Marriage Conference: Dinner Questions
It’s almost here! I’m excited about this year’s conference. It’s going to be great to just spend some time with my wife and focus on strengthening our marriage. A marriage conference is kind of like an oil change. Get one every 3000 miles and the car tends to run a lot better. Forget to change the oil and it’s just going to be a matter of time before there’s major engine damage. Of course, RBC marriage conference’s are a whole lot more fun than oil changes! To that end we want to get you started thinking about Friday’s dinner date and the overnight conference.
Remember that the plan is for you and your spouse to go out to dinner on Friday and arrive back in the RBC Sanctuary by 8pm. You’ll really want to get back to RBC around 7:45pm so that you can check in at the registration table and find your seat in the sanctuary. We want to mix the tables up with couples of different number of years married. So when you walk in the sanctuary you’ll see colored circles on each table in front of the chairs. Just find a colored circle that fits the number of years you’ve been married and have a seat. It’s really easy.
We have some discussion topics for your dinner date. The discussion is meant to open the lines of communication with your spouse and to help frame the conference for you as a whole. Take some time to think about your responses to the discussion items, particularly #1 and #3. Make sure your spouse has a chance to see them in advance of Friday as well. That way the two of you can make the most of your time together over dinner discussing your thoughts. Here are the discussion items:
1) Describe to your spouse how you feel about each of the below aspects of your marriage. Include your thoughts on things that are going well and why, and things that could be improved. Be honest and transparent. For things that could be improved, share how you feel without being judgmental (e.g. “I feel like…” instead of “You don’t do…) — Physical intimacy, including sex — Emotional, friendship bond between you two — Spiritual side of your relationship with your spouse
2) After hearing each other’s views, which area of your marriage do you feel there is the greatest difference of opinion between you and your spouse?
3) What do you hope happens as a result of this marriage conference?
One more thing. For the Ice Breaker time at your table, be prepared to tell one of your favorite local places to go, say within an hour’s drive, that others might not know about. It could be a restaurant, a park, a local activity, anything that might not be as well known. Each table will have a piece of paper to write these places down. We’ll collect them and e-mail them all out to everyone who attends after the conference.
That’s it! Get ready for a great time with your beloved! We have over 80 couples attending making this one of the largest marriage conferences at RBC yet.
See you there,
John & Jana Smith
Marriage Conference Coordinator
RBC Marriage Conference: The Power of One
It’s been a busy Spring so far hasn’t it? With so much to do, it’s easy to lose focus on the things that are really important. One of the biggest takeaways couples said they had from the last marriage booster was how important it was to make their marriage a priority in their life. That sounds so obvious but isn’t it the truth that in our busyness, we often take our spouse and our marriage for granted. My wife Jana and I have been married for almost 28 years, and I know I’ve been guilty of that several times.
On May 6-7, 2011, RBC is hosting our fifth annual Marriage Conference. This is going to be a great opportunity for you to take a break for the busyness and invest in your spouse and your marriage. It’s a time to really focus on improving your marriage and move closer to each other in “oneness.” In fact, that’s the theme of this year’s conference – “One in Body, Soul, and Spirit.”
On Friday night, Mike Minter is going to talk about the physical intimacy aspect of marriage. Saturday morning, Paul Goodnight will talk about the emotional/friendship aspects of marriage. Then Tony Pedroni will talk about the spiritual aspects of being a husband and wife. Then, based on your feedback, finish with an interactive Q&A session with Mike, Paul, and Tony. You’ll be able to text in your questions anonymously during the conference or ask away during the Q&A.
If you’ve been to a marriage booster or conference in the past, you know how great they are and how much fun they can be. Jana and I go to these every time they’re offered. Sign up online at www.restonbible.org/marriage.
As a veteran of many marriage conferences, I really encourage you to take advantage of the special arrangements at the DOUBLETREE by Hilton Hotel to make it a real overnight get-away. The hotel has extended the registration for guaranteed rate/rooms to Friday, April 29th.
See you there,
John Smith
Marriage Conference Coordinator
Parking Update
NEW PARKING LOT CONSTRUCTION: We are happy to announce that construction for the 150 additional parking spaces (between the Main Building and Cascades Parkway) has officially begun! During the next 2-3 months of construction, we may lose up to 25 of our current parking spots. Please consider carpooling, parking in the RBC Overflow Lot, or attending the 8:15am or 11:45am services during this time to alleviate some of the parking congestion.
