Archive for the ‘Gospel Identities’ Category

Spoken Word: “Sin Sickness”

Posted: April 4, 2012 by mikehanafee in Gospel Identities, Restore Church, Spoken Word, the gospel, Uncategorized
0

In our new Bo-Ed Discipleship Group we are covering our Gospel Identities of Family, Servant, Learner, & Missionary. Last night we looked at our Servant Identity. New D-group member, Matt G, shared a spoken word that powerfully paints the picture of being slaves to sin and points us to Jesus as the One who frees us from sin’s guilt & power. This was a perfect set up for walking through the vertical (Jesus became a bondservant to set us free, purchasing us from the slave market of sin) and horizontal (We are now worship Jesus as Lord by submitting to Him and serving those around us for His glory) implications of the gospel. You can check out the lyrics at the bottom.

We are servants of God who serve those around us.

Ask anyone you know, “what is sin?” and get a wide range of or opinions descriptives/  Anything from lying, stealing and killing,  or any act that can be labeled “vindictive”/

And though these things are true, if we stop here, we leave ourselves with a surface perspective/ Which “keeps us afloat” but blinds us to what sins true depth is/

See sin acts are just that, sin in action… for an instant/ but this instance isn’t  the source, it’s more like a cough or a sneeze… it’s a symptom/

It’s a signal that screams something wrong is underneath/  but we don’t see what’s underneath so the outside is what we treat/ like when you were a kid and all you wanted to do was brush the fronts of your teeth/… remember?

Listen, sin is deep rooted and it is drastically effecting our health/ but instead of wanting release from it, we use it to create wrong relationships and in some cases material wealth/

See our sin has become leverage to gain STUFF that only exalts self/ and we’ll never be free from this bondage unless we are deep rooted in something else/

Or someone else…but I’ll get to that in a bit/ First let me address the fact that instead of confronting our sin, we tend to hide from it/

Like when your friend says “Im fine bro, it’s just a sore throat man, I got this”/ let’s be honest, that’s just him not willing to admit that he is sick “enough” to see the doc yet/

See you have to address your sin for God’s grace to be upon you/ Because if we ignore our sin nature, we WILL play the fool/ Like Owen said, be killing sin, or sin will be killing you/ Remember that confession is step 1, and repentance is step 2/

In order to leave something, you have to first realize that you’re in it/ So how could you ever be repentant of something that you never admitted to begin with?/ That is the definition of being  SIN SICK/

So pour it all out before God and stop hiding your mess/ die to yourself daily, crucify the flesh/ and conform to Christ’s image, until there is NONE of YOU left/ So that when communion comes, you can rightfully enjoy your “drink and your 2 step”/ (confession/repentance)

 So I’m pleading with the Church, let’s stay honest with ourselves/ Know that sin unaddressed just builds up like dust on your shelves/ 

You don’t know it’s happening, till someone comes and runs their fingers through it/ and when they kick up your dust, at that very moment you LOSE IT/ You SNAPPED and everyone who saw, thinks that it happened at the drop of a hat/ but we know it’s a different story if we rewind the tape back/

See sin doesn’t just pounce at first, it prowls and creeps/ and it waits to empty us out in those times when we prove to be weak/ and we are left like a flat tire… but AFTER a slow leak/

And Jesus said it the best, so allow me to quote He/ who told us that it is out of the abundance of our heart that the mouth THEN speaks/ 

But don’t we all like to cling to “God knows my heart, that’s what it’s all about”/ And “it’s whats on the inside that matters, that’s all that really counts?”/ and I agree…

But let me ask you…

If our words are the product of our hearts overstock, that have forced their way out/ Do you really want God to know your heart after what came out of your mouth?/ Think about it…

And let me make it plain son/ for every hurtful word you say there is PLENTY MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM/ I Said (repeat)

So how do we fix it? Our reaction is an attempt to try to clean up our actions, in hopes of portraying a better person/ but the moment we do this, we have just taken the proper sequence, and reversed it/

And it’s just like us, to submit to our sin and allow it to change the proper order of events/ we do it with most everything, just think of this in the pre-martial sense/

For those who get that, it might make you tense, but I’ll leave it because I’m after the bigger picture/ Plainly put, SIN is what leads us to think that we can be CHRISTIAN but live a life that is in blatant contradiction to the scriptures/ ITS SICKNESS

So if we can’t fix ourselves, then what on earth can we do?/ I mean Jesus even called religious people white washed tombs/  On the outside all glamour, but on the inside, nothing but doom/

He told us to wash our inner self, and then the outside would become clean/ And we say  “sure, but how to I wash what I can’t see?/

The answer is to not lean on your understanding of things/ but to trust in the Creator of all, to whom nothing is unseen/ 

