What can you fast from?

As we invite you to try on the Spiritual Discipline of Fasting this week, remember that As Henri Nouwen says, “We have to fashion our own desert (wilderness) where we can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions and dwell in the gentle healing presence of the Lord. Without such a desert (wilderness) we will lose our own soul while preaching the gospel to others.”

Clearly something special happens between God and his people in the wilderness! We, too, need to be strengthened by God’s intimate love and ministry to us—gifts that come to us in unique ways as we fashion our own wilderness through expanded practices of solitude, silence and prayer. Lent, after all, is meant to help us return to our first love and to return with all our hearts. It is a call to the desert where life is stripped down to its barest essence, where distraction is stripped away, and we give ourselves unreservedly to the Lover of our Souls.♥️

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12th Day of Lent: Seeing God’s Heart for Justice

Yesterday, we looked at the term "social justice" and how a correct understanding it of it from God's perspective means "rightly ordered relationships (with God, with one another and with the earth) in order for His creation to flourish. Here is a timely reminder of how knowing God's word and God's heart for justice transforms cultures, nations and the world!!! Billy Graham & Social Justice "Last week Billy Graham passed away at age 99. He is most celebrated for his evangelistic ministry having preached the gospel to an estimated 200 million people. What often gets overlooked, however, is Graham's commitment to social justice. For a Southern Baptist preacher raised at the height of Jim Crow, Graham's opposition to racial segregation was both courageous and extremely controversial. The opposition to Graham began in 1952 when he said, "There is no scriptural basis for segregation"—a direct refutation of popular the...

The River Hopes: Let's Get this Party Started.

Unstuck. It’s been almost three years. My husband and I came back from living and serving overseas in the fall of 2014. It was supposed to be only a year, but God had other plans as our parents health declined. Jim figured out how to make continued ministry to pastors in Asia work…commuting. I’ve been finding ways to be useful, and knowing the Lord has things to teach me in transition. But, last December a handful of The River women prayed after church about how we could pitch in with the Refugee crisis... and... something started brewing: "The River Hopes" In January Pastor Todd invited some folks together to talk about our direction regarding outreach as a church. We know the church is individual believers in community , and not just those few who happened to make it to an evening meeting, so... The consensus was that we should have a better grasp of what we’re already doing before we decide where we should concentrate moving fo...

LA Mission/Anne Douglas Center ~ October 7th

A tour and some hands on help. Men will be in the kitchen, sorting clothes, women will be working to set up an event at the Ann Douglas Center. Tour after. Targeting to have 30 people. Must be 14+. Register after worship in September, or kaitlyn@riversouthbay.org (310) 548-1020

TheRiverHopes

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