Pastor Daniel Kicks off 2014 new year!

Galatians 3:23-29 23 Before the coming of this faith,[a] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free,nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Our Special Guest Speaker, Dear Sister and Mentor, Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, spoke to our River City family. You can read Rev.

Alexia's book titled "Faith-Rooted Organizing": Mobilizing the Church

in Service to the World, available on amazon. With so many injustices,

small and great, across the world and right at our doorstep, what are

people of faith to do? Since the 1930s, organizing movements for

social justice in the U.S..have largely been built on assumptions that

are secular origin—such as reliance on self-interest and having a

common enemy as a motivator for change. But what if Christians were to

shape their organizing around the implications of the truth that God

is real and Jesus is risen? Alexia Salvatierra has developed a model

of social action that is rooted in the values and convictions born of

faith. Together with theologian Peter Heltzel, this model of

"faith-rooted organizing" offers a path to meaningful social change

that takes seriously the command to love God and to love our neighbor

as ourself.

Our dear friend, brother, mentor and guest Pastor, Leroy Barber has dedicated more than 20 years to eradicating poverty, confronting homelessness, restoring local neighborhoods, healing racism, and living what Dr. King called “the beloved community.”

Leroy starts projects that shape society; in 1989, burdened by the plight of Philadelphia’s homeless, he and his wife Donna founded Restoration Ministries, to serve homeless families and children living on the streets. In 1994 he became Director of Internship Programs at Cornerstone Christian Academy. Leroy was licensed and ordained at Mt Zion Baptist Church where he served as Youth Director with Donna, and also served as Associate Minister of Evangelism. In 1997, he joined FCS Urban Ministries, working with Atlanta Youth Project to serve as the founding Executive Director of Atlanta Youth Academies, a private elementary school providing quality Christian education for low-income families in the inner city. Leroy also helped found DOOR Atlanta and Community Grounds Coffee shop in Atlanta.

Leroy is currently the Global Executive Director of Word Made Flesh, an international organization that works among the most vulnerable of the world's poor. Rev. Barber is on the boards of Mission Year and the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). He is the author of New Neighbor: An Invitation to Join Beloved Community, and Everyday Missions: How Ordinary People Can Change the World and was also chosen as a contributor to Tending to Eden, and the groundbreaking book UnChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity and Why It Matters. His third book, Red, Yellow, Black and White: Who’s More Precious In His Sight?, will be published this fall.

Leroy has been married to Donna for the past 28 years and together they have three adult children - Jessica, Joshua, and Joel, and two adopted children - Asha and Jonathan.

Our dear friend, brother, mentor and guest Pastor, Leroy Barber has dedicated more than 20 years to eradicating poverty, confronting homelessness, restoring local neighborhoods, healing racism, and living what Dr. King called “the beloved community.”

Leroy starts projects that shape society; in 1989, burdened by the plight of Philadelphia’s homeless, he and his wife Donna founded Restoration Ministries, to serve homeless families and children living on the streets. In 1994 he became Director of Internship Programs at Cornerstone Christian Academy. Leroy was licensed and ordained at Mt Zion Baptist Church where he served as Youth Director with Donna, and also served as Associate Minister of Evangelism. In 1997, he joined FCS Urban Ministries, working with Atlanta Youth Project to serve as the founding Executive Director of Atlanta Youth Academies, a private elementary school providing quality Christian education for low-income families in the inner city. Leroy also helped found DOOR Atlanta and Community Grounds Coffee shop in Atlanta.

Leroy is currently the Global Executive Director of Word Made Flesh, an international organization that works among the most vulnerable of the world's poor. Rev. Barber is on the boards of Mission Year and the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). He is the author of New Neighbor: An Invitation to Join Beloved Community, and Everyday Missions: How Ordinary People Can Change the World and was also chosen as a contributor to Tending to Eden, and the groundbreaking book UnChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity and Why It Matters. His third book, Red, Yellow, Black and White: Who’s More Precious In His Sight?, will be published this fall.

Leroy has been married to Donna for the past 28 years and together they have three adult children - Jessica, Joshua, and Joel, and two adopted children - Asha and Jonathan.

Rev. Carlos speaks to us from Romans 8:18-25

Present Suffering and Future Glory

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Rev. Carlos speaks to us from Romans 8:18-25

Present Suffering and Future Glory

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

We celebrated commitment Sunday. As we journey into our new building 3709 W. Grand, listen in as Pastor Hill and our dear friend, who's a pillar in the West Humboldt Park community and Principal of Cameron

Elementary. Stephan Hardin. Pastoral Staff, Ann Healing and Elder Keith Johnson closes the service with inspiring words and prayer.

Pastor Hill speaks on part 2 of the community series "Conflict Resolution"

(Ephesians 2.14-22)

Pastor Hill speaks on part 2 of the community series "Conflict Resolution"

(Ephesians 2.14-22)