Friday, February 25, 2011

In Christ You Are

In Christ you are…

• God’s beloved child (Jn 1:12: Eph 1:5)
• Christ’s dear friend (Jn 15:5)
• Declared perfectly righteous (“justified”) (Rom 5:1)
• Free from condemnation (Rom 8:1; Col 2:14-16)
• United with Christ, “one spirit” with Christ (I Cor 6:17; Eph 5:31)
• A member of Christ’s body (I Cor 6:15/ 12:27)
• The Temple of God (I Cor 6:19)
• Filled with the “fullness of God” (Eph 3:19)
• A “holy one” [saint] (Eph 1:1)
• Blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3)
• Holy and blameless (Eph 1:4)
• Bought with an infinite price and forgiven (I Cor 6: 20; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14)
• Bathed with wisdom and understanding (Eph 1:8)
• The recipient of an eternal, infinitely rich, inheritance (Eph 1:11, 18)
• Possessed with the mind of Christ (I Cor 2:16)
• Inseparable form God’s love (Rom 8:35-39)
• One who will NEVER be abandoned (Mt 28:20)
• The beautiful bride of Christ who “ravishes” the heart of God (Song of Songs, 4:1ff; 6:4ff).
• One over whom the Lord rejoices, sings and claps his hands(Zeph 3:17)
• One for whom the Lord throws a party (Zeph 3:17; Lk 15:7-10)
• A recipient of God’s own peace (Jn 14:27)
• Filled with the peace and joy of God (Rom 14:17)
• One in whom Christ’s joy is fulfilled (Jn 15:11)
• Given direct access to the Father by the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18)
• Seated with Christ in heavenly realms (Eph 2:6)
• Seated “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” with Christ (Eph 1:21).
• Hid in Christ in heavenly realms (Col 3:1-5)
• Crucified, Buried and Raised with Christ (Rom 6:1-11)
• Made perfect forever (Heb 10:14)
• Made complete in Christ (Col 2:10)
• Indwelled by a fearless Spirit (2 Tim 1:7)
• One of God’s precious works of art (Eph 2:10)
• Indwelt by a spirit of power, love and stability (2 Tim 1:7)
• A citizen of heaven (Phil 3:20)
• Predestined to look like Jesus and see him in his glory (Rom 8:29; I Jn 3:1-5)
• One in whom God is working to bring good out of evil (Rom 8:28)
• Salt of the earth (Mt 5:13)
• A branch chosen to bear fruit (Jn 15:16)
• A co-worker with God (I Cor 3:9)
• An ambassador of Christ and minister of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:17-20)
• A priest of the most high God ( I Pet 2:5-9)
• More than a conqueror in all things (Rom 8:37)
• One who knows the truth and is set free (Jn 8:32).
• One who can do all things in Christ (Phil 4:13)

GFchurch Update

It has been a few weeks since I have posted, but I wanted to try and catch everyone up to date on what is happening in the life of our church Gateway Fellowship. We finished our Authentic Church series a couple weeks ago and we are two weeks into our new series, The Marks of a Disciple. If you have not been able to attend services, you can catch up right here at GatewayTV. Our Connect groups are meeting on a weekly basis and we are studying the scriptures together, praying for one another, and doing life together. It is truly an exciting time on the life of our church. If you are not involved in a Connect Group, I urge you to prayerfully consider joining one and investing in the life of the Body of Christ.

This past week, we looked at the second mark of a disciple, which is group life or community. Remember you can watch last weeks service at GatewayTV, the link is above. Here are the scriptures we studied this past weekend:

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly[a] with your God.

Micah 6:8


34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Matthew 22:34-39


42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47


Here are a few ways to stay connected with our church::
Gateway Fellowship Facebook
Gateway Fellowship Twitter

Here are a few things coming up in the life of our church::
...GF Ladies Jammies and Java, Saturday, February 26th @ 8am
...Yard Team meeting Sunday, February 27th at 5:45pm
...Sunday Nite Live, February 27th @ 6:30pm



ConnectGroup Schedule::

TuesNite @ 7pm @ The Snow's
WedNite @ 7pm @ The Brown's



I love our church
I love our people
I love our team
I love what He is doing in us
I love what He is doing to us
I love what He is doing through us

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Quote~ Tullian Tchividjian

“I’ve come to realize that once God rescues sinners, his plan isn’t to steer them beyond the gospel, but to move them more deeply into it.” The gospel is not simply a once-and-done phenomena. The gospel is more than just the forgiveness of sins. It is the redemptive arc of God’s creation, fall, redemption, and the new creation"

~Tullian Tchividjian

The Gospel has to become the central focus of our lives. We must live our lives in such a manner that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ. As I continue to wrestle with the Scriptures, I am continually reminded of my need for the gospel and it's sanctifying work in my life. It is more that just the initial justifying, regenerating work. It compels me to live in such a way that my life matches my positional sanctification as the Holy Spirit progressively compels me to become more like Jesus

Thursday, February 3, 2011

GFchurch Update

We are in the final week of a series called Authentic Church at Gateway Fellowship We are walking through the letter of 1st Thessalonians and looking at the church in Thessalonica. The church there seemed to be doing a lot of things right and we are applying those truths to the life of our church and all that the Lord has for us.

When we complete our Authentic Church series, we will be looking at the "Marks of A Disciple".

It is an exciting time in the life of @GFchurch. Our worship times have been great and our people are engaging the Father. Scott Finch ,our worship leader has been doing a great job ushering us to the throne weekly with the help of his team. Our Children's Ministry Team is doing am amazing job weekly, in The Yard , sharing the Gospel with all of our children, not only through the lessons that are being taught but also through the way they model the gospel with their lives.

As a church, we are praying about a couple of mission trips in and out of the state and some other opportunities as well which will allow us to serve the very community in which we live. My recent trip to the Dominican Republic has once again stirred my affection for that country and what we can do to make a difference there



If you have not been able to be with us Gateway Fellowship the past few weeks, you can catch the services in their entirety here on GatewayTV

Here are a few ways to stay connected with our church::
Gateway Fellowship Facebook
Gateway Fellowship Twitter

Here are a few things coming up in the life of our church::

...Men's Breakfast on Saturday, February 19th @ 8am
...GF Ladies Jammies and Java, Saturday, February 26th @ 8am
...Sunday Nite Live, February 27th @ 6:30pm



ConnectGroup Schedule::

TuesNite @ 7pm @ The Snow's
WedNite @ 7pm @ The Brown's



I love our church
I love our people
I love our team
I love what He is doing in us
I love what He is doing to us
I love what He is doing through us

Quote~ Sinclair Ferguson

Gospel Driven Sanctification::

The first thing to remember is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual … but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only where our piety forgets about us and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ.