Church for church people

People believe that church is for church people not for them. This is an issue of relevance. Less than 10% of our local population finds an evangelical church relevant enough to make attending it regularly a priority. As Jesus walked the streets of ancient Palestine, he demonstrated the imminent relevance of God’s voice in the world. To the woman at the well, four times divorced and in her fifth romantic relationship, Jesus demonstrated the relevance of God’s voice. She walked away exclaiming to her neighbors, “Come see the man who told me everything about my life.” Men, women and children gathered to hear Jesus demonstrate the relevance of God’s voice in marriage, relationships, anger, murder, adultery, spiritual practices . . . One day thousands followed Him without food. Some thought He was the son of God, others thought he was a lunatic, some thought he was a threat to the social order of His time and had Him killed. I don’t think anyone thought He was irrelevant or boring.

While church, for many, is considered irrelevant, my relationship with my wife, my role as husband and parent, how I am raising my children, my job and my monthly mortgage are all relevant. That is why we believe we must do what Jesus did. We must demonstrate the relevance of God’s voice in addressing the everyday needs that demand the attention of the everyday person. We believe that as a church we are on the same mission as Jesus—to demonstrate the imminent relevance of God’s voice in peoples’ lives. If the church is the hope of the world we must be about the business of demonstrating the relevance of that hope to a hopeless world.

We believe that faith is more than two hours on Sunday. While Sunday may be pivotal, what happens in the home the rest of week determines the course of a person’s life. Our goal is to inspire, empower and equip the family. A growing relationship with Jesus Christ isn’t a one time decision, but a series of decisions about relationships. First of all, it is the everyday choice to grow more and more intimately connected to the Creator. It is about organizing the universe of our everyday decisions around our relationship with Jesus Christ. Then, it is intentionally nurturing everyday God-centered decisions which impact our relationships with everyone else—people inside the church and people outside the church. Relationships are relevant. God has spoken into relationships and His voice is relevant.

While people don’t seem to have a problem with God, they have a problem with church. That is why we believe it is imperative that the church marshal all it resources to rescue relationships: relationships between husband and wife, parent and child, employee and boss and neighbor and neighbor. We want to so penetrate the landscape of our community that when people seek help for the most important relationships in their lives, River Park Community Church would be the top of mind response. “River Park Community Church is the place where I can find help for the most important things in life.”