RICHLAND CREEK RIDERS IS A MOTORCYCLE MINISTRY OF THE CREEK, AND WE ARE COMMITTED TO REACHING THE COMMUNITY OF WAKE COUNTY WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST.

RCR Has 3 Purposes:

  1. To reach the lost and unchurched in the motorcycle community. Richland Creek does not discriminate against age, race, gender, economic status, or anyone’s past. You are welcome as you are!
  2. To exalt the Savior. RCR is involved in benefit rides, rallies, and support services so that we might show the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through service.
  3. To equip believers for His Kingdom. Every member of RCR must be a member of Richland Creek, trained in evangelism, and a member of a small group Bible study.

We believe that our motorcycles are just one of many tools that Richland Creek uses to invite our community to our church, our family, and especially to have a personal relationship with Christ.

WHO WE ARE
Have you ever wanted to belong to a group of people whom you really felt cared for you? Have you ever wished you had a large family that celebrated with you in the good times and stood with you in the tough times? Has it ever seemed to you that maybe something was missing in your life but you weren’t really sure what it was? Have you ever wanted to know God personally but weren’t sure how to go about it? If the answer to any of the above is “yes” then perhaps Richland Creek Community Church is the place to which God is calling your family.

Richland Creek is a dynamic, energetic, vision-oriented church that has made an all-out commitment to reaching people with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He is the hope of the world, and our hope as well! Richland Creek is a church devoted to the study of God’s word and to prayer. People are experiencing the real power of God and the difference of living in a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. In some cases, entire families have come to know Christ together!

So whether you’re new to the community or an established resident in search of a place to grow personally and to grow your family, visit us and see if Richland Creek does for you what it is already doing for scores of people and families.

RCR TESTIMONIES

Click a name to read their testimony!

Rose Greene

After a lifetime of hiding the pain and shame of childhood sexual abuse through sex, drugs, alcohol, rehab hospitals and religion, I was convinced that God would never love or forgive me and that I must be a child of Satan. My life was like a rubber band ball, growing bigger and tighter with each sexual encounter, each lie, each fake smile, each ruined friendship, each ruined marriage. I didn’t know how to confront the problems in my life so I became part of them, walking according to my own desires, my own lusts, and flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. I stuffed the shame to preserve my life. Always smiling on the outside; inside, I was dead.

But God demonstrated His own love for me in that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. Following the end of my third marriage, I found myself 800 miles away from my son, the very thing God used to show me what real love is, in a relationship with a man to whom I was not yet married. Guilt and anger overwhelmed me, yet I refused to go home. The day I physically shook my 4-year old daughter out of my anger was the day I knew something had to change. Married for the fourth time now, the Holy Spirit was working in my husband’s heart. He suggested we visit churches. I was desperate for help. When a pastor in a church we were visiting read Matthew 11:28-29 and told me I could find rest for my soul, I knew I was home. At Christ’s invitation, I laid my burdens, my past, and my shame before Him at the cross. Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals, was now my Lord and Savior and my life would be forever changed.

For the last 21 years, I’ve clawed my way through my past with Him in the lead, learning how to be a godly wife, mother, and friend. Although sometimes difficult to accept God’s love, I learned by studying His Word that He not only knows my name, but He knit me together in my mother’s womb, He knows the hairs on my head, and He has inscribed me in the palms of His hands. Never again will I walk alone. Never again will I feel the guilt and shame of my past. Second Peter 1:3 tells me that His divine power has given me everything I need pertaining to life and godliness.

Today, I enjoy serving in our church as a teacher in our elementary school ministry on Sunday mornings and as a greeter on Saturday evenings. My husband and I enjoy being part of the Richland Creek motorcycle ministry together. We have a burden for couples who are struggling with marriage and I have a special place in my heart for unsaved girls and women who are using their bodies in a way that dishonors them and our Lord Jesus Christ. My husband will soon graduate from Southeastern Seminary with a degree in Biblical Counseling and I will graduate from our Richland Creek 17-month Counseling program. We look forward to serving together in the Counseling Ministry as the Holy Spirit enables us to help others see the truth of God’s Word and its application to their lives.Call me (Rose Greene 919-624-4838); I would love to share my journey and the love of my Lord Jesus Christ with you. In Him I live and move and have my being (Acts 17:38).

