Category: River Falls

Church Plant and Street Level Organization in River Falls, WI

January 19, 2019 River Falls Ministry

River Falls Ministry News

Read the latest news from Jesus Fellowship of Believers community ministry and Street Level UWRF campus ministry in River Falls, WI.

Street Level Student Magazine

Over the course of the last few years of ministering on the UW-River Falls campus, we’ve tried several different methods and outlets. For example, one of our most consistent outlets has been a River Falls-specific version of “Word on the Street Magazine”. WOTS, as it’s called, began as Street Level outreach to the UW-Stout campus many years ago. It has always sought to offer readers a challenging perspective on culture and Christianity, as well as offering a regular place to serve.

Similarly, in River Falls the magazine offers an opportunity for students who want to step up and out to do something for the Kingdom. We’re thankful for the common goal it provides a small team of us to work in unison for each issue. In addition, it keeps us “getting out” in the community – at the moment we regularly distribute at 9 different locations in town. Soon, we’ll release the next issue which will have several pages of content from River Falls writers.

Sunday Evening Bible Study

Our Sunday evening Bible study continues ahead each week, meeting at 5pm followed by a meal. We’re currently moving through the book of James, in which we are discussing how to “test” the quality and legitimacy of our faith. For example, last week we read how there is a vast difference between the world’s wisdom and God’s wisdom. James makes it clear that it’s our choice as to which wisdom we pursue. There never seems to be enough time to talk through everything a chapter presents to us each week. However, we do our best to cover the central issues of Scripture and echo it’s invitations and challenges.

What’s Upcoming

On the near horizon, the Spring semester begins here at UWRF. In other words, the town will get busier and louder, and we hope the ministry does as well. Additionally, we are planning to make a substantial shift in our ministerial approach in River Falls. As we pray and follow the Lord into this change, we would ask also for your prayers for discernment, direction, and clarity. More news to come!

River Falls Ministry Online

December 19, 2018 River Falls Ministry

Happy Holidays! God has been at work this last month in River Falls. We continue to meet on Sunday for the community study, and on Tuesdays for Street Level. During this time we have had the chance to get to know new people and some people have moved on to other things.

STREET LEVEL HAPPENINGS

On Tuesdays during Street Level we have been going through a few different series. In one we are discussing people in the Bible and how they followed God. We have also been going through a series that challenges us to think about what we believe, for example “Do you believe there is God?”

A few other things we did were an outreach on campus and aChristmas Party. We brought the Blind Munchies Coffeehouse down to campus and gave away free coffee. It was cold, but we had a lot of fun and were able to talk to a few people about who we are and why we were giving away coffee.  Some of Street Level Menomonie joined us for our Christmas party. We ate together, played games, and had a chance to fellowship together.

Many of the college students will be going home for the next few weeks while they are on Holiday break. We pray that God will use this time to bring them closer to Him.

SUNDAY COMMUNITY STUDY

On Sundays we have been going through 2 Thessalonians. We continue with our weekly format of teaching followed by discussion and then transition to a meal.

We also had the opportunity to get together and do a workday with Nehemiah. The improvements made have been really appreciated! We installed a new sink faucet, mounted our speaker system, put up a coat rack, painted our bifold sign, and more.

Please pray for us as we go into the new year that we continue to have guidance from God for the ministry, and pray for the people that they would grow to know God at a deeper level.

JANUARY CALENDAR

  • Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
  • Tuesdays: Street Level Study is off until 1/29

River Falls Ministry Online

Christmas Party

“Pin the Nose on the Snowman”

November 19, 2018 River Falls Ministry

River Falls Ministry News

Read the latest news from Jesus Fellowship of Believers community ministry and Street Level UWRF campus ministry in River Falls, WI.

Street Level UWRF

Street Level, an official student organization at UW-River Falls continues to meet each Tuesday evening. We’ve spent the last month studying the life of Jacob. Among other things, it showed us what it means to follow God with obedience and humility while acknowledging that he is in complete control of our lives. We are now beginning a two-fold path of further Bible study alongside a new video series. The Bible study will now focus on the book of Ruth, in which we find a woman’s life guided by the hand of God through both difficulty and success. Our new video series will focus on big questions about life and God, such as “Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?”. Our intent is to honestly discuss the larger questions which many people ask whether or not they are believers.

Street Level on Retreat

At the end of October, we joined the Street Level chapters from UW-Stout (Menomonie) and UW-Superior for our annual Fall Retreat. This year, we all traveled to Luther Park in Chetek, WI for a Friday and Saturday. Even though the weather was damp and chilly, the main building had a fireplace, and there was plenty of “Round the World” ping-pong to keep people warmed up. The retreat focused on “Four Questions About Discipleship”, in which we explored the call and nature of following Jesus. We were thankful to have Pastor Justin Thompson from Jesus Fellowship of Believers Duluth join us for teaching alongside the three Street Level directors. The challenging topics of the weekend included “What is the cost of discipleship” and “What does a disciple do?”.

Community Bible Study

The JFBelievers River Falls community outreach continues to meet every Sunday at 5 pm. We continue our journey through the New Testament, verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter each week. We’ve recently finished the book of 1 Thessalonians, in which we spent a lot of time discussing the second coming of Jesus, and what it means to be ready with our lives. We always end our time with discussion – we believe talking through and thinking through the Word can best lead to its application in our lives.

Early Thanksgiving

Last Sunday we turned our post-Bible study meal into an early Thanksgiving dinner. Almost everyone brought something to the feast: stuffing, cranberries, and even special-recipe cinnamon bread. While the Bible study is certainly central, these times of fellowship have been one of the key ways we get to know each other and talk about what’s happening in our lives. Apart from the person-to-person friendships, care, and prayer, the gatherings lose the fellowship that is characteristic of the New Testament.

