Aug. 10, 2025

Guest Pastor Tom Rakow's sermon begins at 16:44 min into the video. The music "Everlasting God", "Gracefully Broken", "I Surrender All", and "I Give You My Heart" are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

God's Restoration Workshop: From Broken to Beautiful

Have you ever felt like a weathered boat sitting forgotten in a field, untied and drifting? Guest Pastor Rakow's powerful message reveals that God specializes in taking what seems beyond repair and making it more beautiful than before. This isn't just about fixing what's broken—it's about discovering that your greatest struggles might be preparing you for your most extraordinary restoration.

God sees you not as damaged goods, but as a masterpiece under construction. When life's storms have left you feeling abandoned or forgotten, remember that the Master Restorer is already at work. Your current trials aren't punishments—they're preparations for the double blessing that's coming. His message transforms how you view your struggles, turning them from sources of shame into stepping-stones toward God's greater purpose for your life.

Pastor Tom Rakow’s Key Teachings:

1.    God's Restoration Goes Beyond Repair In Job's story, we discover that God doesn't just fix what's broken—He doubles it. Pastor Rakow teaches that "God not only restores but also increases, to more than restore. He made an extra copy of what he had before, gave him double." This means when you bring your broken dreams, damaged relationships, or wounded heart to God, He doesn't simply patch them up. He recreates them into something far more beautiful than you originally imagined. Think about the relationships that have been restored in your life—often they become stronger after working through difficulties together.

2.    Restoration Requires Praying for Those Who Hurt Us The turning point in Job's restoration came when he prayed for the very friends who had caused him additional pain. Pastor Rakow explains that "Mercy did not return when Job was disputing with his friends, but when he was praying for them." This challenges us to examine our own hearts: who do you need to pray for instead of arguing with? That difficult family member, former friend, or colleague who wounded you deeply might be the very person God wants you to lift up in prayer. This isn't about excusing their behavior—it's about freeing your heart to receive God's restoration.

3.    God Restores Every Area of Life Pastor Rakow demonstrates through Scripture that "God can restore mentally, He can restore physically, He can restore spiritually, He can restore relationally, maritally, all of these things. There is no realm that God cannot enter in and bring about restoration." Whether you're struggling with health issues, financial stress, broken family relationships, or spiritual dryness, God's restoration power extends to every corner of your life. His personal story about using bear teeth as dental replacements during financial hardship shows how God provides in the most unexpected ways, teaching us that "we're all thankful for some strange things."

4.    Restoration Begins at the Cross The ultimate restoration happens when we unite with our Master at the cross. Pastor Rakow shares his father's hunting coat story, explaining how lost hunting dogs knew to return to their master's coat for reunion. He powerfully concludes, "If an old coon dog knows how to be united with their master, we should be able to be united, shouldn't we? The only place in the whole world where we can be united with our Master and Maker is at the cross." This is where your personal restoration journey begins—not with fixing yourself first, but with surrendering to the One who specializes in making all things new.

Scriptural Foundation:

•    Philippians 2:1-11 sets the foundation by showing how Jesus humbled Himself to become our servant, demonstrating that true restoration often requires letting go of our pride and trusting God's process even when we don't understand it.

•    Job 42:10 reveals God's promise to restore double what was lost: "After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before." This passage guides us to see our current losses as temporary and our future blessings as guaranteed when we align our hearts with God's will.

•    Joel 2:25 offers hope for time that feels wasted: "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten." This connects to your daily walk by reminding you that no experience—even painful ones—is truly lost when God is in the restoration business.

•    Luke 15 through the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son, shows God's heart for seeking and celebrating every person who returns to Him, guiding your understanding that you're never too far gone for God's restoration to reach you.

Your Journey Forward:

•    Start with Prayer, Not Arguments: Identify one person who has hurt you and commit to praying for them daily for the next week instead of rehearsing their wrongs. This breaks the cycle of bitterness that blocks restoration.

•    Inventory Your "Broken" Areas: Write down three areas of your life that feel damaged or lost. Next to each one, write "God specializes in restoration" and ask Him to show you the first small step toward healing in each area.

•    Look for God's Unexpected Provisions: Like Pastor Rakow's bear teeth story, begin noticing and thanking God for His creative solutions in your life, even the unconventional ones.

•    Return to the Cross Daily: Each morning, consciously bring your brokenness to the cross, remembering that this is where restoration begins. End each day by thanking Jesus for what He's restoring in your life.

•    Share Your Restoration Story: As God begins restoring areas of your life, share your testimony with others who are still waiting for their breakthrough. Your story could be the hope someone else desperately needs.

Closing Prayer and Reflection:

"Lord, we just come before You, and I thank You so much for this congregation. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for Your love. Thank You for dying on the cross for us. Thank You that we can be restored. Lord, there's people here. They want restoration with their kids. They want restoration with siblings or a parent or a friend. And Lord, we can't do it all. We can do our part, but we ask for Your supernatural restoration. You are still in the restoration business. You've been in the restoration business down through the ages."

This prayer reminds us that restoration is both God's work and our participation. You don't have to carry the full weight of fixing what's broken—your job is to bring it to the Master Restorer and trust His process. Just as God never lost a single hunting dog in Pastor Rakow's father's 50 years of hunting, God will never lose track of you in your journey toward wholeness. Your restoration story is being written right now, and like Job's, it will end with you having more than you lost because God specializes in double blessings for those who trust His restoration process.