Gateway Fellowship
By Gateway Fellowship
Gateway FellowshipNov 19, 2017
Crossing Over
My friend Wayne once told me that most of us live our whole Christian life in the wilderness after we're rescued out of Egypt. We don't cross over the Jordan and enter in to the promised land.
This sermon is about crossing over and entering in.
It Will Come Untrue
Is faith certainty or is it more like walking a path of surrender in response to the call of the beckoning mystery encoded into life itself?
Switching Scripts
The kingdom of death has no rightful claim on the kingdom of life. Yet much of the time we live from the wrong story - the facts of our life instead of the Truth.
Vine and Branches (Carl)
Jesus said he's the vine and we're the branches and that apart from him we can do nothing, but if we remain in him we will bear much fruit.
That's in John 15
The Secret of the Bread
<li>I am chosen</li>
<li>I am blessed</li>
<li>I am broken</li>
<li>I am given</li>
</ol>
Our Fight Ain't Flesh and Blood (Stan)
We gotta fight the real fight and not get fooled.
Core Issues
We are to love and to be loved. We need love, desperately.
This is not a flaw. This is God's design.
Receiving healthy love gives healthy identity. Not receiving healthy love damages identity, creating so many issues that drive us in life.
He's the Best Part
What's the best part of Easter Sunday? We get Him back.
Jay Dryden, a Ukulele, British Accents (Wednesday)
Jay covered a wide range of topics in this relaxed Wednesday evening chat.
What are we saved FOR?
When we say "Christ died to save sinners," what do we mean?
What are we saved for?
What are we saved from?
How does his death save us?
This message is mostly about God's love.
Whose, Who, and Why We Are
When we know whose we are, then we know who we are, and why we are. Then we finally have a stable place to stand.
Who am I? I am God's dearly beloved son, who brings him great pleasure.
God is radically open
Psalm 104 and God's total emotional openness to all his creation.
4 Stages of Moral Self-Awareness
- I can't stand those kinds of people
- Everyone's got problems
- There but for the grace of God go I
- There go I
Uncle Anthony on Prayer
This was the March 6th prayer meeting.
The Sifting
This chat is about God accessing more of our true heart through the storms. It's really a chat about intimacy with God.
Christian Prayer (Psalm 130)
1 From the depths of despair, O Lord,
I call for your help.
2 Hear my cry, O Lord.
Pay attention to my prayer.
3 Lord, if you kept a record of our sins,
who, O Lord, could ever survive?
4 But you offer forgiveness,
that we might learn to fear you.
5 I am counting on the Lord;
yes, I am counting on him.
I have put my hope in his word.
6 I long for the Lord
more than sentries long for the dawn,
yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
His redemption overflows.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from every kind of sin.
The Shelter of the Most High
Psalm 91
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3
For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4
He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
ASK
Carl has been meditating on this for a while now.
The Fire and The Sacrifice
God, according to Deuteronomy 4:24, is "a devouring fire," yet he invites us to draw near.
Let's explore this theme!
Food on the Frontlines
When we don't press in to know the Lord, we starve inside. We need to get in touch with our hunger and thirst for God...
"I have food to eat that you don't know about...My food is to do the will of Him who sent me." (John 4:32, 34)
Building On The Foundation - Stan and Tim
The theme is growth and building our lives on Jesus so that when the storms of life come, we are rooted and grounded in Christ.
Empty Wells
This chat was really about surrender and relationship with Jesus.
- Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."
- Colossians 2:3 "Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
- Acts 4:13 "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."
To Be A Voice and Not An Echo
This Wednesday Whiteboard is about a voice crying in the wilderness: John the Baptist. But it's also about us. It's about how we are likewise called to come away and find ourselves in God.
"And now, by God's grace, I shall become myself." (Kierkegaard)
God Is In The Details
Vague and generic isn't very powerful. But when we start to get specific and deal with the nitty gritty, that's when we make headway. Why? Because God is in the details!
