OUR 4 PILLARS

At Riverside, JESUS IS OUR PURSUIT. We want to run after all that He has for us. No matter the uncertainty of the world around us, we believe that Jesus is our hope. He is the refuge that we run to when fear tries to overtake us. Even when the situation seems overwhelming, Jesus is still overseeing the situation. None of us are lost in the crowd. Jesus knows our needs and knows our names. We can let our circumstances sink us or allow Jesus to save us. We are a community of desperate people who want more of Holy Spirit’s presence and more of His power to turn situations around, to see lives changed, and to witness people set free in the name of Jesus.

PEOPLE ARE OUR PASSION. As a church, we believe that everyone matters to God, no matter where they are on their journey. We don’t want to be just a caring church, but rather to be a carrying church. Our desire is to lift one another up in their time of need. The heart of our church is to run to people in their brokenness when everyone else is running away. A culture of honor is the bedrock of who we are. The Bible says that God created man in His own image, so when we honor others, we’re honoring God. Just as Jesus saw the disciples not as who they were but who they could be, we want to look beyond people’s present to see the future that God has for each of them.

We as a church believe that SERVING IS OUR PRIORITY. As we begin to serve, it moves us from being simply a spectator to a participant. We don’t just sit, we serve. We do this to follow the example that Jesus laid out for us in the Bible. Even on the day before He knew He would die, Jesus still chose to wash the disciples’ feet. He declared that true greatness is shown not by how many serve you, but by how many you serve. We believe that the gateway to greatness is by being a servant. When we serve, we are making an eternal deposit into the kingdom of God. We open ourselves up to Holy Spirit opportunities, setting ourselves up for divine appointments. As we serve, the Lord will position us for maximum impact.

Finally, GENEROSITY IS OUR PRIVILEGE at Riverside. When we are generous, we give more than what is required. We don’t view giving as something we have to do, but something we get to do. We believe that it is an honor to give back to God a portion of what He’s given to us. We don’t just tip God, we trust God. Giving is a part of our worship as we thank God for what He’s done in the past, we trust Him in our present situation, and we believe in faith for what He’s going to do in the future. As a church, we don’t give because we’ve been instructed to. We give because we’ve been invited to partner with the Lord in all that He wants to do in our church, in our city, and throughout the world.

RIVERSIDE’S STORY

Pastor John King dreamed of planting a church with a simple goal of helping people connect with God so that they might reach their full potential and see lives changed in the process. The dream became a reality as Riverside Community Church opened its doors on August 20, 2000. That Sunday, more than 500 people attended the first service, which was held at the Holiday Inn in downtown Peoria. From the beginning, Riverside has focused on reaching those who are far from Jesus and helping them find their God-given purpose. Soon after, the Lord added to the vision for downtown Peoria. In 2003 the eight-story YMCA building was purchased, and today Dream Center Peoria is at the heart of ministry to the poor and the hurting in the city.

In December 2019, Pastor John retired and handed the baton to his son-in-law Pastor Michael Ritchason, who has continued to build upon the foundation of Riverside. God has used Pastor Michael in a powerful way as Riverside has transformed into a multi-cultural, multi-generational, and multi-socioeconomic church in the heart of the city. Riverside’s passion for people continues to extend beyond the four walls of the church. The Riverside community fridge serves hundreds of guests every week by providing free food to the community daily. In addition, Our street ministry team regularly goes into some of the most overlooked neighborhoods in Peoria to provide food, prayer, and hope. Riverside Community Cares meets tangible needs in our city through transportation resources, moving help, and home repairs. The church hosts monthly worship services at the Federal Correctional Institution in Pekin, which currently houses over 1,000 male inmates. These gatherings include a time of worship, opportunities for our prayer team to minister, and in-person teaching from Pastor Michael. Riverside continues to seek the face of God as we remain dedicated to downtown Peoria, believing that the best is yet to come.

STATEMENTS OF FAITH

GOD | We believe that God is one eternal being, revealing himself in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, inseparable but unique.

Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14

CREATION | We believe that God created everything that is, both the physical and spiritual world.

Romans 3:10-18

SCRIPTURE | We believe in the divine inspiration of the 66 books of the Bible as the revealed word of God. We believe that it is without error, and that “all scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”.

2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Corinthians 2:13

SIN | We believe that the Bible teaches that sin entered the world as the result of the fall of man, that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, and that “the wages of sin is death”. Sin separates all of us from God, and all humanity is condemned to an eternity apart from God by it. Our own good deeds are hopelessly inadequate to wash away the stain of sin from our lives.

Romans 3:23

WHO IS JESUS | We believe that Jesus left his place in heaven to come to earth as a human, that He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We believe that Jesus was fully God and fully man, that He was tempted like us in every way, and yet lived a life without sin. We believe that His nature and His perfection made Him an acceptable substitute for the penalty of our sin.

Luke 1:26-35; John 1:18; Isaiah 7:14; 9:16

THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS | We believe that Jesus died on a cross in our place, as a sacrifice for our sins, and was buried and rose in body on the third day.

1 Corinthians 15:14; Romans 4:25

ASCENSION AND RETURN OF JESUS | We believe that after physically appearing to over 500 people, Jesus was caught up in a cloud and returned to heaven, and is now exulted at the right hand of God the Father. We await His second coming to claim his bride, the Church.

John 14:2-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

SALVATION | We believe that in unexplainable mercy, God the Father provided Jesus His Son as the only acceptable sacrifice for the sins of each of us. We can receive this free gift and be saved from the penalty of our sins only by admitting our guilt and our hopeless condition, repenting from sin, and trusting in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. There is no other way to be reconciled to God.

Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 9:12, 22; Romans 5:11

THE POWER AND WORK OF HOLY SPIRIT | We believe that every truly born again believer has been convicted of sin, introduced to Jesus, and given new life by the power of Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 7:1

WATER BAPTISM | We believe that Jesus commanded that those who put their trust in Him should be baptized by a complete covering of water as soon as possible after coming to know Him. This is done as a public profession of their faith in Him. This is also a statement of a brand new life: the past is dead and buried in the waters of baptism.

Matthew 28;19; Acts 2:37-39; 19:1-6; Romans 6:1-6

BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT | The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a gift from God as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ to all believers and is received subsequent to the new birth. This experience is accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Holy Spirit Himself gives utterance.

Matthew 3:11; John 16:16,17; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:38,39; Acts 19:1–7; Acts 2:1–4

COMMUNION | We practice “the Lord’s Supper”, also called communion, as commanded by Jesus. This is a remembrance of what Jesus did on the cross when He died for our sins, and a reminder of His resurrection and soon coming return.

Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:28-32

ETERNITY | We believe that those who reject Jesus (and what He did by His death on the cross and res-urrection from the dead), and who put their trust in anything else, will spend eternity separat-ed from God in the punishment of Hell. However, we believe that those who put their trust in what Jesus did by His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead will spend eternity with God forever.

John 5:24, 3:16-18; Mark 9:43-58; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:10-15