WEEKDAY PARKING: The area to the right of the main building (next to Cascades) is considered a construction zone while the lots are being put in. If you are on the RBC campus during the weekdays, for your safety, please do not park in the side lot or in the lot behind the building. (While some of these spots will be lost during the new parking lot construction, but these areas are open for parking during weekend services.) Please take extra precaution – particularly with children – while in the building vicinity as construction traffic will be going on during the week.
WEEKEND TOWING: Effective immediately, we ask that you park ONLY in the RBC Parking Lot or in the designated RBC Overflow Lot. All other lots off Oakbrook Court will start towing this Sunday morning (2/13/2011). The towing is being enforced by some of the neighboring firms who have lost their parking spots on Sundays. We want to be good neighbors, so please limit your parking only to our lot or the designated overflow lots. Again, please consider carpooling or attending the 8:15am or 11:45am services during this time to alleviate some of the parking congestion.
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While we know parking has been a bit of a pain at RBC lately, we are thankful to God to have a church home where so many people desire to engage. As far as church issues go, I hope you’ll agree that “not enough parking spots for all the people who want to attend” is not necessarily a bad one to have. It can be annoying, yes – but it is a tolerable inconvenience.
As my family and I walked in from the Overflow Lot a couple Sundays ago, I was telling my kids about what Pastor Minter shared after his recent Brazil trip, how many pastors there traveled for days to be taught from the Word of God. Although my young’uns thought it sounded kind of fun, I personally was glad I didn’t have to paddle a canoe down the Amazon to get to my church home. It struck me then that walking a few hundred feet to worship the God who has blessed us so abundantly – in ways far greater than parking lots and nice facilities – didn’t seem like such a big deal.
Find yourself grumbling about the inconvenience of the parking situation? It takes a little extra time to get in and out of RBC on Sundays, but even that is time we should steward well. Ask God, then, to help you use that time for His glory. What might this look like for you and your family?
One practical idea for a great use of this time is prayer. As you drive in on Sunday morning, pray aloud for the people leaving who have heard the Word, that they would take its light back to their families, their neighborhoods and their workplaces. As you walk across the parking lot, pray for your pastors and leaders. As you drive out, pray aloud for others coming in to worship and hear from the Word of God, that their hearts would be made ready to engage with Jesus in fresh ways.
May God grant us the grace to steward even parking lots for His great glory.
Running Scared: Resources for Dealing With Worry, Fear, & Anxiety
Thanks again to all who were able to attend the RE:NEW 2011 Conference featuring Ed Welch. The leadership of Reston Bible was greatly encouraged by the turnout and we pray that the conference content would be of great benefit to all of us in our walks with Christ. We hope you have been able to process and implement some of the things God brought before you during that time.
Since fear and anxiety are things we all deal with, let us recommend some reading resources that will help strengthen you for the battle. Included here are several books and studies that were mentioned during RE:NEW, as well as others that have been hand-picked by RBC staff. These resources are available in the RBC Bookstore. (Our bookstore is not-for-profit and open between Sunday services.)
Running Scared: Memory Verses for Dealing With Worry, Fear, & Anxiety
The RBC leadership is thankful for the many who were able to attend last weekend’s RE:NEW conference with Ed Welch. As a help to you were (and were not) able to attend, here is a list of most of the Scriptures Dr. Welch referenced in his sessions. The beauty and power of the Word of God cannot be overstated, so great is the power of committing Scripture to memory. We pray you will commit these to memory; they are vital tools in our battles with fear, worry, and anxiety.
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” (Genesis 26:24)
“Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you where ever you; he will never leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10).
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. (Isaiah 43:1)
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” (Isaiah 49:14-16)
“Peace be with you.” (John 20:19, 21)
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
“I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper (alongside of one), to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth. …He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans.” (John 14:16ff.)
The Lord is near; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:5-7)
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Luke 12:32-34)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)
The Centrality of the Gospel in the New Year
A new year is symbolic in many ways. It is commonly a time when we look back and reflect on the past year, while also looking ahead in anticipation at the year to come. We make resolutions and set goals; it is a time to refocus, renew, recalibrate. The new year is often bittersweet mixture of shame and thankfulness, regret and hope. Our reflections and anticipations during this time will often set the tone for the months ahead.
There’s something about “newness” that attracts us – whether in regard to a new year, a new job, a new car, a new gadget, a new relationship, etc. With a new thing, there’s always some level of fresh hope (and probably an undercurrent of “THIS will be the thing that really satisfies me!”) But it always goes the same way, doesn’t it? The “new” wears off – the new thing eventually just becomes the thing, and so we move on to the next new thing.
