The Weekend of April 27, 2025

 
 

ENCOURAGING AND EQUIPPING WOMEN’S GROUP

We are going to do something a little bit different as a group over the next three months! We are going to read the book called “The Emotionally Healthy Woman.” We will discuss the assigned chapters each month. Anyone who would like to participate should pick up a copy. (Even if you cannot complete the reading, you are encouraged to attend. There is always plenty to glean!) The format for our meetings will stay the same and include plenty of time for connection and socializing during breakfast, and a get-to-know-you mixer followed by a time of discussion.
April 26: Chapters 1 & 2 plus the forward.
May 24: Chapters 3, 4, 5
June 28: Chapters 6, 7, 8
 
This is an opportunity for all the women of RVCC to meet together, enjoy breakfast, and connect with one another in a significant way outside of a Sunday morning. Through enriching discussion, encouragement, and personal testimony, the goal is to walk out Titus 2:3-5 with older women teaching what is good, and training younger women in a variety of roles. Our focus is encouragement for the current challenges we face, and open discussion and sharing.
 
ALL women are encouraged to attend; singles, young married women, young mothers, seasoned mothers, empty nesters, and older women are all encouraged to come! We need the full spectrum, or we’ll forfeit the Titus 2 purpose. This is a “Mom’s Only” event, but nursing babies are always welcome.
 
This group will meet at Renae J’s home north of Stillwater. Breakfast will be served promptly at 9:30am. Contact the church office for address/directions, or more information.

 

RVFM WOMEN’S GET AWAY

WOMEN, don’t miss this opportunity to get away from the daily demands of life and spend some time relaxing at this beautiful and peaceful facility. Free time will allow for shopping, hiking, playing games, movies, reading, quiet time with the Lord, sleeping, or whatever you do to relax! There are information/registration brochures available at the Info Center or CLICK HERE to download a copy. Contact the church office with questions.

 

FIRST WEDNESDAY WORSHIP

It’s almost time for another night of worship on May 7! This time we’re on the road to Engage Church in Prescott, WI! Join us there at 6:30pm for an evening of all ages coming together to give worship and praise to our Lord!

 

WALKING IN YOUR AUTHORITY STARTING MAY 9

We’re starting something new that goes right along with what Pastor Jon has been preaching about recently. “Walking in Your Authority” will meet from 6-8pm on the second Fridays of each month starting May 9th at our elders Dennis and Cathy D’s home in River Falls, WI. Knowing your authority allows you to fulfill the call God has on your life to do great exploits! Talk to Dennis, Cathy, or the church office for directions and details.

 

PASTOR JON’S “AUTHORITY” SERIES

We’ve put a link to the YouTube playlist of the series on the front page of the website, and included a Study Guide/Devotional for the series. CLICK HERE to be taken to that page. We do have a limited number of the Study Guides printed. If you would like one in that format please see Pastor Greg. He’ll take care of you.

 

DIAPER DONATIONS

If you’ve seen the latest Options for Women newsletter, there are a handful of pics from our “Diaper Tree” drive we held for them before Christmas!
If you don’t receive communications from them CLICK HERE to view the newsletter. We are always accepting diaper and wipes donations for Options for Women-St. Croix Valley. As a church we’re not anti-abortion but PRO-LIFE, and try to back that up by helping out mothers who choose life for their child. This is an easy way to do that. Organizationally we support Options with a monthly monetary donation, but diapers are one item they always need to help support the mothers relying on their services. Whenever you are shopping and pick some up, drop them off with Pastor Greg the next time you come to RVCC and he will make sure they get to OFW. According to their website, the most needed supplies right now are size 5 & 6 diapers, wipes, diaper ointment, and baby lotion and wash.

 

ELDERS MINISTRY

If you would like to connect with one of our Elders for any reason during the week, contact the church office and we’ll get you in touch!

 

SOCIAL CALENDAR

If you are doing something, or going somewhere, and would like to offer an open invitation for RVCC family to join you, send details to the church no later than noon Thursdays, and PG will get it listed here. It won't be "official" church functions, but a fun way to get info out to others at RVCC that there is something fun going to that they could join. So…what are YOU getting ready to do that would be fun to have others there, too? Let us know.

