Restore Church

The Transformative Power of Killing & Intoxication

mikehanafee — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:42:14 +0000

Sanctification is not a spectator sport. We are called to get off the bench and pursue transformation. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting as we are increasingly changed into the image of Christ. Check out God Changing Us (Part 1) in our WHO IS HE? series to see how the Holy Spirit transforms us. You might be surprised! Part 2 is 5/26.

Wanna be drenched in God’s love?

mikehanafee — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:54:14 +0000

Between the ditches of dead intellectualism & empty emotionalism is an authentic experience of knowing AND feeling God’s love for us in the Gospel. Check out this message if you want to know how the Holy Spirit positionally and personally drenches us with the Father’s love through Jesus. You’ll also hear about the incredible union the Spirit creates across ethnic lines, providing a real time picture of the future, in the gritty here and now, through the Church.

Sunday we also had the joy of announcing our first summer intern at Restore Church, Nick Lee. Nick is a student at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston and will be arriving June 12.

Please pray for Pastor Clete as he preaches Thursday the funeral of a father (of a young man in our church) who lost his life last week. And please carry this grieving family to the throne of grace!

JESUS IS WORTH IT! Restore Sunday with missionary David Sitton

mikehanafee — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:59:46 +0000

Jesus is not just worth going with your life, He is worth giving your life! Listen to David Sitton talk about the PRIVILEGE of going after unreached peoples across the world. He is looking for the “right kind of missionary” – are you one of them? I pray that Restore will send others and our own to unreached peoples. We already have one prospect! Check out To Every Tribe for more information. And take 3 minutes to watch the video below.

God in us!

mikehanafee — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:35:45 +0000

One of the most mind-blowing truths for a Christian, and one that has helped sustain me even this week, is that God the Holy Spirit indwells us! The God of the universe inside us! And the way it happened, given the petrified state of our hearts outside of grace, tells us that the Holy Spirit can do His heart transplant on anyone! Once He makes us new, He begins a lifetime of doing beautiful things in and through us, so that we look more and more like Jesus as we grow in an awareness of the Father’s love for us. You can check out this sermon from Sunday April 21 here.

Holy Spirit series kick off!

mikehanafee — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:33:12 +0000

It was a blast kicking off our new series on the Holy Spirit yesterday! In this message I give four reasons why we need this series. To avoid unbiblical extremes of strange fire & no fire. To be biblical – reformed & always being reformed. To pursue gospel-centrality – being Jesus-centered versus Spirit-led is a false dichotomy. The Holy Spirit is the gift of the Gospel poured out by Jesus according to the promise of the Father. Because being on mission makes us desperate. A church that discovers it’s all about Jesus (salvation & sanctification) makes the Devil say, “Oh no, now they are going to grow in the gospel.” A church that discovers that Jesus gives His people the Spirit makes the devil quake, “Oh no, now they are going to go with the gospel!.” We began the series by looking at how the Holy Spirit is not a sanctified purple haze but a Powerful Person of the Godhead. He is a Workhorse, a Beast (urban dictionary definition – check out the message for details;). We are on an exciting journey & invite you along! Next Sunday we will be dialing in on how the Holy Spirit indwells Christians. How does that happen? What does it mean? Strong stuff!

I spend the first 12 minutes before the sermon talking about the church putting violent crime in our area on blast. I discuss how both crime investigation & media coverage of violent crimes vary according to race. Please pray for us and provide input on how we can make a difference! The sermon actually begins at about the 11:50 mark of the audio. (The video does not include that discussion.)

Clete on The Trinity, B’More Trip

mikehanafee — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:34:41 +0000

Clete killed a difficult but foundational doctrine in Sunday’s sermon, the Trinity. Great message! He sounds like a seminary professor, except with a bit more energy;) Check out his high speed diagrams & message below (The last part is missing due to technical error). He laid a great foundation for our Holy Spirit series which kicks off this Sunday!

