“Plugging in” at Rio is about connection to loving, healthy, transformational community.
It’s about growing in our faith. What is growth? It’s becoming more like Christ in your heart, mind and actions. The measure of this is not just head knowledge or participation in church activity. In fact, those things by themselves can be a barrier to real growth in Christ. Real growth transforms the world in which we live. Where there are Christians there should be Christ! There should be more love and less suffering, more peace and less injustice, more truth and less deception, more community and less isolation. To help us grow God has given us four gifts:
- The Bible. He intends for us to know it and live it. (Sermon Series: Know the Word, Live the Word, Reformation Study Bible at Amazon.com)
- The Holy Spirit, who encourages, empowers and equips us.
- The Church. He’s given us each other!
- A World that needs to be loved.
At Rio we engage these four gifts through our Community Groups–small fellowships of Rio people who learn together, care for each other and encourage serving outside the group. Community Groups are your community within the Community. They are the cornerstone of what may traditionally be called “Christian Education” or “Discipleship.” They meet throughout the city, various days and times. Our groups are not formally configured by age, gender, life season, etc., but each group does have it’s own personality. Some tend toward college students and young professionals. Others consist largely of young families, singles, empty nesters, seniors, and some are a mixture of all of the above. To connect, go to Find a Community Group and tell us a bit about yourself or email Pam, our membership coordinator, at moc.hcruhcatsivoirnull@spuorgytinummoc. She’ll help you connect to the right group. Also, we’re growing! That means we need more groups! If you might be interested in hosting or facilitating, contact Keith at moc.hcruhcatsivoirnull@sredaelgc, and he can explain the process for starting a group.
To supplement that transformational growth through community groups, also consider:
- Bethany Christian School for pre-k through 8th grade
- Kidquest Family Ministry for families with children up to 5th grade
- Student Impact for middle and high school students
- Rio Men
- Rio Women
- Rio U
- Starting Point: An Introduction to Rio and how to join
- 101 The Bible and How it Works: An overview of the whole Bible for beginners
- 201 The Bible and Covenants: How it all fits together to tell one story
- 301 The Bible and Doctrine: Major biblical concepts and themes
- Share Life: What it means to “share your faith” and how to do it effectively
- Rio Shepherds: Being attentive to needs and affective in serving others
- Storing Treasure: Equipping yourself to live missionally and generously
- Sermon Podcasts and Study Guides
