outside the gate

Hey All.

This week I decided to add another guest post series on the now official blog/website (until we get our permanent website up) of Restoration Church, Port Orange, Florida.

In the future, Ill be asking some of you to share why you desired to become a part of the new church. This week I’ve asked Clay Cass to share his story with us.

Here it is:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” – Romans 10:13-15

Why I decided to plant a church with Restoration

As we enter into the 21st century one undeniable fact is that as our history books grow in volume, as our hard-drives fill up, as our populations continue to rise, the world continues to seem smaller and smaller. The corners of the world are laid bare with a few clicks of the mouse and yet the volume of information we record every day seems endless. The tension this situation creates is seen in the most recent search engine technology – the goal of which is to not only search according to keywords but to search according to your preferences. The sheer amount of information on the web  requires search engines to not only understand your language but your habits. It seems that even in our technology we need something personal. In a time such as this I am drawn to Paul’s words above which seem to make a similar point. The work of the church is personal work, done by real people who understand the language and habits of the people they are sent to. The the method God has chosen to announce his good news to the world is through people, and supremely through the person of Jesus. The Church carries a message that is to be hand delivered and when it is done correctly it is indeed beautiful.

It would take too long to cover all the reasons I chose to plant a church with Restoration… So I’ll just give one main reason. I believe God wants to use our community to hand deliver his good news to new people. The good news is that the God of the universe has a passion for restoring people to himself and each other and he has made a way through Jesus’ life work–which destroyed the barriers between people and God–and through Jesus’ word which ignites our faith. If we follow Paul’s reasoning above, God continues this process of  restoration by sending people into their surroundings with a message. It is profoundly simple and ultimately it is beautiful to the people God has sent us to. All the most recent statistics show that church planting is the most effective way to hand deliver God’s good news. As such I look forward to being part of a community that embodies Jesus’ message and work for the good of those around us.

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Hey all.

Here is the artwork we have chosen to represent Restoration Church in our city.

So, what do you think?

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Value # 4 “Authentic Community”

I can remember it like it was yesterday, my days on 69th Street.

In case you didn’t grow up in Brooklyn, I’ll explain. Back in those days the street you lived on meant something. In many ways it actually defined you. I grew up on 69th street, but was really never welcomed there. Sure I had one or two friends I hung out with, but walking up the block could be risky and even a little unsafe.

So, I hung out with some guys on 70th street. For the most part we got along, but I never really felt at home there either. That’s when something interesting happened. I became good friends with a guy named John (aka, DI) and it was a match made in heaven, or in a more literal sense, Brooklyn. Through John I met a bunch of guys from 66th street. Finally I was home.

My time with what became known as the “66p” was short lived because my parents, out of necessity, moved us to Florida. I was crushed. In fact, it is one of the few times I remember crying (almost uncontrollably) on the steps of my apartment building with John the night before I moved.

Why? I had finally become a part of something that mattered to me. I was received, and loved because of who I was. I was introduced to a group of guys that I shared my life with.

To this day I have never forgotten that. That community changed me for the good.

Authentic community is no stranger to the New Testament church and as we continue to labor towards birthing Restoration Church in Port Orange, my earnest hope and desire is for the people we come in contact with to have their own “66p” experience. We are asking God to help us create a community of real people who are united in their love for Jesus, each other and the community we live in.

This is perhaps one of the greatest strengths the local church can provide the people she comes in contact with…a genuine community, full of grace, truth and love; a community where people share the ups and downs of life in a way that is honest and transparent.

This is what Jesus offers those who will follow him, and those who follow him are found in his church.

So, what do you think?

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Hey All.

I figured I’d take a minute to tell you how our meeting went on Monday. For those of you who don’t know, we have begun meeting at the Java Jungle in Port Orange and our time together was better than I could have hoped for.

We had a great conversation, in a packed room, about what it means to start a new church in our culture. Each meeting we have leaves me with the same feeling. The more I meet with the people who have become a part of Restoration…the more excited I am about what we are doing.

We hope you’ll join us next time at the Java Jungle.

Also, this week I’ll be posting on the importance of an “Authentic Community” in the life of our church.

So, what do you think?

A-

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Hey all.

Just a reminder.

Restoration Church will be gathering tonight at the Java Jungle (on Clyde Morris) in Port Orange from 6:30pm – 9:00pm.

Hope to see you all there!

A-

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Missional…

Buzz words…this has become one of them in the Christian faith. Just about everyone you ask, or listen to, in modern Christendom is in some way saying they are “missional”.

The word “missional” can’t be found in a Webster’s dictionary. Often the heart attitude is absent from of our church philosophies, programs, and methodologies… sadly, at times from the words and deeds of the people claiming Jesus as Savior.

Being missional, or sent, is an attribute we find at the core of the heart of our God. For this post, I would like to focus on one foundational idea which influences everything we know about, and do for, God:

That the God of the Bible has always loved, and relentlessly pursued, his fallen creation…

We see this clearly exemplified through the actions of God in the Old Testament as God breaks into the course of human history and reveals himself to the world through Israel. In the New Testament Jesus tells his followers they are being sent into the world in the same way God sent him (Jesus) into our world.