 
Anybody a Football Fan?

PG is starting a new side-gig as PA Announcer for the Minnesota Vixen women’s semi-pro football team this Saturday. They’ll kick off at 6pm at the Edina High School field. Sounds like it’s gonna be a beautiful Saturday. If you want to check it out he’d love to see you after the game! (He’ll be a little busy before and during…lol)

 
Reading Through The Bible in 84 Hours

Our friends at Stillwater Free Church are planning on reading through the Bible in 84 hours from May 7 – May 11! They are welcoming anyone who would like to be part of the process to join them. CLICK HERE for more information at their website.

 
Revive Women’s Retreat

Our ladies are once again invited to another Revive Women’s Retreat in Isanti, MN. “Revive Women’s Retreat offers women of all ages the opportunity to come and experience God’s peace and presence in a beautiful, relaxing environment. We offer teaching and resources that renew the mind, refresh the body, and restore the soul.” It is founded and run by Catie P, who leads worship at Outpost Church, and her sisters. CLICK HERE for more details and registration information.

 
 
 

TAKE US WITH YOU

Podcast listeners can listen to audio from our Sunday morning services on several platforms. Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Audible. Search for, "River Valley Christian Church Lake Elmo MN" on your preferred podcast app, then subscribe and listen anywhere, any time, however you like to listen!
We also have a RVFM Podcast gathering messages from our affiliated churches in one spot. Find it on your favorite podcast app by searching for "Light Up The Valley." If you have trouble with any of these contact Pastor Greg in the church office and he'll try to help you sort it out.

 

2025 DAILY BIBLE READING PROGRAM!

One of our top goals as a church is always to help you keep up on (or get into) a daily Bible reading habit.

As a church body on January 1, 2025 we started a 1-year Bible reading plan! The plan we are following this year is "The Bible in a Year", with readings from OT and NT everyday, and a chapter from Psalms or Proverbs every second day.

Connect with us and access the plan in the YouVersion Bible App to get notifications for the day's reading directly from the app. It's pretty easy and slick.

Get into the daily habit now, even if it's not this particular program! We want you to get the WORD in YOU! Contact Pastor Greg in the church office if you have questions.

 

 

Here is a summary of groups and classes we have going on currently during the week. Most of these are included on the Church Calendar.

 

 

CREW YOUNG ADULT GROUP

Our CREW Young Adult group gets together on Mondays at the Molnar's at 6:30pm. Contact the church office or talk to Pastor Peter for more information.
 

FREEDOM GROUP

Our Freedom Group meets on Monday evenings at 7pm. It is a Bible-based chemical dependency group coordinated by Wayne & Patrice B. Click Here, or contact the church office for more information.
 

 


 

WOMEN'S GROUP/CLASS

Healing Hearts meets first and third Tuesdays at 6pm at Cathy D's home office in River Falls, WI. It is a confidential group for ladies 18+ who have been betrayed in a relationship. You are welcome at any time to jump in and join. Know it’s the enemy who would want to keep you isolated. This group is here to listen, love, pray, and stand with you. If you have questions about the group please contact the church office, or Cathy directly!
 

TUESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY

Tuesdays at 6pm Linda B teaches a study on the Gospel of John. If you have questions about the group please contact the church office.
 

 


 

WEDNESDAY MORNING PRAYER

If you've got time during the week you can always join us for prayer! We have a group that prays Wednesday mornings starting at 10am in room W2. It goes for about an hour. We also have a group that meets in W1 before service on Sunday mornings. Everyone is welcome to come in and pray!
 

WEDNESDAY NIGHT CLASSES

 
Our midweek classes are back in session this week at 6:30pm!

VESSELS YOUTH GROUP AND SAPLINGS ELEMENTARY AGE CHILDREN’S CLASSES

We have a class for elementary age children grades 1-6, and youth group for grades 7-12!
 
 

SURPRISED BY HOPE

“Surprised by Hope–Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church,” began March 19, and is taught by Susana S.
More details and a publisher’s description of the study can be found if you CLICK HERE. You can still jump into the study. You’ll need to have the book and the “DVD Participant’s Guide.”

 
 
GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Similar to the class we had last year that turned out to be very popular, this is geared toward new-er attendees to RVCC. We can tell you all sorts of things about us and our organization, but we’d like to know YOU, too. Less of a “teaching” class than a conversation! Our lead elders Greg and Tina K are leading!
 
 
 
 


 

MAHTOMEDI/WHITE BEAR LAKE AREA SMALL GROUP

Our White Bear Lake/Mahtomedi area small group meets on Thursday evenings from 6:30-8pm. Please contact the church office to get connected for more information!
 

 


 

NEW “MIDDLE ADULTS” GROUP STARTING

We’re not young adults anymore, but we’re also not retired yet either. Instead, we’re still looking for connection with believers in a similar stage of life. 30’s to 50’s ish. This group meets Fridays from 5:30pm-8:00pm at Jeremy & Joy S’s home in River Falls, WI. Share a meal and fellowship, and children are more than welcome to come along. It won’t be a progressive teaching that builds on itself, so coming every week, every other week, once in a while will be totally fine.
Questions about directions can be directed towards Jeremy or Joy, or contact the church office.

 

WALKING IN YOUR AUTHORITY STARTING MAY 9

We’re starting something new that goes right along with what Pastor Jon has been preaching about recently. “Walking in Your Authority” will meet from 6-8pm on the second Fridays of each month starting May 9th at our elders Dennis and Cathy D’s home in River Falls, WI. Knowing your authority allows you to fulfill the call God has on your life to do great exploits! Talk to Dennis, Cathy, or the church office for directions and details.
 

 


 

OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE

All sorts of ministries around the church are looking for volunteers. Our Hospitality Ministry, which includes the Greeter, Usher, Info Table, and Cookie Ministries is looking to include more volunteers. If you are interested, talk to Pastor Peter, or contact the church office.

DURING service our Children's Ministry is looking for some volunteers, too. What an incredible opportunity to advance the Kingdom by helping bring them up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord." Talk to Shiloh G or contact the church office about this, too! A background check is required to work with our Children's Ministry.

We talk about it in what we call the "Next Thing", but we don't really have official "membership" here at RVCC. Our view is if you're family jump in and help out around the "house!" Here's some opportunities to do just that. Most of our other ministries could use some more volunteers, too. That's the price of growing, planting churches, and wanting to do things well to represent Him with excellence. If you're interested in a particular area please contact the office and we'll get you connected with whoever is over that ministry.

Speaking of the Next Thing, we have information available on a thumb drive about the history of RVCC and how you fit into all this. It's a couple of classes we used to do in person, but getting everyone into a room together at the same time was always a scheduling issue, so we compiled it all into a simple little take-home USB drive.

It contains videos of Pastor Jon presenting the information, audio files of the classes if you prefer to just listen, and a .pdf of the booklet that contains some of that same info. If you are fairly new and would like to know more about how RVCC got started, where we are going as a church and as River Valley Fellowship of Ministries, and how you fit into that vision ask an usher, elder, any of the staff -or a random congregation member- and we'll fix you up with one of these drives. If you happen to accidently ask another newbie…keep asking and we'll set you BOTH up!

 

 

If you would like to donate to RVCC and it's ministries, etc. mail or drop off a check at the church office, or use online giving with your bank debit card at www.rvcc.info/donate.

 

RVCC guests who are hard of hearing can now amplify our service audio through their personal Assistive Listening Device (ALD), or tune in to 87.9FM.

 

THE FAST TALK AT THE END OF THE COMMERCIAL:

OBLIGATORY LEGAL NOTICE OF RELEASE OF RVCC, ITS SUCCESSORS, ASSIGNS AND LICENSEES FROM ANY LIABILITY WHATSOEVER OF ANY NATURE! We live-stream and record our service, so your presence here constitutes your consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded, and for RVCC to use the recording without compensation in any and all media for as long as it exists. No, we’re not anticipating making a boatload of money off of an image of the back of your head, or you worshipping with your hands in the air…but we figured it would be a good idea to let you know you could end up on our livestream, social media, etc.