Joe Tomberlin

My life before salvation was all about me. I did what I wanted, when I wanted. I had no one to answer to other than me. I was a thief. I was lustful. I was in church. Started going to church shortly after my mother and father separated. Around 12 years old, I found love and a family at that church, and wanted to do whatever they wanted me to do, so that they would continue to love me. So, I went to church every time the doors were open. When the pastor told me Hell was a real place and it was eternal and full of fiery punishment, I decided to say whatever he wanted me if He would promise me that I wasn’t going there.

So, I prayed what he told me to and he told me I was saved from Hell. I figured I’d keep doing the things I wanted to, ‘cause I was not going to Hell, so it was okay. Man, was I confused! Don’t get me wrong, I was not a hellion. I didn’t get into a bunch of fights, didn’t steal a lot; I cheated on some tests at school, but compared to many other kids, I was a pretty normal, a good person. But that’s the problem - other kids weren’t the standard. In college, I began to learn that Jesus is the standard. Jesus sets the mark, and according to Romans, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Everyone missed the standard. Everyone has sinned. I was part of everyone. My sins sent Jesus to the cross.

I also learned about Lordship. Jesus offered all of Himself to me, in return for all of me. 2 Corinthians 5: 21 says that God made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin, to be sin, so that I could become righteous like Jesus. Because of His death, burial, and resurrection, I could become righteous. I surrendered. I turned control of my life over to Jesus. Now I do what he wants. I answer to His will, not mine. I am forgiven. My life is all about Him. Now, I live for Jesus.

Brian Smith

The truth is – I was heading to hell. I grew up knowing Jesus that He could do good things for me, so I called out his name every time I got in trouble. I was living in this world for this world - everything that I tried to do good fell apart. With that said one day back in 1981, down in Oklahoma, a man asked me if I wanted to know how I could not go to hell and he shared the gospel with me. I accepted that truth, accepted Christ as my Savior, in my head, but did not live that truth. I was still in the world chasing the dollar bill, gambling, drinking, sinning wide open. I knew it was all wrong, crying out to God every time I was at the end of the rope.

Bottom line, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I finally placed my faith in Jesus and received the free gift of salvation - that Christ Jesus who took everything that was owed to me, hell and everything in it - He took on that debt and conquered death and is now sitting on the right hand of God. I have an eternal home in heaven because of this and not hell, and now all is good with my soul.

If you would like more information on how you, too, can be set free from the hurt of this world, come see me and I will walk you through the gospel truth in God's Word, the Bible.

Cheryl Smith

Growing up, my dad passed away when I was about 2 years old. My mom was raising four children, working two and three jobs. God put other people in my life to take me to church. It was Mr. & Mrs. Joyner (our landlord), my sister and brother, and my Aunt Judy. I went to Methodist, Presbyterian and Wesleyan Methodist churches. I was baptized with my brother and sister when I was 10 years old at a Presbyterian church. I didn’t know why I was being baptized; it was what I thought I was supposed to do.

When I graduated from high school, I didn’t go to church; I was more interested in drugs and alcohol – the partying scene. This was all in Pennsylvania. I then moved to North Carolina in 1985, continuing with the drugs and alcohol. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

I met my husband; we partied a lot and moved in together. We married and bought a house and continued our ways of drinking, drugs and gambling. We started to go to a few different churches. God then put people in our life and in January 1993, and I placed my faith in Christ. God has planned it all out for you and me. We were invited to Crossroads Church and attended regularly. Pastor Jesse Parrish baptized my husband and me at Falls Lake; this showed my love and belief that God sent his Son Jesus Christ to be born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died a horrible death and was resurrected three days later for my sins -- knowing that I have eternal life in heaven, not in hell. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

We were then invited to Richland Creek Community Church. From the first time I went, I knew this was the church. I have grown so much in my walk with the Lord here at the Creek. I Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

God has called me out of the darkness and my life has turned around into His marvelous light. Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Carlos Hernandez

I was born in New York City, educated in a catholic school, and grew up in a predominantly Greek, Italian, and Irish neighborhood. My grandfather (Papa) had a shoe and hat business in Manhattan. After difficulties times, my family decided to move to their place of origin, Puerto Rico. My family eventually settled in the San Juan Metropolitan Area and my papa bought a small family business, a hardware store. I loved helping papa and my father on the weekends.

