Pastor's Page
A Banner Year
Any mother can tell you the difficulty of child birth. I remember when our second daughter was born, the fear that came over Alison when the labor pains started. She suddenly remembered her first experience with giving birth and even expressed that she didn’t think she could do this again. There is just some-thing about a baby that makes the pain of giving birth worth while. You all know that we have three daughters.
In Galatians 4:19, the Apostle Paul likens the process of spiritual maturity to that of giving birth. He says, "my little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." The Galatians had been delivered (born again) but it appeared as if they needed to be delivered again. T here was no spiritual progress. There were no signs that birth had occurred.
Everyone knows that babies do not stay babies. The presence of life will not allow it. But the Galatians were being seduced by false teachers who had infiltrated their ranks and were attacking the very gospel that produces new life (Gal. 1:7). Paul was there when the Galatians were delivered. He calls them his little children and he was not going to give up on them. Even if it meant enduring the pain of birth a second time.
It is God’s design, desire, and will, that believers become like Christ. We are delivered by Christ into the family of God and as children grow as Christ is formed in us. Any good pastor longs for his people to grow in Christ. Even if it involves striving or pain in the process.
The beginning of a new year is always a good time for self-examination. As you assess your own spiritual progress over the past year, is Christ being formed in you? A re you closer to the Lord today than you were this time last year? Are there signs of spiritual birth. Be it known, that it is this pastor’s desire that Christ be formed in each of you and that 2010 will be the greatest year of spiritual growth in the life of River View.
Pastor Ricky
"Prayerfully focused on Christ, our community and the people of the world with the mandate to reach and equip individuals for spiritually healthy lives."
Pastor's Family
2230 Riverview RoadLincolnton, NC 28092
(704) 735-3935 - Phone
(704) 732-9191 - Fax
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