SERMON TITLE: Ministry Celebration
TEXT: multiple
SPEAKER: multiple
DATE: 9-8-24
Watch the service here
It’s good to be with all of you this weekend here at Gateway Church. And if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — or are a member of this faith family — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
So today’s going to be different — and here’s why. Today we’re celebrating God’s faithfulness to us over the past year. In years past, we’ve published a Ministry in Review document — but we thought we’d try something new this year and do our ministry in review live — as part of our worship services — because remembering God’s faithfulness is a reason for us to respond with worship.
So get ready to celebrate God’s faithfulness over the past year and to look ahead at the coming year. Yes — things will be a bit different this morning — but that’s OK. We won’t let that keep us from worshiping our God. So — if you’re able — please stand and follow along with the words on the screen.
Based on Psalms 118 and 136
Leader: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
Together: His faithful love endures forever.
Leader: Give thanks to the God of gods.
Together: His faithful love endures forever.
Leader: Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
Together: His faithful love endures forever.
Leader: Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
Together: His faithful love endures forever. Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.
Leader: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
Together: His faithful love endures forever.
In case you weren’t here when the service began — we’re doing something a bit different today. If you’re a guest with us — please come back next week — as this isn’t the norm. Next week we’ll have announcements and we’ll be back at both of our campuses with all of our regular service times.
And — what I want to make clear — is that we’re not celebrating how awesome we are today — we’re celebrating and giving thanks to our Lord — because he is good — and his faithful love endures forever. And it’s his faithful enduring love that we’re celebrating today. And I hope you’re ready to celebrate and praise our God — for there’s much for us to celebrate. And we’ve got both of our campuses together because this is a celebration of God’s faithfulness to us as a church — not as campuses — but as a church.
And here’s what you can expect. Various staff members are going to share highlights from our worship, connect, serve, go, next gen, and business and operation departments and — do so — keeping our new church vision in view. Because we — Gateway Church — exist to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ and — specifically — disciples who are Word and Spirit Christians, are generous, are family, are Kingdom-minded, and who are disciples who make disciples.
But — before we focus on worship — here’s something we learned from the survey that nearly twenty-five percent of you filled out earlier this year. Some of you may have forgotten about that survey — but we haven’t — and we’re excited to share the results with you. Let’s begin with our flourishing score which represents our overall wellness as a church based on areas related to faith, relationships, vocation, finances, and well-being. We scored an eight-five out of one hundred compared to the average US adult who has a flourishing score of sixty-seven. So know that your overall flourishing score — a score that combines your faith, relationships, vocation, finances, and well-being — is nearly twenty points higher on average than others in our country.
Here’s an example of what this flourishing score represents — let’s look at what you said about your relationship with Jesus and the Bible — this is your faith score. For someone who self-identifies as a Christian in the US — but isn’t regularly involved in a local church — their faith score is sixty-six. Regularly participating in a local church increases an individual’s faith score to eighty-five. What a statement about the power of being part of a local church. To anyone watching at home — not because you’re on vacation or are sick or homebound — know that your faith score will likely go up significantly just by showing up in person to a local church.
But we wanted to know how being part of Gateway affects your faith score. Well — according to your survey results — your faith score is a ninety-six. That’s thirty points higher than the average Christian in the US who isn’t involved in a local church — and eleven points higher than Christians who are involved in a local church. What a testament to what God is doing in, through, and among us as a faith family. I pray that these results will encourage you to be even more involved in this faith family.
Now — let’s look at worship. Regarding worshiping together — the author of Hebrews writes…
Hebrews 10:21-25 (NLT)
And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Jesus — the One who offered himself as the sacrifice for our sins and who’s washed us clean by his blood — he is why we gather together to worship. Thus — as our first step in our discipleship process — we commit to gathering together to worship Jesus.
In the survey you were asked, “How often do you leave our worship services feeling you’ve connected with God or personally experienced the presence of God?” You were also asked if you “Feel closer to God through the main worship service?” Our combined score was an eighty-eight compared to the national church average of eighty-three.
