“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

These words of Jesus are absolutely conflicting to our natural human preferences, yet Jesus is speaking to the very core of our hearts. It’s easy to love those who love us, be kind to those who are kind to us, and pray for those we care about, but Jesus is calling us to something much more weighty. He’s calling us to extend the grace we’ve been given by loving those who hate us, and praying for those who persecute us.

On our fourth year anniversary, we celebrate the man who helped to inspire our vision of transculturalism and a gospel-centered approach to social justice. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” He was a man who deeply understood the truth of this text.

This week, Pastor Leonce unpacks this hard text, helping us to believe in the love that Christ first loved us with when He died for us. Pastor Leonce challenges us to ask God for help in three ways that would help us to love like Jesus loves. Let us all be known as sons and daughters of our heavenly Father by the way we love.

“No matter where you go, you are not without family.” For the family of believers in Jesus Christ, this is a beautiful truth and promise. We are sons and daughters of the Maker of the universe, and brothers and sisters by the blood of His Son. We are those whose hearts cry “Abba” to God, and all those whose hearts cry “Abba! Father!” are brothers and sisters in the most glorious family.

How do you treat the Church? Do you really see us as family? Pastor Doug shares with us the implications of what it means to be a part of the royal, holy, reigning family, and challenges us to change our thinking about the people of God because it is in fact true that we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

With | Galatians 4:4-7 | Holy Family

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” In our last week of Advent, we focus on God as our Prince of Peace.

We all long for peace in our hearts, souls, and minds, and through His grace, He has granted us peace right now through the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ. Although we do not see the perfect fulfillment of this prophesy, we can have hope in the promises of what the world would be like when the Prince of Peace comes back again to reign forever. Pastor Leonce shares three ways Christ has given us peace and challenges us to believe that His peace will and does fulfill every longing we have.

What a joyful thing to know that Christ is coming back! May this knowledge grant you peace today.

With | Isaiah 9:1-7 | Prince of Peace

“There are no fatherless followers of Jesus.”

Many of us struggle with earthly fathers who weren’t there, who weren’t present, who were abusive, who were emotionally distant, and who were flawed in many ways… All of our earthly fathers at some point have failed us. They have failed to love us appropriately. Failed to comfort us when we needed comfort. They have failed to provide for us. Some of our fathers simply failed to be there at all. All of us are left with the effects of a father who at some point or in some way let us down.

Thank God that in Him we have an Everlasting Father who’s love is perfect and unwavering!

In our third week of Advent, we continue to focus and reflect on who God is. There is much hope, comfort, and security in knowing we have a heavenly Father who is Everlasting. Where our earthly fathers have been distant, God say’s “seek me, and you will find me.” Our prayer is that you would bask in the love of your Everlasting Father.

With | Isaiah 9:1-7 | Everlasting Father

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” With heavy hearts and deep longings for things to be made right, we look to Christ as our “very present help in trouble.” When our lives seem to be spiraling out of control, when people fail us, when this broken world seems hopeless, and when we realize how weak we are, the prophesy of Isaiah about our Christ gives us hope. The promises of His character give us a renewed faith.

In the second week of Advent, we continue to focus our minds and hearts on what awaits us in the second coming of Christ, but also remind ourselves of what gift we have right now in Christ. This week we reflect on another attribute of God’s character. He is Mighty.

With | Isaiah 9:1-7 | Mighty God

Advent is a season of longing for the return of Christ. It’s a time where we renew our hope in the presence and the promises of God as we wait for Christ’s second coming. In our first week of Advent, we set our hearts on Jesus to discover what it means for Him to be a Wonderful Counselor.

We turn to our friends, family, and professionals for guidance and counseling many times before we turn to God. Through the death and resurrection of His Son, we have access to go boldly before God, seeking His face in any and every circumstance in our lives. He has made Himself available and is the Wonderful Counselor and best friend our souls will always long for.

With the comforting truth on this attribute of God’s character, Pastor Leonce also describes the vision that Isaiah saw and what we await in the glorious coming of our Wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ.

With | Isaiah 9:1-7 | Wonderful Counselor

How glorious will it be to actually be a part of the fulfillment of God’s plan? How amazing will it be to be a part of a sea of faces that is too many to count? How perfect will it be that people of all nations, tongues, and tribes will gather together standing face to face with Jesus, giving praise to the Lamb? This is the fulfilled promise that we live towards.

In our final week of Transculturalism, Pastor Leonce gives vivid imagery to describe John’s vision of the culmination of God’s redemptive plan to bring all people to Himself.

“Who is my neighbor?” This is a question we all wrestle with. We are like the man who approached Jesus, wanting to know who he was to give his life to, love and care for. Many of us at times hope that our “neighbor” isn’t anyone that will make us uncomfortable or un-liked. What if instead of answering this question with thinking of what value they can bring us, we asked a different question? We can’t choose who our neighbor is, but we can ask ourselves if we will be a neighbor.

Jesus’ reply to the man asking how he could inherit eternal life is at the heart of the Gospel and at the core of our identity as a local church.

This week Pastor Leonce unpacks what it means to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” This idea reflects our value of transculturalism because neighboring means we include all people in our story, just as Christ included all people in His.

A transcultural community is God’s light to the nations. In the family of God, all are welcome, and all people are a part of God’s redemptive plan to form a family for Himself, from all people.

As we continue our series on Renovation Church’s identity, Pastor Leonce again describes what transculturalism is, and how what the vision of a transcultural community could look like. He takes us through four aspects of this glorious idea.

The Hope

The Problem

The Remedy

The Vision


Pastor Leonce invites us to be a part of this gospel informed and gospel centered movement by giving us four ways to check our hearts and engage with the “other.” It is our prayer that God would give every believer His vision for His transcultural Church.