As I have been thinking through that process in my own life, I have been reminded of the centrality of the Gospel. Most of us are likely familiar with these words from Luke 2:10-11: And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Those verses provide a two-line summary of the Gospel:
1.) The Gospel is good news for the joy of all people.
2.) The Lord – the Creator God of the universe – is the Christ who comes to Earth to save.
While there is much more you can say about the Gospel than this, there is not less. The Gospel is beautiful in its simplicity, majestic in its depth, and completely unique in its purpose. There is no greater truth than the Gospel. God was kind to remind me of the centrality of the Gospel in the form of a question that has tugged at the corners of my heart and mind for the last couple of weeks – Has the “newness” of the Gospel worn off for you?
I find it common within most churches to think of the Gospel as only for non-believers, or to consider the Gospel “kindergarten Christianity.” I often fight in my own heart and mind to keep from considering the Gospel as remedial, something to move past so I can get on to something more interesting. Early in my own process of coming to know Jesus as Savior, I saw the Gospel as something new and beautiful and exiting – but there are plenty of times now when I catch myself treating it as though it were something primarily for other people.
Paul writes in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” This is a verse we tend to think of in terms of evangelism, and rightly so. We must not be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus in terms of sharing it with those who do not know its great truths. However, this verse is just as applicable for Christ-followers. We must not be ashamed of the Gospel in our own daily lives.
What does it look like to be ashamed of the Gospel in such a manner? I can think of at least two ways:
- By treating it in thought and action as though it were no longer something we need. The Gospel is not something we come to terms with once, then move on to something greater, deeper, or more useful.
- By failing to consciously apply the Gospel to our lives every single day. We should daily preach to ourselves the Gospel with the goal of aligning our lives with Christ, to whom the Gospel takes us. The trajectory of our lives should be constant, joyful struggle to align our lives with His by working out the practical applications of the Gospel in every area of thought and action.
Reflecting on Gospel-centrality in a right way will always lead us to the person and work of Jesus. Christ is the whole point of the Gospel – without Him, there is no Gospel. Jesus is the good news that came to earth; God as a baby who grew into a man, lived a life we should have lived (but could not), died a death we should have died (but could not) to a penalty we should have paid (but could not). To those that believe that as good news, it is the power of God for salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. This is not a message that gets old.
Has the “newness” of the Gospel worn off for you? Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us that the mercies of God are new every day, and I can think of no clearer portrait of the mercies of God that the Gospel. May God grant us the grace to see our need for the Gospel every day and the strength to preach it to ourselves daily. May He keep us from the foolishness of thinking we can ever get past the Gospel. May our daily appropriation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ be a constant reminder that this is not a message that ever gets old.
Running Scared
From the book Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest by Ed Welch:
Edward T. Welch investigates the roots of fear in the human soul and the ramifications of living in the grips of anxiety, worry, and dread. Welch encourages readers to discover for themselves that the Bible is full of beautiful words of comfort for fearful people (and that every single person is afraid of something). Within the framework of thirty topical meditations, Welch offers sound biblical theology and moment-by-moment, thoughtful encouragement for life-saving rescue in the midst of the heart and mind battlefield of rampant panic-stricken responses.
This comprehensive primer on the topic of fear, worry, and the rest of God will have readers retreating to scripture for invariable constancy, stalwart care, and robust comfort, instead of as Welch terms it hitting the default switch by responding with characteristic human independence, control, and self-protectiveness. Running Scared affirms that, through Scripture, God speaks directly to our fears:
- On money and possessions
- On people and their judgments
- On death, pain, and punishment
Welch’s lively text provides convincing evidences that humanity’s struggle against active and dormant fears are countless. The good news is that God provides both the remedy and the cure for this malady in the person of Jesus Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, and through powerful, life-altering promises in Scripture. Far more than merely another psychology self-help guide, Running Scared serves as a biblical roadmap to a life of serenity and security.
From a review of Running Scared by author & blogger Tim Challies:
For someone who does not consider himself much of a worrier, I was surprised to find that this book offered me a lot to think about; it offered me a challenge to see where (not if) I worry. And as it offered the biblical diagnosis, it offered also the biblical cure. It showed me that worry, though usually a hidden sin and perhaps even a sin that most often seems harmless, is a sin that impacts my life and serves to distance me from the God who says time and time again, “Do not be afraid. Peace be with you. The Lord give you peace.” It showed me most clearly of all that the way I feel about fear and worry is a sure indication of what I believe about God.