At age of 15, one night I was at home when my mother and a friend of hers arrived from church and asked me if they could pray for me. I was raised in the Catholic Church and it was normal for me to pray, but something different happened while they were praying. I felt touched in a special way. A few days later, my mother invited me to a retreat at a church made of stone in another barrio of Puerto Rico and I agreed to go. It was the best decision of my life because I met Jesus in a personal way that weekend. My eyes were opened to the fact I was a sinner and that salvation was only through Jesus. He paid the price for my sins. “…God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” His Grace and mercy, in times of peace and war, ups and downs, has been with me since. “…justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

A few years later, while attending university and studying electronics, I felt a call to study at a Christian Seminary and join a group of missionaries from church. Without thinking twice, I dropped out of the university and began to study Theology. While completing the Seminary, I joined a group of pastors and missionaries and traveled several times to preach the gospel and help people in need. We preached the gospel in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. We also helped in all aspects of building churches. This time was the best time of my life; serving the Lord and allowing the gospel to fill my life. I was so happy at church.

During my studies in the seminary, I met a young lady, Rosalie. It was love at first sight; I remember that I told her: “You were born for me”. That was the truth and after a tour in the Army, we were married.

In December 2007, we moved to Wake Forest, NC and a group from Richland Creek Community Church was singing Christmas Carols in our neighborhood. They left us a postcard with the church information. The next Sunday, my family and another couple of our neighbors decided to go to Richland Creek. We felt the love of God over us! We eventually became members of this family church. Having never driven a motorcycle; I bought a bike, learned to ride, and my wife and I joined the Richland Creek Riders’ Biker Ministry. It really has become a great hobby, but best of all has allowed me fellowship with the Richland Creek Riders.

My wife and I just celebrated 34-years of marriage and God has deposited a deep love for each other during all these years. We love this Church and we want to serve the Lord until His coming.

Rosalie Hernandez

My mother had passed away from cancer at the age of 39 leaving me feeling sad, lonely, and empty. That day, I had decided to ingest a bottle of pills and take my life. For an instance I thought, why at the age of 12, do I have no desire to live? I felt so lost. I saw a group of “hippies” preaching the gospel while I was walking one day and the sight of them caught my attention. These hippies had tattoos, beards, braids, and the girls wore long skirts, sandals, and hats. I saw a sign that said: The Catacumbas and Jesus Loves You. I learned that most of these young people were once drug-addicts and some of them homeless. They started to preach the gospel to me. That afternoon something happened and my life changed. I felt a presence of God and two arms embracing me; I placed my faith in Jesus and for first time I felt loved. I eventually joined them and we went to schools and hospitals to preach the Gospel of Jesus.

My sisters were saved before I was. When my father saw us dressing and acting differently, he became suspicious. Then, when he realized that we were attending another church other than the universal one the family had attended for ages, he opposed it completely. It was like a World War III. We started fasting, praying and reading the bible. We could only fellowship with the group in secret. If my father found out, we were reprimanded, spanked, and grounded. As part of the discipline, he and his wife ate at the table and when we went to the kitchen, no food was left. We went to sleep with our stomach empty. He totally opposed us meeting these “Protestant People” as he would say.

One night, my father changed the entrance gate locks so that none of us would be able to get back in the house. When we came home from church around 9:30pm, we realized that the gates were locked and were unable to get in the house. I was so scared and we did not know what to do! Maggie, my oldest sister, went to Rebecca’s house to find help. She was a friend who lived close to our home. Rebecca immediately called her pastor and he came to pick up us. I knew that this time my father would beat us badly. I was crying quietly and praying that God would help us to do His will.

After a month, we returned home after the Pastor, our uncle, and our father met. The situation at home was worse. The nights were so long and lonely; we went to bed afraid. One night at 3 am, my father entered our bedroom, yelling and demanding that we clean the house. Another early morning, around 5 am, he entered our bedroom with a belt and began spanking us. The lights came on and he yelled at us; we woke up screaming and crying. I felt like I was in a concentration camp and I would lose my mind. When I felt emotionally and physically drained, I would go into the bathroom, open the shower, and put a towel tightly over my mouth to cry and cry until exhausted. We continued going to church against our father’s will.

While attending the university, I decided to enroll in the Seminary to study Theology simultaneously. I met one of the seminarians, Carlos, and fell in love. A few years later, we married. I remember that after the wedding, my husband had left for work, I spent hours crying of happiness and praying thanking God for the freedom I finally had. I was able to talk, dance, jump, sleep, and praise the Lord without any fear.

In 2007, my family and I moved to Wake Forest and joined Richland Creek Community Church. I started to help in the sound booth ministry, taping the plays, and joined the prayer group. In 2015, my husband and I joined the Richland Creek Riders’ Biker Ministry under the leadership of Joe Tomberlin. Every day, I feel a fire inside me to serve the Lord and do His will.

“Mas Dios muestra su amor para con nosotros, en que siendo aún pecadores, Cristo murió por nosotros”. Romanos 5:8