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tuesday december 20, 2011
An Amazing Day...
This past Sunday was an amazing day at Renovation.
I say that because there was such an evidence of God's activity in the hearts of so many.
We have just finished a 10 week series based on the book Crazy Love. We walked through each chapter and each week was challenging to say the least. It did not matter where a person was at in their spiritual journey God met each of us as we looked in His Word and discovered more about Him and His nature and we discovered more about us and our role in His story.
We were confronted with the majesty of God and His greatness and our "tiny-ness"
We were alarmed that we may not be "good soil" after all... we began to follow Paul's advice and to investigate our lives and not presume upon God's grace and mercy.
We started to ask ourselves hard questions like am I serving up "left-overs" to God?
We looked at the profile of the luke-warm and for some we saw a lifestyle and for others we saw a lot of luke-warm tendencies in our relationship with Jesus Christ.
We discovered that we must live by faith if we are to be pleasing and honoring to our heavenly Father!
But what does living by faith really mean we asked.
Does it mean selling our houses and stuff in order to be able to be more generous with our resources... maybe.
Does it mean possibly adopting a child... maybe.
Does it mean moving into a tough neighborhood to be light and salt or staying in a tough neighborhood even though it might not be safe... maybe.
It may mean to simply work harder... stop being lazy.
It may mean change your attitude of entitlement to that of gratitude.
Every week God's Word and the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit kept working away on us chipping off that which God was exposing in us that was not pleasing and honorable.
We had some incredible moments of worship and praise at our tables, in prayer, in corporate singing, in corporate giving.
All the while God doing the same things through out our ministry environments like XCEL Leadership Center... Renovation Station and Renovate Live!
This past week we celebrated the Hope of the World... Immanuel - God with us!
Last Wednesday 4 of our students prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and leader and I believe helped set the tone for this past Sunday as we worshiped Jesus for who He is, for what He has done, and for what He is going to do!
At the end of each gathering I gave people the chance to receive the BEST Christmas gift ever...Immanuel. I then asked for those who accepted Christ that morning or at some point over the last 11 weeks to simply raise their hand.
At each gathering I was blown away... we had dozens and dozens of men - women and young people raise their hands in unison all expressing their public decision to follow Jesus Christ.
I thank God for the incredible honor of being able to see Him do immeasurably more than I could ever ask or think.
Renovation we serve and have an amazing God!
posted by brek cockrell
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sunday october 23, 2011
Crazy Love week 3
We had a an awesome day at Renovation today! There are so many lives that we are getting to see God transform one little win at a time. This was week 3 of our Crazy Love series and it was another incredibly powerful day. I was so proud of how Joshua communicated the Word of God to us today but more than being proud I was moved and convicted and inpsired. Joshua is doing what he needs to do in order to do what he wants to do. It has taken discipline and hard work for him to get to a place where scripture - God's script to us - just rolls out of his mouth as he communicates. Joshua is just one example of a group of committed leaders that are leading Renovation well. We are not perfect by any strectch but one thing we value is staying surrendred to God and His Word and servant leadership. I am proud of how each one on our leadership team has a heart for God and for others. Nick, Michelle, Toni along with Joshua and the others who work hard and care immensely for those who serve with them on their strategic teams. As I looked around and observed all that God is doing in so many ways in the lives of so many... I was once again over-whelmed by God's grace. Some of the Renovation Team were in Indianapolis last week at the national CCDA Conference. It is always great to go because you are going to hear something from somebody you have never thought about... we have to work at getting a different perspective outside of our normal "tribe." One of the things that was shared is how hard it is to develop a mult-ethnic church. It is typically mostly one ethnic group... what's even harder we learned is to have multi-socio-econmic diversity. What blows me away about Renovation is that God is doing all of that in our community of faith... we are 18% Hispanic, 12% African American, 64% Caucasian and little mix of this and that... we have educated and non-educated, college students and college professors, we have home owners and folks living at the City Mission or Salvation Army till thy get their feet back underneath them... we have young and old, single parents, foster parents and grandparents... we have dozens who have yet to cross over that line of Faith and accept the free incredible gift of redemption that Christ offers us all and we have folks who have been followers of Chrust for decades... we have city dwellers and suburban, living in the country and living on an island... it is crazy... It is CRAZY LOVE that only God can give and God can share with us for His honor and for our great benefit. Yes today was a great day because of what God has and is doing... thanks Father! Love You!
wednesday september 28, 2011
Some Thoughts on Nehemiah
I was reading in Nehemiah today and i jotted down some thoughts from the first couple of chapters for myself and I thought I might share them here...
