“The greatest of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:28-31

Paul (at that time known as Saul) thought he was doing a pretty good job of this, but when we examine his life prior to meeting Jesus, we see him persecuting and dragging Christians out of churches, even consenting to their deaths! (Acts 8:1). But on the road to Damascus, Saul encountered the Risen Lord Himself who blinded him physically, to show him his spiritual blindness. Once Saul realized who this was, and that his righteousness was a facade, he repented of his sin and self-centered, self-righteousness, clinging to the good news that Jesus is the only righteousness anyone can have to be accepted by God, and this righteousness is available to us by grace, and through faith. Paul received this grace by believing what Jesus said, and it made him a new person, with a new mission in life. No longer would he be zealous for his own so called law-keeping, now he resolved to know one thing and one thing only:  “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”- 1 Corinthians 2:2

In other words, Paul’s life was now centered around the gospel, not himself and his works. It is the glory of Christ revealed to us in this good news that changes hearts, changes lives, and changes the community around us.  That is why if you don’t hear anything else from us at Riverside, our hope is that you will hear “Christ crucified for sinners.”

Our Vision is “To see the glory of God would become the glory of Cartersville and the nations.” And we hope to see that vision become a reality through our on-going Mission to “develop mature followers of Christ through worship, discipleship, and service, in the power of the gospel.” The gospel is where the power lies. We pray that it’s power would be revealed in, and through us, all for the glory of Jesus.

Blessings!