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We want to hear about how God is leading you to be locally effective and globally connected. Please post by clicking on “comments” below.
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| Posted by: jen_atkins |
6/30/2008 10:48 PM |
On Sunday, June 29th, John spoke to us about being locally effective and globally connected. Below is an excerpt from his sermon charging us to prayerfully consider how we can do just that.
“So here’s what I want to ask you to do. Pray for our city. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce…seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Jeremiah 29:4-7 when the people of God were carried into exile in Babylon -- which was a very pagan, idol worshiping, corrupt city, yet God told them to integrate into mainstream life, and pray and seek peace and prosperity for that city. And God wants to bless our city, through his church. For this next month, as you go through your day pray, “God help me see people through your eyes, and help me demonstrate mercy and faith with your hands.” And as you do that, ask him to show us as a church the one thing we could focus on for the next few years to really bless our city. Maybe it's going after Child homelessness, maybe not. Maybe there's some other systemic evil that he will start to show all of us that we could all get excited about focusing on. We want you to post your thoughts as you pray about this one area of injustice we can all focus on as a church. Let's let our one prayer be, “God make us locally effective and show us how.” Let’s seek God’s guidance together, as a unified church, and pray that by the Fall it will be clear if there’s One Focus we should bring light to. Let’s all pray, listen, and blog.”
We want to hear about how God is leading you. Please post by clicking on “comments” below. |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Lisa Reid on
7/1/2008 10:15 AM |
| I was excited by John's vision on Sunday and will be praying to find out what God's vision for Gateway and for Austin is in the upcoming months. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the upcoming months and years! |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Jeff on
7/2/2008 6:00 AM |
| I'm not exactly sure why God put this on my heart, but every day I see the same homeless lady at an intersection on my way to work. Maybe God wants me to reach out to her. I've given her money before, but I don't think that's the answer. Right now I'm just listening to God to see what he wants me to do next. |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By member on
7/2/2008 3:42 PM |
| Today I attended a funeral for a man who went to Gateway. He was well known at work and in the community as a person who showed love and compassion. I want our whole church to be known that way! I want to be like that! |
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Re: God's charge - "As You Go" |
By Glenn Gibson on
7/3/2008 10:27 AM |
| So after coming home from Michaels 'Home Coming reunion'. I had this very good conversation with a door to door salesman, a young mormon guy. We found common ground in Jesus, our savior. We agreed to pray a "One Prayer" prayer that the body of Christ be joined together in heart and purpose and for a fresh and powerful outpouring of His Holy Spirit on His children and church all over the world." It is not in our differences that we should dwell, but in our unified faith in our God and His Son. Baptist, Methodist, Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, etc... all of these labels will fade away and we will be left with a global church body unified in bringing His Heavenly Kingdom to earth. Thank you Father, for allowing Michael to continue to inspire us all 'as we go'. Please help spread this prayer across all boundaries, faiths and religions. |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By jamiekuhlman on
7/6/2008 12:53 PM |
| I really appreciated John's message last Sunday. So often I feel that people want to ignore systematic problems in our community to make themselves feel more comfortable. It is so wonderful to be a part of a church that wants to work with and pray for the community and city around it. I work with a lot of at-risk and abused youth. Through this I have really seen "systematic evil" at work and also the impact positive forces could play in these kids lives. At such a formative time in these kids lives, they are being bombarded with negative influences and often lack adults that care about them. I really believe that God has placed these kiddos and teens on my heart, and I ask that ya'll pray for them that God can work in their lives. |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Dan DuPree on
7/7/2008 1:08 PM |
| I started attending Gateway South this past Easter. I have found each service a refreshing spiritual buffett. I have also found a great deal of peace and closenes in my walk with God. I am starting to make new relationships and sense that this is where the Lord is leading me. <br> I have enjoyed all of the message's so far, but John's message on praying to ask what to focus on penetrated deep into my heart and stirred my soul. I believe that God "the artist" works in the medium called the heart. Only god can do heart sculpting,painting,writing,renewal,music,poetry. Afterall, he created the heart. I also believe that each community has a unique heart. For austin Texas, that heart is the music. Its the ingrediant that binds a great palete of diversity, we call our home town. Our city leadership has used the slogan "Live music capital of the world" for many years. I think the slogan speaks to John's word Glocally(not sure if I have the spelling right, new word; not in webster's yet) If you look at the slogan it says "live music locally representing the world. I believe God wants his bond servants for Christ to assist him in working on the heart of Austin via his live music. There is a huge need to encourage, equip, lead help with creative processes, produce live events, live venues for artist to worship and sing about the lord. focus prayer: Lord lead us in the building of your Kingdom creative artist music community for Austin locally and into the global community. |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Renee Bekkelund on
