Forgotten God: Jesus & the Spirit

Often forgotten but an equal member of the Godhead, the role and work of the Holy Spirit is vital to our regeneration and understanding of God. Join us as we explore the role of the Holy Spirit in the Life and Incarnation of Jesus and what their relationship can teach us about what our own experience of the Holy Spirit can be today.

Sundays @ Fenway Church (September 18, 25, October 2)

www.fenwaychurch.org

Moments to Movements II (The Catalyst)

Part II: The Catalyst
For moments to cause real, transforming change, they must become movements. A martyr's death is inspiring. A preacher's words can thrill souls. The stories of sacrifice bring tears to our eyes. The death of a friend causes us to pause and ponder. Rarely though do these moments become a movements, rarely do they cause us to fight more battles and give our own lives. Yet moments that become movements change the very fiber of society, they shake nations, and move history forward.

Biblically, what is the catalyst that takes a moment and makes a movement?

The two of the most compelling moments in history were Jesus' death and resurrection. Yet on their own they yielded no immediate changes in the city of Jerusalem or the nation of Israel. Jesus knew his moment needed a catalyst to become a movement. So, he gave his followers final instructions. He told them to wait. Not a passive waiting, not a reflective waiting, an active waiting. It was the re-positioning of their lives and their priorities. What was the catalyst Jesus pointed them to? The catalyst was prayer.

A person can shape a moment, but only PEOPLE (plural) can create a movement. Catalytic events are never caused by a singular person but by a GROUP of people who become desperate enough to give of their time and themselves to a cause.

For ten days, ALL of Jesus' followers gave themselves daily to prayer.1 They didn't exactly know what would happen. They didn't fully know what to expect. But, they knew they had a cause worth living for. So, they positioned themselves before God. Acknowledging their need for power, acknowledging their need for love, their need for courage, their need for Him.

It was from the catalytic place of united, persistent prayer that suddenly heaven invaded a room. The windows flew open and the doors flung wide. So effective was this catalyst that within hours 120 people had been transformed into a living, dynamic community of thousands who had suddenly found a cause worth dying for (and die they did).

The catalyst is no different today. Many of us at Celebration Northeast experienced a moment on Saturday night that powerfully reminded us how great the cause is. However, it will be nothing more than a moment unless we embrace THE catalyst for change.

The Biblical mandate has never changed. We must shift our priorities from wicked and worthless pursuits to the place of corporately and humbly coming together to acknowledge our need in prayer.

Every moment needs a catalyst to become a movement. Are you ready to pray?

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

II Chronicles 7:14

Part I: The Cause

Moments to Movements (Piper Video)

Found this link on facebook right after I posted the first part of this series. Watch it.

Moments to Movements I (The Cause)

Part I: The Cause
There are moments, and there are movements. Martin Luther King Jr.'s statement, “I have a dream....”1 created a moment. Nathan Hale's, “I regret I have but one life to give for my country...”2 was a moment. But these memorable speeches created more than a historic moments, they inspired movements that would change nations.

What allows moments to become movements?

First, there must be a worthy and compelling cause. In these cases, the rights of a suppressed minority and the rights of an emerging nation captivated the hearts of hundreds of thousands of young people. Second, the cause must be compelling enough to be worth dying for. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Nathan Hale paid the ultimate price for the beliefs they held. To them, the realization of their beliefs and freedom of their fellow man was worth giving their lives for.

Many in Christianity today will claimed to have experienced a moment, sometimes many moments. In fact in the West, we have become very effective in creating “moments” with compelling conferences, inspiring speakers, and cutting-edge technology. However, society is not fooled by Christianity's moments. They see through much of the hype. Today as always, humanity is looking for something authentic, something genuine, something worth dying for. Thus, the weakness in churches and our lives is not due to our inability to create compelling moments in services but in our inability to live compelling lives.

To live a compelling life, we must find a belief worth living for and a cause worth dying for.

When I discovered Jesus, I found more than just a belief; I found a person. Jesus created his own moment.... on the cross. But the cross is more than the most well known moment in all of history. It has triggered the greatest movement the world has ever known.

It was on the cross that Jesus revealed the how much humanity was worth – the life of God's Son. The cross revealed that freedom is possible only through sacrifice and that the only hope for humanity is found in the proclamation of Jesus' work. It is cause that creation is waiting to see realized.3 It is a cause worth dying for because Jesus found it worth dying for. It's a cause that captivated me. Has it captivated you?

Part II: The Catalyst

Celebration Northeast (No Service on June 26)

On Sunday June 26, we will have no service at the club.  Most of our church will be gathering with several other churches from around the region over the weekend at Gordon College to celebrate our God and be a part of His mission through Newfrontiers, our family of churches. 

