. If you would like to sign up, just email us.

Light for the Path:

On Sunday, December 27, Pastor Mike preached on Psalm 119:105-112. If you missed it you can find it online (click this link). He challenged us to go to the Word of God as our light and lamp in 2016. Our own lights are too dim; we need God’s light.

Last Sunday, Burt Newman preached on Luke 10:25-37 and called the sermon “A White Elephant Life” (if you want to know what that means, you can go listen to that sermon too). It was a good challenge to see our faith as more than just following a list of rules, but following the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Next Sunday, we dive back into the book of Romans. In Romans 6:15-19, the Apostle Paul sheds more light on what it means to live out the transformed life – specifically, what it means to consider ourselves “slaves to righteousness.”

To Keep in Mind:

• Sunday school for all ages begins on January 17^th. No Sunday School on January 10^th.
• Most home groups also kick off on January 17^th. If you are in a home group or small group, check with your leader or the church calendar for starting dates.
• This Sunday, January 10^th, will be the first fellowship meal of 2016. All are invited!

Upcoming Events:

Click here to see the upcoming events.

Missionary of the Month: Our missionary of the Month is Sergei Z and his family. For security reasons, we have to keep their details to a minimum. They are church-planting in a small village about 150 miles from Moscow, Russia. When Pastor Mike was in Moscow last summer, he was able to contact Sergei and hear about his most pressing needs. Ridgeview Bible Church has been supporting Sergei since 2014. They asked us to pray for the spiritual growth of the new Christians they are discipling, and that their upcoming evangelism efforts will be effective. You will hear more this month about Sergei and his service for Christ in Russia. Please take some time to pray for them.

A Word in Season: In this first newsletter of the new year, I want to remind you of who we are as a church. At our 2014 elder retreat, we framed it like this: Ridgeview Bible Church is a fellowship of believers that is committed to intentionally and authentically following Jesus’ command to be disciples and to make disciples – in our homes, in the community, in the workplace and around the world.

All of us as elders are praying that in 2016 we will grow in every way; that more Christians will become serious about intentionally and authentically following Jesus. And that more will see themselves as disciples, while also discipling others. We are excited for what the Lord will do this year in Chadron, and in the World. Pray with us to this end, for the glory of God. – Pastor Mike Johnson