Powerful and Loving: Our Father’s Provision

Minivan

One of our greatest needs as we’ve been prepping for our move to Vermont next February has been a van that would be able to traverse winter roads and accommodate our growing family (side note: you know you’ve moved into a different season of life when you really want a minivan. I’m in full blown fatherhood). One day, I got a call from a close friend of mine saying that he and his wife felt like God was calling them to take care of that need! I was blown away by such a selfless display of love and generosity – little did I know that this story would get better and better.

Once they surrendered to getting us a van, our God not only showed him the van to buy for our family, but He also provided the funds to pay for it through unsolicited commissions he made that same week! Surely our God multiplies seed to sowers, He waits only for our availability and willingness to give!

After receiving the van, we had TWO separate instances of God’s provision for taxes related to the van. In each instance, we received notice that we were given gifts for amounts that exactly matched outstanding taxes and costs related to the van transaction!  What was so moving about God’s provision in these instances was not only His power to meet every need we had down to the penny, but His love in caring so deeply for us and moving other believers to contribute Kingdom resources to meet our needs.

Equipment

Over the last month or so, the Lord has led the church that we’ve been a part of for the last 4 years, the City Church, to merge with a church of like passions with a similar heart for Kennesaw, Northstar Church. We are so thankful for our time at City Church and will always look on this season fondly as the first ministry we received from the Lord with people that we have loved.

We have seen God’s goodness and hand in the timing of Him bringing together these two local churches in the same town for His glory.  One amazing outcome of these two churches joining forces is that the two have generously agreed to give Rivertown Church any equipment belonging to City Church that we might need: audio/video equipment, furniture for kids space, etc.  These are major budget items in a church plant, and the Lord has graciously provided them all up front!

So, let the stories of His faithful provision encourage you this Thanksgiving season. Our heavenly Father knows what we need and has promised to provide for it all! (Matt. 6:32) How He loves us!! He is so faithful and so good and so worthy of our trust!

“Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,

  How I've proved Him o'er and o'er,

  Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus!

  O for grace to trust Him more.”

Name of "The Church in Brattleboro"

If you've ever had children, you know that deciding on the name of your child can be quite an ordeal, especially if you're married and both you and your spouse had strong opinions and different tastes.  Round one yields no results as the spouse with a flare for trendy names resorts to creating new names after traditional-name-spouse shoots down possibilities for objects and cities that might sound cool.  The result is perusing baby name websites for hours on end, traditional-name-spouse suggesting the ridiculous in jest and the two resulting at a relative impasse between the two to five names that made the final round. The decision feels so big because names are important, and names last forever.

So what about naming a local church? Where do you start? What biblical concepts should be included? Should it be different than most other churches, or should we name it something similar to other churches we know of because we value the things mentioned in the name? Do you go with the name of your town (i.e. “Flippin Church of God” in Arkansas or “Half Way Baptist Church” in Missouri)?

In all seriousness, we believed that God had a name for this church that He’s called us to plant, and we really wanted Him to be the one to name it (which we have been creatively calling “the church in Brattleboro”).

We've prayed and thought through the name of this church plant, we acquired the conviction that the name should be something that the town could identify with and also represented the town in the name, much like "the church at Philippi" or "the church at Ephesus". Because Brattleboro is situated on the Connecticut River, I was praying through incorporating "River" into the name of the church.  I also liked the idea of including "Town" since we are being planted by Valley Town Church. As I was praying through it, I came across a webpage committed to the town's history, which said, "Brattleboro is a river town, rich in history". That was all the confirmation I needed. This body of believers that the Lord will raise up for the advancement of His kingdom in Brattleboro, New England, and among all nations will be called RIVER TOWN CHURCH.

Keep an eye out for future posts on the Mission, Vision, and Values that God has given us for this body of believers He is raising up in Brattleboro.