Hindsight

Freedom is one of the tremendous blessings for which I’m thankful to God!  I didn’t mention it in my sermon Sunday because I had to keep my message to 9 tremendous blessings!  But I am so thankful for a country that allows me to live out my freedom of religion in whatever way I see fit. 

Freedom is why we have the opportunity tonight at 4:30 to hand out fliers inviting Visalia Christmas Parade attenders to GateWay during the holiday season. 

146 people responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ in 2011and made a commitment.  Did you know that we're on the same pace or even ahead of that number this year?  Do you think God is using GateWay to reach, touch, heal, encourage, and save people in the Visalia region for Christ? 

Almost 38 years ago Cindy invited me to go to church with her.  I heard the message and responded by accepting Christ.  There are people who are valuable to God waiting to connect in a relationship with Him if we’ll just be bold and invite them to GateWay. 

We’re meeting at Starbucks on Main St. at 4:30.  Be a part of what God is doing at GateWay. 

Let’s utilize our freedom of religious expression and reach out to those who don’t have a church home this Christmas season.  

Hindsight

$41,218.00 worth of cash and commitments were made to Network Missions at GateWay on Sunday!  Thank you for your generosity and trust in what GateWay is doing to reach people for Christ.  Because of your gifts we were able to give Pastor Bill’s Metro Ministries a check for $10,000.00  That gift will keep buses rolling and Sunday School happening all over New York.  If you weren't able to give and would like to just drop a check in the offering marked "Network Missions."

I hope you had a great day hearing Pastor Bill Wilson’s story.  Someone said the job of a Pastor is,  “To comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable!”  I think Pastor Bill epitomizes that sentiment.  He went to Brooklyn to be a missionary to the urban world and his desire was to not only make a difference not in their physical living conditions but in their knowledge of God and commitment to Jesus Christ.  The staff of Metro Ministries has literally led tens of thousands of children to Christ.

I hope your were inspired and motivated not just to give financially but to think of yourself as the Bill Wilson missionary to your world!

GateWay to Christmas is coming and it’s the perfect opportunity to be on mission to invite friends, relatives and neighbors to a Christian Christmas experience.  Take a step of faith and buy some extra tickets and reach your friends for Christ!

Hindsight

Romans 16 is a roll call of important people in the life of the Apostle Paul.  I hope you’re taking time this week to make your list of people who are important in your life!

Bill Wilson is one of those important people for me.

I met Bill in 1987 at People’s Church in Fresno.  I was astounded by his story of moving into the Bushwick community of Brooklynn to begin a ministry to retrieve and minister to hurting and abandoned children. Bill began with the name of Yogi Bear Sunday School but soon adopted the new name of Metro Ministries.

Bushwick is an area filled with drugs, violence and urban dysfunction.  Bill has been beaten, stabbed and shot in the face, yet he stays in this to touch the lives of children.

Due to the success of Metro’s programs, President George Bush, Sr. appointed Pastor Bill to serve on the National Commission on America’s Urban Families in 1991. Metro’s influence was also identified as a factor in the noticeable reduction of crime in the Bushwick community and the organization was featured on ABC’s Nightline.

Bill will be speaking at GateWay this Sunday at 8:45, 10:30 and 6pm (There will be a Thursday night service but Bill will not be able to be a part of it.)

If you’d like to read Bill’s biographical book please call the church office and come by and pick up a copy as they’re available.

Come meet someone who was added to my list!  Bring some friends, they will be amazed by Bill’s story.

God bless,

Pastor Ed

Hindsight

Devotion to Jesus Christ was the topic at church Sunday (Acts 2:42.)  I want to highlight two ideas that I really didn’t have enough time to fully develop.  The first idea is the meaning of the word devotion itself.  The early Church devoted itself to 4 goals:

            #1.  Devotion to learning the teaching of Jesus through the Apostles.  All the theology that the early church wrote down for us so we could understand the full impact of who Jesus is.  The fact that He is a part of the Trinity.  That there is a Father, Son and Holy Spirit united in love and mission to reclaim their creation.  That each has specific responsibilities within that relationship.

            #2.  Devotion to the fellowship of all those who claim Christ as their Savior and join together as a family.  The early church had a fellowship that went beyond just gathering on Sunday mornings.  They ate meals together in homes to build relationship.  They gathered sometimes daily to hear scripture read and taught on because they had no Bibles of their own.

            #3.  Devotion to Communion.  The crucifixion of Jesus was so fresh in the minds of new believers because it was just a few weeks previous to their faith.  They could picture in their minds crucifixion because they had personally witnessed, maybe not Jesus crucifixion, but some crucifixion.  You couldn’t live anywhere in the Roman Empire and not have seen at least one crucifixion.

            #4.  Devotion to prayer.  There’s no greater challenge for us fast paced Western Christians than the spiritual discipline of prayer.  Practicing the presence of God so that they prayed without ceasing was the way the early church coped with the stress of living out their faith.  A few years later Paul would write New Testament books where he had to encourage people to pray because the persecution of the Romans drove the church underground.

