*NEW*

Downtown Lunch: Our next Downtown Lunch will take place on Thursday, May 17th from 12pm to 1pm. We will do a ‘bring your own’ lunch and meet in the conference room of Riverfront Investment Group located at 1214 E. Cary Street. Erik will speak for 5 to 10 minutes after which we’ll share a meal and a conversation around the table.

Mercy Fund Update: Click here to read an update from City Church’s Mercy & Justice team on our Mercy Fund.

Register for the Men’s Weekend: All men of City Church are invited to getaway for about 24 hours of fun on Friday, June 8, to Saturday, June 9 (until 4 PM). You don’t want to miss it! We will be heading up to a farm property near Gordonsville, VA (about an hour from Richmond). There will be lots of food (read: grilled goodness), competition (read: cornhole), and recreation (read: fishing, swimming, motor-biking, shooting, etc). The cost is $20 and can be paid online, in cash, or via check (made payable to ‘City Church’ with ‘Men’s Weekend’ in the memo line).Contact Erik (erik@citychurchrva.com) with any questions. Please register by Sunday, June 3rd.

*REMINDERS*

Who Needs Theology? Answers to our Current Questions: Our Spring Christian Formation Class continues this Sunday. This week we will be answering the question: “What’s Wrong?” from 5:45-6:45 in the Joel House. Come join us!

Loaves & Fishes on Sunday, May 20th: If you’d like to help out at the next session of Loaves and Fishes scheduled for Sunday, May 20, please put your name down for a shift on our electronic sign-up sheet found at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084DAEA928A46-loaves. See info under “shifts”. Be sure to sign up a friend and bring them with you!

(Want to learn more? Loaves and Fishes is a practical way for us as a church community to demonstrate Christ’s love to those in need of a meal in our city. We do this at the Conrad Center (1400 Oliver Hill Way) on the third Sunday of every month from 11-2. If you have any questions, please contact Ingrid deRoo at ingrid.a.deroo@gmail.com.

Vespers on Sunday, May 27th: Our monthly Vespers meeting and meal will take place on Sunday, May 27th in the Beth Ahabah auditorium immediately after the service. The members of the Uganda missions team will host this event and provide dinner, so no need to bring a dish. The finance team will also give a brief presentation on our 2012-2013 FY budget.

Interested in getting weekly email updates on what’s going on at City Church? Send us an email and we’ll add you to the list.

Collected on the last Sunday of every month, the Mercy Fund is an account that is set aside from the church’s regular budget and is used to provide financial support to members of our congregation and community who are in need. But it’s more than just a fund, it’s a ministry. And God is doing three major things through it.

Demonstrating His Provision

First, God is demonstrating His provision and mercy. The resources contributed to the Mercy Fund help individuals pay for their rent, utility bills, and even medical expenses, and many on the Mercy Fund team have been humbled to hear and witness accounts of recipients expressing profound gratitude for God’s mercy and faithfulness in times of need. It’s these instances that remind us that if God provides food for the birds and protects fragile flowers in the field, He will certainly provide for our needs (Matthew 6:25-34).

Helping Without Hurting

Secondly, through the Mercy Fund, God continues to teach us about the way He loves, and how we can help without hurting by caring for people holistically.

“Unfortunately, when the economically rich interact with the economically poor, they tend to do so in such a way that exacerbates the shame that the economically poor feel, while also exacerbating the pride of the economically rich. Central to poverty alleviation is embracing our own mutual brokenness so that we can truly help others without hurting them and ourselves.”

~ quoted from The Chalmers Center website

We know we are to care and provide for the poor – but too often we define poverty as a lack of material wealth and resources, when really it’s about broken relationships, something we all share. If we’re not careful, any well-intentioned donation can become a simple handout, a transaction between the haves and have-nots. So how do we serve the poor with the Mercy Fund while ultimately upholding the dignity that God has bestowed on our fellow man?

In their book When Helping Hurts, Corbett and Fikkert illustrate how sustainable change for people living in poverty comes not from the outside-in, but from the inside-out. They believe that “a necessary component of loving the poor is restoring them to being what God created them to be: productive image bearers who worship God and who support themselves through their own work (Genesis 1:28-29). Because only Jesus Christ can accomplish such restoration, our goal becomes integrating both words and deeds that proclaim Jesus Christ alone as the reconciler of all things (Colossians 1:19-20).”

Translation: we don’t just write a check. We start building trust and a relationship with the men and women and children who, like us, are in desperate need of Jesus and his daily provision. Mercy Fund team members are looking for partners in the congregation to begin to minister holistically to recipients. Our prayer and hope is that the Mercy Fund ministry will provide an opportunity to start that conversation and start developing long-term relationships.

Building the Body

Finally, God has moved through the Mercy Fund ministry to build the church body (Ephesians 4:11-13), connecting City Church and fund recipients with other congregations and partner ministries. For example, as we field requests and referrals, we ask questions to see if the potential recipient has a church home. If not, we try to connect them to a Christian community where they can hear the Word and experience fellowship with other believers, whether at City Church or somewhere else. This not only increases the chances of building long-term relationship with the individual, it also strengthens our city’s congregations as we dialogue, pray, and minister as the larger church in Richmond. We’ve also connected with partner ministries such as Area Congregations Together in Service, or ACTS, which we would have never heard of otherwise. To learn more about the Mercy Fund ministry and how you can support its long-term efforts, contact Patrick Shay: patrickdavisshay@gmail.com.

Pastor Erik Bonkovsky

Sunday, May 13, 2012

*NEW*

Loaves & Fishes on Sunday, May 20th: If you’d like to help out at the next session of Loaves and Fishes scheduled for Sunday, May 20, please put your name down for a shift on our electronic sign-up sheet found at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084DAEA928A46-loaves. See info under “shifts”. Be sure to sign up a friend and bring them with you!

(Want to learn more? Loaves and Fishes is a practical way for us as a church community to demonstrate Christ’s love to those in need of a meal in our city. We do this at the Conrad Center (1400 Oliver Hill Way) on the third Sunday of every month from 11-2. If you have any questions, please contact Ingrid deRoo at ingrid.a.deroo@gmail.com.)

Vespers on Sunday, May 27th: Our monthly Vespers meeting and meal will take place on Sunday, May 27th in the Beth Ahabah auditorium immediately after the service. The members of the Uganda missions team will host this event and provide dinner, so no need to bring a dish. In the meantime, please prayerfully consider how you might be willing to support the team as they prepare for their trip in August.

*REMINDERS*

Prayer TOMORROW: Please join members of City Church’s leadership and staff to pray for City Church next Thursday, May 10th from 7am-8am at the church office (1520 W. Main Street, Suite 105).

The Vassar Family Singers Play Old Time Gospel (UPDATED INFO): The Vassar Family Singers will be performing at Tabernacle Baptist Church (1925 Grove Avenue) on Saturday, May 12th from 6:30pm and 8pm. Come enjoy an evening of live gospel music and take part in a sing-along (lyrics will be provided). Admission is free but donations will be accepted. They will also be selling hotdog and hamburgers starting at 5:30pm.

Save the Date for Men’s Getaway: The gentlemen of City Church will head out to Gordonsville, Virginia on Friday, June 8th through Saturday, June 9th. Stay tuned for more details!

Pastor Erik Bonkovsky

Sunday, May 6, 2012