Nehemiah's heart was broken
God broke his heart for a cause bigger than himself
He felt the pain, the humiliation that his people were going thru even though he was not there...
He made it a priority of in his life... he stopped and prayed and fasted...
Lord, God of Heaven hear my prayer... he acknowledged,confessed, asked for intercession - help
He realized that he worked in a place of influence though he had none there...
He was faith full for 4 months when one day the Kings noticed him... that is crazy.. the king never noticed slaves and servants... much less talk to them. Yet the King stops and talk to Nehemiah..
What if Nehemiah had not prepared himself with a plan
What if he wussed out...
What if he had turned the moment into something about him...
He did not just fast or pray about it...
He devised a plan so that whenever God opened an opportunity he was able to take advantage of it and that is what happened 4 months after he had first been struck with this mission and vision on his life...
He made the Big Ask... when the King opened the door for it!
He got everything he asked for and then some...
Once there he got resistance from men who had benefitted from the condition of the poverty of the Hebrews and did not like the idea that they were going to lose their sweet set-up
They were upset because there was now an advocate... someone working on behalf of the good of the people... Great reminder for me and for us Renovation no matter where or what we are doing in our city... God wants to do immeasurably more than we can ask or think in us and through us for His Kingdom and His glory and for the shalom of our city.
sunday september 11, 2011
10 Years Ago..
It is hard to believe that it was 10 years ago today that 9/11 happened. It has been an emotional week for so many people in so many ways. For those of us who did not lose a loved one or a friend we are certainly moved and thoughtful but for those who did lose a dad, mom, brother, sister... it is much more than that. We have seen new and old images of that day... We have seen the kids and family members grow up - now 10 years older. Gloria and I tried to explain to Canon what 9/11 means and what the images we were looking at meant to him this week. He is 8 years old and he has no idea really... Carlee my 15 yr old daughter had just started kindergarten and now she is a sophmore in HS... it has impacted her entire school years... the same with Caleb... That day changed so much in our country, and world... but with all due honor and respect I couldn't help but reflect that even that day in all of its tragedy doesn't compare to the tragedy that happened some 2000 years ago. The initiator of all terror thought he had finally won... by taking down the SON and for three days it looked like he had won. Terroism would prevail... Just like the terroist who plotted the destruction of the Towers there were some enemies that were claiming victory... evil is real but evil will not ultimately win not 10 years ago and certainly it did not 2000 years ago. On that 3rd day when all of the heavens stood still and observed in shock... the Enemy of life itself watching ... where darkness and death had been now a light came shinning through and then Life come out of the tomb of death! We cannot fully grasp the emotion and the immensity of that day and how it changed all of eternity at least not right now but one day we will... 10 years after seeing the death and the destruction of that day we now see light and life coming out of that tomb of death... It is a testament of the faithfulness of God... of His grace and mercy that we can see healing and even beauty in a place where such tragedy happened. Lets continue to pray for the families of all the victums of that day not just for strength and comfort but that they would find the Giver of all life through the tragedy of 9/11.
saturday august 6, 2011
It's August?
You have got to be kidding... I can't believe it is August! The last 3 weeks have screamed by so fast but yet so much has happened in those 3 weeks... here is a quick look back while I can still remember it all! Sunday July 24 was a great day. We had our new friend Charlie Mitchell speak at all 3 gatherings as we officially kicked off our Summer Jam week. Charlie and his wife Erin came u to Buffalo to hang out with us for a few days. They live in the Harlem Heights area of Ft Myers. He is a returner into that neighborhood where he grew up and now knows that God has called him to launch a new Community of Faith in area that has been under resourced and under served and under loved for to long. I know God is going to use them and work through them in an awesome way! We had the crew from Scottshill Baptist Church roll in Saturday evening and then worshiped with us on Sunday... there worship team hooked up with Nick and led us in great worship! It was really hot in the aud that day but the worship was part of the reason! We had 3 other churches join us for Summer Jam as we went multi-campus for the fist time. We worked with Prince of Peace and Ephesus Ministries all week long doing SJ programming on their campus each day. It was awesome to see the growth each day! While all of that was happening my grandmother Viola Burrow passed away which was my mom's mom. She lived in Commerce OK. So Jonathan (my brother) and I flew out on Sunday evening in order to get to the funeral on Monday. It was quite the ordeal but we finally made it to Commerce/Miami OK around 4.00 am caught a couple of hour of sleep and then went to the lunch and then the funeral service. I was so glad we went... it was definitely worth it. My grandmother was an awesome lady, very nurturing and loving. She was one to always have a good word about everybody... if you can't say something nice then no need to say anything was her motto to all of us grandkids. She was a special lady and I have great memories of her and my grandfather who passed away when I was in HS. Jon and I flew back and landed in Buffalo about 1:00 am so we were a little tired but ready for Sumer Jam. We missed the first day of SJ but it went off great without us! Summer Jam this year was the best yet in so many ways. We served 500 dinners on Monday and then served over 600 each night after that... When you add another 200 volunteers to that number you can imagine how packed the Aud was each night for our SJ program! It was packed to the back and I must say hotter the you know what! I don't know if I have ever been in a place that hot, smelly and packed all at once (we do not have AC in the aud yet) but it was awesome for sure!