Regularly gathering to worship Jesus with your faith family — at either of our campuses — will draw you closer to God and help you experience his presence in your life. This past year — we celebrated as fifty people were baptized. Additionally, twelve infants were baptized, eighteen children were dedicated, and we received ninety-nine new members into our faith family. This is a result of your commitment to being disciples who make disciples of Jesus Christ. And I loved seeing your commitment to follow Jesus in the survey results.
For example, when it comes to “Desiring Jesus to be first in my life” and in “Believing that the Bible has authority over what I say and do” you scored a ten out of ten.
When asked if “Gateway is helping you live out the teaching of the Bible in your everyday life” and whether Gateway is “helping you understand the basic foundations of the Bible” — ninety-eight percent of you said yes.
And when asked if “You’ve seen the power of prayer through this church” — ninety-five percent of you agreed. A similar number of you also agreed that “Gateway is helping you develop habits of prayer that better connect you with God” — with ninety-six percent of you agreeing.
Again — given that our vision is for us to be disciples who live under the authority of God’s Word and empowered by his Spirit — it’s encouraging to see God’s faithfulness to us in fulfilling our vision of being Word and Spirit Christians.
Would you join me in thanking God for his faithfulness to us?
And — now — to look at our connect ministries — here’s our Life Group director — Joe Sherrieb.
Hey everyone! It’s a pleasure to be able to share with you today what our Life Group ministry is all about. Under the Connect value of our discipleship process here at Gateway, Life Groups run the show. And our Life Groups exist to read and study God’s Word together and discuss how we can apply the truths of the Bible to our daily lives.
But Life Groups also exist to be a safe place where everyone is cared for, encouraged, and supported as we pursue God — and his calling for each of us. So as we think of the 5 discipleship characteristics here at Gateway — Life Groups lean most heavily into being disciples who make disciples — and family.
We currently have 55 Life Groups and nearly 550 people connected in a group — and our desire is to launch even more as we strive to connect more and more of you into a group.
Right now — based on our average weekly attendance of adults – 65% of us are connected in a Life Group — In fact, can I get some audience participation? — If you’re willing and able, would you stand up right now if you’re currently connected in a Life Group?
As you can see — we aren’t just a church with some Life Groups — we are a church of Life Groups. And with that many people connected in groups — there are numerous stories to share about how we are applying God’s Word to our lives and doing so in the context of a family. You can go ahead and take a seat now — thank you!
Back in May, our Life Group team sent out a survey to all of you who are in a Life Group to seek input about your group’s focus on God’s Word and applying it to life — and how well each of you are caring for one another as family. And let me say — I am so encouraged by what you’ve shared with us. So — instead of me sharing the stories today, I’ve decided I’m going to quote you. I want everyone to hear the words of our Life Group members and the impact their group has had on them.
When asked how their Life Group has shown love to them:
Logan Rickle said “They showed us a lot of support especially when we welcomed our son Travis to the world. Everyone came over and brought us a meal and were willing to help.”
Michele Jewitt said, “They’ve brought us food when we’ve been sick and prayed for us. And they come to our kid’s birthday parties.”
Jake Adams said, “Lydia was in the hospital a couple of times and they helped provide food for us during a very stressful and busy time. We greatly appreciate the love they all shared.”
Whitney Yates said, “Being there for me in multiple ways — but praying, getting us food, and checking in on me after losing another child.” (Ask permission)
Kasey McKanna said , “One of the members surprised me with a donation to my ticket to go on an Honor Flight with my dad this fall.”
Lana Fought said, “I was really sick in January and my husband was away for work. The ladies in my Life Group brought me dinner every night that week to help care for me and my 5 kids.”
Sharon Vaas said, “They have held us up during this difficult time with our daughter’s cancer treatments — meals, gas cards, and especially prayer.”
Abby Carpenter said, “At the beginning of the Life Group, they celebrated my birthday in September which I really appreciated! We barely knew each other yet. One of the girls even made a cake for me.”
Jerica Ayers said, “I cannot say enough how much our Life Group became like family. The prayers, discussions, laughter, and so much more. Kathy and Randy took us under their wings and have been a major help in our spiritual and physical lives.”
Guys! This is amazing! And this is what Life Groups are all about. I wish I could read what everyone had to say about their Life Group. But just know that we are a family here at Gateway. And we always look forward to hearing a lot more family stories happening in your Life Groups. And we plan to share these stories in the Connect News Articles that go out once a month — so please, please please — share your stories with us. It’s so cool to see how God is working through our Life Group ministry — to bring us closer to Him and closer to one another.
