Baptist Convention of New England

God is working in marvelous ways to bring about a movement of Renewals in our churches this year.

TO DATE

It has been said that, “the church cannot experience revival until it has reconverted to Jesus Christ.” Dr. Frank Page (SBC president) reflected in a message at our 2007 annual meeting that a church that was considering calling him as pastor and told him: “Pastor, we know we need changing and we want you to come here, but just don’t change what we like!”  With issues like this, are we the church ready for Jesus to use us? Are we really ready for awakening? This is why we have been planning, praying and preparing for simultaneous Lay Renewals in April and May. We, who are counted as Christ followers need to return to Christ and renew our vital relationship with Him.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT PLANNING RENEWAL WEEKENDS 

Some of you have been interested in learning more about having a RENEWAL and what is involved in having one, but haven’t said anything because you thought it was too late. We want you to be aware that while our simultaneous renewals for April and May are already underway, it is not to late to consider having a Renewal event some other time in 2008. Let the BCNE Evangelism office know of your interest and perhaps we could schedule an overview presentation that Sunday or some other time: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   OR This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

IT HAS BEGUN

 What do a blueberry farmer from Mississippi, a used car salesman from Alabama, a retired real estate contractor from Massachusetts and a hairdresser from New Hampshire all have in common? They all participated in one of the fourteen Church Renewal Awakening weekends conducted in BCNE churches in April as a part of reNEw ’08.   The weekend begins with a 24-hour prayer vigil on the Thursday prior to the event that runs Friday through Sunday evening. Pastor Adam Houston (Providence Baptist, Epping, NH) said, “If the Prayer Vigil was the only thing we had done the weekend would have been a great success and a blessing, but it was only the beginning.“   Pastor Jim Herod (Washington Baptist, Washington, VT) agreed and also shared about the vigil, “Some of our members didn’t know if they could pray for an hour, yet afterward one member remarked that revival broke out just by reading the prayer guide!”  When a person commits himself/herself to the spiritual groundwork necessary for the weekend, then Christ will prepare his/her heart to receive a fresh blessing. The blessing falls in any or all of the four dimensions of the weekend: Renewed Alignment with Christ; Renewed Relationships; Renewed Body Life; and Renewed Mission Zeal.

RENEWED ALIGNMENT WITH CHRIST
In Your behalf my heart says, "Seek My face."  LORD, I will seek Your face. (Ps. 27:8 HCSB)
Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old... (Lam. 5:21 NIV)
Many Christians today are sensing a longing for the excitement they felt when they first were saved, yet are also yearning for a new and deeper expression of spiritual fervency in their lives. Their need, of course, is for Christ Himself. Evangelism, church planting, and church health should not be measured by numbers, proven methods or money.  Spiritual success must be measured by an intense and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.  This level of relationship, focused on His Supremacy, requires cyclical times of return, repentance and renewal.
Throughout the weekend, small groups meet to interact about their relationship with Christ. In one such group at Haverhill Community Church (Haverhill, MA) in their first night session on Friday, the question was raised by the Renewal group leader, “What do you hope happens to you this weekend--what do you really need?” One woman member, a believer for just a few years, answered with a lump in her throat, “I really need to be more Christian through the rest of the week, not just on Sunday.  I need to stop swearing.  I know this affects my witness.” While she looked down and began to cry, another woman crossed the room and gently put her hand on her shoulder as others prayed aloud for her.
Pastor Adam Houston observed that one of his favorite parts of the weekend was “the prayer time that the visiting team held before each of the sessions.  It was so sweet as a pastor to hear the visiting team members praying for the very same things I had been praying for our church over the last three months.  Their prayers spoke of the Holy Spirit moving in a way that we had never seen before, and that prayer was answered.  They also prayed that people would take a truthful look at their lives and confess and repent of sin, and that prayer was answered as well.”

RENEWED RELATIONSHIPS
Often, Renewal weekends lead to new relationships within the church. People actually meet, talk with and get to know others they never knew before. Diane Kreuger, a member of Southbury Baptist (Southbury, CT) when asked what she liked about the weekend commented, “I’ve really seen the walls come down in people. We have gotten to build new relationships with people we never knew.”  Cherie Bouchard, a member of Providence Baptist (Epping, NH) agreed when she said, “It was a real blessing to be apart of this. I feel that God really moved all who attended and that our lives will never be the same. God was moving among the church and all felt it. I feel closer to the body in the church and got to know people I had not known before.”
Some, like Little River Baptist (Belfast, ME) experience restored relationships. Their pastor, Scott Baker, shared, “There was an overwhelming sense of God’s presence among us last night and there was a strong sense of closeness to each other.  Many walls were broken down in people’s lives.  People were more open and honest with each other than I have ever witnessed!  We have all drawn closer together as a result of this weekend.  Some relationships that had been strained were even restored!  People were spontaneously praying for each other both during the service and afterwards!  No one wanted to leave!  Some of us were still there an hour after the service officially ended!“
The most important new relationship of all is that with Jesus Christ, and frequently in Renewal, the Lord transforms lives. At Southbury Baptist before the end of the weekend, three teenagers gave their lives to Christ and requested to be baptized.

