Autumn is fully upon us here in central Washington. The leaves have changed and fallen, the majority of the fields and orchards have been harvested, and our clocks have been adjusted to “normal” time—or if you are like me, the clock in your office is now correct!

The new season has brought new growth and excitement to the people of The River Church. God has given us new friends in our worship gathering, more people participating in discipleship groups, a deepening in our spiritual growth through missional communities, and a healthy anticipation of the new year.

I wish I could share the story of each person that has begun attending our worship gathering; hopefully you will hear their testimonies in time! One individual unexpectedly showed up a month ago. This was a person for whom I have prayed for over 18 months! Several other friends and neighbors have also begun attending our gathering. God is causing fruit to grow from our many relationships and gospel-conversations, and our worship gatherings continue to be a sweet time of singing, corporate prayer, scripture reading, and preaching.

God is growing our discipleship groups, as well. We began two more groups last month, each of them committed to praying for one another, studying the Bible together, and encouraging each other in gospel repentance and belief. What a blessing to see these men and women gathering to grow as followers of Jesus!

This fall we have only had one missional community meeting. Since last year we had as many as four communities meeting, but most of them were quite small and struggled to establish healthy rhythms as a community. Our obvious goal is to multiply missional communities, but it has been important to invest in the one this fall. The result has been healthy growth marked by sharing life experiences, growing in knowledge of God and his ways, and putting our faith into practice. We have rallied together several times to serve one another, love one another, and be there for each other. We have grown by focusing our time on what God is saying to us from the Bible and what we are going to do about it. In September we completed “We Are Family,” a series about what it means to be the church. Since October we have been studying John 13-16, in a series called “Disciple Life.” For both series I have shared a message on Sunday morning during our worship gathering, and later, utilizing a study guide, we have discussed the content of the Bible passage in our missional community. It has been amazing to see how God is using this process to transform our community and church!

We are very excited about what God is going to do in 2016. One of our challenges has been our meeting place on Sunday mornings. In many ways it has been a great blessing to meet in our city’s community center, but we have not had adequate space to do child care during our worship gathering. The good news is that God has presented us with a possible new location. We are in the process of reaching an agreement to meet there, and when we know for certain we will share the details. In the meantime, we are praying fervently for God to make a way!

We are also excited about a special gathering we have planned for January 3, 2016. Although we have been meeting as a church for some time, we knew that at some point we would need to mark a time when we as followers of Jesus committed ourselves to membership in The River Church. In a way, a special gathering like this is a technicality of sorts, but it is still a seriously joyful moment to formally recognize our membership into Christ’s body which is our local church! So on Sunday, January 3, 2016, we are gathering for our Covenant Celebration, a time when we will formalize our commitment to covenant membership in The River Church. Our core group is very excited, and we invite all of our partners to attend and celebrate with us!

Finally, as 2015 comes to a close, I want to share how grateful I am for each of you. God has been so gracious to us these past two years by bringing you into our lives. You have prayed for us and some of you have also supported us financially. We will remain eternally grateful for every way you have partnered with us. We could not do what we are doing without you. And that remains the case going into the new year. In fact, your financial support will help us in various ways next year: rental of new facility, support of church planter intern (more on this in next month’s update!), expanded sound system, summer children’s program, mailers and advertising, pastor and staff support, and various administrative costs. If you are a financial partner, thank you! If you have not supported us financially, would you consider either making a one-time, year-end donation, or sign up to be a monthly partner? You can visit our website for more info: http://theriverchurchmoxee.com/give. Even a small amount would make a significant difference for the kingdom of God here in central Washington!

On behalf of our entire church family, thank you for your prayers and support.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21, ESV)

Grace and peace,

Michael and Cheryl Johnson