And with all of that, I’m going to turn things back over to pastor Josh.
Thanks Joe. Related to this discipleship step is your relationship with others in the church. This has been — and continues to be — an area where we can grow together as a church.
I like to think of our Life Groups as our primary ministry for putting into practice all of the “one anothers” in the New Testament. For example Jesus said…
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” - John 13:34-35
Paul says we’re to, “Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” - Romans 12:10
And Peter tells us to, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” - 1 Peter 4:9
Life Groups are your opportunity to put into practice biblical commands like these.
According to the researchers of the survey, the average US adult has a relationship score of sixty-nine. And — as you’d expect — the relationship score looks at how content people are with their friendships and close relationships. And — according to your survey results — our relationship score is eighty.
Now our faith score was a ninety-six — so an eighty — though eleven points higher than the national average — is still quite a drop compared to our faith score. So let’s take a closer look at what the survey data reveals.
When asked to rate how content you are with your friendships and relationships — overall we scored an eight out of ten — so the majority of us are content with our friendships and relationships. However — there is a small minority who are not content — and this was a group I wanted to better understand — because — our vision is for us to be a family. So here’s what we discovered.
Of the folks who aren’t content with their relationships — fifty percent are not in a Life Group. Something even more revealing is that — for those who are in a Life Group — overall either they — or others in their Life Group — lack commitment to their group. We discovered this by cross-referencing our Life Group attendance data with the survey results. And this tells us something that’s ridiculously not profound: If you’re in a Life Group — you need to show up in order for friendships and relationships to be developed — and not just for you — but for everyone else in the group.
The survey also asked if you feel that the church is providing you a community where you feel connected. Of those who indicated that the church isn’t providing you a community where you feel connected — sixty-three percent are not in a Life group, fifty percent aren’t serving, and — most concerning to me — over fifty percent have been at Gateway for over ten years.
Some of us — not everyone — but some of us — in order to feel connected to others — need to take your next steps in Gateway’s discipleship process by getting in a Life Group and serving. We want you to be connected — we want you to feel like you’re part of this faith family — but we can’t force you to engage in the life of this church. And I love you too much to allow a group of folks to think that your dissatisfaction and discontentment isn’t related to your lack of involvement.
And — if that’s not enough to convince you to join a Life Group — how about this? According to your survey results — those of us who are in a Life Group — compared to those who aren’t — are twice as likely to read their Bible four or more days a week.
Are our Life Groups perfect — far from it! But — according to your survey results — being unengaged in our discipleship process isn’t helping you feel connected to others — so why not give a Life Group a try? Why not try serving somewhere and see if being engaged in our discipleship process increases your contentment with your relationships at Gateway?
Speaking of serving — I’m going to invite Kristi St. Amour — our director of hospitality — to the stage. And — as she makes her way — check out this video.
Hi everyone! I have the opportunity to highlight serving here at Gateway Church. When we put our list together for our volunteer training that was held a few weeks ago we learned that we have over 650 people that serve our church family!
I could stay up here all day talking about how everyone serves, but for the sake of time I am going to highlight a few areas.
Here at Gateway Church, you can serve no matter how old you are!
We are thankful that so many in our youth group serve as well!
I’m excited for our Youth Serving Sunday that will be happening in December when all of our middle and high school youth will get a chance to serve.
We also have many families who serve together!
We are thankful for those who pour into those in our nurseries and Kidway classes–
We are thankful for those who serve even when it isn’t the most glamorous
We are thankful for those that serve even when it’s not seen by others
And we are thankful for those that serve sacrificially with their time. Those that lead our Youth small groups on Sunday nights sign up for a 7 year commitment!
No matter where you serve, or how you serve, we are genuinely thankful for each and every one of you who use your gifts to serve our church family.
Here’s Pastor Josh - again - to share some other highlights from the church survey.
Thanks Kristi. Back to the survey — to the question, “This church helps me find ways to use all of my gifts (time, skills, and financial resources) to honor God or serve others” — ninety-six percent of you responded positively. Similarly, ninety-seven percent of you acknowledged that “Gateway empowers you to make an impact in the lives of others.”
