Hope in the Restorer

Nick Jenkins

Sunday Morning’s message 30th of November 2025

citywestchurch YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39m38pLyhJ0

Leaders note:

This study is a guide—use it flexibly. Adapt the questions and follow the flow of your group. Keep it simple, keep it fun, and create space for God to move as you grow together.

Group Discussion:

Introduction

Through the previous four hope discussions we’ve talked about encouragement, holding on to God’s promises, casting our cares on Jesus, and sharing the hope we carry. Today we focus on Hope in the Restorer—the God who takes what is broken and makes it new.

To picture this, think of the story of the classic wooden boat Tally Ho. Designed in 1909, victorious in the 1927 Fastnet Race, wrecked on a reef in 1968, left to rot decades later… and nearly scrapped. Then in 2017, a boatbuilder buys her for £1 and begins a seven-year restoration, rebuilding her piece by piece until she sailed again in 2024.

Isn’t this us sometimes? We start out strong… then life happens. We hit a reef. We break. Parts of our life feel too damaged to touch. And yet—God is the Restorer who steps in and says, “If you’ll let Me, I can rebuild what’s been lost.”

Scripture Focus

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…”

Paul says this in the middle of a section about present suffering and future hope. Creation groans. We groan. We wait for redemption. Not everything that happens is God’s doing—but in everything, God is working for good.

God does not cause every storm, but He can restore every wreck. He takes what life, people, or pain has damaged—and He builds something new.

This is God’s heart:

· Compassion (Luke 4:18–19)

· Redemption (Isaiah 43:1, 18–19)

· Restoration (Rev 21:1–5)

Some restoration we taste now. Some restoration waits for eternity. But hope is this: God is not finished with us.

Discussion Questions

1. Where do you see the “Tally Ho story” in your own life?

· Are there areas where you once felt strong but later felt wrecked or worn-down?

· What surprised you most about how God has restored—or begun restoring—you?

2. How do you understand the difference between God allowing vs. God working in all things?

· Why does this distinction matter for how we view suffering?

· Have you ever seen God bring good from something He clearly didn’t cause?

3. What part of God’s character brings you the most hope when life feels broken?

(Possibilities: His compassion, nearness, patience, power, ability to rebuild, etc.)

4. “Now and Not Yet”: Which do you find harder to believe—

· That God can restore things now in your life?

· Or that ultimate restoration and healing will come in eternity?

5. Where might God be inviting you to open the door of restoration today?

· Is it a wound? A memory? A relationship?

· What would “taking the next step” look like?

Closing Reflection

Like Tally Ho, your story is not finished. You are not too far gone, not too broken, not too late, not too forgotten. The Restorer is patient, skilled, tender, and committed. He says: “You are mine… I am doing a new thing… I make all things new.”

Prayer Focus

Pray together as a group:

(Leader – Take time, also remember this is not the time for a deep counselling session.)

· Healing from past wounds

· Hope where they feel stuck or forgotten

· Courage to trust God with their “unfinished places”

· Strength to wait with hope for what God is still doing