Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Sunday Reflections

The Lord is doing some really neat things in the life of our church. Every week, we look forward to what He is going to do in us and through us. We have around 90 percent of our church family involved in our Connect Group ministry and we are witnessing biblical community taking place. I love our Connect Group ministry and the implementation of our vision to "do life together" Our weekly small groups that are meeting in homes around the community is where we deepen our relationships with one another and become the community of faith that He has called us to be. I do want to challenge you to get involved with one of these groups.

We have a few things coming up:
~ October 3rd.... Ladies Night @ GFchurch
~ October 17th... FunFest
~ October 24th... Men's Breakfast @ Soulman's (change of date due to FunFest)

We have just wrapped us a series called, "Who Are You...?". and we are starting a new series this Sunday, October 4, 2009 called "Parables". If you missed the least series and want to catch up or you would like to hear one again, you can watch them at GatewayTV

.. I love our church
.. I love our team
.. I love our people
.. I love our community
.. I love what He is doing in us
.. I love what He is doing through us
.. I love that He is not done with us

There are some awesome things coming up in the life of Gateway Fellowship.
.. new ConnectGroup studies by Zach Snow
.. new Creative Arts stuff being led by Scott Finch
.. new way to stay connected with GFchurch Facebook Page

Friday, September 25, 2009

Thoughts from this week

This week has been crazy. Sunday services at Gateway Fellowship were awesome. The Lord once again reminded us who was in control. It seemed like everything we had planned did not necessarily go the way we thought but He was definitely in control. We had some instrument problems so I just got up and we preached the message at the beginning of service and followed it with worship. We do this from time to time, but it was not slotted to be done that way this past Sunday. Once again, He is the One who leads and directs and we are thankful. The service ended up going really well and everything just fell into place.

We had some amazing days at Greenville Christian School this week as well. On Wednesday, September 23rd, we had BMW Day, which is a day that our entire school goes out into the community and serves. It was an amazing time of community service and giving the students a physical opportunity to walk their faith out and teach them what Biblical service is. The students really enjoyed it and I am continuing to hear some awesome stories of what the Lord did in and through our students. That morning started out with the faculty and the student body surrounding the flag pole for SYATP (See You At The Pole). It was great to see students and adults praying for the name and renown of Jesus Christ to be known among the nations.

This weekend I am officiating a wedding for a young couple that Natalie and I have had the privilege of getting to know and are looking forward to investing in their lives and watching the Lord mold them and grow them together.

This Sunday morning, I will be finishing a series called, "Who Are You...?" This weeks message, "Who Are You Really Following" is one that I am really excited about teaching and looking forward to what the Lord has for all of us.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Sunday Reflections

Yesterday at GFchurch was awesome. The worship led by Scott Finch had a sweet spirit vibe to it and our people were really engaged and singing throughout the service. One of our elders, Dennis Dodds has just come back from being overseas and he shared some amazing stories of things that happened while he was there and even over the past 4 years as Gateway Fellowship Church celebrated its 4th anniversary. The Lord has been good to us. We have seen stages of growth, stages of pruning followed by regrowth and a passion for His name to be made known among the nations. There are some amazing things taking place in the life of our church. We are pushing forward to get to the next level of ministry for us in our Connect Groups. We are going to be producing some video driven small group studies that will feature Zach Snow, teaching several 10-12 minute video segments that will help unpack our core values to our church family. I am really excited about the direction our Connect Group Ministry is headed as well as the implementation of our overall vision that is being put into the Creative Ministries of the church. Pray with us as we push forward into what the Lord has for us at GFchurch

- I love our church
- I love our people
- I love what HE is doing in us
- I love what HE is doing through us
- I love that HE is not done with us

