What Is Our Mission?

Welcome to Renew

As we embark on our new year we offered up the new theme for 2018

Committed

Whatever the Call. Whatever the Cost

I Have No Rights and My Feelings Don’t Matter

Faith/Fear

I truly believe that it is IMPOSSIBLE to commit to something without knowing what you are committing to.

So the next couple of weeks will get you into the mindset of just what we are all about here!

If I Could Sum Up Renew In One Passage

Matthew 22:34–40 ESV

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

A quick background

This was the 3rd attempt to trap Jesus

Who do we pay taxes to?

The Resurrection - Too Much to get into

And then this.

They brought in their legal expert!

Jesus had shut them up twice already!

This question presented a unique opportunity for them to catch Jesus in heresy

They would eventually make a list of 613 commands, 248 of them negative and 365 positive

Would he say that one was more important than another?

Instead he offers the reply that they could not have expected

Love God with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself

The law and prophets depend on these!

An amazing reply that shut them up!

When I look at the translation here from Greek, I am not convinced that Jesus listed these 2 as the GREATEST commands

I would think it would be “These commands must fit in these 2 areas”

These 2 areas are what we choose to focus on here at Renew Bryant

IT is the foundation of our mission

Love God. Love Others

So what is the mission of Renew?

Discover God

Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV

But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Moses is listing the consequences of Idol worship to the Israelites

I would be willing to say we all know someone or several someones that are in a place that they are in a place where Moses said the Israelites would be

Deuteronomy 4:28 ESV

And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

There are thousands of people around us that are in a place where they feel hopeless and have no idea where to turn.

We are on a mission to help them get to the place where they can Discover God

It’s not about a church service.

It’s about an encounter!

When we read stories of encounters with God we see them falling on their faces, unable to speak and many other things!

We want people to come here and encounter God

Do you remember your first encounter with Jesus?

I was six but I still remember it like it was yesterday (expound)

Road to Emmaus - Burning hearts

Women at the tomb - Ran to tell the disciples

Ethiopian Eunuch - Went away rejoicing

Three are many more like this

An encounter with God is a life altering experience

That is what we want for you and for every person who walks through these doors

When we discover God we find out more about who he is and all he has in store for us

Colossians 2:1–4 ESV

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

Colossians 2:1–4 ESV

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

Colossians 2:1–3 ESV

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

We should want to discover God in a deeper way but we should want it even more for those who don’t know!

To know God and all of the mysteries that he holds!

To Discover God and the PURPOSE he has for us

Develop Relationships

is one of the greatest verses in the bible.

Acts 2:42 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Acts 2:42 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Why?

Because it is a Biblical reason to EAT!

The early church were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching, Praying and BREAKING BREAD!

But here is one word there that I love!

Fellowship

A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible 2842. κοινωνία

kŏinōnia

The greek there is

kŏinōnia

It means partnership, social interaction, communication, participation, communion

Fun word to say but an even greater meaning for the church!

When we build these relationships together, Renew becomes a place to seek out!

We become a place where people can

We want to be a place where people can come and find a family!

To find people who will lift you up, challenge you, support you, cheer for you and even cry with you!

A place to show love when we feel unloved!

To show love because we are loved 1 John 4:19

To fellowship together, commune together and serve together!

Deploy to the World

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is it!

Go and make disciples

WE were not called to be a monument. We were called to be a movement!

We have a saying here that says we are a mission station and not a museum

We don’t want to be a place where people just come to a social gathering

We want to go and reach the masses

To go beyond these 4 walls into the community around us

James 2:14–17 ESV

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Our faith HAS to be more than just a SUNDAY.

I don’t want to be a church that just has great programs and services

I want to be a church that is SIGNIFICANT in the community.

So Why Is This Important?

Renew Bryant aspires to make a SIGNIFICANT, culture changing impact in Saline County by helping people Discover God, Develop Relationships and Deploy to the world.

When we commit to the mission then we align ourselves in a way that allows us to shift our thinking toward kingdom impact.

I want our mindset to always be on how we can make the biggest impact with everything we do.

From Sundays to Youth to Children to Big Serves to daily life

We should do our best to not be a regular church but to be a church of significance!

So Where Do We Go From Here?

What commitment level are you on?

Maybe you are here and just discovering who God is and what he has for you

Maybe you are here and you are just trying to get plugged in and develop some relationships

Or you are here and you are ready to be deployed

Great!

No matter what level you are on we want you here

We just don’t want you to stay in the same place

Come as you are. Become who you were made to be

Last week we filled out cards about what as keeping you from committing

We want to offer you the ability to do that this week

But we want to give you a chance to respond today.

To commit yourself to this

To simply say God here I am committed to you. Take me where you want me to go.