So instead of seeking worldly remedies to cling to/ cling to Jesus… and let the Author of faith use His offer of grace to redeem you/  and then He’ll fill you with HIS Spirit in order to clean you/ and send you out into the world in order to advance his kingdom/

FULL surrender to Christ is the goal, but luke-warmness is a plague/ God demands that you go ALL IN or FOLD, the only way He accepts that your allegiance as pledged/

So you gotta pick a side, either a life of sin, or repentance/ but if you play the middle ground, just know that the devil owns that fence/ 

So don’t waste another second, run to Jesus like He was holding a stop watch/ cuz everyone of us has a final countdown and we don’t own that clock/

God can get His glory from showing us grace and perfect love, but also from wrath in perfect justice/ and He’ll decide how He get’s His glory from us when we face Him at Judgment/ 

and there is no way to avoid, having to give your life’s account/ so will you be welcomed with open arms? Or spit out of His mouth?/

So I thank God for Jesus, who for my sin paid the entire cost/ without His redemptive work, this sinner would be forever lost/ cuz like Piper said, every sin will be punished, either in hell or on the cross/

THE Story round 7: “soma”

Posted: March 29, 2012 by mikehanafee in Gospel Identities, the gospel, THE Story
0

The early church. Beautiful things. Broken things. Encouraging words. Convicting words. The fruit of the Spirit. The works of the flesh. That’s what we looked at in session 7, Soma (body) Life. In some lively discussion we address the questions of whether someone can be a Christian and yet not experience change, what happens when we try to follow Christ in our own strength, and the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Time has flown by! Hard to believe next Sunday will be the last session in this 8 week interactive study. We will be looking at Happily Ever After (No fooling!) this Sunday, April 1.

THE Story round six

Posted: March 23, 2012 by mikehanafee in Gospel Identities, Restore Church, THE Story
0

“Just live it up!” That was one of the answers to the question of how we make disciples. The person actually meant to say, “Just live it (your faith in Christ) out”, but in a way it does describe how we are to make disciples. Live it up–remember your new identity (Col 3:1-4). Live it up–enjoy the grace we have in Jesus that weans us from broken cisterns and brings us to drink of living water that satisfies. The conversation was not only humorous, it was piercing; especially as we discussed the difference between “believing in God” and following Jesus. Dive into End of Story? below as we look at Death & Resurrection and Mission & Power.

We have just two more sessions of THE Story before we launch weekly worship services on Easter Sunday. And this week we launched 2 new Disciples Groups. May many, many lives be transformed, and God be more and more glorified! As enemy territory is invaded with the gospel, fiery darts fly. But Jesus is unstoppable!! Please pray for and with us.

A Glimpse into Restore’s Jan 15 Celebration

Posted: January 17, 2012 by mikehanafee in Gospel Identities, preaching, racism, Restore Church, social justice, Uncategorized, Vision
0

Wow, Sunday was a great day! Jesus was lifted up & the Spirit moved as we celebrated the power of the gospel to reconcile people back to the Father & to one another.

The children & teens did a great job reciting Dr. King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail, Wayne Stapleton of Grace Community Church shared some reflections, Clete lead us in a sweet time of worship, & I preached from Ephesians 2:11-22. The big idea was that the same work that breaks down the wall between man & God is is the same work that breaks down the walls between ethnic groups. Jesus is the wrecking ball for the walls of hostility! Because of this we have the responsibility of taking the steps of repentance & relational investment. And ultimately racial reconciliation is not about us at all – it’s about God & His glory!

We’re not sure how many attended as no one counted but the 80 bulletins were snapped up quickly – we estimate between 120 – 140 came out. We are really thankful several signed up for the upcoming 8 week February 12 – April 1 Bible study. Please pray that many others will join in this study as well and that God will use it in a mighty way!

We would like to tangibly express our gratitude to Grace Episcopal Church for opening up their facility to us by repairing lights damaged by an electrical storm. If anyone in the area has the skill & time to help us fix these lights please let us know.

And thanks to Gospel Life church for helping with nursery and parking security!

OUCH! When Helping Hurts

Posted: December 7, 2011 by mikehanafee in Gospel Identities, social justice
1

Giving a buck to the guy on the corner. Blanketing a neighborhood with an ongoing cadence of quick hit mission teams. Constantly providing meals to the same people for years. To be sure all this is help…but often it is help that ultimately hurts. It’s like giving Tylenol for head pain to someone who has a tumor. It only addresses the symptoms. In their book When helping Hurts authors Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert address faulty assumptions about poverty and then commend an approach that flows out of the work of the gospel to restore four key relationships…in all of us.