The breakouts at every age were incredible to see... from babies to adults we had some great times learning about DETERMINATION! We wrapped up SJ with a great Thursday where Joshua did a great job of presenting the good news of Jesus Christ to a packed (and sweaty) room. We pray that the Gospel planted that week will grow over the weeks and months to come. Everybody headed back to NC and we got ready for Bless Back Sunday. And what a great day it was. Nearly 300 people showed up to apply their hearts and their hands in loving our city through 12 different projects! From street clean-ups to helping the Delaware YMCA to helping the QUEEN CIty Farm to Jericho Road to planting on our campus and other projects it was a great day! We all came back and had a great picnic together. Then on Monday some of us packed up the trailer and set up camp at Kingdom Bound for our students. We had a great time (though a little wet) hanging with students and leaders for a couple of days... though I must admit I went home and slept in my bed Tuesday night! A guy can only handle so much fun! We packed everything up after a 2 hour down-pour which soaked everything from food to clothes... So there you go... looking forward to August as we celebrate together under a 700 seat tent each Sunday in August at 10.00 am. It will be great to gather everybody at one time for four weeks as we finish up the summer!
tuesday july 19, 2011
It Is Hot!
It is HOT! Summer has certainly arrived to Buffalo... I heard it could get to 100 by Thursday. That is a 110 degree turnaround from January! I always say it is hard to remember how hot it gets in July when your living in January and how cold it gets in January when you are living in July!
I was at Lowes at 6.00 am getting the last 2 ac units they had for Renovation Center as we are making last minute preparations for Summer Jam. Hard to believe that it is just about on us. It is always a crazy but awesome week as my brother's crew rolls in from North Carolina. We have another 3 churches coming in this year and so we are going to expand to 2 other sites... Prince of Peace with Pastor Angel in the Westside and Pastor Jeff Carter at Ephesus over on the Eastside.
This past Sunday was an incredible day to celebrate...
We had the privilege of dedicating 8 parents/children. It was awesome to see family and friends with us to help support this spiritual mile-marker for these families. Then we had our first Family Baptism Celebration Sunday evening. We baptized 7 teenagers and one adult student leader. We had the place decorated and each student had at least a table if not more full of family and friends there to celebrate this moment of commitment with them. It is truly a picture of combing the power of the church and the love and influence of the home to make a greater impact on these families!
If you were at the 10.30 gathering you got to see what it means to do life together as one of our home groups came together to pray for Brett and Angelica - an awesome couple who are moving to Puerto Rico. We wanted to publicly pray for them and there home group were all there to surround them as we sent them off on "assignment."
Our hope and prayer is that we will see the majority of adults that call Renovation home become connected to some group that is currently meeting or in ones that will be started over the next few months. When we take the next step and get connected at a deeper level with others who are on a similar journey of faith and trying to take steps toward Jesus and in loving others our relationship with God goes to a whole other level!
We have continued to see first time guest coming to Renovation every week this summer... I love seeing our folks bringing family and friends!
I hope everybody is pumped about Bless Back Sunday. This will happen Sunday July 31. We have 13 projects that you can get involved with. Lets make sure we are all ready to go love our city on that day! You don't have to sign up you can just show up at 9.30 at Renovation and we will put you on a team!
Remember 4 @ 10 in August! That's right - We are going to meet as one at 10.00 am on each of the 4 Sundays in August. You will need to get there a little early in order to park over in the public parking area and walk or ride the shuttle. We won't all be able to park in our normal spots since all of us will be together on those Sundays... lets remember to be nice to each other when trying to find a parking spot!
Hey thats it for now...
You know what they say the church that sweats together stays together!
