Dear Calvary,

First and foremost, I want to invite you to our Summit 2, a week from Sunday (April 21), where we will reengage and reevaluate Calvary’s values, mission, and vision. Are they sufficient for the next season of fruitful ministry?

Also, I’ve been reading, studying, and thinking about renewal for the last couple of years and I wanted to pass on some thoughts related to the stages of renewal. Certainly, God can move in glorious ways anytime He wants to, and yet history tells us that renewal (and revival) often come in stages. Take a look—and keep in mind that the verse below, while often used in evangelism, was actually written to a church!

Seven Stages of Renewal

 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”  Revelation 3:20

  1. Personal renewal is about loving God and begins with acknowledging Jesus Christ as our greatest treasure and the object of worship. Personal renewal occurs as we recognize our spiritual poverty and surrender afresh to loving care and instruction of a God who is alive and available. The outflow of this active and intentional surrender is prayer, the reading and study of Scripture, and a growing worship of Jesus and connectedness with him – which renews us from the inside out.
  2. Relational renewal is about authentically loving others. As we embrace personal renewal with Jesus an initial effect is that we have new hope for people and pursue them in love. If married, relational renewal begins with our spouse. And, if we are parents our children ensue. Relational renewal allows us to be authentic around others, stop pretending and performing, and simply be in loving community where we are known and know others, with deep gratitude for the work of the gospel.
  3. Missional renewal awakens in us a hope and love for the Great Co-mission. Once we have personal and relational renewal, the result is that God’s people want to be on mission together doing what God calls the church to accomplish. Without personal renewal, a church cannot have relational renewal. And, without both a church has no life or unity that allows them to press forward on mission with God together.
  4. Internal cultural renewal happens as the fruit of personal, relational, and missional renewal forms a new culture of grace internally and new passion for lost people externally. In a church this results in people trusting their leaders and one another more, wanting to spend more time together, worshiping with greater intensity, and hanging out longer after services – as they begin to realize they are becoming a unified community. This also increases innovation, a willingness to risk, and a burgeoning missiology.
  5. Structural renewal is necessary once the personal, relational, missional, and internal renewals have been initiated and creates the need to change how a church operates. What structures have hindered growth? What structures can be implemented so the church won’t have a bottleneck as the church grows? We can’t put new wine in old wineskins. As a church begins to get more and more vital, the structure needs to change.
  6. Institutional renewal happens when Christianity’s institutions change. Organizations over 20-years old are subject to institutionalism and have difficulty with the change process. Unfortunately, institutions generally exist to preserve the change of the previous generation. It’s like a tree – the growth of a tree is not on the trunk but on the new branches. Institutions are like trunks. They provide stability not innovation. Innovation happens at the local church level.
  7. External cultural renewal is the fruit of personal, relational, missional, internal, structural, and institutional renewal. It might be best described as the outworking of Acts 2:43-47: A renewed sense of awe, wonders and signs taking place, refreshed and authentic community, mutual identification amongst classes and cultures, equality, unity, enthusiastic joy, heartfelt praise, favor with all the people, and salvations.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Gregg