We strongly believe that worship needs to be a central piece in the DNA of Renew.
Not just singing, but our entire lives.
Romans 12:1 in the Message says, “Here’s what I want you to do, God helping you. Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating and going-to-work and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing that you can do for him.”
That’s all encompassing.
Sunday-to-Sunday.
Yesterday we had three guys on our launch team flesh out our philosophy and approach to worship for the Renew Community. James, Jon and Dave talked about the biblical rationale, the modes/forms of worship found in Scripture and the unique values we desire to embrace and desire to live out.
We defined worship as: “our response to God for who he is and what he has done for us through the cross – and what he continues to do.”
Very simply put: our adoration and affection directed at the King.

There were some great thoughts and insights shared and we had very engaging discussion.
Here are a few things we discussed with our launch team:
Worship and Idolatry:
We talked about the delicate balance between worship and idolatry.
Idolatry being anything that takes center stage in my heart and affections that isn’t God himself.
James quoted Luther who said, “idolatry is the default mode of the human heart.”
He mentioned that even worship styles can become idols in and of themselves.

Style and Mission:
There are a lot of “worship wars” raging out there in many churches – most of them revolve around style, not lyrics or attitude, ironically enough.
James also mentioned that worship style speaks of our mission.
“What your mission is should determine your style of worship.”

Biblical rationale:
Here were some passages we looked at together as a launch team:
-Romans 1:20-23
-Psalm 113:1-4
-Romans 11:33-12:2

The values of worship at Renew:
Very simply, we desire for worship to be…
(1) a lifestyle – we are always worshiping…it’s a matter of what – or who – am I worshiping. A Romans 12:1-2 approach.
(2) authentic – we worship in spirit and in truth. It’s not about going through the motions.
(3) passionate – worship is an overflow of our hearts, led and guided by the Spirit’s work in us.
(4) biblical – our worship should be grounded in the Scriptures.

Modes/forms of worship:
Jon led us in a time of modes or forms of worship. We looked at several passages in smaller groupings of people and found there are many forms of God-response: communion/breaking bread, generosity, unity/attitude, instruments, meeting regularly for encouragement, a lifestyle that is visible and transparent and our works/good deeds.

Questions we discussed:
-How do we make sure we don’t worship worship?
-We talk about worship leading, but why don’t we talk about worship following? And what does it mean for me to be a worship follower?
-What modes or forms of worship can we/ should we engage in at Renew?
-How do we make sure that we are holistic worshipers at Renew?
-What are the forms of worship we can participate in together that have nothing to do with musical instruments or singing?

Here at Renew we desire to embrace and live out the Story of God and Man in both our words and in our works. We desire to live out the ways of Jesus through our proclamation of the message and our presence within and among the community. The holistic gospel is one that is about good news and good works together.

The words of Lesslie Newbegin from his book Mission in Christ’s Way challenge us greatly. Here are a few excerpts from the first chapter:

“Word without deeds are empty, but deeds without words are dumb. It is stupid to set them against each other. It is, for example, stupid to say, ‘The one thing that matters is to go everywhere and preach the gospel; all other activities such as schools and hospitals and programs for social action are at best merely auxiliary and at worst irrelevant.’ Why should people believe our preaching that the kingdom of God has come near in Jesus if they see no sign that anything is happening as a result, if they can see no evidence that disease and ignorance and cruelty and injustice are being challenged and overcome? Why should they believe our words if there is nothing happening to authenticate them?”

There are situations where the word is easy and the deed is costly; there are situations where the deed is easy and the word is costly. Whether in word or in deed, what is required in each situation is that we be faithful to him who said to his disciples: ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you,’ and showed them his hands and his side.”

As we attempt to learn from and engage with Lansdale as a faith community, here are a few links and resources that are helpful tools.

Lansdale borough website

Calendar of Community Events

Listing of Local Restaurants

Lansdale Historical Society

Lansdale Center for the Performing Arts

Lansdale Revitalization Plan

There are many ways to serve at Manna on Main, one of our partner organizations.  Here are a few of them:

1) 2-4 people needed during Monday and Friday evening meal times (4:00 – 5:30 pm) – volunteers should arrive earlier if possible.

2) Food pantry help needed on Fridays from 1 – 4 pm.