7/11/2008 10:11 AM |
| This message really stuck with me. On my way home, I see the same homeless man and his dog. I've given him money and sometimes food. And of course he's always thankful. But one day at a really long red llight I started to ask him about himself. He told me his name is Lee and that his dogs name was Wendy. And without Wendy, he'd be lost. Wendy, his dog was his best friend. He then told me that Wendy has lots of animal friends in the woods where they live. He then told me that Wendy was a smart dog and he loved her. My heart went out to him and I haven't stopped praying for him and his dog.<br>That day, I made it a point not to just give money, but to build a relationship with the people I come in contact with every day, not to exclude homeless people, because they are people too and God's children. <br>Sometimes while going through that light, it's green and I don't have the chance to stop and say hi to Lee or Wendy, but I always say a prayer for them and love them as Jesus told us to do.<br>I believe that the family of Gateway is amazing and will do great things with the comminity of Austin.<br>My prayers lift up this effort. |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Matson Duncan on
7/12/2008 3:56 PM |
| The One Prayer series and John’s message reminded me of why I am so proud that Gateway is my local expression of Christ in Austin. John, you have honored us by asking that we pray, listen, and give feedback. May the Lord give us eyes to see our city collectively as a unique individual called by God. Who is Austin called to be? What is her history and her future? What is her DNA and how is she wired? What will her unique contribution to the kingdom look like at the feet of Christ when every knee is bowed in worship to Him? I see the kingdom of God as a cultural movement (foretold by the prophets and) set in motion by Christ. This revolutionary movement is a renewal movement that continues to impact the nations. As we pray and ask the Lord to refocus our attention to this movement, His mission for the church, it is clear to me that the Lord has uniquely called Austin to cultivate and commission some of the most authentic story tellers in independent music and film – and on a global scale. Due to globally shared economics, media, and art, a global cultural is emerging for the first time in history. Who will lead this global culture? The church in Austin has been given a golden opportunity to cultivate and commission the emerging artists here to be global cultural leaders of the renewal movement, a cultural renaissance, if you will. The King of our movement has given us the authority to operate counter culture to a systemic evil that is committed to starve artists and make idols of the ones that “make it.” Austin could prompt a sea change if we would innovate a system that commissions worthy artists to fulfill their calling as leaders of God’s kingdom movement. These leaders give back to the church by giving 10% of their best time back to bless the city. Give their time to mentor homeless kids, for example. I look forward to hearing where the Lord takes us in our prayers together about this. Thank you, John. |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Connie McWright on
7/20/2008 4:33 PM |
| I think the mission of serving with the 12 step groups at Gateway South campus is a much needed ministry. We don't have to look far to see the thousands dying of addiction - homeless - under the bridge - or up and going wearing business suits ... yet ...dying of addiction and without Christ and the spiritual power necessary to overcome this battle. To save the little children ... it must start with the adults (parents) to clean up and be an overcomer --- then they will be sober minded enough to hear the message - learn better job skills and parenting skills and one by one become a miracle that once was lost - and now is found and serve others in church and the community themselves. All praise and glory to God when that happens. With so many boys growing up without fathers ... perhaps there could be families teaming up with the kids falling through the cracks so they could witness how a man and spiritual leader is called to head up his family and learn what it means to be a Christian man, father and role model. <br><br>Food for thought!<br>Thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts.<br>Connie McWright |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Vicky Weller on
7/26/2008 6:28 AM |
| As John preached the glocal sermon, my husband Mike and I were out of town having breakfast with my mom and dad. We were telling them about what was going on in our lives. Currently a big focus is South Campus because we love the mission of this church for the unchurched and wanted to help expand that. We also started talking about the lives of very poor people here and the effect of crime on them and he challenged us with "How can your church help them?" We started talking about how the church refugee programs help some families and perhaps could be used as a model to help local families who want to be able to support themselves and contribute in ways they may not be able to now. My dad (a judge) was also telling us about some unique and successful rehabilitation programs that could be a model to help some who had fallen into crime. Put all that into the context of Christ's body could be extremely powerful!<br>We got to listen to the glocal sermon the next weekend at South Campus and found it to be one of the most powerful & inspiring sermons yet. Let's act on it! |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Mandy Brown on
8/3/2008 4:23 PM |