Good Intentions Are Not Enough
Churches and individual Christians often have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty — assumptions that many times lead to ministry strategies that do considerable harm to poor people as well as to themselves. “When Helping Hurts” addresses these assumptions and offers several principles and strategies for poverty alleviation, including:

  • the distinction between relief, rehabilitation, and development
  • the difference between asset-based and needs-based strategies
  • the advantages of participatory over blueprint approaches

Last Saturday four of us (Kevin, Clete, Paul, me) had the privilege of attending the authors’ Helping Without Hurting Seminar in Holland, Michigan. Tonight (Wednesday December 7) Paul Hendryx will provide an hourlong overview of the book and seminar. Last night he went through his presentation with a few of us and it is going to be good stuff. Contact me if you would like to attend.

As you can see we had a pretty good time on this overnight trip – my stomach still hurts from laughing. I price-lined a one star room for $35. The beds were “full-size” so it was funny watching Clete & Paul try to maintain a 3 foot neutral zone on a 4 1/2 foot foot wide bed. We toured the host church facility during the breaks (not quite the Compaq Center but close) and were able to “go” to the beach & on a buggy ride. Well actually only Clete on the latter.

I’ve also included pics from the conference, hanging with some Free Church bros yesterday, and my corner after a recent snowfall. Oh yeah, restoration just began on the house we are purchasing! Please pray work is completed by February. And pray for the Bontrager’s closing on December 20.

 

 

Restore Church has FREE Yard Sale to Bless Detroit, but Recieves a Blessing

Posted: October 10, 2011 by cletebontrager in Family, Friends, Gospel Identities, Restore Church, Uncategorized, Vision
0

Restore Church put on our service project for October this past Sunday (Oct 09 2011).

Cheryl working hard putting stuff out

Our goal was to bless our neighborhood by putting on a free yard sale.  I think though we were blessed far beyond the blessing the folks in our neighborhood and surrounding areas received.  So many people came up with tears in their eyes and told us what a blessing Restore was to them.  It made our hearts melt to see such a movement in hearts.  It gave so many gospel advance opportunities.  So many people asked why are we just giving all this stuff away? Answer: the free yard sale is a display of the gospel.  We have been given a gift that we have not been asked to pay back.  Of course if you understand the gospel you understand even if you wanted to you could never even begin to pay it back.

So a few months ago we started collecting donations from various individuals and organizations in our metro area.  So many churches gave generously.  I hazard to name names because I could forget some, but I will name 3 that came through big for us.  Inter City Baptist Church in Allen Park gave us a lot of furniture and that seemed to be some of the stuff that went the quickest.  Bethesda Baptist Church gave a lot of clothes that blessed so many people.  Kensington Church in Troy also came through with a lot of ‘stuff” that was a great asset to have at the garage sale.

So we started setting up around 8:30 am and would you know people started stopping at that time even though we planned on starting the sale at 10:00 am.  By 12:30 there was not much left except for some clothes and just a few other items.  It blew our minds how fast stuff went.  We officially ended at 2:00 pm, but people hung out till after 5:00 pm just talking and having fun.

People shopping as we put stuff out

One of the most humorous but also most sad people we met was a lady who had just came from her church and said at least 50 times she could not believe it was all free. She then became very territorial over “a lot” of stuff she claimed and was ready to get it on when someone even looked at her stuff.  Unfortunately her being in “church” did not help her disposition or speech.

The Cussing Church Lady on her throne

I really believe we understood the gospel better by doing this service project at Restore.  It came afresh to me that God is not asking me to “pay him back” but now wants my life since his son gave his life.  Not as payment, but now he wants me to bring him glory by telling others how awesome he is.  When I see what an awesome privilege it is to work for Jesus, this little service project will make me love Jesus even deeper, and then those around me.

Here are some pics from the time we had Sunday serving our King.

As you will be able to tell we have lots of fun while serving King Jesus.

“Sign your burial form”

Posted: October 6, 2011 by mikehanafee in Colossians, Gospel Identities, Restore Church
0

When David Sitton (barely 20 years old!) arrived in Papua New Guinea with just a suitcase, surfboard, & Bible, the veteran missionary leading his first patrol into the bush slid him a burial form to sign in case he died on that mission. Pretty alarming as you can imagine! But Sitton embraced the possibility of suffering, even all the way to death, for the sake of making Jesus known. And that’s what Paul means when he writes about “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”

In part 2 of this message from Colossians 1:24-2:5 we look at how we help people meet, love, and follow Jesus.

You can read Sitton’s story in this hard-to-put-down book, Reckless Abandon. Highly recommended!

Below are pictures of some places we have scouted for a future worship space/community center. Will you pray with us on this? The pictures on top are of a warehouse on the upcoming tax auction we are considering.

Jesus has really big biceps & a huge heart

Posted: September 6, 2011 by mikehanafee in Colossians, Family, Friends, Gospel Identities, Restore Church, Uncategorized
0

Sunday about 45 people gathered at the Bontrager home for worship (I’m starting to wonder if we can build a balcony in their living room!). In message 2 in our Colossians series we looked at the supremacy & sufficiency of Jesus. You can check out the sermon & some pics below.

