Renovo Life

Mission, Values, and Vision

magdiel218 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:40:03 +0000

Sounds easy right? Just write down your mission statement, your core values and your vision and you’re ready to go. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours…Yeah right! We’re going on three days of working on this stuff and I have to say, although we have been blessed by the results and progress, we still have much to do. I don’t mean to sound negative about the experience because, in all honesty, I love it. I am so excited to be working on this part of the process with Van and Michael (and of course the girls…Jenny sometimes). I wish Josh and Lilly could be here for the discussions as well, but we know that they will very soon.

I just wanted to post what we have so far for those of you out there reading this blog regularly. More importantly, for those of you who have been praying for us. You are just as much a part of this as anyone of us. so, here it is…Enjoy!

Renovo Church

Mission:

Renovo Church exists to glorify God by being on mission to see transformation in people’s lives, in our community, and in our world through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Core Values:

Transformation – A life long process of being changed through an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and through the Bible.

(2 Cor. 3:18 – And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.)

Community – A body of believers learning to worship God together in every aspect of our lives.

(Acts 4:32 – All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.)

Mission – A partnership with God to bring restoration to our world, both locally and globally.

(Eph 2:10 – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do)

Vision: To revive, renew, and restore the city of Cape Coral

Revive – to bring to life; to be made alive in Christ
1. Displaying authentic lives of faith.
2. Intentional sharing of our grace stories.
3. Loving others as God has loved us.
4. Showing compassion and hospitality to the broken and marginalized.

Renew – the process of being changed and transformed
1. The teaching and study of God’s word
2. Equipping disciples who reproduce disciples
3. Living in community through small groups
4. Gathering to worship as a church body
5. Discovering and implementing our spiritual gifts

Restore – The mission of going to the world with the gospel
1. Mobilizing our people to serve the community
2. Partnering with local churches to reach SW Florida
3. Planting missional churches to reduce lostness
4. Adopting a nation to invest our resources

Bobby, Jeffrey, and Me

magdiel218 — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:45:26 +0000

I had to share what God is doing with me because I couldn’t hold it in and I want you all to see how God can use our workplace as a place for ministry. As you all know, I work for Literacy Volunteers of Lee County. We help people who want to learn English as a second language or people who need to improve their reading, writing, spelling, or grammar in general. Bobby came to our office about a month ago. He’s in his mid fourties and needs help with his overall English. He can speak it and he can read it, but he has trouble spelling and writing. I had been contemplating becoming a tutor because I saw that I could use this time to befriend someone who I could serve by offering classes, so when I met Bobby, I decided he would be my first student. We met yesterday for the first time to start class. Bobby works on boats and is kind of a rough around the edges type of guy. He doesn’t show a lot of emotions and he is guarded in his openness. The class went well and I am trying to slowly get to know him as a person and show kindness through our time together on Thursdays. He’s been through a lot in his life and things just haven’t seemed to go his way, but hopefully God will use our time together to reach him and draw him to the cross.

Then there is Jeffrey. He is from Jamaica. He has two children there and he is married here. Jeffrey has a good understanding of God. He says he reads the Bible daily and tries to follow him. We had our first class today. It was awesome! We talked and talked for about 3 hrs. Even after the class time was over. Jeffrey is more open and willing to share his life experiences. He realizes that he needs God, but has a vague understanding of the role Jesus plays in all of it. We spent most of our time together discussing Jesus and what the Gospel is all about. I’m not sure if he gets it yet, but I am hopeful that through time, he will be drawn to the truth and and be transformed. He is a genuine guy and really wants God in his life. I had the opportunity to pray with him before he left and it was great to see the surprise in his face as he realized that I have his best interest at heart. Please, keep Bobby and Jeffrey in your prayers.

So…what about me? I am humbled. I am humbled to think that God would use in the lives of these two different men, but in need of the same kindness and love that was offered to us through Jesus. I am certainly not worthy of being used in this way, but all the glory goes to God. I am starting to see things differently. It’s not about trying to find a perfect place to do ministry or to minister. All we need to do is look around and see people who need Jesus, then get to work. I hope this serves as a testimony that God is at work while we are at work, but He’s always there before us.

Lower the bar; Raise the bar

magdiel218 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:55:23 +0000

I started to read Organic Church again (thanks Mikey) and I came accross a part where Neil Cole is describing the beginning of their explosion to more than 800 churches started in 6 years. The quote is this…”We want to lower the bar on how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple.” That, to me, describes exactly how I feel about this journey we are embarking on. Why is it that we complicate things so much? For me, I think there still remains some old school tendencies when it comes to how I view “church.” It’s so difficult to get away from years of training (brainwashing) on how church should look, feel, or function. I am so ready to start making disciples. I want to see people mature and grow in Christ, use their gifts, talents and resources to make more disciples. And..when they do it, they do it because they understand the organic nature of God’s Kingdom. My goodness…I have so much to learn! I thank God that he has brought us here together to learn and grow and encourage one another to live Kingdom minded. As Cole says at the start of this book…Ride out with me! Let’s do battle for the souls of every man, woman and child (or boy for Van), making disciples who make disciples.

