Restoration Church

23 May 2021 -- Pentecost Sunday & Missions Week Kick-Off

Never Been This Way Before -- 16 May 2021

Imagine Joshua receiving these words...Moses is dead. My mentor, the one who could advise me, the one who God used mightily, the one who started this whole thing of bringing us out of Egypt. God, these are big shoes You’ve given me to fill.  Joshua, at this BIG moment - would have begun to have “specific doubt” (reasons why God chose the wrong person) comparison game. "I’ve lead victorious military campaigns as everyone knows but I haven’t done the miracles like Moses did."  "I may be God’s man but I’m not Moses. I’m the brute, the fighter, the military leader...and that’s not going to cut it."  "Moses did miracles and that’s what we’re gonna need to be able to take this land."
He had no idea of what was to come.  This room is filled with people who are in the exact same place as Joshua was. We have no idea of the miracles that are just ahead of us, if we would just listen to the word of the Lord as He says, “I’m with you, be strong and courageous, no one will be able to stand against you, be strong and courageous, I am giving you the land, be strong and courageous...every place where you set your foot…be strong, do not be afraid, discouraged, I’m with you."
Five things the Lord says to Joshua:
A place to be Possessed
A people to be blessed
Victories that are guaranteed
There’s an intimidation to be renounced
You’ve never been this way before

Mother's Day -- 9 May 2021

Jews had a proverb - God couldn’t be everywhere so He created mothers.
In our english bible we have Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel. This is not the case in the Hebrew bible. It is Judges then 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel’s setting is the book of Judges where Israel was at its lowest, coldest spiritually, they were immoral. The book ends saying, “There was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes…”
When Israel was at its lowest, God’s plan and this mother’s plan was to have a child who would come on the scene as a prophet...used as a priest under Eli and would take the Nazarite vow and impact the nation and become the king maker, selecting Saul and then David.
And, it all starts with a barren woman crying out, praying to God...

The Culture That Transforms, Part II -- 2 May 2021

Spiritual formation...how do people grow? The church’s job is not to win the lost, it is to make disciples. Disciples reproduce.
A culture that is discipleship friendly understands that joy is not a superficial thing, it is not based on what is happening, in church joy is not a reaction to entertaining talks or sermon or “worship”, joy is relational, it is not a reaction to a performance, entertainment, it is relational.

The Culture That Transforms -- 24 April 2021

When the church is making disciples, it is fulfilling its purpose. People are changed, the Body of Christ is healthy (built up), and the world is impacted by the church. Discipleship does not excite a leader whose eyes are fixed on growth. It’s a slower way to grow the church.
The Culture or Soil that Transforms includes four nutrients - ingredients, culture that makes growing things easy:
Joy: the Face of Jesus that Transforms
Hesed: Our Relational Glue
Group Identity: What Kind of People are We?
Healthy Correction: When the Group Stops Being Nice

Full-Brained Christianity -- 18 April 2021

Holy Spirit is the Great Psychiatrist - illuminates the word, reminds you of what Jesus told you, Paraclete/comforter/counselor, parents us (fathers/mothers), empowers us...
Left side and Right side of brain. When I walk into the room, your face tells me more than your mouth does. The left side of my brain understands what you say but the right side of my brain tells me EVERYTHING.
Half-brained Christianity may help you figure everything out but it will take full-brained (Spirit-filled) Christianity for you to be free...prisoners free, sight for the blind, oppressed free.
You need to engage your hunger for Spirit and Truth not just Truth
The anointing breaks the yoke
You were created to long for truth and your heart burns when you are near it or hear it
Holy Spirit will help you to KNOW the truth
You were created to know the Truth, truth is a person, Jesus, and you won’t be fully satisfied until you discover the Truth. When you hear truth speaking, bringing good news to the poor, freedom to prisoners, sight for the blind, and oppressed are set free, your heart will burn.

Half-Brained Christianity -- 11 April 2021

Holy Spirit reformation and Half-brained Christianity - the mystery of Spiritual formation.
31 Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “When you continue to embrace all that I teach, you prove that you are my true followers. 32 For if you embrace the truth, it will release true freedom into your lives.” 33 Surprised by this, they said, “But we’re the descendants of Abraham and we’re already free. We’ve never been in bondage to anyone. How could you say that we will be released into more freedom?” 34 “I speak eternal truth,” Jesus said. “When you sin you are not free. You’ve become a slave in bondage to your sin. 35 And slaves have no permanent standing in a family, like a son does, for a son is a part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free from sin, then become a true son and be unquestionably free! 37 Even though you are descendants of Abraham, you desire to kill me because the message I bring has not found a home in your hearts.

Resurrection Sunday -- 4 April 2021

I know there is much fear in our culture today as we continue to deal with a pandemic, political unrest, media that is “state run” and hellbent on dividing people, racial tension, and a seismic shift in our western world. We’ve gone from being a Christian nation, to post-Christian, to anti-Christian culture. We’re not in Kansas anymore. All of this has given us concern, worry, anxiety, oppression, and anger.
How do we deal with this kind of stress and pressure? Let’s look at what happened to Jesus. The parallels are uncanny.
A mob mentality
An unfair trial
A questionable election
A cancel culture 
An innocent person suffers
What if us being the salt of the earth is not just the impact we have when others see the light in us but it is the prayers that we pray when “it looks like God’s side is losing?" What if God’s best work is done when the seed is buried? All hope is lost? The only hope we have is a miracle?

The Aaronic Covenant -- 28 March2021

Guest speaker J. Michael Utterback on Palm Sunday 2021.

The Holy Spirit Reformation -- 21 March 2021

The Protestant Reformation, October 31, 1517. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg, Germany. The Church was compromised, indulgences, priestly superiority, Scripture kept away from the common people. Martin Luther protested for change to come from within. Church was lifeless, it had become political with too much power.
At the time of the Reformation, everyone had accepted what was being taught, not taught. You pay for indulgences, saved by works, priest was right even if unscriptural, Latin mass...no options. Martin Luther protested and he took his life in his hands. Today, we stand at a similar crossroads. Because of unfamiliarity with Scripture, the masses accept whatever the spiritual leaders teach, the church has become lifeless, powerless. We have plenty of copies of Scripture but we’re ignorant.
We need another reformation. I believe we are in the beginning stages of a Holy Spirit Reformation. Today, I am protesting against a lifeless, compromised, apathetic church.