Announcing New Elder Candidates
Our council of elders are responsible for the care, oversight, leadership, and shepherding of the spiritual condition and fiscal well-being of the church. RBC elders are men who have been examined and meet the biblical qualifications as set forth in 1 Timothy 5:17, Titus 1:9, 1 Peter 5:1-3, Acts 20:28, and Mark 10:42-45. Along with our pastors, deacons, staff, and lay-leaders, they serve, lead, pray for, and minister to our congregation in word and in deed.
Two candidates, John Smith and Sujay Philips, have completed a year-long candidacy process. As the final stage of that process, we would love your feedback on both or either of these men. If you have affirmations or concerns, please email the elders at elders@restonbible.org.
Sujay Phillips was born in 1971 in Bellary, India. Raised in a loving home, he grew up with a cultural understanding of Christianity. He graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Bellary. At 23 yrs., Sujay professed faith in Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior by the grace of God under the loving, caring and faithful mentorship of Mr. Janardhan Rao. By God’s providence, Sujay met his wife Leena through his parents, and they were married in 1996. Sujay and Leena have two children, Sheryll and Samuel.
By God’s providence, Sujay came to the United States in the year 2000 in pursuit of a better future for their family. God has been so faithful in providing for their needs beyond measure. The greatest blessing for Sujay here in the U.S. has been the immense joy of knowing the heart of God more intimately leading to a passionate, faithful walk with God. He has been attending Reston Bible Church since 2011 and loves RBC because RBC is a Bible-believing, Bible-honoring, Bible-centered, Bible-teaching church.
Sujay loves God with all his heart, mind, soul and strength and loves his neighbor as himself. His desire is to serve and care, listen and pray, exhort, encourage and build the body of Christ at RBC. His desire is for RBC to be the beautiful bride of Christ where individuals are rooted in Christ, marriages are strong in Christ and families are united in Christ, for the glory of God resulting in RBC being a shining light in our communities.
John Smith grew up in a military family and attended the base Chapel for Sunday services. While he learned a lot about God, it wasn’t until his junior year in high school, after his dad had retired from the military and his family settled down in Washington state, that John’s faith became real. A neighbor invited him to Sunday school where John heard the Gospel, and a short time later, asked Jesus to be his Savior.
John attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and by God’s grace was invited to be a part of a Bible study where he grew in his faith. Following pilot training, John married his high school sweetheart, Jana. For the next 25 years, they moved around the country, including a tour in the United Kingdom, and raised 8 kids, 4 boys and 4 girls. In the midst of this journey, their third child, and second son, Zane, died from leukemia at the age of two.
He and his family first came to RBC in 1995 when John was on a 4-year tour at the Pentagon. John retired from the Air Force in 2007 and is back supporting the Air Force at the Pentagon as a contractor. He has served in various positions at RBC including AWANA, Helping Hands, the Men’s Ministry, Shepherd Groups, and the Deacons.
John is amazed at what happened at the cross where God, who created the universe, humbled Himself by becoming a man, demonstrated His holiness by judging our sin, and then demonstrated His love for us by paying our death sentence Himself, all that we might have the opportunity by faith to restore our relationship with Him.
Ordination of Tony Cho
We were blessed last weekend to formally ordain Tony Cho as a RBC pastor.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
Mortgage Update
Watch the short video below for some amazing news of God’s provision and how it affects the mortgage on the RBC property.
Special Announcement for RBC Attendees
As I mentioned last Sunday, I wanted to give you a special mid-week announcement.
Please watch the video below, and remember, there are at least two things included that you don’t know!
Obituary for Kim Yearick
Kim Yearick of Lovettsville, Virginia, passed away at her home on June 15, 2023.
Born on September 15, 1963, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Jerry and Charlotte Fetterolf. She grew up in Madisonburg, Pennsylvania, graduated from Penns Valley High school, and Messiah College. She married Vince Yearick on May 10, 1986, and he survives.
Kim was a devoted follower of the Lord, loved studying the Bible, a faithful prayer warrior, shared the gospel with many, and touched many lives and hearts. She was an avid gardener and enjoyed growing vegetables and flowers to share with friends and neighbors. She loved the ocean and was always outdoors.
Besides her husband, she is survived by her mother, Charlotte Fetterolf, daughters Hannah and Rachel, sons Micah and Stephan, brother Andrew Fetterolf (Mary Beth), and her nieces and nephew Ricky, Cecilia, Scarlet, Heath, and Fallon.