Seven of us went to Baltimore where I preached at the Unplugged Conference at Morgan State on Saturday & then together we attended worship service on Sunday at Freedom Church. We love Freedom, Pastor Mike, and his family! Maybe an Unplugged Detroit 2014?

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PINGREE PRAYER MEETING TONIGHT 6:30

mikehanafee — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:20:36 +0000

At 7:30PM last night two men were shot to death on Pingree & Woodrow Wilson. As of now the news report consists of 5 short sentences. Saturday at the Unplugged Conference in Baltimore (more info to come in another post), Michael Crawford charged the church to go public with the murderers in our cities, instead of letting them get swept under the headlines. We have heard that challenge & tonight we want to stand together, to make a statement by our presence, and to pray to our King. We want to do that, not just because many of us live a short walking distance from the murder scene, not just because four Restore peeps live around that corner, not just because a Restore Dgroup meets on that block, but because Jesus calls us to step out and make a difference. We hope you can come stand and pray with us.

We will gather at 1453 Pingree at 6:30PM for one hour of walking & praying. Call me at 313.819-0150 if you have any questions. All people and churches invited.

Easter Sunday at The PO – 1 year anniversary of weekly worship services

mikehanafee — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:14:23 +0000

Blown away. That’s how we feel about what God is doing by His grace for His glory at Restore Church in our community. Though we forgot to announce it (imagine that!), yesterday marked our one year anniversary of weekly worship services. No doubt due to the Easter surge, it was nonetheless fun, exciting & encouraging to have over 140 pack the PO. The need for more worship space is driving a revision of our building layout, that’s for sure. Please pray for that that as we move deeper into renovations. Saturday we also had the privilege of helping Mosaic Church canvass Ypsilanti for their Easter Egg Hunt. We are thankful for a deepening relationship with Mosaic Church!
Here are a few other prayer points as well:
• For our Dgroups as they create plans for showing & telling Jesus on the block as we move toward the summer.
• For Clete as he preaches at Restore on Sunday & for me as I preach at the Unplugged Conference in Baltimore.
• For clarity with the gospel and conversion in several people we are walking with.
We concluded our WEEK series with a look at the Empty Tomb from Mark 16. The resurrection calls us to 4 specific responses. You can hear what these are below.

Nooses for Chandeliers…

mikehanafee — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:58:52 +0000

Nooses for chandeliers…you’ll have to listen to the intro to understand this line. Mark 15:21-39 is the shocking story of an execution that has a surprising ending. The video is only 30 minutes long, not because I set a personal record for brevity but because of technical difficulties. If you can read my chicken scratch notes you can fill in the rest.

We had a blast Saturday with our Easter Egg Hunt and had some new visitors Sunday because of it, as well as more people wanting to check out Dgroups. Great job Wadsworth! Saturday 1PM in Ypsilanti we have the privilege of helping Mosaic Church canvass for their Sunday Easter Egg Hunt. Come help us serve a church who has served us so well!

As we grow it’s been so encouraging to see gifted people step up to the plate to serve the church & our community. Please pray for our teen ministry leaders John & Emily Decker, for our financial adminisrator Jason Vinson, and for our Children’s Summer Children’s Program Director Annie Kopena.

Easter Sunday marks the one year anniversary of doing weekly worship services! Hope to see you at the PO!

When the rooster crows

mikehanafee — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:48:38 +0000

What. A. failure! I can’t believe I did that again! Loser! If you’ve ever had these thoughts, then this message on Christ’s faithfulness in the face of our failures is for you. While Peter was shamefully denying truth in the courtyard below, Christ was bolding confessing truth in Caiphus’s hall above. Because of the latter, we can be forgiven for the former. After the rooster crowed, grace brought restoration and transformation!
Shout out to Clete for the corner set up we tried in our second service downstairs! We have a revised floor plan coming that will allow us to seat more people in the worship space. Please pray for Saturday’s Easter Egg Hunt – weather, participation, relationships, people meeting & following Jesus!

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