This week at CCR, 3.24.09

Good afternoon! Here are your announcements for this week…

1. New church name and logo
During the worship service on Sunday, Erik announced that we were changing the name of our church from Franklin Street Community to City Church of Richmond. We are very excited about how this change better aligns our church name and identity with our overall vision to serve Richmond and work for its renewal. Our new website can be found at: www.citychurchrva.com. (Content coming to it soon!)

Checks can now be made payable to City Church of Richmond, although we also can still receive checks made payable to FSC during this transition period.
Erik can now be reached at erik [at] citychurchrva.com, and Val at val [at] citychurchrva.com

If you have any questions about this news, please contact Erik (516-7646).
If you are interested in helping us do a more thorough overhaul of our web presence, please contact Ross (rcatrow [at] gmail.com)

2. Mercy Fund this Sunday
As this Sunday is the last Sunday of the month, we will be accepting contributions to our Mercy Fund and this week’s service. Contributions made to the Mercy Fund are kept separate from our general budget and will be used to provide assistance to members of our congregation and community who are in need. Please be prayerful about contributing to this fund.

3. Snacks!
We are in need of volunteers to provide snacks after our regular Sunday services. Volunteers are needed for the following dates:
March 29
April 5
April 12
April 19
April 26

If you can help, please email Ann Douglas at memento.ade [at] gmail.com.

Have a great week!

-Val

Living Generously

Sermon, 3.15.09
“Living Generously”
Rev. Erik Bonkovsky
Nehemiah 5:14-19

The way we treat people reflects our love for God.  In this passage from Nehemiah, we see Nehemiah acting out in bold generosity, embracing the people in a way that showed his fear of God and compassion.  Instead of raking in the standard fee that a ruler in his position would take in order to feed himself, he took his own private wealth and threw lavish dinners for the commoners every night.  This would have marked a lifestyle change for Nehemiah, as he was used to living in lux surroundings with the King of Persia.  Here he is giving away what riches he has in order to feed his people without taxing them, so that the work of God (rebuilding the city) may be done.

Have you given so much that it hurts?  That you have to change your lifestyle in order to accommodate it?  Do you actually change your habits in order to give more, no matter how painful it is for you?

Christ is our fuel.  He’s already done the work, and he gives us the power to live generously.

Nehemiah’s generosity shows the ultimate type of hospitality.  The root of the word “hospitality” is “hospital,” and what does it mean to run a hospital?  It means you’re helping people who are hurt.  It takes a sacrifice from us — when we open our homes, and give to those in need.  And when we are hospitable in this manner, we are mirroring the gospel.  We can sum up the story of the Bible by saying it’s the story of God’s hospitality to us.

We are God’s heirs!  If you truly believe you’re getting ready to receive a huge inheritance from God, you can afford to be generous now.  Do not be afraid; rely on God to give you the means to live generously.

This week at FSC, 3.16.09

Good afternoon, FSC!

Your announcements for this week…

1. Mid-month Prayer  3/18
All are invited to participate in a morning of prayer for FSC on Wednesday, March 18th. Prayer will be taking place at Erik’s office (1205 West Main Street, Suite 211) from 6:30am to about 8:00am. If you have any questions, please contact Erik (erik [at] franklinstreet.net).

2. Vespers 3/22
Don’t forget that Sunday, March 22nd is our Vespers service after church from 5:30 to 7:30. Please bring a dish to share.

3. RISC Rally 3/23
RISC (Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities) will be holding a rally on March 23rd sort of as a pep rally for their large action (scheduled for April 20th).  The rally will be held at Third Street Bethel AME (614 N. 3rd St. near Leigh St.) at 6:30pm.  While we would like to have as many from our congregation as possible at the April event, those interested in getting more information and to get generally excited about what RISC is doing in our community are more than welcome to attend this rally… it’s sure to be an exciting event!  For more information, please contact Sean Patrick Rhorer (seanrhorer [at] gmail.com).

4. Meals for the Bonkovsky Family
Sarah, Erik, Reed, and Leland will be welcoming the newest Bonkovsky very soon. We would like to set up a schedule for meals to be delivered to them once the baby arrives in April (or maybe sooner, who knows?) If you’re interested in helping out, please contact Blake Stack for more information (blakestack [at] yahoo.com).

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Val

–
Valerie Catrow
FSC Administrator

This week at FSC, 3.11.09

Good afternoon, FSC! Here are your announcements for this week…

1. Loaves & Fishes 3/15
This Sunday is our opportunity to serve at Loaves & Fishes. We will be meeting at the Conrad Center (1400 Oliver Hill Way) from 11am to 2pm to prepare and serve a meal to those who need it. If you are interested in helping, please contact Kira at kmdisse [at] gmail.com

2. Mid-month Prayer 3/18
All are invited to participate in a morning for FSC on the morning of Wednesday, March 18th. Prayer will be taking place at Erik’s office (1205 West Main Street, Suite 211) from 6:30am to about 8:00am. If you have any questions, please contact Erik (erik [at] franklinstreet.net).

3. Vespers 3/22
Don’t forget that Sunday, March 22nd is our Vespers service after church from 5:30 to 7:30. Please bring a dish to share.

Have a great week!

Val

–

Valerie Catrow
FSC Administrator
val [at] franklinstreet.net

No Longer Slaves

Sermon, 3.8.09
“No Longer Slaves”
Rev. Erik Bonkovsky
Nehemiah 5:1-13

In this passage, Nehemiah has found out that some of the Israelites are taking advantage of the economic situation of those who are working on rebuilding the city.  They were buying the workers’ children as slaves and exacting interest from them on fields and vineyards.  As Nehemiah sees it, this is undoing all the good work they’ve been doing: “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” (verse 8).

This may seem irrelevant to modern times, but we are in bondage to our sin.  It is our master.

We act as slaves by:

• Making laws for ourselves and then measuring ourselves by those laws
• Putting on a show or puffing ourselves up for others
• Trying to do tangible things in order to make others value us

We enslave others by:

• Expecting all this “good Christian” stuff from them instead of just loving them
• Subtly taunting them with all the great things we’re accomplishing
• Judging them, and being quick to point out their faults in a Pharisee-like tone
• Guilt-tripping and manipulating them

Why do we do things that enslave ourselves and others?  Do we see God as some great slaveholder, and us as his slaves?  It makes sense that if we feel enslaved to God, we’re going to feel that way toward others: lowly, not good enough, under obligation.  But the Bible makes it clear that though our disobedience has mortgaged us to God, Jesus has paid our mortgage.  We are not as slaves to God, but as children (Romans 8:15). We are not to slink away from God in disgrace, but to approach the throne of grace boldly (Hebrews 4:16).

When you remind people of the grace of God, you can’t put conditions on it.  You can’t say they need to do the right amount of groveling, and then they can receive grace.  That’s not how it works.  Grace is unconditional and free, and the only requirement is reaching out and accepting it — thereby choosing daily not to live in bondage to some made-up human standards, self-imposed or otherwise.

Yet, though I am not what I ought to be
nor what I wish to be
nor what I hope to be
I can truly say, I am not what I once was.

– John Newton