Restoration is a network of house churches.
We make disciples, gather together, and
equip people to minister.
About
Restoration is a church that is designed to make disciples, gather together, and get equipped. We exist to glorify God by making disciples together. We are different than a lot of churches. Instead of a large building and a lot of programming, we keep it simple. Our church meets in coffeehouses, parks, and homes to keep cost low and maximize our ability to make disciples and fellowship together
At Restoration, we believe that people make disciples better than programs. We don't offer a lot of activities to keep you busy; we offer the Word of God taught clearly and faithfully, discipleship, and fellowship. Have you ever gone to a church with good music and good teaching but where no one would notice if you were gone? We don't let that happen, because we have a lot of small groups rather than one large one (though we sometimes get everyone together for special times of worship, teaching, and prayer). It is hard to be forgotten when everybody knows your name.
You may be searching for meaning or for help in the midst of some crisis. You may be searching for answers or just for meaningful relationships. Either way, you might find that the faithful Word of God is taught here.
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together.”
Multiplication
Fundamental to our church's method is the belief that everyone can make disciples. This means everyone has a role to play in Jesus' restoration of the world. We all make disciples as we become disciples. We teach you how.
“Church planting is disciple making with a healthy byproduct. ”
Make Disciples
Discipleship Groups
Discipleship groups of 2-3 people meeting together to abide in Christ together through prayer, Scripture, and fellowship are the critical nucleus of our church. Every disciple makes disciples. Our church grows at the cellular level through discipleship.
House Churches
Groups of 7-14 adults and any number of kids gather weekly to spur one another to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24-25) through fellowship, prayer, Scripture, communion/food, and baptism. House church is like a family get together!
Underground Seminary
We train as many people for ministry as possible in advanced theology, apologetics, house church planting and facilitation, discipleship, practical ministry, and more. We want to train every believer for ministry as we multiply house churches!
Vision
Our vision is to see Jesus make all things new through he power of the Gospel (Revelation 21:5). Restoration is a beautiful thing. It is our word for putting things right again, for making things new. This world, and every person in it has been damaged. All that is wrong with this world has broken us and is being broken by us. However, Jesus is making all things new (Revelation 21:4-5). We are a group of people who have had glimpses of His restoration and we want to see more.
MISSION
To glorify God by becoming and making disciples of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20). God is the one making all things new, but He has invited us into the process. We live restoration through the gospel of Jesus as He puts things right in our lives, our relationships, and the communities where we live. You will note that graphic illustrations for our vision and mission look identical. There is a reason. Jesus is the one making all things new, making disciples is how we take part in His redemptive work.
Becoming a Disciple
Our Invitation: Hear the Gospel. Trust Jesus. Follow Him. Church can seem overwhelming from the outside. Most of us have baggage about church. For some of us it is associated with keeping up appearances. For others church reminds them of past hurts. The result is that many of us end up feeling like we want a connection with God but don't see how church can help with that. We'd like to give you the opportunity to connect with God again.
Hear the Gospel. Just come and see (John 1:46). See us love God and love each other. Hear the truth of God’s Word taught.
Trust Jesus. Repent of your sin, and put your trust in Christ for His atoning death and resurrection (Romans 10:9-10).
Follow Jesus. Become like Jesus by loving God and loving people, abiding in Him and His Word, fellowshipping with His Church, and making disciples (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 12:30-31).
Making Disciples
Our Expectation for Christians: Pray. Witness. Disciple. The only reason you are still on this earth as a Christian is to abide in Jesus (John 15) and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Too many Christians think that their job is to grow in Christ and attend church while church staff makes disciples. At Restoration, EVERY disciple makes disciples. We don't have a lot of programs. We equip one another to make disciples and we all do it in our daily lives.
Pray. Pray for God to send more laborers (Luke 10:2), for God to empower you to witness (Acts 1:8), and for God to draw people to Jesus (John 6:44).
Witness. Know your story of salvation, understand the gospel, and speak it as the Holy Spirit empowers you to do so (Acts 1:8).
Disciple. Help people grow in Christ. We have a Make Disciples training to help you know what to do, and Pastor Dan wrote a book on the topic.
Events
Values
MULTIPLICATION
We believe in reproducing disciple-makers and churches. More than building up, we seek to build out, planting house churches and networks across the world (Matthew 28:18-20).
PRIESTHOOD of every BELIEVER
The priesthood of every believer is the foundation of how we do simple church (1 Peter 2:9). Every believer has a role to make disciples.
FELLOWSHIP
Every believer is connected through Christ and we are built up and equipped as we come together to spur one another to good works as we cling to the hope of the gospel (Hebrews 10:23-25).
EVERY PEOPLE GROUP
We are a church of many ages, income levels, ethnicities, and languages (Matthew 28:19). The Kingdom of God is diverse, and we want to help get the gospel to every people group as we see the Kingdom reflected in the Church.
COMPASSION
We practice care, mercy, justice, and benevolence in the church and in the world based on God’s standards, not man’s. We meet one another's needs as well as the needs of people outside the Church as the Lord directs (Matt. 25:31ff)
KINGDOM TRANSFORMATION
The Kingdom of God is meant to work its way into the world and change it for the good (Matthew 13:33). As we make disciples we teach them to obey God’s commands and enjoy the benefits that come with being a part of God’s Kingdom.
“In our Love INC work of mobilizing the church to transform lives, we see beauty of God advancing His kingdom through many different churches. There’s no question that Amherst needs a church like Restoration Church.”
Beliefs
We are reformed baptist in our doctrine. If you don’t know that that means, it means we pretty much believe what faithful Christians have always believed, based on the Bible. We believe that ultimately, everything comes back to Jesus. He is fully God and fully human. He lived a perfect life and died to pay for everything you and I ever did wrong and ever will do wrong. He rose from the dead, proving His deity and affirming that we have hope. Want to know more? Have a look.
People
Relationships. The gospel is inherently relational. Jesus restores our relationship with God and through Him our relationship with people can be restored as well. We believe in putting others first and seeking to love like Christ (Philippines 2, 1 Corinthians 13). We also believe that something special happens when God's people come together. Together, God's people are the Temple of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 2:5) and every believer is a priest in that temple. This means that God moves in a unique and powerful way when we come together. It also means that every believer has ministry gifts that need to be used regularly (1 Corinthians 12-14). Coming together to minister and serve is incredibly important! At Restoration, we meet regularly and encourage everyone to use the gifts God has given them in orderly ways and for the building up of others. Also, when we get together, we almost always have communion to celebrate Jesus atoning work and to stay connected to one another. We also like to eat meals together just about every time we meet. At least for now, people are imperfect, so we are not naive to think there will never be problems between people. However, we are finding that when we allow the Holy Spirit to work as we practice biblical community, healthy relationships form over time. As a result, we are blessed to have a wide diversity of ages, gender, wealth, and ethnicity that we believe reflects the Kingdom of God.
Authority: Our church is led by a team of c0-equal elders submitting to the Word of God and under the authority of Christ. Each of our elders is required to meet the biblical qualifications for shepherds (Titus 1:5-9, 1 Timothy 3:1-7). In addition to leading individual house churches, the elders meet monthly to pray, counsel one another, and make decisions together. You can find out more about our leadership here.