Love you Renovation!
tuesday june 28, 2011
A Revolution of Commitment
A revolution of commitment is what we talked about Sunday... what does it mean to put our life on the line for Jesus Christ?! I was reading today's devotional that Charles Spurgeon wrote over a 100 years ago and it is so timely for me and I think for us at Renovation. Let tit be an encouragement to you today...
"Looking unto Jesus." {#Heb 12:2} It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all." Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus." Keep thine eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail thee. "My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness: I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name."
wednesday june 22, 2011
50 Years and Still Going Strong!
This past weekend my parents celebrated 50 years of marriage... that is a long time in any generation much less this generation. It was great to have family and friends from all over come in and celebrate with us. We had some folks come in that I haven't seen in a long while and it was great to catch up and hear where everybody is at with family and everything. At the Anniversary party Saturday night we divided up the decades by pictures and had dad and mom comment about some highlights of that season of life. What stands out is that you know during all of those decades, years, months, weeks, days that little decisions, big ones and everything in between were having to be made and yet when looking back you don't really remember those stressful moments. What stands out are stories of moments with people, friends, family.
Several people shared the impact that both my parents had had on them for the season that their paths crossed. Difficulty will always arise when people are present but one thing I have watched and tried to apply to my life is to try not to burn bridges. There are times and circumstances that causes us to on occasion confront, speak up or into a situation. There are times where you will be misunderstood, unfairly criticized or taken advantage of, under-appreciated... it goes on and on but the work of Christ can be and should be strong enough within us to respond in a way that is Christ-honoring.
I have watched my parents live that out and now after 50 years they are still connected with those in their past in a significant way.
I am so glad that Christ did not burn the bridge to my heart and soul. I am grateful that he responds not as we deserve or what is fair but by grace and mercy with steadfast love!
If Gloria and I make it 50 years on this earth than I would be 79... yikes!
monday may 30, 2011
Kingdom Agents
What a great weekend we had at Renovation! I remember as a kid having different preachers come to the church my dad pastored in Kansas City... back in the 70's you had Bible Conferences, Mission Conferences, Evangelistic Conferences... you name we had it. We had the world's strongest man speak... the tallest man in the world speak... it was always somebody and I look back on many of those experiences fondly. I loved being able to have them over to our house or go with dad out to eat with them! That is not really how we roll today but on occasion we will have a guest like we had this past weekend. We had the real honor of having Noel Castellanos the CEO of CCDA. He and his wife Marriann flew in from Chicago on Saturday and we hosted "Dinner with Noel" down in the basement of the Renovation Center. Everybody brought a dish to pass and we had a great time hearing some of Noel's personal story which was great and then we had a chance to ask him some questions that he did a great job answering and giving some perspective from serving poor and under-resources communities for the last 25 year. We had renovation folks and a good number of friends join us that had been a part of the CCDA regional conference. There is no question that it is a hard and often times frustrating and discouraging road serving in poor communities. There are so many hardships in the lives of people and there are NO simple solutions. It is also at times discouraging because people we love don't always quite get what it means to serve in the "hood" and how long it takes to build trust and relationships and that simply implementing programs is not the answer. So when we can gather together some practitioners and others who are on "there way" it is a great time of sharing and encouragement and meeting new friends who have similar hearts! That was Saturday evening and then Noel spoke at all three of our gatherings on Sunday. He did a fantastic job. It was a great way to wrap up this (we will have many more in the years to come based on Christian Community Development) latest series on CCDA. Noel went back to Jeremiah 29:4-7 and did a brilliant job of unpacking this passage especially verse 7. For those who missed it here are some of the highlights of the day...
2. Proclamation and Formation
3. Demonstration of Compassion
4. Restoration and Development.
5. Confrontation of Injustice
We must reverse the order that the American Church has adopted from verse 7... "And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” We the Church have been praying for our welfare first... and then after we have what we need we might pray for the welfare of our city. If we are going to be Kingdom Agents we must reverse this order and restore the original order by praying for and working for the shalom/welfare/flourishing of our city first and foremost! Renovation I thank God for what He is doing in us and through but we still have a lot of hard but good Kingdom work to do! Lets be good Kingdom Agents!
wednesday may 18, 2011
House Concert
My brother Thad is coming in this weekend and we are hosting what is known as a House Concert. We are actually doing 2... one on Friday which is sold out and another on Saturday which still has some spots open. If you would like to purchase a ticket you can call the Renovation Church office at 819-4100 ext 101 - ask for Michelle The details... Saturday evening 6:00 PM $10.00 Bring an appetizer or dessert to share Bring a Lawn chair (hopefully outside) *This is an adult only event please get a babysitter for the kids! |
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