The second idea I want to discuss is the outworking of the word devotion through the Church of Jesus Christ.  This word devotion is the strongest word for communication in the book of Acts.  It communicates that the early church took responsibility for communicating to their culture the truth and value of Jesus Christ but also His grace and love.  They took time to connect with people.  They took time to include others. 

The number one way people became Christians was through the experience of a worship service where Jesus was made the center of worship and a sermon was given to explain how to connect to people.

It’s always important for everyone to know how to share the gospel.  Every person in church should be able to ask, “If a friend were to ask you how to get to heaven what would you say?” and then tell them how to get to heaven.  

But the early church invited people into churches to experience worship and hear the Apostles teaching.  We can do the same thing today!  Invite people to church, especially those who’ve never been to an energetic, alive church!  Let them experience what it means to see other normal people worship God and interact with the Word of God through sermons. 

What does taking notes during a sermon say to new people?  “Wow, these people take this Bible thing seriously!”

What does engaged singing say to new people?  "Wow, these people take this worship thing seriously!"

This week think about the elements of devotion and practice the presence of God both outside during the week and then inside when we gather in the name of Jesus.

Hindsight

Jeff Link told a story in the Traditional Service at GateWay a couple of Sunday’s ago that stuck with me.  He cited a San Francisco Chronicle newspaper story that included a suicide note from a young man who jumped to his death off the Golden Gate Bridge.  The note was found in his apartment the day after he jumped.  The suicide note said, “If someone notices my distress and talks to me on my walk to the bridge I won’t jump.”  No one noticed and no one talked to him.

This sad story drives home the point I made on Sunday about encouragement.  There are times when all of us need the crutch of encouragement.  There’s pain, discomfort and injury in our lives and we need somebody, anybody to come alongside and prop us up with a little crutch of encouragement.  A kind or thoughtful word is helpful. 

Proverbs 25:11 says, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver (a great combination to make an expensive piece of jewelry), Is a word spoken in right circumstances (a great combination to make an encouraging statement.”

I  like the Irish fable:

         There were four people in the world, Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.  Now, there was a very important task that was Everybody’s job, but Everybody thought that Somebody was going to do it. But Somebody didn’t do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it. Everybody thought that Somebody was going to do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. So, it ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody because Nobody did what Anybody could have done.”

Encouragement is a choice that anybody can make.

Hindsight

Some have asked about the books I recommended on Sunday so here they are:

Hide or Seek by Dr. James Dobson

Parenting with Love and Logic by Dr. Foster Cline

Christian Child Rearing and Personality Development by Dr. Paul Meier

These 3 books have been very significant to me in raising my kids.  I hope they are helpful to you as well.

Parents can feel isolated and embarrassed about issues their kids are dealing with and never confide in another parent about their struggles.  Some parents also feel hesitant about going to a counselor to get some feedback concerning how their parenting is working.  So reading a couple of books is so helpful for gaining the depth of wisdom that comes from professionals who counsel hundreds of parents. 

I’ve found in my own life there can be a fog of understanding when I’m trying to evaluate my life.  I was sitting in a counselors office a couple of years ago talking about some struggles I was having and after about an hour this psychologist said to me, “You know what your problem is?!”  I said, “No, that’s why I’m here!”  He said, “You sound very …!”  I said, “That’s it!”  In one short hour this guy was able to put his finger on the heart of the issue and help summarize my difficulty.  That was really helpful because I could see what I needed to do next to correct the issue.  The fog dissipated and the next steps were clear.

I recommend books because they can be just as helpful as counseling and the cost is a whole lot lower.  You also get advice from people who have seen child rearing patterns and strategies that have consistently worked.  Advice about breaking your own negative parenting patterns are a part of these books as well.

Take action, don’t get discouraged and quit trying or sit in apathetic silence, get a couple of books and try a few new ideas.  Hopefully they’ll pay off in big relationship rewards with your kids.

God bless,

Pastor Ed 

  

Hindsight

Yesterday kicked off Family Month with Dr. Gil Steiglitz challenging us to develop “honor” and “respect” in our relationships, especially in marriage.  If you weren’t here I want to encourage you to go to the GateWay Visalia web site and under resources you can bring up his sermon and listen to it or next Sunday go to the 411 table and get a cd copy of the message for $3.00.

Remember that I Peter 3:7 says that we are to honor wives and women (moms, daughters, etc.) in our lives by granting it to them.  So this week you’re to “add value” to these ladies.

Remember that Ephesians 5:33 says that we are to respect husbands and men (dads, sons, etc.) in our lives by granting it to them. So this week you’re to “acknowledge value” to these men.

The primary purpose of these passages is the husband and wife relationship, but these principles need to be used in other relationships so that we respectfully build others around us. So take advantage of the Bible's role in your life and encourage!