Restoration Church - Chicago, IL

In John 11, after the death of Lazarus, Jesus grieves alongside Martha and Mary. Then Jesus comforts them with the truth of who He is. He tells them He is the resurrection and the life and they express faith in who He says He is. Do we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? Who we believe Jesus to be changes everything!

Even when we are going through a hard season we can know that it is for the glory of God. We must live from a place of having this revelation. When we do we will worship Jesus through the hardship and we will have confidence that there is victory in Him!

We must believe that Jesus is who He said He is- the Son of God. In John 10 we see there is conflict over who Jesus claims to be. Jesus stands His ground using Scripture. In the same way we need to study the scriptures so we can have a strong foundation and know the good works that God has called us to do.

In the first half of John 10 we heard that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He is also the gate to the fold. As the gate, He is the only way to eternal life. As the Good Shepherd, He cares for us, His sheep, even to the point of laying down His own life so that we might have life and have it to the full. His sheep know His voice and they follow Him. Will you follow Him?

Vanessa challenged us with the question, “Do we love Jesus enough to keep Him first?” Even just busyness can get in the way of us prioritizing Jesus. We were encouraged that if other things had taken Jesus’ place as Lord in our lives, that we could simply come back!

Tyrone Daniel was with us this past Sunday and challenged us to continuously say, “yes,” to Jesus! Thank you Tyrone for always reminding us that Jesus is above everything and is worthy of our obedience and submission to His Lordship.

We are surrounded by darkness in the world we live in and as a result, we experience suffering. In John 9 we see this in the account of a man born blind who was healed by Jesus. We see as Jesus explains to His disciples, that this man’s suffering had a purpose to ultimately glorify God. We also carry this purpose. Jesus is the light in this dark world and He is in us. We must believe in Him, go ou...

Hue reminded us of our vision and values as Restoration Church. We are committed to pursuing Jesus and His presence through His Word, we practice Biblical community, and we desire to advance God’s kingdom by sharing the gospel. In doing these things we will be fulfilling our vision which is to, “Glorify Jesus Everywhere.”

Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:37b-38 In John 7 Jesus compared His Spirit to a river of living water. If we believe in Him, His Spirit is in us, and this river will flow in us and from us. It refreshes and brings life everywhere it flo...

Toby shared from John 7 and we saw that Jesus’ timing is not always our timing, but it is perfect. We were encouraged to trust His timing, His divine teachings, and His mission.

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69) This was Peter’s answer when Jesus asked the disciples if they too would leave as the disillusioned multitudes had. These words should resonate with us. We should believe and know that Jesus is the only one we can turn to because He came to save us!...

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” (John 6:27) These were Jesus’ words of encouragement to the crowds that had been following him for the signs He was performing. Jesus told them He was the Bread of Life and that in Him was eternal life. He told them that the w...

In this passage we heard about the Pharisees who had a love for the scriptures, but missed their whole point; that they were pointing to Jesus. Rather than realizing that Jesus was their salvation they were trusting in their own knowledge of scripture to save them and grant them eternal life. We must read the Word of God with a love for God rather than a love for knowledge and our own efforts to b...

The Father has given Jesus complete authority as they are one and function in complete unity. Jesus brings life and those who accept His salvation will not be judged and will have eternal life!

We must keep the cross and the testimony of Jesus before us. Just as John the Baptist testified, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” So must we bear witness to Jesus, declaring His testimony to the world. He has made us free!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit are for all believers. When we know them and their function we are able to implement them practically to grow in our faith, build up the body, and bear witness to Jesus.

Hue shared on the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and discernment as we continue our series on the Holy Spirit. These gifts are meant to build up the church and bring glory to Jesus. Let’s “eagerly desire spiritual gifts” (1 Cor 14:1) so we can fully walk into all that God has called His church to be.

Let us be reminded that when we declare “Jesus is our Shepherd” -it is to acknowledge that Jesus is our caretaker, our provider, and our protector throughout all the seasons of life.

The actual act of praying requires humility and vulnerability. Praying also allows the Spirit of God to speak to us, and through us, in ushering God’s will and His Kingdom into our everyday lives.

We yearn to be the church full of prayers as Biblical prayer is a conversation, richly saturated with love, between man and God.

Thank you Ken for joining us in celebrating the significance of Restoration’s 4th birthday in giving thanks and honoring the people around us.

As we run with endurance, let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, because He is our prize and our reward! He is our hope!

Through Hebrews 11, we remember the example of those who were faithful before us, we acknowledge that this world is not our home, and instead look forward to eternity with our Saviour.

“…since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart…Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on…” (Hebrews 10:21-24) Now is the time to put our faith into practice. Trusting God, fixing our eyes on Jesus and looking ahead to what He has called us to. Because He wh...