Issue No.

33, May 2012

Praise and Glory to God:

God continues to provide faithfully for Renewal in every way, encouraging us weekly as He continues to build our church body in number and spiritual growth. God consistently provides opportunities for us to love and serve our city well through local church partnerships and events like Easter in the Park. God continues to grow our adult, youth, student, and college ministries, as well as our Small

Groups which meet weekly at various locations across the city. God has blessed us with another great group of college kids who will be serving this summer on mission for His glory.

Renewal Church Prayer Needs:

Continue to pray for our elders, that He would guard and protect them as they shepherd well. Pray for our elders as they seek to know and discern Gods will for our church, particularly as they consider a more permanent meeting location. Pray that God would continue to grow our people and families daily, and pray that we would faithfully seek to multiply disciples in our neighborhoods and communities this summer. Pray for missions partnerships and opportunities, both locally and abroad, as we seek to multiply disciples for His glory. Pray that God would raise up missionaries among us.

counting the many people who were visiting the park and paused to listen as they walked in the park. Would you pray with us that these seeds 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of planted in the lives of those in attendance and God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and strangers who passed by would take root in their acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the hearts and result in fruit? We are thankful for renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what other churches in Greenville, like Summit is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Church, who love Jesus and desire to see (Romans 12:1-2) disciples of His made in Greenville and are willing to partner with other churches to see this We began this month by finishing the book of Jonah accomplished. and seeing Gods great mercy and grace as He invites Jonah to join him in His work in the world. Sadly, Jonah does not accept the invitation and instead gets caught up in his pursuit of a comfortable life. This was a great challenge to us at Renewal as we left our comfort zone at Greenville Tech to join with Summit Church on Easter Sunday in Falls Park.

Renewed Love for God

Romans 5:1-11 showed us that the resurrection proved that God has declared us (those who believe) not guilty of our sin. Death was the payment for sin and conquering death through the resurrection was how God showed we are justified. We were encouraged to kill sin, not to earn our justification, but because we are justified. Out of our thankfulness, knowing that we have peace with God, we have access to and hope in Him. As a result we find the desire and ability to kill the sin in our lives daily. In Romans 5:12-21, we were encouraged to claim our identity either we are in Adam or we are in Christ. For those in Adam, sin is your nature. There is no hope to fight sin because sin is who you are. For those in Christ, there is great joy in knowing that we were depraved sinners who, through faith, have been declared righteous saints! There is great hope to fight sin because our identity has changed: we are saints, new creations, born again. We must live in this new man and put off the old man. Romans 6:1-14 built on these ideas by reminding that those who are believers have died to sin and should continue to die daily to our sin. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin (Romans 6:5-6). Praise be to God that we are no longer enslaved to sin. We are not under the law, but under grace!

God graciously invited us to be part of His grand story that He is writing in Greenville of churches partnering together to spread the glorious news of the Gospel to our city. We saw over 700 people in attendance at our Easter service in Falls Park, not

After Easter, we began a new series entitled, Killing Sin. Most know that belief in Christ as the Son of God who died and was raised to life is necessary for salvation, and most celebrate this belief once a year on Easter. But few of us recognize how the resurrection applies to our daily lives as believers. In Killing Sin, we are walking through Romans 5-8, examining how the resurrection justifies those who believe and gives us the power and desire to kill sin in our lives as we are sanctified.

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Renewed in Relationships

Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. (Acts 2:46)

Partnering for the Gospel

April was a jam-packed month around Renewal. As we mentioned earlier, we were blessed to be able to hold our Easter service outdoors at Falls Park in Downtown Greenville. God continues to grant us partnerships with gospel-minded churches like Summit to allow us better capabilities to share the gospel with those in and around the Upstate.

We had a great line-up of guest teachers who, along with our own elders, lead our folks through biblical teaching and application of gender roles as God designed them to be. We had gender-specific breakout sessions for men and women, allowing us to go deeper in our study together. Would you join us in prayer that God would continue to use this time to grow our men and women into the disciples He created us to be?

for the coming year. We have the teaching calendar mapped out for the year, and we've made big plans for our Small Group, Family and College ministries. Please pray that the Lord would take our efforts and do something huge for His fame.

Man Up 2012
Our men got together during April for our annual Man Up discipleship retreat. We enjoyed some great time in the Word, in study, and in prayer. As you might imagine, we also spent some quality time doing lots of manly things like eating, playing games, and shooting guns.

Mother-Daughter Night Out

Our moms and daughters had the chance to spend a great night together on April 20th. They went out for dinner and then attended a concert featuring Mandisa and Laura Story.

In addition to the main service on Easter Sunday, we gathered with our sponsor church, Kingdom Life Community Church, for a special time of worship and teaching on Good Friday. Pastor Alex Sands and the folks at Kingdom Life have been such a blessing to Renewal throughout our first two years, and we look forward to continued opportunities to worship and partner with other churches for His glory.

It is important that our parents and children get to share these types of experiences in fellowship with other brothers and sisters at Renewal. We continue to praise God for the way He is building close relationships in and between our families, and that these relationships are producing fruit for the further sanctification of our people and church.

We are grateful for the time together to sharpen one another, and we pray that God would continue to grow us into more godly men with a great passion for His glory.

How You Can Give to Support What God's Doing at Renewal

Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. (Acts 2:45)

Elder Conference and Retreat

Also this month, the elders of Renewal were sent by a partnering church to Louisville for a conference called Together 4 the Gospel. The three days were a great blessing to the guys as it was an opportunity for them to see some dear brothers that are church planting in other cities. The time was refreshing to sit under some strong gospel preaching from David Platt, Thabiti Anyabwile, John Piper, and others. The following Friday night after Easter we held another Foundations event, focusing this time on what the Bible teaches us about gender. The guys came back encouraged and equipped to put some things into place at Renewal. Not to mention, they got a great deal of strategic planning done in the 14 hours of drive time. In addition, the entire staff went on a mini retreat to the mountains of western North Carolina to plan out ministry for 2012-2013 year. Each staff member reported on his area of responsibility by celebrating what the Lord has done, evaluating what has happened in the past year, and dreaming

Thank you again for your commitment to give to Renewal Church! Your faithfulness has been a blessing to our church and our efforts in the city. See the following information on how to give: By check Place a check in the pre-labeled envelope along with a stamp, and mail to Renewal Church 4 Davis Keats Drive, Greenville, SC 29607 Online Go to www.renewalchurch.cc and click on Online Giving at the bottom of the home page. Click Register to give a one time gift. Automatic Draft Go to www.renewalchurch.cc and click on Online Giving at the bottom of the home page. Click Register to complete your automatic draft. A few reminders: All gifts are tax deductible Please make us aware of any address changes or changes to your giving so we can make the necessary adjustments. Send an email to church@renewalchurch.cc to update your information!

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