Read Challies’ complete review here.
Running Scared is available in the RBC Bookstore as a staff-recommended resource for Christ-centered growth.
Please also consider joining us for our annual RE:NEW conference, featuring Dr. Welch. Click here for conference information.
Christmas & the House of God
Of all holidays, Christmas in particular tends to have a polarizing effect on people. Most folks tend to get really excited or really depressed during this time of year.
Jon Foreman wrote a song based on Psalm 23 called The House of God, Forever. Great song. His lyrics echo the final verse of the Psalm – “I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” It also reminds me of Psalm 84, which begins like this – “How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD … Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.”
Whether you get really excited about Christmas, really depressed, or somewhere in the middle, I think our reaction is tied in some way to this idea of being in the house of God, being in the presence of the Divine. Our reaction to Christmas is somehow linked to our innate longing to experience relationship with the God we were created to worship.
Maybe you’re a person who gets really excited about Christmas – you love the aspect of family gatherings, of giving gifts, of special traditions. My guess is the reason we love these things so much is that in a broken world, these are glimpses that point you toward something that is hardwired into the human heart – a longing to be in the house of God, where all is right.
Maybe you’re on the other end of the spectrum – Christmas for whatever reason drains you, makes you depressed, highlights a very personal sense of loneliness. it’s the flip side of the same coin – it points you to the fact that things are not as they should be; there is an unfulfilled longing to be in the house of God, where all is right.
Regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, let me say this: we are made for something more than what we experience here on Earth. In every heart is a yearning to be in the house of God – to be united in relationship with our Creator. But in every heart is a tension, a disconnect, some level of frustration because we all know that things are not quite as they should be. There is something about Christmas that highlights this in some way for each of us.
The familiar icon of a manger scene reminds us that many people celebrate Christmas as a birthday – the birth of Jesus Christ. Birthdays are special days not because of the day itself, but what that day represents. Your birthday, for example, is not just about a number on a calendar. A birthday represents more than just a day, a moment; it celebrates more than just an event, an occurrence. Birthdays are special because they represent an individual life; a birthday means something because it celebrates a person.
This is true for each of us, and infinitely and gloriously true of Jesus. December 25 is a date that holds no lasting value apart from the Person that it celebrates – Jesus. As we experience the longing to be in the house of God and deal with the tension/disconnect that things are not as they ought to be – it is Christ who is the key to fulfilling that basic longing. It is Jesus and Jesus alone who bridges that gap between us and God.
So Christmas is not at its core a celebration of a day or a season or a tradition. It is a celebration of a Person: the Person of Jesus Christ, who alone opens the doors to the house of God for us. You and I simply do not have the ability to overcome the gap between our own brokenness and the God we were meant to worship. There could never be enough we could ever become or do or say or give or feel that would make things right between us and a perfect God. This is why Jesus came, and why we celebrate Him above all else. There is no one like Him. He opens the doors to the house of God for us.
Christmas is a time that we celebrate something that is true all year long – that God came to earth, born as a humble baby, grew into a man, lived a life we could never live, died a death we could never die to pay a penalty we could never pay. Those who would believe that and trust Him by faith will be able to live and love and worship in the house of God forever, where all is right.
Christmas is not just about a day, an event, a singular occurrence. It is about a Person – Jesus Christ. Lord. Savior. Friend. He is both imminent and exalted – Emmanuel – God With Us. This Christmas and in all the days beyond, may we celebrate more than a day, a season, a tradition. May we celebrate the Person of Jesus Christ. There is no one like Him.
VIDEO: 2010 Annual Report
The RBC Annual Report is a document designed to give you information about our major ministries, how to contact ministry leaders, and how the finances of our church are handled.
You may download a digital copy of the Annual Report from www.restonbible.org/annualreport or request a print copy by emailing info@restonbible.org.
October Food Drive Update
A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. ~Proverbs 22:9
The Food Pantry workers were overwhelmed by the generosity of the members of our church who brought in groceries on October 3rd. There were so many large bags of food that it took three people four trips each to bring all of it back to the pantry. These trips included the use of carts and baskets on wheels.
God’s love and abundance really showed up through the giving of His people to those of us who are in need. So far there are 20 to 30 families who directly benefit by this food pantry every week. By offering them food, we have an opportunity to share the Gospel and the love of God with these people. Lives are being changed. Glory to God.