Dreaming

Michael Girado — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:16:58 +0000

A while ago, Van posted a question on this blog. The point of the post was to show how as we mature as Christians our views of the Church change, hopefully for the better. As I was reading The Multiplying Church I came across this great quote from Bob Roberts Jr. that reminded me of this blog.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with dreaming…. But the question is, Where do you start in your dreaming – the church or the world outside the church? That determines everything. It determines how you organize, where you engage, and how you prioritize. The reality is that we’ve been starting with the “church” stuff and have done very little to engage the community and society as we always say we plan to do. What if someone started with transformation first?”

“My view of the kingdom of God has come so far. I used to belieive that if only I could get people converted and into a church, we would change society. I was wrong. Until we see the kingdom of God as the plan of God in its entirety, we will never impact society. If transformation is taking place – personally, in the family, in the church, in the community, and in the nation – it’s a sure sign that the kingdom is present. A kingdom church encompasses every sphere, sector, and domain of public and privat life.”

This is a very challanging way of seeing the church: that the church would be invloved in every domain of life. I pray that we would begin to dream in this way!

What if Instead?

magdiel218 — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:28:35 +0000

There’s a piece in the book The Multiplying Church that struck me as I read and I wanted to share it with everyone. The part in the book is where Bob Roberts is discussing different motivations for starting churches in Chapter 4. He believes that transformation is really the only viable reason to start a new church because he feels that it will inevitably incorporate all of the other good motivations. As he (Roberts) is reflecting on his motivations for starting his church he asks “what if instead of dreaming of a 7,000 seat worship center, I dreamed of clinics, schools, and community centers in the inner city? What if instead of envisioning 150 – Acre campus, I saw orphanages around the world and micro-enterprises? What if instead of longing for about 100 full-time ministry staff, we had 1,000 staff located all over the world? What if instead of wishing for half the community to attend our local church, the community threw parties to thank our church for all the things it was doing in the community?” What a powerful thought. I wonder…what would be our “what if instead?” in this community.

Here and There and Everywhere!

magdiel218 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 03:52:49 +0000

It was God who came up with the idea of seeds. In His wisdom, He understood the potential of one seed to multiply over and over again. In our Bible study this week I learned a simple, but valuable expression of how we, as church planters, should think about the potential in one person who is reached or even one small group that is started and even still one church that is planted here or in a another country. The expression goes like this…It’s not how many seeds are in an apple, but how many trees there are in a seed. Looking at church planting this way is crucial to how we pray, how we give, and how we love.

There is no doubt that God has called us to plant a church here, but that’s only scratching the surface of what I believe God has in store for us if we are willing to believe in the potential of the seeds we plant in another country as well. Does this mean we have to be loaded financially to make a real impact…by no means! I think God has given us an abundance of resources that we can tap into to make an immediate impact in other places. Let’s begin to pray that God would make it clear to us where we should turn our attention to as a church so that we can begin to plan and act toward that goal.

Pissing on Walls

van — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:22:50 +0000

I am dumbfounded…

The Day of Small Beginnings

van — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:49:37 +0000

“Do not despise the day of small beginnings” were words spoken to me at chapel service my freshmen year in college. Well sure, it wasn’t directed to me, but it spoke volumes.

How is it that big dreams have such humble beginnings at times? Whether it is starting a business, a new position, a project, or even a church. I guess it is God’s way of grounding us and to commend us to be faithful.

When God appeared to Moses in a burning bush he laid some pretty lofty and over ambitious task at his lap. Ok Moses free the slaves from Egypt and you’re not going to do it Jack Bauer style your actually going to tell Pharaoh you’re doing it… oh and tell him that I AM sent you. Moses is like, you want me to do what? Maybe if you gave me something more compelling like a machine gun or bring Chuck Norris along, then they will be convinced.

Then God responds in a peculiar question. What is in your hand? Moses responds, “a stick”

It is as if God is telling Moses, work with what you have now and be faithful in what I have entrusted you with.

What is in my hand?… to simply be. Be a husband, barista, friend, minister, disciple… and be faithful to what I have been entrusted with. After all it was Jesus who said that he will build his church.

On Monday Renovo had its first small group meeting, it was simple, but God seemed so real.

I enjoyed it. I do not despise it.

I do not despise the day of small beginnings.

Our First Meeting

van — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:30:06 +0000

| View Show | Create Your Own

renovo welcome

magdiel218 — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:50:53 +0000

Today is a historic day in the life of renovo church. Five members of the founding team have come to live in the SW Florida area. Michael, Jessica and Emery Girado (Worship Leader, Wedding Planner, and Baby) have a great view of the stars at night in their new home in NE Cape Coral, where I think I’ll be living sometime soon. Van and Jenny Ibasan, who moved over in January, have settled into their cozy apartment in Ft. Myers. Lord willing, sometime in the near future, the Lugo family will join us here in “The Cape.”

I am extremely excited about what the future holds. God has been so faithful and gracious to us over the last year and I believe we can expect even more blessings in the coming months. Please keep Michael in prayer as he is seeking employment. We believe God will provide the right job for him, (with benefits) and flexible hours. Pray for the Lugo’s that God would lead and direct them as they seek to be Kingdom minded in their decisions. God has used Carlos powerfully in my life over the last few months and I know he and his family would be an amazing asset to the renovo family.

Also…please, keep Louelyn and I in your prayers as we plan for our wedding in May. There’s much to do and time is ticking fast. Most of all I just wanted to express how blessed I am to be surrounded by such amazing people who truly grasp the meaning of “renovo.” Thanks for coming along for the journey…It’s gonna be one crazy ride!