If you were unable to attend the whole weekend, you are welcomed to join us at the last session on Sunday morning at 9:30AM in Gordon's chapel building; the meeting is open to the public. It will be a powerful time of experiencing God's presence and catching the vision for what God is doing in the world and through Newfrontiers USA.  You don't want to miss it; come on up!

To learn more about Newfrontiers USA visit - http://www.newfrontiersusa.org/

Directions to Gordon College, MA
• Take 93 North from Boston to 95 North
•Stay on Route 95 North until it separates from Route 128.
•Take Route 128 North towards Gloucester, passing through Peabody, Danvers and Beverly
•Take Exit 17, Grapevine Road
•Turn left at end of ramp, going 0.6 mile to main entrance

One Mission: Serve the City (Saturday April 23)

Time: Saturday, April 23 · 9:30am - 5:00pm

Location: Abundant Grace Church // Faneuil Gardens Housing Development // 77 Guest Street  Boston, MA

"As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it for me..." - Jesus

A day of service with college students & 20s from Boston and the region to give a community something to celebrate this Easter. Restore grounds, paint apartments, and give back to the city.

Lunch will be provided.

If you plan to attend the event, please register at the link below:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dExzZ2ZzRHV6aVJ1ZkZpX1pwdEFnaHc6MQ

Directions via Public Transit from Kenmore Square! Click here
 
 
A Newfrontiers Northeast Event

Contact David W. Hill, dwhill@fenwaychurch.org for more info.

Fenway Church Summer Internship

Fenway Church is receiving applications for a six-week summer internship program (May 16 - June 28) until March 6. To fill out an application go to: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDU0aGEwaDRTakRINkN0UWVrV0RLR1E6MQ#gid=0
Here is a preview of what to expect!

Mission Statement:
To equip those interested in engaging local and global mission fields through the local church in a six week intensive of discipleship and community engagement.
Who:
Those willing to take a break from normal living to focus on spiritual formation, community living, and discovering what Jesus meant when he said, “Come, follow me.”

Training Capsules
Discipleship (Week 1 and 2)
Become more like Jesus through personal/spiritual inventories, doing what Jesus did, living in Christian community, and being trained in Christ-likeness.

Community Engagement (Week 3 and 4)
Find a cause through assessing a community, developing neighborhood relationships, and volunteering in local non-profits.

World Missions (Week 5 and 6)
Awaken a vision for world missions through spiritual/global mapping, Biblical study, and interaction with international missionaries. 

The internship will end at Newfrontiers Northeast Celebration weekend, June 24-26.

Trilogy Project

Our Newfrontiers churches in Boston are committed to working together not only across the globe with our family of churches but also with one another here in the city. To see Boston transformed and the nations reached, we must continue to remain committed to training present and emerging leaders within our church communities to disciple people, plant churches, and reach nations.

The Trilogy Project is a valuable training opportunity.  It is a college-level three-year biblical and leadership training program that offers courses in biblical theology, biblical hermeneutics, leadership theory and practice, missions, and church history to equip students for effective leadership within the local church.

Abundant Grace Church and Fenway Church are collaborating together to form a group of leaders and emerging leaders from both churches who will participate in Trilogy Online (the online version of the Trilogy Project).  We believe working together as churches will give students greater exposure to different giftings, experiences, and methods and allow for stronger and more well rounded leaders.

To learn more about Trilogy visit their website - http://www.trilogyproject.org/.  If you are interested in participating in this course, please contact us via email  community@fenwaychurch.org.

Trilogy is a training initiative of the Newfrontiers USA family of churches (www.newfrontiersusa.org), but it is not restricted to those who are part of a Newfrontiers USA church.

Newfrontiers Boston City-Wide Service (Nov. 22)

This Sunday (November 28) @ 10:30AM, we will join with our fellow Newfrontiers' church in Boston, Abundant Grace, to celebrate God's goodness and Jesus' greatness. Come meet with God and catch a vision for what God is doing in Boston! There will be no Fenway services at the club.

NEWFRONTIERS BOSTON CITY-WIDE SERVICE
SUNDAY NOV. 28 10:30AM

ABUNDANT GRACE CHURCH 77 GUEST ST. BRIGHTON
At the Corner of Life & Guest Streets

Directions by Car click here

Directions by Bus (MBTA) Take the 57 bus to 'Cambridge St @ N Beacon St' and walk 1/2 mile down North Beacon St and turn right on Life Street. For map & walking directions click here.

Month of Prayer in November

Month of Prayer in November from David W. Hill on Vimeo.