3) Evening shelf stockers needed – especially around the holidays

4) Donate Food.  Check the web site to learn what donations are needed for the food pantry – www.mannaonmain.org.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact Liz Coyne, Volunteer Coordinator at 215.855.5454 or at liz@mannaonmain.org

6 house churches have been birthed in the region including Lansdale, Souderton/Telford, and Chalfont. We have a good problem on our hands due to the overwhelming response of people who attended our public informational meeting last week, which means that we will most likely need to birth more house churches sooner rather than later. If you were not able to connect with us at the meeting but would still like to be part of a house church, please email Tracy at tracycommons@renewcommunity.org.

Many people have asked us how we chose the name of our church.
Here are a few reasons.

1. It’s central to the Story of God and Man:
If you had to summarize the story of God and Man in one word we think you might be able to describe it with words like:
Reconciliation, Redemption, Reclamation, Rehabilitation, Restoration or Renewal.
Notice the prefix “re” in these words – meaning that something is done again.

The Story of God and Man started in a Garden that possessed relational union with God, but that union was broken when sin entered the world.
God’s master plan has been to bring about that relational and spiritual union and communion again (hence the “re”).

The concept of atonement (the process of God restoring us back to himself) is an important one to understand. Some scholars have said that the best way to understand this is to break the word down – at-one-ment. It’s God’s plan to be at-one with his creation. This cosmic harmony and unity is the Hebrew term shalom – meaning complete peace, or rightness, or the way things should be.
God’s purposes are to renew shalom with his creation.

Renewal is the message of the gospel.
It would be inaccurate to conclude that God has renewed us in our past completely.
Yes, theologically we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), but it shouldn’t – and doesn’t – stop there for followers of Jesus.
We are constantly being renewed (Romans 12:1-2). We have been renewed. We are being renewed.

But there’s more to it.
To understand the gospel and to be faithful followers of Jesus means that we are humble partners and active participants with God to help to renew the world we live in. We are to be a part of the renewal process holistically (i.e. physically, emotionally, mentally, culturally and spiritually).

What we mean is that the gospel is much more than simply saying a prayer and “becoming a Christian.” It is about entering into the ways of Jesus – as we are being renewed individually we join with others in community in order to join Him in renewing the world in all aspects. It’s still the work of the Holy Spirit working in us and through us, but we have the grace-filled privilege of being a participant in this renewal activity.

Paul sums up the concept of experiencing reconciliation and renewal and then participating in that process with God in 2 Corinthians:

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (5:14-21)

Paul says that we not only experienced reconciliation, but that we, as ambassadors, are to be about the ministry of reconciliation.

2. It’s hope-filled.
Renewal also speaks of something new.
There’s hope in newness.
A new school year.
A new pair of jeans.
A new house.
A new start.
We believe that the Holy Spirit oftentimes works in new and fresh ways and expressions.
It’s not to say that the old ways are all bad, but we simply want to be a part of something new and hope-filled for the region.
We believe that God is working in new, creative and fresh ways and we want to join with Him in that work!

God spoke of hope-filled newness through Isaiah who said:

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

3. We like it.
Practically, the word Renew is short, different, easy to say, not a word from a foreign language so it wasn’t too difficult to pronounce, it encompassed what we valued, it would constantly challenge us to live out our name and didn’t come across like we were trying too hard to be cool.
It seemed like it fit.

So why the name the Renew Community?
Because we desire to be a group of people who work, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to see people renewed by God’s love, who are in the constant process of having their lives renewed by the gospel story and who are joining God in helping to renew the broken world we live in.

We are a community of renewed people – our past.
We are a community that is constantly being renewed – our present.
We are a community that desires to help renew the world – our future.

The Renew Community: our hope and prayer is that we live up to our name.

Join us in helping to make Lansdale a more beautiful place! We will be cleaning up Kugel Ball Park and the surrounding Main Street area on Sunday morning, December 7th. Everyone is welcome! Meet us at the park anytime between 7:45 and 8:00am. Questions? Email Bethany at bethanypaul@renewcommunity.org.

We’ve been meeting weekly with our launch team for the past few months to plan, pray and prepare for the Renew Community. We’ll continue to do this and hope to launch a public Sunday gathering some time in early to mid 2009 (but we’re not entirely sure the exactly date). It doesn’t mean that we don’t care. We care a great deal. It doesn’t mean that we don’t feel a sense of urgency. We feel this urgency every single day. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t being proactive, deliberate and intentional. The reason we are taking our time is to make sure that we can be deliberate and intentional!

