Issue No.

24, August 2011

Join us in thanking God for His provision and grace in our lives in the following ways:
Weve moved into our new home at Greenville Tech! God continues to raise up leaders and faithful servants among us. God continues to bring new families and students to Renewal each week. We continue to see much growth in our people through small groups, which will expand again in the fall. He continues to provide and nurture

relationships within our city for the sake of the Gospel and missional engagement. God continues to provide opportunities for us to serve our church and missions partners around the world.

Prayer Needs:
Pray for our new home at Greenville Tech and how God will use that for His glory. Pray for our elders, that He would guard and protect them as they lead and shepherd well. Pray that we would have many opportunities to share the gospel in our new community. Pray for continued growth, knowledge, and sanctification for our people and church. Pray that God would continue to raise up leaders and servants to partner with us as we go forth to make disciples in our city and around the world. Pray for our new Student Ministry as well as our College Ministry with school beginning again.

Renewed Love for God

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. (Romans 15:1-2)

Over the past month weve continued through the Blueprint series, studying Leviticus slowly and pulling out the connections between this Old Testament book and the fulfillment of Jesus in the New Testament. Our convictions solidified during this study that God is the Lead Pastor, the Chief Shepherd of His church, and that our job is to follow His leading and obey His calling. The elders of Renewal are doing a superb job of pursuing and actively seeking God together in our location, other church plants we partner with, the teaching of Scripture, and in the many other decisions that must be made. Please continue to pray with us for our elders, Matt, Toby, and Hugh, as they lead us in obedience to and love for Jesus.

to avoid offering unauthorized fire to the Lord as Nadab and Abihu did. After hearing the Lords commands, they disregarded His words and offered a sacrifice without following Gods prescribed instructions, and were killed because of their disobedience. In our individual lives and corporately as a church, we desire to obey Gods word because of the grace shown us in Jesus and because His commands result in His glory and our good. Leviticus 11 built on Gods holiness and authority by giving laws designed to teach His people how to discern between what is clean and unclean through an act they do everyday: eating. God wisely gave laws about what foods were clean and unclean so that we would learn to question all of our decisions, even seemingly inconsequential decisions, to discern whether they glorify God or something other than God. Individually and corporately, we desire to discern and pursue what is clean, holy, and God glorifying. Leviticus 12-15 finished the month by giving laws for infectious skin diseases. Many in the Church today skip over parts of the Bible like this, thinking they have no relevance to our present world or life. Matt instructed the Body that these laws on infectious diseases were a picture given to the people of God of sin and its consequences. As these diseases are contagious, ravage the body with pain, and force us outside of

communion with God and His people, our sin also can be passed to others, have painful consequences, and force us from communion with God and His people. Yet in the midst of this reality, Jesus pursues sinful man and offers grace that cleanses from all sin. Individually and corporately, we desire to put off our sinful nature, put on Jesus, and pursue a sinful world with the same grace weve been given in the gospel.

We Are In Our New Home!

July proved to be an important month in the life of Renewal as we again followed Gods leading to move the location and time of our service to Greenville Tech, gathering on Sunday nights.

Toby continued in Leviticus 10, lovingly warning us

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Most in our congregation have attended a church gathering on Sunday mornings for many years, so the move has encouraged us to put aside our comfort and traditions to see the gospel advanced as we reach out to segments of our population who might never attend a traditional Sunday morning service.

Renewed in Relationships Girls Night Out

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)

the nature of the church, and in the responsibilities of all believers. He went on to explain that the primary aim of small group ministry is the pursuit of sanctification so that believers can encourage one another in lasting gospel change. In small group ministry, we can join together in the mission of God and proclaim a corporate witness to the city. Small groups at Renewal are integral in pursuing our Five Core Values, and serve as one of our primary means of discipleship. Matt also taught on some of the practical aspects of leading a discussion aimed at biblical application and doing accountability time. Another big win in our small group ministry will be having collegiate groups meeting on campus. We hope to have two girls groups and at least one guys group. Having groups that meet on campus has the potential for major impact as many students are not connected in any way to a local church.

Renewal was able to provide much-needed backpacks and school supplies to Mitchell Road Elementary as well, a local school with which God has graciously allowed us to partner over the past year.

Coming Soon
August 28th will be a BIG Sunday at Renewal! That day marks the beginning of a new year, if you will, as we will have made the full transition to Tech, our college students will all be back in town, and we will be kicking off a new series titled, Bound: The Call of 1 John. To celebrate the big day we will be throwing a Welcome Back Bash after our service that night, complete with lots of BBQ, sides, and sweet tea.

We recently had a great time of fun and fellowship with the young ladies in our newly formed student small group. Our mothers and daughters met at the Dix home for a night of makeovers, manicures, and hairstyling, complete with a fashion show at the end. This was a great opportunity for our girls to learn about inner beauty, how God sees them, and how they should see themselves accordingly as they allow Gods beautiful, created design to shine through in their lives.

Student Small Group

Our new small group for grade-school students is now meeting on Wednesday nights, and we pray for all that God is going to do in and through these students in weeks, months, and years to come. Currently we are reading and working through the book, Do Hard Things, by Alex and Brett Harris. Our students are being challenged by this study to get outside of their comfort zones in order to be used greatly by God. In addition, with our move to Greenville Tech, our grade-school students will be participating in our entire service with their families. We are excited about the opportunity this presents for them to learn from their parents and adult leaders, as well as having the opportunity to take part in all that we do, sharing and maturing along the way. Please join us in praying for these students and their small group in the coming months. In addition, we are excited to have Dan Carroll and his family joining Renewal. Dan will coordinate and lead our college ministry efforts. Dans background is in student ministry, and he and his wife Kelly have a son, Jake (pictured above).

Wed love for you to join us if you can as it promises to be great night of food, fun, and fellowship as we celebrate all God has done over the summer and all that we are trusting Him for in the fall.

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

Renewed in Love & Service

...And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47)

Community Engagement
With the new school year upon us, we were blessed to have the opportunity to partner with other local churches to stock and give away 1,600 backpacks full of school supplies to children in our communities.

Thank you again for your commitment to give to Renewal Church! 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 - 201 B. West Butler Rd. #151, Mauldin, S.C. 29662 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!

Renewed Through Study

Hugh set the goal to launch 6-8 new small groups this fall, and we took a big step toward that goal this month as several new group leaders got together for a time of training. Hugh began by casting vision for the value of biblical community evidenced in both the Old and New Testaments,

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