What is God's problem?  Some claim that the Christian can easily deflect criticism by appealing to Jesus' life.  But we cannot evade the Old Testament.  Consider this allegation:“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”  And what about Hell and God not being so obvious to so many people?  Could the Islamic God be the same God as the Bible?  How is the Christian to respond to homosexuality or about the relationship between science and Scripture?  These "problems" and more will be addressed at our annual multi-church, multi-campus ministry, Symposium: The Problem of God, Feb.17-18, held at Purdue and Covenant Church. 

Hi parents, I don’t have much news for you this month except we have had a large number of kidos in Promiseland for the month of January. We are averaging 70 to 80 in the combined hours. So…. if it seems a little hectic down here, it is!!! What a good problem to have. God continues to bless us with more and more children. Our teachers and helpers are great so please pray for them. It is a huge commitment to serve month after month joyfully like they do.

Mark your calendars for February 12 at 5:15 for our Riverside Skate Night. The cost will be $2.50 for skate rental and $3.50 for pizza and a drink. RCC will cover the rink rental again. It is an evening for the whole family and friends to do something fun together.

Time to clean out your house!  The Riverside Guatemala Mission Team will be hosting a church wide rummage sale on February 24 and 25th and we need your stuff.  Start dropping your things off at the Riverside building.  If you have something that needs picked up, sign up on Sunday and we will pick it up for you.  All items must be dropped off by Sunday, February 19. 

We are also having a bake sale during the rummage sale.  If you would like to prepare baked goods for the sale, a signup sheet will be available in front of the sound booth on Sunday.

All proceeds from our sales will help to fund our trip to Guatemala in June. 

Riverside shares communion together the last Sunday of every month.  Each communion Sunday a Riverside family prepares the communion bread from a recipe we have.  It is a fantastic way for your whole family to participate in preparing for our communion Sundays and we would love to put your family on the schedule.  If you are interested in baking the communion bread one month in 2012, let Pastor Dan (dteefey@rcovenant.org) and he will send you the recipe. 

You can pick up a free February prayer calendar at Riverside this Sunday! It may not solve all your scheduling struggles, but it can help you make time with your Father.  Take the calendar and put it on your fridge, with your Bible, by your bed, but not in the recycling bin!  Use it to prompt your prayers for your Riverside family and God’s people everywhere.  And if you can't wait until Sunday to get a copy, you can download one right now.  See the attached....