Course Correction

Back in my flying days, part of the pre-flight routine was to make sure my instruments were properly calibrated. If I was making a cross-country flight, I was particularly interested in my directional indicator being correct. On a long flight, it was important to occasionally re-adjust the directional indicator or I would find myself off-course and… well, lost.

Gateway is on a journey. Our journey is for a life-time. Because of the long-distant journey, we must make sure we are on the right course. We must regularly double check our directional indicator. Just a few degrees of course can have devastating effects. There have been moments that we as a church have gotten off course. That is why this past Sunday I took the time to calibrate our church’s compass.

As part of this course correction, we are returning to who we really are as a church. We are body of believers who love God and love people. We love to see God change lives. In fact, this past Sunday we reminded ourselves why we even exist.

Gateway exists to glorify God by equipping people to become passionately committed to Christ.

There are several initiatives we are taking this year. We are going to focus on a few basic, yet crucial areas. I want to lead us to become…

• People of Prayer
• People of the Book
• People with Purpose
• People with Passion

Jesus made it clear what the most important commands were – Loving God with all your being and loving others as yourself. He also gave us his Great Commission – make disciples.

As your pastor, it is my passion that as a church body, we will have a great commitment to the great commandments and the great commission with great passion. When we do this, God will grow Gateway into a Great Church. We must do our part and He will bring the growth!

Do you need some motivation? Then constantly think about the 35,000 un-churched and de-churched people who are within a five mile radius of Gateway. God certainly thinks about them. He thinks about them constantly. And so must we!

Sunday Reflections

We had a great day at Gateway yesterday. Jesus Christ was lifted up in multiple ways:

• Baptized nine new believers!!
• Cory and Judd lead us in worshipping the Lord… fantastic in all three services.
• The Choir lifted up the Lord with great music.
• Great attendance in all three services.
• David brought a challenging message in our 3rd message of the Worship Series.
• I look forward to bringing the final message in this series on Sunday. We will close the series with communion.

Our Holiday Hospitality Dinner was amazing:

• Highest attendance ever for our Ladies Night Out! Way to go ladies!!!
• Added 10 extra tables… could not add any more due to space.
• Had 50 ladies on a waiting list.
• Multiple comments that the food was the best ever – BIG thanks to Linda and her team!!
• Anne MacCallum, as usual, was amazing with her music and voice.
• Meredith Brock was incredible with her stirring testimony. (Okay, so I am very partial… but everyone agrees with me on this one.)
• Two ladies prayed to receive Christ – that never gets old.
• Many indicated an interest in learning more about Jesus Christ. (Pray that they will respond to the Gospel when we follow up with them!!!)

Sunday Reflections

What a great spirit in worship on Sunday. Thanks for singing with your heart to our Lord.

I am so proud of you, Gateway, for your response to the challenge to sponsor a child through Compassion International. Compassion said the normal response is 3 to 5% of those who are in attendance will sponsor a child. We had one of the highest responses ever -- over 15%! That does not include those who were already sponsoring a child or those of you who sponsored a child online. It also doesn’t count the many of you who signed up yesterday to sponsor a child. You did awesome. Your generosity will make a difference in the lives of so many children. Thank you!

• Remember our Harvest Festival this Friday night. It’s a great time to invite a friend and neighbor. The kids are going to love it... even the adults love it.
• Thanks for praying for me this past week while I was on my spiritual retreat. I will share more with you in the near future about my time alone with God. But let me share for the moment that He has me very excited about His plans for Gateway. I believe we are going to see a fresh pouring out of His Spirit in our fellowship... so let's get ready for all the He has for us! Let's decide that we want to see those far from Christ to come to know Him as Lord and Savior!
• This Sunday we began a four Sunday series on Worship. Our worship team has been working diligently on this series. Jeremy Kingsley will lead in our first message. I always look forward to hearing Jeremy.
• Come with your hearts expectant on Sunday. I look forward to seeing you!

Sunday’s Reflections – ReThink Compassion

Awesome day of worship.

• Cory and Judd do an excellent job in leading us into the presence of God each week.
• The choir blessed us today.
• Reggie Boan challenged us with his testimony of his personal involvement with Compassion International.

Of the 6.7 billion people that live on this planet:

1. 1.1 billion have little or no access to water
2. 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation
3. 1 billion people use 80% of the world’s resources
4. The USA accounts for 4.6% of the world’s population and we consume 33% of the world’s resources.
5. There are 2.2 billion children in the world
6. 1 billion children lives in poverty
7. 25,000 children die each day due to poverty

I challenged you to make a difference by considering:

1. Sponsoring a child through Compassion International – we will have packets next Sunday.
2. Become a Foster Parent – there are 443 foster children in Lexington and Richland Counties with only 207 foster homes to serve them.
3. Adopt a child in the United States or Internationally.
4. There are 143 million children that need to be adopted world-wide
5. There are 100,000 children in the United States waiting to be adopted.
   
   Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27 (NLT)

Thoughts on Sunday

I love our worship time at Gateway. I am seeing more and more individuals engaging in worship in all three services. Cory and Judd are doing a fantastic job in directing our hearts into the presence of Holy God.

I have a confession to make. It is very difficult for me to get into worship on Sunday. The simple truth is I like to talk to as many people as possible. Since Sunday morning is the one time I get to see most of you… well… I talk to one person, then another, then someone walks up to me, then I see someone else, then I notice someone new… on and on.

