Gateway Church - MO

Jesus predicted that he would start a gathering, a movement . . . what we call church. And that church would spread all over the earth and outlast the Roman Empire. It would change the world. His prediction must have sounded outlandish to even his closest followers. But here we are, two thousand years later, and the Roman Empire exists only in history books, while Jesus’ gathering is still going s...

It takes a step of faith for an individual to trust Christ—not a blind leap of faith—one that is informed and supported by some compelling evidence. Christians don’t believe just because the Bible tells them to but because of the number of eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen a risen Jesus.

We all have mess up – sinned – and need to be forgiven. The good news is that through Christ’s death, we have already been forgiven. God has, in effect, canceled our sin and released us from the burden created by our guilt and regret. Other faith systems give us things to do; God offers something that has already been done for us. This is God’s great gift to us. But like any gift, it must be recei...

As Abraham worried about the fulfillment of God’s promises, God reassured him that what he had said would come to pass. Abraham responded to this reassurance with belief. In that moment of faith, God declared him righteous (having right standing or reconciled). Thousands of years later, Paul tells Christians that, like Abraham, our righteousness is based on faith as well.

Sin separates us from God. Embracing our status as sinners allows us to recognize our need for the forgiveness and restoration God offers through Jesus. Saying “I am a sinner” opens the door to an authentic relationship with God.

Like most things in life, everyone’s faith has a starting point. Adult realities often challenge the faith that might have formed in childhood. Likewise, we can have experiences or meet people that reignite our curiosity in faith or ignite it for the first time. The starting point of Christian faith is not the Bible. The starting point of Christian faith is the question: “Who is Jesus?”

When Jesus said, “Go and make disciples, was literally saying, “Disciple people as you are going.” A pioneer chooses to be intentional about imitating Jesus as they go through their journey of life. It’s imitating Jesus AS WE GO that makes us pioneers

A pioneer is made (and commanded) to “Go and make disciples.” We have no other work than the work of making disciples.

We were created to re-present God to our world and to partner with him in managing creation. But we have rebelled and lost who we were supposed to be. When we are re-created into the image of Jesus and live the life we were created to live, we open the door for others to discover a life worth living.

Living a life that transforms our world and brings peace and hope to those around us is hard to do. Until we know who we are, we’ll have a hard time knowing what to do. But when we keep our eyes on Jesus, we discover who we are and what we’re supposed to do. That’s what allows us to endure the difficulty of being a pioneer for Jesus in a world that doesn’t get it.

What you naturally want is often in conflict with what you ultimately value. But your heavenly Father knows what you need. He wants for you what you really want. So, how do you put aside those natural wants and pursue what you ultimately value?

What do you want? What do you really want? We’ll never get what we really want until we discover what is most valuable. And what we naturally want is often in conflict with what we ultimately value. So, in order to figure out what you really want, you have to figure out what you value.

We’ll never get what we really want until we discover what is most valuable. But choosing what’s valuable isn’t natural. We’ve all had the experience of getting what we naturally want, only to discover it's not what is most valuable—it’s not what we ultimately want. But how do we avoid being deceived by our short-term desires?

We all have wants. But actually getting what we want can be tricky . . . and even dangerous. It usually leaves us wanting more. If what we want leads to a cycle of wanting more and more, maybe we want the wrong things. Ultimately, we’ll never get what we really want until we discover what we really value.

Not only is scripture a mirror, but we ourselves are a mirror to those around us. We are called to be "Salt and Light" to the world.

There is a conventional wisdom that says “me first.” It’s common sense in our world: Take care of yourself. But what if conventional wisdom isn’t working? What if instead of conventional wisdom, we ask God to give us real wisdom? It will change us and it will change the world around us.

We can talk about our faith all day long. We can have the t-shirts, bumper stickers and perfect social media posts, but until we live out our faith by caring for those on the margins, our faith is hollow. Real faith isn’t talked about, it’s lived out loud.

Our words are more powerful and carry far more weight than we realize. That’s why it is so important for us to tame our tongues. The problem is that our tongues tend to be untamable. It is only when we surrender to the power of Christ that our words can become a source of life rather than a tool for death.

None of us likes to go out looking like we have never seen a mirror. When we're going out, we look in a mirror and change what needs to be changed. James compares the scriptures to a mirror that shows us the truth about ourselves. And when it comes to the mirror of scripture, when see something, I need to do something.

Most of the time we focus on the gift. We like presents. But when God gave us the gifts of HOPE, LOVE, PEACE, and JOY, the package was better than all of the gifts combined. The truth is we need God's presence more than we need His presents. God with us is more powerful than the things God does for us.

Our circumstances change, and with them, our happiness comes and goes. But joy is an attitude we choose based on our hope in God's love and promises. When you choose Joy, the weary world takes note.

God loved the world so much that he gave. He gave his son, Jesus, to show us what love looks like and, ultimately, to love us completely. When we look at the words and actions of Jesus we learn what it means to love and when we imitate Him, we give the weary world a reason to rejoice.

When I understand my sin and God’s grace, the natural response is to say “Send Me” when God asks who will go.