“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” I Peter 5:10

The American College Dictionary (Barnhart, 1970) defines restoration as renewal; a bringing back to a former, original state. The Greek word for restore used in I Peter means to mend, equip, strengthen; make one what he ought to be (Thayer, 1977).

We live in a fallen and dying world. We cannot live in this world and escape heartache, suffering, or sin. Yet, there is hope found in Christ Jesus. The Lord has lived on this earth, died on this earth, and been resurrected to fulfill our sentence of death and give us new life.

We must deal with the pain of loosing those we love to the reality of physical death and enter into a grief we could never imagine. We suffer the separation of divorce. We turn to people for comfort and come away abused – sexually, physically, emotionally, spiritually. We often turn to addictions – drugs, alcohol, sex, work, ministry, relationships, etc.

In I Peter 5:10 we find the promise of restoration - renewal, mending, fitting, and equipping. We have hope.
At FCC we offer restoration groups that aid us on our journey of restoration. These groups acknowledge and rely on the promise of God to restore. We acknowledge that we have sinned against others. Together we seek out God’s healing and reflect to one another the image of God we see in each other.

We acknowledge that restoration is a journey – it is not a quick fix. It is a life-long ongoing process that will not be complete until the return of Christ. We will limp from the wounds until we see him, but through His grace we seek to not grow bitter and to not harm those with whom we have relationships.

The groups currently offered at FCC include:
Grace Groups ~ focuses on the deep wounds inflicted on his in life abandonment, betrayal, abuse, etc.
Divorce Care ~ for those who have gone through a divorce or are currently in the process of a divorce.
Grief Share ~ for those who have lost loved ones.