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Brief History of Rio Vista Community Church

In the beginning…
In 1941, two families saw a great need for ministry in Fort Lauderdale. They came together with one vision, and Bethany Presbyterian Church was born.

Reaching Outside our Walls…
Bethany was responsible for initiating ministries and planting several churches in this area, including First Church West (originally Plaza Presbyterian Church), Covenant Presbyterian Church in Wilton Manors, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale and City Church downtown. Over the years the church has supported countless mission works across the globe. Right now we support ongoing works in Germany, Austria, Haiti, Mexico and Peru as well as several other international, domestic and local ministries of mercy and spiritual renewal.

Serving the Community through Education…
Quickly growing in numbers and impact in the community, the church started Bethany Christian School in 1947. BCS currently has an enrollment of over 200 students. Our school is the largest outreach ministry of Rio, known for excellent nurturing care of each student and dedicated to the highest education and social standards. Our goal is that students and their families will be introduced to a growing relationship with Christ through a commitment to the Christian world view in all we do and teach.

From then to now…
In 1973 Bethany became a charter member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).

In 1998 the church went through some major changes. In an effort to reach the community with a relevant and revitalized presentation of the Gospel, the sanctuary setting was improved, the service style was re-worked and the name was changed to reflect the desire to impact our neighborhood. Bethany Presbyterian became Rio Vista Community Church.

Today Rio is dedicated more than ever to the vision of those first two families—to lead people into a growing relationship with Christ.

Our Core Beliefs

There is a God who created all that is and rules it with perfect love, wisdom, justice.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen. 1:1

“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Psalm 90:1

The Lord reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.
Psalm 9:7, 8

The human race is unique among all creation and was made to be the very image of its Creator.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth…”
Genesis 1:26

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”
Psalm 8:3-5

We have all become separated from God by sin, a departure from God’s created order.
Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given (to Israel through Moses), sin was in the world.”
Romans 5:12, 13a

From the time sin entered the world, God had a plan of restoration which has unfolded throughout history.
“And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Romans 8:19-21

God decisively revealed Himself and His plan through the person Jesus, God’s Son, God in the flesh.
“For God so loved the World that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

Jesus lived a perfect life, proclaiming His divinity and His purpose to redeem God’s creation. He was crucified for the sins of all who would trust in Him, and three days later, He rose from the dead.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21

This gift of salvation is by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus alone, and can neither be earned through good works nor lost by bad.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

Our Mission

We understand that the Church is NOT the building. We don’t “go” to church; we are the church. We strive to follow Jesus as His servants and His hand of redemption in the World.

We exist to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Inspired Living–GPS

Our purpose is to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus, but how does that happen? There are three pursuits that foster growth and help make this life mission a reality.

Gather (Sermon Series: “Gather”)

Gathering at Rio means coming together as a community to worship God.

Our Gather Principles…

• Gathering is about God. It’s not about us.
• Gathering tells God’s story.
• Gathering renews God’s promises.
• Gathering sets us free.

A biblical model for worship…

• Adoration
• Confession
• Assurance
• Thanksgiving and Petition
• Instruction
• Charge and Blessing

Plug In (Sermon Series: “Know the Word, Live the Word”)

Plugging in at Rio happens through our community groups. They meet weekly in homes across Fort Lauderdale and serve as spiritual families for our larger church community.

Three purposes:

• Caring for each other
  Prayer, physical needs and fellowship
• Growing in the Knowledge of God
  Bible Study, relevant discussion and life tools to know the Word and live the Word
• Serving
  Encouraging service outside of our church community

Serve (Sermon Series: “Serve”)

Rio is a missional church. We are a community of servants. If we live only for ourselves, we will die.

The Message

• People matter to God. They should matter to us.
• Mercy is God’s love language.
• The Church is God’s hand of mercy in the World.
• God’s greatest expression of mercy is the redemptive work of Jesus

The Method

• Find your thing, do your thing
• My World
• Our World
• The World