Many have asked us, “What’s the wait? Why not launch a public gathering now?”
Here are a few reasons:

1. Listening: We want to listen to God’s Spirit. Rather than us coming up with plans and asking God to bless them, we would rather ask God what he wants from us in this faith community first and then be obedient in that direction. This is not our church. This is God’s. Therefore, we want to make this church about God’s agenda, not ours. Listening takes time and because we’re not always good at it, we have to slow the process down.

2. Unlearning: There’s a lot that we all need to unlearn as to what “church” is. Much of our understanding of church is cultural and sometimes we get confused and mixed up and forget that its not about a building that you go to once a week to sing and listen to some teaching and go home. Church in a biblical sense is a movement of people who are trying to pay attention to God and participate in what he is doing in the world seven days a week. We need to unlearn – and then relearn – what it means to be ambassadors and representatives of Jesus through the expression of a God-honoring faith community – and that takes time. We want to learn to honor God with our lives Monday-Saturday before we launch a public gathering on Sunday. If we get the Monday through Saturday thing right first, then Sunday will be a natural extention of are already existing mission.

3. Rhythm: Living in the ways of Jesus means having an intentional, God-honoring rhythm in our lives. The Christian life is a lifestyle, not just a mental ascent to a set of rules and regulations that we follow. It’s hard to honor God with a frenetic and frantic pace. We need to slow down. There are a lot of temptations to start a new faith community at a break-neck speed. When we do this, it’s easy for our souls to get lost in the process. It’s also easy for us to cut corners. Right now we feel as though Renew is like wet cement. We’d rather get it right the first time than lay some cement quickly and have to rip it up and start over again a little while later. Sure, we’re going to make mistakes. It’s not going to perfect (it already isn’t) and we don’t feel the pressure to have to have all the answers first. But we want to be intentional and deliberate rather than just throw something together.

4. Relationships: The Story of God and Man is all about relationships. When we slow things down and don’t focus solely on tasks we can get to know each other. Learn each other’s stories. Celebrate together. Create natural spaces for connection. Relationships can be messy and complex, but one thing is for sure: true, deep, lasting friendships take time. You cannot rush the process of relationships with others. When we slow things down we feel as we can develop authentic, deep-rooted friendships with one another – which makes serving that much more fun.

5. Community Engagement: We want to begin making an impact in our community right now, before we have a public service. We’ve begun to ask the question in our communities, “How can we help?” and are slowly able to listen to the answer of people and respond in small ways. Plus, we’d rather have the reputation of a community that loves well and serves – and meets – the needs of our communities and than a community of faith that puts on a good service on Sunday mornings. We want to build trust. We want to earn the right to open our mouths and proclaim what we believe – and this takes time.

6. House Churches: Nowhere in the New Testament is the chruch referred to as a physical building. In fact, for the first 300 years of the church’s existence, they met only in houses. The backbone of who we are and what we desire to become is focused on our house churches. They are not a part of Renew – they are Renew. Because of this, in a sense, we already have started (just not in the traditional sense that most people think of when they think of a church starting…which is part of the unlearning process for us). We desire for house churches to begin to take shape. Then when we have a public official gathering, it will be more about a bunch of house churches coming together to celebrate and worship than it will be “having a church service.”

7. Benchmarks of health: Our goal is not growth, but health. If an organism is healthy a byproduct of that health will be that it will grow. We do desire to grow (qualitatively and quantitatively) but that is not our primary concern. We’re more interested in health. Before we launch publicly, we desire to see evidence of health. Jesus describes our health as his followers by the evidence of the fruit we are producing (John 15). This is through our faithfulness, our generosity, our passion for people far from God, our willingness to serve others and if we are thinking, acting and living more in the ways of Jesus. We want to be able to ask questions like, “How are we growing in love?” “Where are we serving?” “How are we becoming more like Jesus?” “Are we caring for the poor, loving our neighbors, paying attention to God more?” “How are we fleshing out the values of Jesus in our house churches?” and “Are our house churches working towards multiplication?” These are benchmarks that will take time to occur.