Restore Church Gets Down & Dirty

Posted: April 21, 2011 by cletebontrager in Core Values, Gospel Identities, Restore Church, Uncategorized
0

This past Sunday (4/17/2011) we sponsored our first service project in our little corner of the world. We have participated in doing projects with other groups, but had a great time heading this one up. I want to thank Ruth Bontrager and Alaina Grojean for all the hours of planning and prep time to pull this off. Thank you Restore for giving unselfishly and loving your neighbor as yourself.

We started off the day with a message from God at our morning worship gathering.  We looked at the cross and the murder of Jesus.  God killing God, what a thought.  Jesus not letting his life be taken, but willingly giving it up so every vestige of sin can be conquered.

Seems a little trite to finish this blog after that statement, but Sunday in our worship gathering we will see the good news of how Jesus really did conquer sin & death.

At noon we hit the streets and alleys around our ministry area picking up trash.  We did that untill 2:00 pm and then the real fun began.  We ate hamburgers and hot dogs.  We gave away door prizes.  I won a $25.00 gift card for gas.  That certainly was a great score for me as I drive a gas guzzling suburban.

We did make our area look much better, but we wanted to do so much more than that.  We wanted to make Jesus look beautiful in the eyes of those we meet.

We have some core identities that we believe every child of God should know.  We believe that two of these core identities are that each of us are missionaries & servants.  Being a good missionary is understanding what demonstrates love in the context we are in.   For our specific area, one way is keeping up with trash pickup.  In Detroit people throw trash out of their cars all the time 24/7 (even when we were cleaning up trash!).  So we at Restore wanted to show we are concerned with what our neighbors are concerned with and that we care about our neighborhood.

A good question to ask is, “If Restore left the community would we be missed?”  But even before being missed (which sure would be nice if we were missed) we need to ask the question, “Who would not hear the gospel of Jesus if we were not in our community?” After connecting with many in our community over the last several months there are now many specific faces behind that question – people that we are coming to know & love!

God was very gracious to bring 60 people through our house on Sunday.  Here are a few pics of the fun we had.

Apostle Paul- The Ultimate Supermodel?

Posted: February 4, 2011 by cletebontrager in Gospel Identities, Uncategorized
0

When you think about the life of Paul, usually the thought of him being a supermodel doesn’t find its way into your mind.

But, examine his life.  He was the ultimate model of Christ Jesus or you could say he reached SUPERMODEL status.  Of course the ULTIMATE MODEL for us is Jesus Christ.

Paul wants us to come alongside him on Christ’s mission, just as we should call people to come alongside us, if we are living on mission for Jesus.  Paul says in few place to follow his example.

I Corinthians 11:1  “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ”

I Corinthians 4:16  “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.”

Philippians 3:17  “Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.”

I could continue, but you should get the point.

Paul is not saying to follow or get behind him as a man, but says that we need to accompany him or you could say walk alongside him as he follows Jesus.  Are you walking along side Jesus on mission and if so who do you have walking alongside you?  This can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Gospel of Jesus.

He makes it very clear it is Jesus we are to GO AFTER with everything in us.  Jesus makes the point also in Matthew’s Gospel.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.”

How can we be supermodels for Jesus?  We at Restore will do this through our Missional Community Groups.   That is where life happens with Christians and not-yet Christians.  It is not enough to have community groups… a community group must have a mission.

Tim Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York states the following as how we are to live where we are.  Of course we live in Detroit, but this fits wherever you live.

Basic methods/ministries

* WORD (Ezra). Ezra recovered the Word for the people. Preaching, disciplining, teaching. evangelizing in a way contextualized to the concerns and capacities of the people of the city.

* DEED (Nehemiah). Nehemiah made the city safe and functional. Mercy and Justice! Holistic ministry. Safe streets, good jobs, decent housing, good schools.

* WORK (Esther). Esther rose high in a pagan society but then used her position at great risk to work for justice in society and for her people. A key part of city ministry is to equip Christians to work distinctively as Christians in their vocation.

* COMMUNITY (Jeremiah). Jeremiah’s letter (chapter 29) told the exiles to neither assimilate nor separate but live out their lives as a community ‘seeking the peace of the city’. So we are not only to be ‘witnesses’ by our individual lives, but by the beauty of our communal life. a) Generosity with money and simplicity of life, b) races and classes loving together over barriers, c) sexual purity and respect shown by men/women to one another in relationships.

Inward focus is not what Paul wanted for his life or for ours.  He wanted our focus on Christ and Christ calls us to make disciples, which is not an inward activity.

~ Clete

Older Entries