To do what?…to reveal God’s goodness through our words and deeds.

Our greatest example for missional living is found in Jesus. He used his life to invest in real people, to show them God. He spent his days living, working and socializing amongst the people God had sent him to.

His message…humanity has missed the mark (what we more commonly refer to as sin) and Jesus had come once and for all to help us find it! There is no greater evidence of Jesus’ commitment to the mission of God to redeem the world than the death he suffered on the cross for us.

While there is much I could write about being a sent people…I would prefer to leave you with one brief, but important, idea. We are hard pressed to find a more clear instruction from the mouth of Jesus in the Bible than the one found in John 20:21- “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

As Restoration church, our missional value influences everything we do. To be a sent people means that the earthly work God began through Jesus (seeking, loving and saving those who are far from God) is to be continued by God’s church.

And that church is you and me.

So what do you think?

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Pat Altes is an Elder and has led worship at Christ Community Church for close to 20 years. In this post we asked Pat to help us understand the importance of stlye in Worship. Here is what he wrote. Thanks Pat!

Here are a few words recently added to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary:

dot-commer (noun): a person who owns or works for a dot-com

bubble (noun): a state of booming economic activity (as in a stock market) that often ends in a sudden collapse

dead-cat bounce (noun) [from the facetious notion that even a dead cat would bounce slightly if dropped from a sufficient height]: a brief and insignificant recovery (as of stock prices) after a steep decline

avatar (noun): an electronic image that represents and is manipulated by a computer user (as in a computer game or an online shopping site)

None of these words were known, or were in circulation, when I began leading worship at CCC. Now there are thousands of words just like this out there. What is that telling us? It tells me we should be constantly reevaluating how we present the gospel in preaching (Larry and Anthony actually do this really well). And I believe it is saying that we should constantly reevaluate how we express ourselves to God in worship. Why do I say that?

More than ever, culture is changing around us at a dizzying pace. Trends, nuances, even the words we use are changing at an ever increasing speed. Do preachers always have to drop the latest catch phrase, or do we have to always employ the latest musical trends? I would say “no” with a caveat; we do need to be aware of what is going on around us if we have any hope of understanding the culture we claim we want to connect to. Also, I believe how we choose to express ourselves should generally reflect the culture around us.

Ideally, the church should be the source of new and creative art, as it was in the Renaissance. But in the absence of the church being the fountainhead of good art, “Plan B” would be that we should at least creatively use the musical art forms around us. As far as music goes, I think we should be careful not to assess our level of cultural relevance through the music we hear on Christian radio stations. Some songs are often a second-generation attempt seeking to mimick a current musical trend.

As musicians, I think we have an obligation to be aware of what is happening, musically, in the world around us, and respond with either creating better art….or, at least, faithfully representing the art of the culture.

Our goal should be to never erect an unnecessary cultural barrier that hinders the gospel of Christ.

Is there any value in adopting outdated language or contrived, church-based mannerisms in preaching?

What’s the value in safely burrowing ourselves in musical expressions of 20 years ago?

I would say there’s none, yet that’s the avenue many churches take.

This is why missional churches like Christ Community and Restoration’s presentation of the gospel will be ever changing.

Because it really should be.

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Hi all.

Some of you have asked if there is an easier way to stay connected to this blog.

The answer is yes.

I have added a subscription option right above my biographical information on the right sidebar of this website.

Simply click “sign me up”, and you’ll be notified by email when the blog is updated.

Hope that helps.

-A

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Hi All.

This upcoming week we’ll have two new posts.

The first, is about the third value of Restoration Church…”Being Missional, or a Sent Church”.

The second, is a guest post from one of our Elders. Pat Altes has posted before in a series we call, “Confessions of a Worship Leader”.

Pat will be writing about the importance of stlye in Worship.

I hope you’ll check both posts out.

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Because my grandmother made me…

That response, or something similar is what I often hear when I ask the question, “Why do you, or did you, go to church?”.

To date, I have lived in three states: New York, New Orleans, and Florida. In each locale I found the afore mentioned statement as a way of life. The Christian faith and worship was more of a negative obligation than it was an empowering, dynamic way of living.

This is why the second value of Restoration Church is Spiritual Vitality. We’ve all been there, or at least heard of this happening. We’ve seen examples of the Christian faith where legalism, bondage, and forced participation were the litmus tests used to assess whether or not we were really Christians.

If you’ve ever been in a hospital bed chances are you were having your vitals monitored. Your doctor was looking for key indications (pulse, blood pressure, etc.) to figure out if you were alive, dead, or dying.

What if Restoration became a church where freedom in Christ, life, excitement and a willingness to serve Jesus were the vitals we checked to assess our health.

If this interests you I have some good news.

At present, every person involved in our church plant (around 25 people) clearly, evidently and passionately believes that Christ-Centered Spiritual Vitality is a non-negotiable value.

Are you number 26?

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