Kim’s Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, July 1, at Reston Bible Church in Sterling, Virginia, at 1:30 p.m., with a reception following.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Reston Bible Church in Kim’s honor. Please designate it to the Mortgage Reduction fund.
If you would like to send flowers, please choose arrangements with sunflowers which were one of her favorites.
Greek Word Study from the Book of James
Throughout our study in the book of James, we have spoken about a variety of Greek words.
We have considered their meanings and how they contribute to understanding what is really happening in the book, and how that applies both to those in the first century and to us today. To aid your continued Bible study, we have gathered together all of those different Greek words and placed them in a set of slides that you can download below. You can use this as you are reading through the book of James on your own, so that you can see some of the subtle nuances related to the Greek words.
Download James Greek SlidesRead an Excerpt from ‘Stay the Course’
The following is the preface from Pastor Mike Minter’s book, Stay the Course: A Pastor’s Guide to Navigating the Restless Waters of Ministry.
I once read Open, the autobiography of the legendary tennis player, Andre Agassi.
I don’t play tennis, so why would I read his story? Well, because it took me into a world I never knew existed. I learned about string tension, the difference between hard courts and grass courts, and the mental anguish that comes before each tournament. It was all fascinating to me. The experience was palpable. I could practically feel the sweat trickling down my face as I was moments away from hoisting the Wimbledon trophy before thousands of adoring fans. Agassi had me step into his life and feel every throbbing heartbeat of match point.
After that, I read The Accidental President by A. J. Baime, a very different book that threw me into the world of Harry S. Truman and the messy universe of politics. It was almost overwhelming to comprehend the apprehension that President Truman felt before giving the green light to bomb Japan with a nuclear device.
Good books, whether fiction or nonfiction, bring readers into unfamiliar environments. What string tension will he use on a grass court? What matrix will be employed to tip the scales in favor of dropping a bomb that will eradicate thousands of lives?
This is a book about pastoral ministry and the local church. It is written for pastors, but not exclusively. I hope it proves valuable for anyone who wishes to peek behind the curtain of ministry, as I did with tennis and politics. It is a book for anyone who has a heart for the local church or is concerned about the lack of unity in the body of Christ. There are wonderful things taking place in the global Church, particularly outside of the United States, but there is also plenty of room for growth. Division is rampant, and the debates that rage among Christians often make Democrats and Republicans look like buddies. It’s tragic, really. And it may seem that Christ’s prayer that “all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:21) is not even close to being realized.
It is easy to be discouraged as wars are fought among fellow believers. I want pastors to stay the course and be the generation that will be the answer to the Lord’s prayer that we would be one.
Purchase from Amazon Purchase from ChristianBook.com Purchase from LifewayPastoral Installation of Jim Supp
January 16, 2022, marked a historic moment in the life of our church as Jim Supp was installed by our elders as the new Senior Teaching Pastor of Reston Bible Church. Pastor Jim is taking up this mantle after our founding pastor, Mike Minter, retired last year after 47 years of faithful gospel ministry. Please be in prayer for Pastor Jim and his family as he steps into this role in anticipation of a new season of knowing Christ and making Him known through biblical preaching and teaching. May the Lord continue to bless His people and advance His kingdom through the faithful proclamation of His Word!
Mike Minter’s January 2 Final Message – POSTPONED
A variety of factors converged last evening for Mike and his family where a decision was made by all of us to postpone his farewell message until the March/April timeframe. The new date will be decided next week and then communicated out. Mike and Kay are in good health and have already arrived from Nashville to NOVA. This news will be especially disappointing to those planning to attend from out of town. Even though this update is being sent to several thousand email addresses, please pass the word around and notify anyone you might know who was traveling from out of town. This notice will be posted on our website and Facebook page later this morning.
Weeks ago, the leadership asked Jim Supp to tell part of his story knowing many of you don’t know Jim that well. Jim will go ahead and do that this Sunday, January 2. On January 9, the Elder Council will officially install Jim as the new Senior Teaching Pastor, as was already planned. Jim will then begin a series of teachings through January and February.
On behalf of Mike and all of us, thank you for your patient understanding of this late, significant change. We look forward to all the LORD Jesus Christ will accomplish for His church and glory as together we serve Him in the New Year.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (Romans 15:13).
September 5 Pastoral Succession Update
If you missed last Sunday’s important announcement regarding Pastor Mike and pastoral succession at RBC, please take a moment to watch it above. You can watch the full service here.