God has called River Hills to be a dangerous church marked by:
No irrelevant teaching.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” — Acts 2:42. It was culturally-relevant communication. It was theologically pure. At River Hills we teach the Bible in relevant, fun, challenging, and life-changing ways. Doing life together.
“All the believers were together and had everything in common.”
— Acts 2:44
No one stands alone at River Hills. As a church we live in community with one another. As followers of Christ we realize our need to be linked with other believers in small groups for the purposes of growth, support, accountability and care. Outrageous generosity.
“They gave to anyone as he had need.” — Acts 2:45
The generosity of the new Christ followers in Acts is so outrageous it is scary. Once these believers entered a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, they became extremely generous, just like Jesus. River Hills is a group that gives itself away. We understand that as followers of Jesus we are to be responsible stewards of the resources God give us. We recognize that regular financial giving and a willingness to share in ministry with those outside the walls of the local church are the responsibility of every believer. Genuine, unpretentious love.
“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” — Acts 2:46. In a healthy church the masks come off. River Hills is a people of open, sincere hearts. No pretense. No show. We are real with one another. We love one another. This is a community where people are cared for; a big extended family where we take care of one another. A church can have impressive buildings, lots of real estate, a staff of knowledgeable teachers and leaders, a great band to lead worship and a schedule full of special events, but if it doesn’t have love then it just isn’t a church. Continual reproduction.
“The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” — Acts 2:47. Reproduction is about recognizing the life God has produced in us and then going about reproducing his life in others. Here at The River we want Christ followers reproducing Christ followers, leaders reproducing leaders, and churches reproducing churches. We want to share and pass along to others what God is doing in us. A consuming focus.
“They never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” — Acts 5:42. Our focus is Jesus. We are and always will be a Christ-centered community, a Christian church. The Christian life begins by entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in which we abandon our own efforts at salvation and trust in God’s grace alone, as expressed in the life and death of Jesus Christ.