From Jaeson Ma's visit in mid-October where hundreds of people committed to following Jesus whole heartedly and praying for awakening on their campuses to the 6,000+ people that gathered at Boston University for the Boston Night of Worship, http://www.bnow2010.com/, it is evident God is at work in the city of Boston.

Now is not a time to sit back and watch the ride but to align ourselves with God's plan for our city and church.  Jesus stated in John 5:19, that he only did what he saw the Father doing.  It is not surprising then that in the gospels Jesus is frequently found arising early and escaping late to the place of prayer with his Father.  It is when the church united in corporate pray in Acts 2 and Acts 4 aligning themselves with God's plan for their city that thousands were saved.

If we sense God may be at work in an unusual, as we receive prophetic words (which are weighing in this season of prayer) about Fenway church becoming a place where worship development explodes and many churches are planted out of, and as regional leaders call for an end to "self-preservation" and to greater cooperation, we must give ourselves to the place of prayer encountering the Holy Spirit in all his power and discovering God's plan and will for our lives, church, and city.

Our first early morning prayer meeting of the month was one of our largest early morning turnouts ever.  Fenway Church let's join together in the place of prayer this month at Ruggles Baptist Church - 874 Beacon Street, Boston.

Monday November 8 @ 7PM
Tuesdays & Thursdays 6-7AM

Why I am going to the Boston Night of Worship (Oct 29)

Fenway Family, let's join with the body of Christ in this moment.  DW

http://www.bnow2010.com/

Throughout scripture, praise is a weapon that releases captives, snatches victory away from the hands of defeat, and delivers God's people. It is the sound of praise that drove demons from the mind of Saul, tore down the walls of Jericho, broke the chains off the apostles' feet, and delivered the city of Jerusalem from certain destruction. Praise is the sound of worship when still in captivity, joy when foundations are laid yet a work not complete, and jubilation when your enemies lie defeated at the bottom of the Red Sea.

Too often the church has chosen between apathy and distress rather than victory or defeat. A people that have been bought out of captivity, cleansed by the blood, delivered out of darkness, adopted into God's family, and made alive together with Jesus should never be forced to choose between the twin evils of lethargy and fear. Sadly, today if you were to read mainstream newspapers or some Christian newsletters, you would be tempted to think the church in America has been neutered, the age of Islam is at hand, and the moral decay of America may have at last tipped the scales towards judgment. Anger and pessimism, sorrow and sadness, complaining and fear seem to mark the church. Efforts to pray focus on the oppressing gloom and increasing darkness of our nation rather than the glorious future God has promised his church.

It is therefore no “small coincidence” that God has chosen to raise up in this region and for such a time as this a young man from the continent of Africa, Zenzo Matoga, who resonates with a sound that casts out fear, proclaims freedom, announces victory, and calls the Church to set their eyes on Jesus. In a region that has for decades lived under the oppressive atmosphere of man-made religion, humanistic education, and self-glorifying achievement, a movement (Boston Night of Worship http://www.bnow2010.com/ ) has emerged that echos the cry of Paul, “Set your mind on things above (where Christ is seated at the right hand of God!). And not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2)

I believe the favor God has bestowed upon Zenzo and the Boston Night of Worship (as witnessed by the thousands that gathered and the hundreds that were turned away at last fall's Night of Worship at MIT) is not just the result of individual or corporate consecration or expectation, but a sovereign move of God in which he intends to shake his church free from apathy and fear and deliver a death blow to the strongholds of humanism and intellectualism that have for far too long kept New England ensnared. I will be the first to confess that a spirit of heaviness has pervaded and controlled much of New England and its church. It is my understanding from scripture that the God-ordained prescription for a spirit of heaviness is to put on a garment of praise (Isaiah 61). This means putting off seasons of mourning, shedding the rags and ashes of solemn fasts, and standing in the beauty and gladness that have been bestowed on us in Christ.

Read more »

Sex, Love & Identiy Series - Starting September 26

Click here to view Facebook Event

Blackberries, up to the second tweets & 100s of facebook friends. Are we missing anything? Are life long partners, deep friendships & committed relationships still possible? In a 21st century city where lonely people feign security and views on sex, love & relationships are constantly evolving, is there a path to meaningful living?

Discover why God Loves Sex, what Real Love is, how Sexuality & Identity shape us & how Fulfilling Relationships are possible in our new series “Sex, Love & Identity.”

Sundays 11AM @ Fenway Church

September 26 - God Loves Sex

October 3 - Real Love

October 10 - Sexuality & Identity

October 17 – Fulfilling Relationships







Fenway Families Magician Show @ Ramler Park (Saturday Aug 21 @ NOON)

Ramler Park is located across from 139 Peterborough Street between Kilmarnock St. & Park Dr. in the heart of the Fenway.

AtsMagic
http://www.atsmagic.com/

Celebration Northeast 2010 // No Sunday Meeting @ Club (July 25)

FENWAY CHURCH WILL NOT BE MEETING AT OUR NORMAL LOCATION (69 KILMARNOCK ST) ON JULY 25

Join us on Sunday July 25 9:30AM at the Gordon College Chapel for a celebration and a time to learn more about God's calling on our lives was we gather together as a family of churches from across the Northeast region. It's our time to celebrate our God and move forward together on His mission!


Learn more at http://celebration.newfrontiersusa.org/ne-home.html
(Note: if you have not registered for the whole weekend you can still join us for free on Sunday morning!)


Directions to Gordon College from Boston

• Take 93 North to 95 North
• Stay on Route 95 North until it separates from Route 128.
• Take Route 128 North towards Gloucester, passing through Peabody, Danvers and Beverly
• Take Exit 17, Grapevine Road
• Turn left at end of ramp, going 0.6 mile to main entrance

View Larger Map

Why We Are Sending a Team to Montreal this Weekend

By Jeremy Jackson

Jesus said he came to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). We want to give our lives while we're on earth so that others might know the love of God which has given to us through the cross. Next weekend, from May 28 - May 31st, five members of Fenway Church will be driving six hours north across the Canadian border to spend a few nights in Montreal, Canada.

Currently there are very few born-again Christians in the province of Quebec where Montreal lies. Though at the top of the hill at the center of Montreal there is a cross, very few of the city's inhabitants believe in the God of the Bible. Attendance in Christian churches is lower than 0.1% of the population (although that statistic was taken some time ago, there is not much to suggest that it has changed dramatically). A trip down St. Catherine street, the main drag, and a visitor to the city is treated to a series of images of nude women on giant fluorescent signs advertising strip clubs. Further down the street...

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Resurrection Sunday @ Fenway Church - Is the Church Irrelevant?

Is God dead? Has the church become irrelevant?  Join us Sunday April 4 @ 11AM.  Click here to view facebook invite.



Easter Promo from Fenway Church on Vimeo.

Resurrection Sunday @ Fenway Church - Hope Returns

Luke 24:1-12

In the cool of the morning, several women journey through a garden to give their last gifts to the man they loved more than any other. He had delivered some of them from demons, taught them, ate their food, healed them, and showed them the love and forgiveness of God. Now, he was dead...

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Resurrection Sunday @ Fenway Church - Why Did He Die?

Who is Jesus?  Why did he die?   Discover the answers this Easter at Fenway Church... April 4 @ 11AM www.fenwaychurch.org/easter


Resurrection Sunday from Fenway Church on Vimeo.

Resurrection Sunday @ Fenway Church - The King is Dead

Luke 23:44-56

The King is dead (vs. 37-38).  The innocent man has been crucified (vs. 47).  The crowds leave mourning (vs. 48).  His acquaintances witness these things from afar (vs. 49).  Creation groans waiting for the Son of Man to be revealed.  Darkness reigns (vs. 44-45).  Life breathes its final breath (vs. 46).  He is buried; his lifeless body laid on the hard, cold rock of a newly hewn tomb (vs. 52-53).  Death's cruel finality is all too real.

Yet, a glimmer of doubt remains. Has death truly triumphed?  Jesus' acquaintances particularly the women seem to be waiting, watching to see what will happen (vs. 49, 55).  They have not lost their love for the man who knew "everything they ever did" (John 4:39) yet told them "your faith has saved you, go in peace." (Luke 7:50)  A man named Joseph still looks for the kingdom of God (vs. 51).  On the Sabbath day, they rest.  Waiting in quiet solitude... for Sunday to arrive.

"For there is hope for a tree,

   if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

   and that its shoots will not cease.

Though its root grow old in the earth,

   and its stump die in the soil,

yet at the scent of water it will bud

   and put out branches like a young plant."

Job 14:7-9

Kingdom Come III: What is the Kingdom? (Part II)

Continuing our series on the kingdom by answering the question - what is the kingdom?  The kingdom is a matter of the heart more than anything else.  Miraculous works and bold declarations are not what God is looking for (Matthew 7:21-22).  They are merely signs of the kingdom.  The fruit of the kingdom, what the kingdom really is, is an internal heart change.  True repentance - change our way of thinking- involves adopting the attitudes of the heart described in in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-8).

Unfortunately, this message was not recorded due to a technical error.  Hopefully, it lives on in the hearts and minds of those who heard it :)

Sunday February 28
David W.