December Calendar

  • Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
  • Tuesdays: 6:30pm / Street Level Meal, 7pm / Bible Study (until December 18)
  • Thursdays: 5-9pm & Fridays 9am-3pm: Open Hours for Study (until semester’s end)

River Falls Ministry Online

October 19, 2018 River Falls Ministry

RF-News

We continue to meet on Tuesday evenings for Street Level for a meal and study. There have been a few students that are consistently coming around and becoming more involved. We pray that they will continue in their desire to follow God and find what he has for them. We also had the opportunity to participate in a few other events.

Outreach

On a Tuesday evening Street Level did an outreach on the UWRF campus. They were giving away coffee and Dutch frites to students. We are thankful to the Street Level Menomonie and The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse volunteers that helped us. The University gave us a great spot in the middle of campus. It was right outside of the University Center to set up the coffeehouse trailer. There were some good conversations with students and people hung out for a while. We gave away over 120 frites and 100 cups of coffee.

Guest Speaker

Also, on a Monday evening, a group of us piled in a couple of cars and joined Street Level Menomonie to hear Jon Bloom speak on his book “Don’t Follow Your Heart.” It challenged us to think counter culture.  At the end of the month we are looking forward to the Street Level retreat with Menomonie and Duluth.

Study

On Sunday evenings, we recently started the book of 1 Thessalonians for the community study. We have been reading about how these believers followed God with so much passion that all the other towns new about them and their conversion- even though they have been going through persecution. Lately, we have been also doing a discussion on how we can apply the verses to our lives. We still end with a meal and fellowship (We are hoping to keep using the grill as long as the weather permits).

Street Level

The Street Level space has been open on Thursday and Friday evenings for people to come have coffee and hang out. A few people have stopped in to see what we are doing, and students have been using the place often to study. Also, Word on the Street has joined us from Menomonie for a few Thursday evenings working on the next publication with us.

Thank you for your prayers for the River Falls outreach. Please pray for the group that we grow in discipleship, and that we would continue to meet and engage with the people in our community.

November Calendar

  • Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / meal
  • Tuesdays: 6:30pm / Street Level Meal, 7pm / Bible Study

Online

 

September 19, 2018 River Falls Ministry
We’ve now made the transition from Summer to school, which has meant a lot of changes, as well as some renewed excitement on our part to see what God is going to do this semester. We’ve restarted Street Level, and have seen a number of new faces around. Most are Freshman who are new to college life and are discovering all the new opportunities, relationships, and interests vying for this their time and commitment. It’s been refreshing to see them around, and we are praying that some get plugged in and can find what God has for them here at school. This year. we are are encouraging “involvement” in the Street Level, which means taking up regular participation in a ministry like WOTS.
In addition to the weekly meetings and doing some outreach tables on campus, we are also planning to partner with Street Level UW-Stout to engineer a few outreaches on the UWRF campus. These will likely take the form of food giveaways via the Mobile Coffeehouse. Our hope is that these outreaches will be fun way to meet new students as well as offer opportunity to serve with with the greater Street Level family.
New to our weekly schedule, we have nailed down official regular “open study hours”, which are every Thursday evening, 5pm-9pm. During these hours, we are running the Street Level place much like a “coffeehouse”, with the espresso bar open and music on, the goal is to make the space conducive to study, projects, or discussion. There have been several students and wanderers-by who have visited over the past few weeks.
Our Sunday evening gathering continues, and we continue our chapter-per-week pace through the New Testament letters. Joining the studies and discussions have been a few new faces – also due to school restarting. We are consistently encouraging people from Street Level to consider and pursue involvement in the local church. For many, their “church” is back home, and, for a variety of reasons, fail to seek out a Biblical fellowship dynamic while they are away to college. This is an unfortunate pattern that we see being set all too often for students that consider themselves Christians.
Please pray that we are, with discernment, providing the right teaching, personal challenge and friendship to the new students that have been joining us this semester, to the end that they can participate in all that God has for them.

October Calendar

  • Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / Meal
  • Tuesdays: 6:30pm / Meal, 7:00pm / Street Level Meeting
  • Thursdays: 5:00pm – 9:00pm / Open for Coffee and Study
  • October 26-27: All Street Level Retreat

Online 

 

August 19, 2018 River Falls Ministry

What’s Happening

The end of Summer is near which means a new season for the River Falls Ministry. Starting in September we will be changing some of the things we are doing at the Street Level Place and focusing on reaching out to the college students as they come back to school.

We are still meeting for a Sunday Bible Study and Meal at 5 pm which will continue into the fall. Right now, we are in the book of Colossians and will be moving into 1 Thessalonians.  Doing the meals after the study has offered the opportunity for us to get to know people more.

Until the students come back we will be hosting two more community grill outs. The Tuesday grill outs this summer have allowed for us to continue to meet people in the community. We never know who God is going to bring in the door to have a meal with us.

Once the students are back in September Street Level will resume on Tuesday nights. We are looking forward to seeing some familiar faces that we haven’t seen in a few months. Also, we will outreach on campus through tables, posters, and possibly a bonfire on campus and trail walk.

Additionally, the Street Level place will have more open hours this semester. It will be a coffeehouse type atmosphere. We will be open for study and for people who just want to hang out. There will be music playing and the coffee bar will be open for full service.

We are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us this semester. Thank you for all your participation and prayers!

 

September Calendar

  • Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study,  6pm / Meal
  • Tuesdays: 6:30pm / Meal, 7:00pm / Street Level Meeting
  • Thursdays: Open for Coffee and Study / 5:00pm – 9:00pm

Online