The Ministries of Restoration & Reconciliation

Introduction:

Restoration: Restoring something or someone to it’s original state.

People will restore antiques so they will look like their original state… People pay big money for it too!

Jim Corley met his friend, Alex, at the dealership where Alex worked. “Jim, I feel like a hypocrite every time I go to church because I fail to live for Christ so often.” “Alex, what do you call this part of the dealership?” Jim asked, nodding to the area outside his cubicle. “You mean the showroom?”

“Yes. And what’s behind the showroom, past the parts counter? “The service department,” Alex said confidently. “What if I told you I didn’t want to bring my car to the service department because it was running rough,” Jim asked. “That would be crazy! That’s the whole point of service departments—to fix cars that aren’t running right.” “You’re absolutely right,” Jim replied. “Now, let’s get back to our initial conversation. Instead of thinking of church as a showroom where image is everything, start thinking of it as God’s service department. Helping people get back in running order with God is what the church is all about.”

Aren’t you thankful God has a use for restored Christians?

Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”

Romans 5:10 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

I Corinthians 5:18-21

The Bible tells us bluntly that sinners are ‘enemies’ of God

James 4:4 “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

Colossians 1:21 “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled”

God is in direct opposition to everything that is evil… everything of the world...

Man’s sin, not God, is what has caused the enmity… the root of it the need for restoration or reconciliation...

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

It was a cool and crisp Saturday night in the Midwest. The lights were on, the fans were filling the stands, the band was playing, and we were ready for some football! From the opening kick-off the game was intense and neither team could get any momentum. With the clock ticking down toward half-time, the opposing team decided to “go for it all.” The quarterback took a seven-step drop while his lineman formed a pocket around him. As an outside linebacker, I read his eyes, saw the play developing, and dropped deep into my zone of coverage anticipating that the tight end would run an out pattern into my zone.

The play developed much as I thought, but instead of throwing to the tight end, the quarterback heaved the ball as far as he could down the sideline toward his wide receiver who was sprinting toward the end zone. Our defensive back was stride for stride with him and the ball came spiraling down near the sideline at about the fifteen yard line. Both players leaped high in the air to try to catch the ball and as they did, made contact with each other. As I sprinted toward the play, I saw the ball being tipped away at the last moment by my teammate and fall harmlessly to the ground. Almost instantaneously, however, I heard a scream!

As the two players reached for the ball, their legs became tangled and as soon as they fell to the ground together, the wide receiver from the other team began clutching his leg in agony. I remember vividly the referee blowing his whistle and immediately yelling to the sideline for help. As I approached a second or two later, I could see that the bone in his leg was broken and literally protruding out from the skin! It was a horrible sight—one that quite frankly made me immediately sick to my stomach. Days later, some of us had the opportunity to contact that player in the hospital, and although his season had suddenly ended with one play, his leg was properly set and he recovered.

Medically, when a bone is broken and reset, we are told that the place where the bone was previously broken becomes stronger than it was originally. While we would think that just the opposite would be the case, a broken bone can become better than it was before! Isn’t that exactly what God does with our lives as well? Perhaps that is why God says in Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart , O God, thou wilt not despise.”

God loves a broken heart because He knows that when we come to Him in that condition, He can make all things new. He can give us a new heart and a new spirit that will be better and stronger than before. Look around today. Do you see any broken lives? God can and desires to use us to “heal the broken-hearted.”

Stacey Shifflett: