Redemption Hill Church

"God would keep on rescuing his people And the time was coming when God would send another brave Hero, like Daniel, who would love God and do what God said – whatever it cost him, even if it meant he would die.

And together they would pull off the Greatest Rescue the world has ever known."
– The Jesus Storybook Bible

The greatness of Christian exiles is not success but service. Whether we win or lose, we witness to the way of truth and beauty and joy. We on’t own culture, and we don’t rule it. We serve it with brokenhearted joy and long-suffering mercy, for the good of man and the glory of Jesus Christ.
- John Piper

Too often, we divide the body of Christ along non-Christian lines. Remember that God does not belong to any one political party, cause, movement, or group. Don't forsake love or truth.

This Week: Join Us at 9 AM for a Family Sunday!

This Sunday, September 1, is a Family Sunday which means we will have one gathering at 9 AM. Holiday weekends can mean a lot more travel than usual, which makes it difficult to accomplish our normal ministries well. So, a few times per year we give our service teams a chance to rest. We call these Family Sundays because there is no child care and we will all be together in one service with all the beautiful chaos that brings. It is a sweet time for us together as a church.

How to Prepare
On Sunday, September 1, Labor Day weekend, we will gather for one service at 9 AM. That means that we will not have a 5 PM service that Sunday. If you’re typically an evening-service attender, grab a cup of coffee and join us in the morning! If you have kids, please bring them!

Here are some things to do to prepare for this upcoming RHC Family Worship service:

- Pray. Take some time during your commute to church to pray. Pray for our pastors and leaders as well as all the people that will be coming that day. Ask God to unite us together as a family and help us grow in our worship of Him.

- Get Ready. There will be plenty of things that will be different at this service, some you may like and some you may not. Be ready for some a different experience but be ready to dive in and be a part of it. Get there early so that you can connect with others, find a seat, and prepare your heart and mind to receive from God.
- Be the Family. Look for areas to actively participate in service. Meet new people. Sit together and up front with Community Group or with your family and kids. Help in an area where you see a need. Hold someone’s kids if you don’t have kids yourself. Encourage one another. Pray with those who you know have needs or are struggling.

These patterns are formative and fun for our church. It will help us center on Jesus as the most important aspect of gathering together on Sunday and it will give us perspective and opportunity to be the family that God has made us to be.

We are excited for you to join us for RHC Family Sunday on September 1!

Aversion is the tendency to dislike and distrust those who disagree with us politically, particularly those in a different political party. This aversion is toxic for our politics, but as we’ve seen, it creeps into the communion of believers as well. The very thing that ought to make Christians identifiable to the world— our love for one another (John 13:35)—is overridden by our politics, thus undermining the testimony of our faith.”
– Michael Wear

The church is an essential part of God's plan. We are the ones that God has entrusted His gospel to. As a member of a local church body, you are an instrument to show others the love of Christ, to welcome them into a family so that they might grow in their love and knowledge of God and mature so that they can go and do likewise unto others.

If we know Jesus, if we know the good news of the gospel, then we have the ability to not just “hang on and hope to make it through” the next few months. We have the ability to be joyfully confident and to thrive. -

Our CG Leaders are at the center of facilitating and fostering environments and rhythms that people can meet Jesus, grow closer to Jesus, and be immersed in the love and support of Jesus’ church. We are so grateful we had the opportunity to get away this weekend with these leaders along with our Deacons, who lead the ministries of RHC, and our Elders and Titus 2 Teams, who provide pastoral care for members, and staff team for our annual Leadership Retreat.

Join us in praying the time together would continue to have a lasting impact for our church as we seek to follow Jesus and love our neighbors here in the DMV.

The second half of Hebrews 9 tells us the beautiful story of the Gospel and the hope that Christ's death on the cross gives to us who believe in Him. God's restoration of our broken relationship with Him is called the atonement. Learn 9 aspects of what the atonement means for believers on these slides and then save them so you can be reminded of all that Christ has done for you!

Yesterday we had the joy and privilege of dedicating two special babies to God!

Shane & Steph hand welcomed twin girls on February 7, 2024. Evelyn spent 92 days in the NICU and Elizabeth came home after 148 days in the NICU.

Join us in praying with their parents that these girls would grow into women of strength, gentleness, and wisdom, and that they would show the same perseverance throughout their lives that they displayed at the very beginning. Pray they will use their story as a testament to the fulfillment of God’s promises and His responsiveness to the prayers of His people.

By no other name are we saved, You are our Savior, Jesus
In no other place can we stand, but by your grace
By no other love are we known, we are your children, Father
In this truth our faith is made strong; You are our Rock

It is not enough to know about God, we must know God. In Jesus God is made known and knowable.

Do you think God is less concerned with you than He was with a tent? No!
He knit you together in your mother’s womb.
He knows every hair on your head.
He knows when you lie down and wake up.
He knows your fears, insecurities, doubts, anxieties.
He knows everything you have done wrong,
And the right things that had wrong motives.

And He loves you.

God from age to age
Though the earth may pass away
Your Word remains the same, yeah
Your history can prove
There’s nothing You can’t do
You’re faithful and true

-

The entire book of Hebrews explains that the Old Testament ceremonial laws were not so much abolished as fulfilled by Christ. Whenever we pray "in Jesus name" we "have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus" (Heb. 10:19). It would, therefore, be deeply inconsistent with the teaching of the Bible as a whole if we continued to follow the ceremonial laws.

If I believe Jesus is the resurrected Son of God, I can’t follow all the ‘clean laws’ of diet and practice, and I can’t offer animal sacrifices. All that would be to deny the power of Christ’s death on the cross. And so those who really believe in Christ must follow some Old Testament texts and not others.
- Timothy Keller

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
– Galatians 2:15-21

It is written
We’re redeemed by Your blood
All the old has passed away, the new has come
It is written
It’s not by power or might
But by the spirit of the Living God in us

Wondering how to share the Gospel shortly and concisely? Here are the basics in two slides. The third slide sums it all up in case you forget what's on the first two.

Pray for who God is prompting you to share the Gospel with this week... and then do it!

On Sunday we had the honor of having one of our Elders, Joel Kornegay, preach to us from 2 Timothy 4:1-5. Joel is a military chaplain who is ordained in the EFCA. His message to us was a charge to remain steadfastly focused on the clear, authoritative, inerrant Word in the midst of unsound teaching and unhealthy echo chambers that surround us. As we continue to head toward a contentious election season, there will be all kinds of voices trying to manipulate and distract us. Paul’s charge to Timothy is a timely word for us.

Listen or watch the sermon on the RHC App, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app.

Jesus offers us a better promise than the Law.
Jesus offers us a better hope than the Law.
We can trust in Him.