Sunday Reflections

Yesterday at GFchurch was awesome. The worship led by Scott Finch had a sweet spirit vibe to it and our people were really engaged and singing throughout the service. One of our elders, Dennis Dodds has just come back from being overseas and he shared some amazing stories of things that happened while he was there and even over the past 4 years as Gateway Fellowship Church celebrated its 4th anniversary. The Lord has been good to us. We have seen stages of growth, stages of pruning followed by regrowth and a passion for His name to be made known among the nations. There are some amazing things taking place in the life of our church. We are pushing forward to get to the next level of ministry for us in our Connect Groups. We are going to be producing some video driven small group studies that will feature <, teaching several 10-12 minute video segments that will help unpack our core values to our church family. I am really excited about the direction our Connect Group Ministry is headed as well as the implementation of our overall vision that is being put into the Creative Ministries of the church. Pray with us as we push forward into what the Lord has for us at GFchurch

- I love our church
- I love our people
- I love what HE is doing in us
- I love what HE is doing through us
- I love that HE is not done with us

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Ed Stetzer~ The Nines Conference

Wanted to share this with you. It is from Ed Stetzer's blog post:::


Ed Stetzer - The 9s from LifeWay on Vimeo.




Mission, Self, and God's Mission



Mission is the opposite of self. We have to remember to make it about God and not about us.

Even pastors struggle with the reality that the heart is an idol factory. Your heart is an "Idol Factory" constantly creating things other than God to worship.

We must resist the pull of idols and live the mission-- to make it about God's Glory and His agenda.

We pastors too often consider ourselves as "religious professionals who can put on a show" rather than people transformed and sent on mission.

1. Those on mission focus on God's glory and His agenda
(Isaiah 6:1-8).

2. Those on mission reflect being with God
(2 Corinthans 3:16-18).

Trying to get people on mission who haven't been transformed by the gospel is a fool's errand.

3. Those on mission no longer live for themselves
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15).


It's not about thinking less of you; it's about thinking of you less.

I hope it is an encouragement to you.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Sunday Reflections

What a great day at Gateway Fellowship

I really enjoyed seeing the people of @GFchurch this morning. We had an amazing time of worship led by Scott Finch I really enjoy hearing our people connect in worship and sing praises to their Creator. We began a new series this morning called, "Who Are You....?" and we will be answering a different question for the next few weeks. Today we looked at the story of Zacchaeus and asked the question, Who Are You Listening To?" The scriptures found in Luke 19 tell us the story of Zacchaeus and gives us a snapshot of the voices he was hearing. We looked at the fact that there is an "internal" voice that we often hear which tends to be one of contradiction to the things of God. The is another voice that we hear at times. We will call it the "intermediate" voice and it is one that brings about a conviction to things of God. It makes us ask questions like, "what am I hear for" and "Is this really what life is all about?" We can also see that there is an intimate and inviting voice that we hear. It is the voice of the Father and it is one that brings conversion to God. In verse 5 we see this take place in Luke 19. Jesus tells Zacchaeus to come down, for I am going to your house today. When we hear the voice of Jesus, it often gives us a sense of urgency and anticipation.

Zacchaeus walked through all of these voices. I am certain that He went through the internal voice questioning his very reason for wanting to go see Jesus. The questions and reasoning of such things like; "people will think I am silly", "people will make fun of me", "someone of my social stature should not do this" This internal voice is one that leaves unrest which brings us to the intermediate voice where Zacchaeus began to ask questions like; "Is this really all there is to this life?". If his answer to such a question was yes, then he surely would have never climbed the tree. Zacchaeus knew that had to be more! Even in the midst of the voices he heard in verse 7 which were the grumblings of men saying "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner", Zacchaeus repented. He did not care what others thought. He knew there was more. You see he had overcome the internal voice, he was working through the intermediate voice and now he was hearing the initiating and intimate voice of the Father and the words were as such; "Come down, for I must stay at your house today" then we see in the last verse these words, "Today salvation has come to this house".

Will you move away from living a life of self and move towards a lifestyle that will listen and answer to the initiating and inviting voice of the Father?

~ I love our church
~ I love our people
~ I love what He is doing in us
~ I love what He is doing through us
~ I love that He is not done with us

Other GFchurch staff blogs:
Zach Snow's Blog
Scott Finch's Blog