| John mentioned in service today to continue to pray how we as a church and inviduals can impact our community and our city at large. I would like to let everyone know about the non-profit organization I work for...Easter Seals Central Texas. ESCT has been around for almost 71 years providing services for people with disabilities at every stage in their lives in the greater Austin area. ESCT provides two different rehabilitation programs. The first is Early Childhood intervention that serves children from birth to the age of 3 years old. The second rehabilitation program is called Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Program and it provides Audiology, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Service Coordination for clients 3 years of age and up. Other programs at ESCT include Supported Employment and Workforce. These two programs help to provide people with disabilities or criminal backgrounds with job coaching and placement. I am so blessed to work with such a great organizaiton. If you are interested in donating your time for volunteering or money for support, please call 512-478-2581 ext. 7. Let the receptionist know you're interested in donating! Please above all, pray for the organization that it may continue to grow and impact Austin and it's surrounding areas. Check us out at www.centraltx.easterseals.com . |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Darlene Byrne, Judge, 126th Judicial District Cour on
8/5/2008 1:45 PM |
| Tonight, approximately 1100 children in our community will sleep somewhere other than home because they have been victimized by abuse or neglect. In my courtroom, I see 25 to 30 of these new cases each month – involving issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, violence, neglect, mental illness, and poverty.<br><br>Many of these children can eventually be reunited with their parents, but the families first need good therapeutic services to help them address the issues that have made their homes unsafe.<br><br>In our community, we desperately need more families willing to care for foster children, especially teenagers, in their homes while their parents are working to achieve safety and stability. Travis and Williamson Counties place children all across the state, sometimes in large institutional settings, because we simply don’t have enough foster family homes here in our own community. If our community is going to heal these families and avoid additional trauma to these kids, we need to help them find nurturing foster homes closer to home.<br><br>Our community also has a significant need for more quality therapeutic services to treat mental health and substance abuse issues. After years of seeing a stream of drug-addicted mothers lose their children to the system, I have recently worked to help start a Family Drug Treatment Court through the Parenting-in-Recovery Program, which enables us to place some parents and their young children together in substance abuse facilities, so that they can complete treatment and build the accountability they need to help them become sober, nurturing, protective parents. While this program is proving to be effective, it is only one small program. There are many more families in our community who need good services to help them overcome the obstacles in their lives.<br><br>Finally, for those children who are unable to be reunited with their families, we need parents who are willing to provide permanent homes. We have so many beautiful, amazing children and teenagers in our community who dream of being adopted by a forever family. Many are terrified that they will age out of the system, without loving, caring parents to help them embrace the challenges of adult life.<br><br>As a community, we have tremendous potential to improve the lives of children who have been victimized by abuse and neglect. I challenge each of you to look into your hearts and homes and consider what you can do to make a difference in the life of a child.<br> |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By Amanda Patterson on
8/5/2008 2:34 PM |
| Since March, Community Care has met with 28 families with young children that have been either in danger of homelessness or already homeless. 13 of these families attend church at Gateway. The majority of the families we see have experienced some sort of unexpected financial crisis that has made it difficult to make as little as one month's rent payment. Crisis can come in many forms: loss of childcare, employment layoff, medical emergency, decreased work hours, all of which can spiral further downward without stable housing. Reaching out of the crisis becomes quite difficult. The rising cost of gasoline has led to an increasing difficulty in maintaining appropriate transportation to work through a new job search with no income. Food costs have also skyrocketed; however local resources are diminishing. We are the only food pantry in 78729, and there is no pantry in 78727, which is one of our adjacent zip codes. Last month, our pantry served 28 households, many of which multiple times, totaling 45 visits to the food pantry. According to United Way's database, the closest food pantry serving our zip code is six miles away. Capital metro has cut already limited bus lines, and few are within walking distance of anywhere near the church. |
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Re: John's charge - "As You Go" |
By dCb on
9/22/2008 12:04 AM |
| A recent friend had a hernia operation. Shortly afterward the stitches broke causing bleeding while in his house. Being divorced he was in dire need of help. He called upon me (or was it really He?) to come to his aid. I volunteered immediately and without recourse. I stayed at the hospital for 6 hours comforting him in the waiting room and even while under minor surgery to remove large and small blood clots and to redo the proper closer. I took him not to his home BUT to his former wife's residence under her strict direction. While there and now finally back home I have called every day to ask if my help can be of service. He has since received additional help from a high school friend as well. Now I say 'a recent friend' for I met JS only 1-1/2 weeks ago. Upon our first acquaintanceship I found he was going in for the surgery. Before I left his house I offered to help by transporting him to and from the hospital. This is my nature I have come to love interpersonally and recognize it is God's will and work for me. I know by giving great relief to our fellow man I am following in the Lord's footsteps. |
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