It was in October of 2005 that about 22 of us gathered at the Brink home and started organizing a church.  We didn’t know what we would call it, but we were going to form a church.  We met several times over the next month, formed a board, looked over the financial situation and decided to call a pastor.  The doors opened the Sunday before Thanksgivng of 2005.  None of us had ever done this before, so it was a learning experience for all of us.  We believe God wanted this, otherwise it would not have been successful.

That first Sunday we knew we would have about 20 adults and our families attending but we didn’t know what to expect otherwise.  Many people were with us on that first day and growth has continued.  Yes, we have had growing pains, but we are growing.  We are now in our third meeting location and may have to move again because of our growth.

RLF has been blessed with a great pastor and staff.  RLF has been blessed by the volunteers.  Even though we, Bill and Pat Murrell, moved to Oklahoma City about three years ago, we still consider RLF to be our church.

Bill and Pat Murrell

We very pleased that we were part of that original group.

Welcome,

What a pleasure it is to introduce you to Restored Life Fellowship. Here we take God seriously – not ourselves. We are a diverse array of community members all striving to become the kind of church described in the Bible, where there’s relevant teaching, where we are reaching through evangelism, and we are renovating through discipleship.
We believe in communicating and showing God’s love in our church as well as the communities in which we live. Recognizing that the Bible is the very Word of the Living God to man, and understanding the priority of knowing and obeying its truth, we are deeply committed to studying and teaching it with diligence and authority.

We think that life is too short to be doing something irrelevant. Becoming a “big shot” making lots of money, amassing lots of power, stockpiling lots of stuff – these are not the relevant reasons for living. Changing people’s lives and eternal destinies IS!  Following today’s service we invite you to stick around and let us get to know you. You are important to us not only as a friend but more importantly, a child of God. We do ask that you take a moment during the service and fill out the response card in your bulletin.

When you have a moment please look carefully at our website, www.rlifefellowship.com. You will find a description of the vision guiding us as a church family and areas where we are reaching our community.  We commit our lives in prayer, lift our hearts in worship, and extend our hands to serve in His name. We appreciate your time and hope to see you again.

God Bless,

Pastoral Staff
Restored Life Fellowship

Welcome to our new website blog! We’re excited to have this new tool available to communicate with the people of our fellowship, and beyond! I thought that a great opening post would be to start a discussion by clarifying what we believe about Jesus being the only way to heaven, and how this truth is plainly supported in scripture.

These days, there is much discussion in our culture of multiple roads leading to salvation, or heaven. The thought of a loving God allowing people to be forever separated from His presence seems too cruel.  Yet it is important to understand what God’s Word says on the topic.  I do want all who consider Restored Life Fellowship their church, to recognize our firm belief that God’s Word  is inspired, infallible, and inerrant.
With that said, the idea that someone might be saved who doesn’t know Jesus might sound wise and compassionate, but it is plainly refuted by Scripture and is therefore a fool’s dream.

Reason #1
__________________________________

Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The new birth is a very real spiritual event, and it happens only when a sinner consciously puts his faith in Christ. In the same passage Jesus explained how to be born again.

#2
__________________________________

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

#3
__________________________________

He plainly stated, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

Therefore, if a person does not consciously believe in Jesus Christ he is condemned. Jesus concluded that sermon by saying, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). Words could not be clearer.

#4
_________________________________

Jesus said further:

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9).A man can enter in through Christ and find acceptance with God, but any other door leads to destruction. And to say that an individual could enter into salvation through Christ and not know it is as ridiculous as it is unscriptural.

#5
__________________________________

John said:

“He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:10-12).The person that “hath the Son” is the person who believes on him, and the person that “hath not the son” is the one that does not believe. There is no such thing as “unconscious saving faith.” There is simply no other way of salvation than to put one’s faith in Jesus Christ and to receive Him in such a manner that one is born anew.

Beware of those who refuse to accept the plain teaching of God’s Word. They are heretics, regardless of how cleverly they cloak their unbelief.  We need to be loving, yet uncompromising in Biblical Truth.

Thoughts on this? Feel free to post comments. I want to hear from you and welcome open discussions on this topic.