Jay said to talk about Matthew 6:33
Which says to seek God's kingdom first...
Fruitful in the land of my suffering
A short thought on Genesis 41:52, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."
Good Plans
This very story-driven autobiographical chat is about the reality of God being better than I dared hope. It's based on Psalm 37:4 which invites us to delight in the Lord and he will give us our heart's desires.
Community --> Culture --> Current
It's hard to swim upstream.
What did we learn in 2023?
And also, a main priority for 2024...
Longings for the kingdom
This chat is from Isaiah 9 and 40.
We Need To Talk About Screens (Linda)
Specifically screen addictions.
Grace
I don't think we'll fall in love with God unless we relate to Him through the lens of grace.
Praise Him ALL THE TIME (Stan)
We call in God in times of trouble, but we need to remember to give Him his praise in good times too.
Danielle Tharp - prophetic activation
Danielle shared and the group practiced praying for each other in fresh ways.
Carl Chupp on Kingdom Living
How do we share the gospel with people?
The only way to get there: together.
This is a chat from the first half of Ephesians 4 about what God is up to in the church. Where we're headed, and how we will get there.
Rare and Random or Available Now? (Healing, part 4)
Are supernatural encounters with God few, far between, and inexplicable? Or is God more available, and do we play a part in the equation?
Metron
This talk is about a concept Paul expresses repeatedly in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, namely, that of a metron.
Did you know you have a metron? Do you know what it is? Are you being faithful in it? How would you discover it? Does it change throughout your life?
Who sinned? (healing, part 3)
In this one, we open up some thorny questions about various causes of illness found in the Bible...
We want to avoid all-or-nothing thinking such as thinking ALL sickness, "must be God teaching me a lesson," or "the devil messing with me." While both of those CAN occur, there are many causes of illness in a fallen world.
My main takeaway is that Jesus viewed brokenness in the world not as an opportunity to assign blame, but as an opportunity to bring the Father's goodness to bear.
Main Scriptures: 1 Sam 5:6, Rev 2:20-23, John 9:1-7, Acts 10:38
Your Foundational Scriptures (Linda)
This was a Wed night prayer meeting chat.
What y'all said Wednesday (Healing, Part 2)
<li>Linda - What scripture are you standing on?</li>
<li>Carolyn - Just a tiny bit of faith is enough.</li>
<li>Kim - God gives us keys, learn to use them.</li>
<li>Cheryl - Tell the whole story, not just the wins.</li>
<li>Marc - Know your identity in Christ.</li>
<li>Carl - God is about healing the whole person.</li>
<li>Stan - No matter what, God is good and I'm all in.</li>
</ul>
Worship & Peanut Butter (Jacob Borders chat)
This is a chill conversation with Jacob, who leads the worship band. He's really open and we're a bit random.
Doin' the Stuff (Healing, part 1)
"Hey, pastor! When are we gonna get to do the stuff?"
"What stuff?"
"The stuff Jesus did."
"Oh, no we don't do the stuff. He did it. We just study it."
"Well that doesn't seem right."
It ain't.
Forgiveness - Do we forget?
AND MORE...
Psalm 103 + Ministry Time
This was last night's "Wednesday Whiteboard" time.
I included the prayers so that people might go back and listen again if that's helpful, but I removed anything I felt was not for public consumption.
Sometimes it seems wrong to forgive.
Why is that? And how would you help someone forgive who is having a difficult time?
Tortured by the jailers
"Surely if the cross can make it like we've never sinned, it can make it as if we've never been sinned against." (Dan Mohler)
Stan on Forgiveness
Stan told a bunch of personal stories on the theme of forgiveness.
Part 3 - Does God need anything?
This is part 3 on the theme of, "What does God get out of all this?"
John Mark - Barnabas - Grace - Kind to yourself
Some conversation about what it might mean to be a genuine gospel community.