The problem is I don’t worship and I distract your worship… not to mention that I set a bad example for you.

So I am learning to behave myself and stay on the front row and focus on the words I am singing. If you see me get some happy feet, well, just hold your comments to yourself.

On Sunday we began our series on the Christian Declaration of Independence – Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia. A great question that comes from Galatians – whose truth are you going to listen to? Man’s or God’s? Only one truth can save…

The message of Galatians is the message of the Christian’s spiritual freedom. It’s been called the Magna Carta of spiritual liberty; the battle cry of the Reformation.

Jesus said in Matthew:

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (Mt 7:13-14)

Of this verse, Oswald Chambers said:

If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all noble things are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but the difficulty of it does not make us faint and cave in, it rouses us up to overcome. Do we so appreciate the marvelous salvation of Jesus Christ that we are our utmost for His highest? (O. Chambers. My Utmost for His Highest. Grand Rapids)

Let’s us journey together on this gloriously difficult road!

Galatians 1:11-24 this Sunday.

Sunday Thoughts…

• Barry’s solo in the first service was heart stirring.
• Worship was great in all three services.
• I’m enjoying our sermon series on the Church as we explore God’s Word about His purpose for the church.
• I’m looking forward to GBC becoming a dangerous church for the Lord!
• Our keyboardist in the 2nd and 3rd service, Stephen Rutland, served his last Sunday with us. He is going to be part of a church plant in the upstate. We are excited for him. Pray for him. Great job Stephen in leading the Solemn Assembly worship.
• I love seeing so many new faces at GBC. Even though we have had some friends depart from GBC, our growth has been great.
• Our Solemn Assembly was a blessing. It’s ALWAYS a great time when God’s people get together to pray!
• Ken Cox's testimony at the Solemn Assembly was moving. Did you get your mustard seed?
• I’m reminded that Satan hates us and will seek to discourage us at ever turn.
• I’m reminded that God loves us more and we are on the winning team!
• I’m reminded that I love being your pastor! Thanks for encouraging me.
• I want to finish the race that God has before me. I want to finish the race with you!

Continue to pray for our Children’s Ministry Sports Camp. We had a great first day.

Sunday thoughts

Sunday was awesome. Jim Peters did a fantastic job in our interview. Jim’s story was the perfect end to the sermon series on Forgiveness. His is an incredible account of the power of Jesus Christ to change lives. Even though I already knew Jim’s story, it still overwhelmed me once again to hear how loving our Lord really is.

Jim shared how God changed the life of a brutal, murderous terrorist named Josiah Makoni. Jim was number one on Josiah’s assassination list. After his salvation, God used Josiah to tell the Good News to other terrorist. THEN, God did another big thing. Josiah and his band of former murderous, hate-filled terrorists became Jesus loving, Holy Spirit-filled evangelists. God used them to bring the Good News to their country.

Don’t ever think that God can’t use someone like you!

Listen online to Jim’s interview:
http://gatewaybc.com/clientimages/39242/audiosermons/5-03-09web.mp3

http://www.gatewaybc.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=39242&PG=xCast&LID=2228

Be sure to get your copy of Jim’s book “Dawn of Deliverance.” You can order the book online at all major book retailers or purchase one directly from Jim. He will have copies with him Sunday, May 17th.

Welcome back Cory Singleton! Cory is now leading our Classic service. Worship was wonderful on Sunday… thanks Cory. We are glad to have you back home!

Sunday thoughts

It's always great to be with God's people on Sunday. The message today was crucial to our growth as believers... learning how to forgive others!

One quick observation: In the past few weeks many individuals have asked "how can I get more involved at Gateway?" I love it when a follower of Christ takes the initiative to find their role in the Kingdom!

If you want to take the next step, here are a few thoughts:

• Begin by seeking and committing to the very best God has for you.
• Commit to pray for God's direction.
• Discover your spiritual gift - this is a huge indication of the role God has for you.
• Ask your friends who know you best - "what strengthens do you see in me?" This is not to have an ego trip, but to have an honest assessment of your gifts and abilities.
• Ask one of our pastors what ministries need leadership and volunteers.
• Be willing to give up in order to grow up. In other words, be prepared to set aside good things in your life in order to do the best thing.

Click this link for a free Spiritual Gift analysis: http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1

Sunday thoughts

• Praise God for an awesome day. God’s Spirit was evident.
• Baptisms are always a celebration!!!
• A son baptized his mother
• A father baptized 3 of his children
• A high school student preparing for the Costa Rica Mission trip realized he had never asked Jesus into his life… saved & slam dunked!
• A long time church member and church employee accepted Christ two weeks ago. Baptized Sunday (triple WOW!!!)
• God is good ALL THE TIME
• Worship was wonderful in all three services
• Every Sunday you write notes, send emails, speak to me personally sharing about the newness of God’s Spirit you feel at GBC.
  

One MAJOR sermon correction from the 1st service: My brain kicked into neutral for a moment. I stated that when Jesus told Peter “upon this rock I will build my church,” it was after the resurrection… WRONG. I meant to say that Jesus made this statement to Peter before his denial, even though Jesus already knew that Peter would deny him later. No need to send me an email on that one. Thanks for letting me be human.

One last thing… I love being the pastor of GBC!