February 25, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Ephesians 2:17–22
This Sunday is Commitment Sunday for the Dwell Midpoint Refresh. I hope you have been prayerfully considering what God asking you to commit to in the year ahead. We’re all in this together and I’m excited to see what God has for us as we all commit to join Him in His good work as we Dwell: An Enduring & Faithful Presence.
Over the past two months, we have asked you to prayerfully consider https://www.dwell.redemptionhilldc.org/commit:
Church Engagement – our goal is to have 100% of the church engaged in some way. We provided a self-assessment to ask you to use as a tool to evaluate what God might be asking you to step into with Redemption Hill in the coming year.
Financial – When a church is our home, we commit to invest our time and talent in engagement as well as our treasure, investing into God’s work in and through us. We would love for all who call RHC home to make a commitment this Sunday, whether you are adjusting your previous commitment, continuing at your current rate of giving and commit to finish strong, or God may be leading you to increase your commitment.
This Sunday’s sermon will be based in Ephesians 2:17-22 as we explore together what makes a church a church. We will look through the New Testament to learn what a church is, and what a church does. Even if you’re brand new to Redemption Hill and not quite ready to make a commitment to this church, I think this Sunday will encourage you with a recasting of the beautiful vision for what God’s people can are and can be in the church and what we look to as foundational to our understanding of church at RHC.
Vision Sunday
February 4, 2024 • Pastor Bill Riedel • 1 Peter 2:4–12
One year ago, we started a journey together to pursue God’s call to us as a church to Dwell as An Enduring & Faithful Presence in DC. The Dwell initiative is really an extension of what we have always wanted to be about – joining God in His good work in our city and throughout the DMV. We are in the midst of a Midpoint Refresh of that journey. Here's what we covered on Sunday:
- The chance to gather, sing, pray, hear God’s Word, and share in the Lord’s Supper.
- A sermon rooted in 1 Peter 2:4-12. We will see the calling of all Christians as sojourners and exiles, worshiping together as God’s people and living lives in community that make an impact wherever we are.
- Clarity on the vision for our church in the days ahead.
- A better understanding of the Dwell Initiative. What do we mean by 100% Engagement? Why did we set the financial goals we did?
An Enduring & Faithful Presence
January 8, 2023 • Pastor Bill Riedel • Exodus 33:12–16, Jeremiah 29:4–7, Jeremiah 29:10–14
Throughout Scripture, we see that God’s presence dwells with His people. Like Moses at Mount Sinai, we don’t want to go anywhere if God’s presence isn’t with us (Exo. 33:12-16). We also want to follow the call to dwell in our city, building houses, planting gardens, and investing into the good of the city (Jer. 29:4-7). In our own lives, we experience God’s presence in the Spirit, through Christ.
Our deep desire is that we would Dwell more deeply in God’s presence both individually and as a people and that Redemption Hill will have An Enduring & Faithful Presence here in DC. We hope to find a place that RHC can call home, where we can establish a lasting presence that will be a hub for ministry and a rooted commitment to the good of our city.
On Sunday we begin the journey together by exploring these themes across the pages and storyline of Scripture.
Giving Ourselves First to the Lord
January 15, 2023 • Pastor Bill Riedel • 2 Corinthians 8:1–9
This Sunday we head to 2 Corinthians 8:1-9. Chapters 8-9 are the most extended teaching we have in the entire New Testament on handling money and, more specifically, on giving to God’s work. Money is an uncomfortable topic for many, maybe even you! I get it. There are all kinds of reasons it can be uncomfortable, but money is an important topic. Often, the desires of our hearts can be seen most clearly in our bank accounts. If the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, then it is important to understand what it looks like to steward all of God’s gifts well. Our passage on Sunday gives us a rooted and gospel-rich look how we ought to understand money.
Giving God's Way
January 22, 2023 • Pastor Bill Riedel • 2 Corinthians 8:10–24
This Sunday we will continue with 2 Corinthians 8:10-24. Chapter 8 begins with the all-of-life calling that we give ourselves first to the Lord. In this passage, Paul gave directions to the church in Corinth about how to handle money, and how money would be handled as Titus came to take the collection for the church in Jerusalem. It gives us important guidance on how we ought to Give God’s Way.
Giving In Abundance
January 29, 2023 • Pastor Bill Riedel
As we continue to look at our call to Dwell as An Enduring and Faithful Presence, we have heard the call to give ourselves first to the Lord, and seen what it looks like to give God’s way. This Sunday we continue with a call to give in abundance. The call in Scripture is not an exaction or some kind of church tax. God calls us to give out of what we have and to do so generously. A lot of our posture toward generosity – in time, talents, and treasure – comes down to our own mentality. On Sunday we will see the difference in outcomes if we operate from a scarcity mentality or from an abundance mentality.
Giving to God's Glory
February 5, 2023 • 2 Corinthians 9:11–15
This Sunday will continue with 2 Corinthians 9:11-15. As we continue to look at our call to Dwell as An Enduring and Faithful Presence, we have heard the call to give ourselves first to the Lord, and focused on the shaping influence of God’s grace on our own hearts as we think about resources that God has given us and how to best steward and invest them. This Sunday we continue with a call to Give to God’s Glory. Our giving has to flow from God’s work in our hearts and we can see the impact of our giving in the work God is doing. We get to join God in His work as we respond to grace and in that we get to see an increase of thanksgiving, worship, and prayer in others. So, this week we will look at the impact of giving to God’s glory.
Giving Our Time and Talent
February 12, 2023 • Pastor Eric McPherson
This Sunday we closed out the Dwell series by studying Exodus 31:1-5. This series has worked to set our hearts and focus as a church on God’s call to us to Dwell in our city as An Enduring & Faithful Presence, investing our lives into the good of the city, trusting that in its good, we will find our own as well. We have looked particularly at investing ourselves financially into God’s work through the church. This week we will expand that view to see how God specifically gifts and calls us as individuals, equipping us with what we need to be part of His work for the sake of God’s glory.