RENEWED BODY LIFE
Many come to a Renewal weekend with mixed perceptions of what is going to happen. Associate Pastor Mike Sperring (Haverhill Community, Haverhill, MA) said, “Many here mistakenly believed they were going to hear about methods and how to be a better church, but were pleasantly surprised that it was more about body life and Jesus Christ.”
It is as though adults in churches, many of whom send their teens off to special weekend retreats or week long camps, never get to enjoy living, praying and worshiping with one another in a retreat or camp environment themselves. Renewal weekend brings the whole family together under one roof and, as it was at Little River Baptist, they don’t want to go home when the worship is over!  Their Sunday evening evaluation service started at 6:00 p.m. and concluded at 11:00 p.m.!  God showed up in a mighty way.
Pastor Houston of Providence Baptist said, “Prayers were lifted for the church family to be drawn closer together as a result of the weekend.  It was very evident that God answered that prayer.  I believe that evidence was seen in my second favorite part of the weekend, the Catacomb Service on Saturday night.” The Catacomb Service is a reflective worship service done as the persecuted Church of Rome might have done it in the first century, when Christians were forced to meet in the dark catacombs under the city, and had to sing and recite scripture from memory. Pastor Houston continued, “This service was unique.  We were told that we could not use our Bibles or song sheets and that there was no order to the service.  As a pastor I really figured we would be done quickly and that there would be a lot of time spent in silence waiting for someone to share something.  Boy, was I wrong!  The service had very little silence and the sharing was amazing.  Many tears were shed and requests for forgiveness were made and forgiveness was given.  Scriptures were shared in response to a brother or sister sharing a blessing or a trial.  The people of the church found through the times of sharing that they were not alone in the trials of life and that many shared some of the same blessings.  The service lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes!  What a blessing to see God work in the hearts of His people.”
Equally, Renewal weekends are a great blessing to pastors who labor all year long for such spiritual ‘ah ha’ moments and witness the Lord doing something so refreshing among lay people. One pastor (Larry Bostian, Unity Baptist Church) wrote: “In the book, My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers said, ‘We all have moments when we feel better than our best.’ That is exactly how I felt during our Lay Renewal Weekend. What a tremendous experience!”

RENEWED MISSION ZEAL
Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. (2 Cor. 4:6 MSG)
If I say: I won't mention Him  or speak any longer in His name, His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.  (Jer. 20:9 HCSB)
Pastor Baker observed the power of Christ at their Renewal, “WOW!  How can I begin to adequately describe to you in words how incredible last night’s celebration was?  A passage of Scripture comes to mind out of Psalms. In Psalm 67:3 it says ‘Let the people’s praise You, God; let all the peoples praise You.’  That is exactly what happened for 4 hours last night!  That’s right, 4 hours!!  Person after person came forward and just praised God for what He had done in their lives over the weekend!  It was so incredible to hear testimony after testimony! ...  I honestly believe that all of our lives have been changed because of this weekend and I really believe our church will never be the same!”
Whether young or old, we all need a fresh encounter with God, gaining new strength and vigor for Christ’s mission and the ministry for which He has called us. This can come through personal spiritual disciplines as well as corporate worship and experience. The Holy Spirit uses Renewal to recharge the batteries of the body. This can happen in churches without pastors like Haverhill Community and Southbury Baptist. Bob Erricson, a Renewal leader some years ago and a deacon at Haverhill said, “Our spirits are definitely renewed. Now we want to disciple our existing members and use small groups as instrument to reach fiends and neighbors for Christ.”  Renewal can help churches transition to new models of ministry, particularly small groups. Congregations without regular home or church small groups can be led to start them after their Renewal weekends, especially as they continue on to any of the other four weekends of Church Renewal Journey. The BCNE’s Transformational Leadership team has committed to work along side churches that desire to take the next step of growing their disciple making.

Last summer, a group of people began praying through the Laws of the Harvest evangelism strategy of the BCNE Evangelism Team.  The strategy encouraged BCNE churches to concentrate on spiritual awakening and to focus on Jesus as the Lord of the Harvest in 2008.  As this group prayed, God began working behind the scenes to invite and prepare churches all over New England to participate in Lay Renewal events.  The exciting reports we are hearing about God’s intervention in His New England churches are all we hoped for and more.  God is bringing revival and blessing across the BCNE through Church Renewal Journey (CRJ) and wherever Renewals have been held, the same good news is being heard.  We thank the Lord for the sacrifice of those CRJ team members who traveled from great distances to begin a CRJ movement here in NE. We especially thank the Lord for Bob and Phyllis Foy, national missionaries for CRJ. Their tireless efforts on behalf of Christ and their embracing New England in a bold step of faith have shown us all a great example of Christ likeness.  This is a wonderful gift the Lord has given us to use as a means of reviving the church and encouraging the saints. We encourage you to pray about having a renewal weekend in your church. We also pray that you will consider volunteering as a team member or coordinator. Call our office and we will be happy to come and present and overview of how CRJ can happen in your fellowship.  We are making plans now for the second wave to begin in Fall 08.

BACKGROUND

PRAYER REQUESTS 

Here are several specific prayer requests for reNEw 08

1.  Pray that Christ through these Renewals would ignite and call out church members from New England to be involved in this great ministry in the months ahead. Pray God would raise up a Coordinator from New England.
2.    Pray that more churches would consider learning about Renewal and perhaps considering having one at their church.