Archive for June, 2012

Gordon Park Clean Up and Sunday Praise Service in the Park

Posted: June 21, 2012 by cletebontrager in Detroit History, Detroit Info, Family, Friends, race riots, racism, Restore Church, social justice
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June 16th Restore Church along with friends from the community came together to clean Gordon Park.  This is a small, but beautiful park.  We had our work cut out for us, but with many hands it really did make light work.  Thank you to all who helped with this effort.  Many friends were made and friendships deepened.  We all had a lot of fun.

So above you see the pictures of the before.  After we cleaned up the park it looked so much better.  It is amazing what a little elbow grease and hard work will do to an overgrown park.  We are not any different than that park.  We are all overgrown with weeds of sin choking out good growth.  We have man hole covers missing and so we fill them up with garbage of the world.  The big difference is we can’t clean ourselves up.  Oh we may for a short time trim some weeds out, but lasting change only comes from the Holy Spirit doing a work in our life.   This park if not maintained will look just like when we started in a few short weeks.  Same thing happens to us if the change does not come through the work of God in our hearts.  Change must come from the inside out.

So after we did the clean up on Saturday we held a praise service in Gordon Park.  This was the starting place for the 1967 Detroit Riots.  So much history where we held the service.  We had Lorenzo tell a little about Motown Square.  Mike preached from the book of Nehemiah on rebuilding the walls.  God used the service to bring a community together.  We had a little over 50 people out for this service that was held on Father’s Day.  We want to thank Sarah Hilliker for chairs that we were able to borrow from the ministry she works for in Highland Park and also Fred Robinson for the use of his generator.

Here are some pics from Sunday:

We had a wonderful time praising Jesus!  This upcoming Sunday we will be in the park again, so look us up there at 11:00 am.

Election (not the political kind!) gives hope

Posted: June 15, 2012 by mikehanafee in acts, election, preaching, Restore Church, the gospel
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Why can we have confidence that God can use us to bring people to Christ, as weak as we are & as hard as hearts can be? Because of the truth illustrated in the conversion of Paul – the controversial but biblical doctrine of election. In his conversion we learn that when man’s opposition to God is at it’s absolute highest, God’s power to save is not diminished one iota! Paul was on the road to kill Christians when he became one! The truth of election, properly understood, gives us the trifecta of hope, humility, & gratitude. You can listen to Sovereign Shattering Grace here.

Park Clean-up & Praise Service at site that ignited 1967 Detroit Riots

Posted: June 11, 2012 by mikehanafee in Detroit History, preaching, race riots, racism, social justice, the gospel, Vision
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Since moving into central Detroit in the fall of 2010 I have learned from my neighbors a great deal more about this city I deeply love. On a jog just a few days ago I spoke to a gentleman (I needed a break!) who pulled out a collection of pictures of what 12th Street (now also called Rosa Parks Blvd) looked like before the 1967 riots. (Btw, while some do not like the label “riots” most long term residents I know use that term. I should also add that institutional racism played a massive role in these destructive events.) Man, I was absolutely floored by the number of commercial buildings that once lined this historic street. I also learned that a local park (just a few blocks from my house) is the location of the blind pig that was was raided in 1967, igniting the 5 day civil disturbance. What’s interesting is that we had already planned a clean-up & praise service for this park the following weekend! And as we passed out flyers for these 2 events people began to share story after story after story about their memories of this location, both pre & post 1967 (some of which I will share in the worship service).

You read read a short article about the starting point of the 1967 riot here and view a 4 minute video here.

Here are the details. The park is located at the NW corner of Clairmount St & 12th St (Rosa Parks Blvd). 

Saturday June 16 we’ll clean-up the park from 10 AM-12 PM. Several neighbors have said they will help out, including one family who attended yesterday’s worship service and another gentleman who said he would bring a large deck lawnmower. We’d love to have you join us – bring your strong back & any lawn tools you have.

Sunday June 17 we will gather for worship at 11AM (our first morning service!). We’ll do what we normally do – sing, pray, fellowship, and open up the word. Specifically, we’ll look at a man who was called to move to a foreign city, and in partnership with longterm residents, work to rebuild the city’s walls. I’m talking about Nehemiah. Even more specifically, we’ll examine in this message on Father’s Day, the role men have in rebuilding communities, and how Jesus restores in men the right fight.

Do not be afraid of your enemies. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes! (Nehemiah 4:14)

 

Please pray for strong participation in these 2 events by long-term residents. We are also planning another praise in the park service later in the summer as well as a larger cookout & concert on Friday August 17.

Phase 2 Begins

Posted: June 5, 2012 by mikehanafee in acts, preaching, racism, Restore Church, the gospel, Uncategorized
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Seeking to reach our neighborhoods for Christ is both exciting & intimidating. Exciting because we know that God is calling us to something much bigger than ourselves and because we see Him moving. Intimidating because there are real challenges – like the racial divide (structures, stereotypes, heart issues, cultures) that has long pervaded our area, the realities of a churchified context where many people have gotten just enough Jesus to be inoculated against hearing the biblical gospel, & the nagging question of whether God could use a person to reach another person very different from them. In Acts 8 the story of the gospel finally advancing into Judea & Samaria specifically addresses each of these 3 challenges. In this passage we see how God breaks across racial & cultural barriers (sort of reminds us of the incarnation!), warns of Christian impostors, and has a people He will save…and use us to reach! We also see God’s awesome attributes of sovereignty, judgment, & mercy on full display. Listen below to “The Unstoppable Advance: Phase 2 Begins” to see how. (Note: there are some mic issues with this recording)