And seventy-nine percent of you indicated that you serve monthly or more here in the church. What a group of faithful servants God has raised up among us!
I think of Paul’s words to the church in Ephesus when he writes, “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” - Ephesians 4:11-16 (NLT)
As we serve each other — using the gifts given to us by the Spirit of God — we help each other grow as a faith family.
Let’s move to our next discipleship step. Kelly’s going to give you an update from our Go ministry.
How many of you are Cedar Point fans? If I am to characterize this past year in terms of our Go ministry, it has been like a trip to Cedar Point. We certainly have had our highs! We have had some fairly deep lows as well, times where the gravity of life hit us hard. Our partners in Lebanon and Bangladesh have weathered extreme dangers. We had to cancel a Go trip as a result. We have had our alarming moments as well. Anyone who has been to Bangladesh with us knows the roads are like one long harrowing brush with death. We endured one sleepless night on a train that bounced and jerked so much, I was sure it was about to depart the tracks. Cedar Point, Asian style.
But oh my, we have had our highs. Our Bible School partner in Bangladesh graduated its first class of women last year. Made possible by you. Gateway helped to provide an apartment which enabled 5 women to participate. We celebrated joyfully with them in November. I think Josh enjoyed it too much - he had the students tie me up with some extra decorations! On that same trip, we invited 5 EPC pastors and leaders, including the EPC World Outreach Director to travel with us. They returned to the US, encouraged and challenged, with a whole new perspective on what God is doing in Bangladesh.
In March we spent 4 days connecting with more than 25 of our local and international partners at our first Go Conference. God has some incredible people that we are privileged to partner with. We consider them an extension of our ministry. Many of us were able to connect with these partners, learn their stories and consider how we might be involved. Several hundred attended the fun and games of Family Night. More than 100 ladies enjoyed a meal and partner testimonies at the Women’s Dinner. Can you believe that more than 75 guys got up on a Saturday for the Men’s Breakfast? God is in the miracle business!
Locally, our Go ministry has expanded to include English as a Second Language to our Spanish speaking and Haitian communities. We have partnered with The Church of the Living God and First United Brethren Church to invest in our immigrant community, sharing God’s love with them. I think all 11 Gateway volunteers who have joined us this year would agree that there is not a more appreciative class to teach! Our students gain confidence weekly and have shared their progress in becoming more stable with a job, drivers license and a secure place to live. Made possible because they are speaking English confidently. We are hoping and praying that this will expand into greater ministry.
Finally, Gateway has invested heavily this year in people and projects that are taking the good news to places that have no opportunities to hear. One such place, due to security concerns, we will call the Levant. We have partnered with 2 small churches, one in the very remote, battle-weary NE region and one in the dangerous SW border region. We are providing creative and impactful resources for both churches to engage with and disciple their unreached communities in culturally relevant ways.
So it has been a roller coaster year. But we will say the thrill of seeing God at work, and knowing he gave us a part in it, far outlasts the moments that alarm and challenge us. I believe God calls us to a no hands ride. Let’s go forward, trusting and expecting that He will do even greater things.
A final note for you, Dave Matthews with Reflejo, a spanish-speaking sending organization, is with us today. Stop by in the lobby and find out how God is using Gateway in partnership with Reflejo. Over to Laura, who will share more from our Church Survey.
This final step in our discipleship process — helps us fulfill our vision of being disciples who are Kingdom-minded. According to the survey results, when asked about “Our focus on people and ministry opportunities outside of the church” and “Our social impact on our community around us” — we scored an eighty-two for both. This is compared to the US church score average of seventy-nine.
Additionally, when asked if “Gateway provides you opportunities to help those who are suffering or marginalized” — ninety-three percent of you agreed. As did ninety-two percent of you who believe that we’re “addressing injustices in society.”
But here’s what made us the most excited. When asked if “you are encouraged to talk about your faith in Jesus with others through this church ministry” — ninety-nine percent of you agreed. Add on to this that thirty-seven percent of you had “six or more conversations about faith or religious beliefs with a non-Christian friend, family member or co-worker in the last year.” And when it comes to having “had at least one conversation with a non-Christian about faith last year” — ninety-six percent of you said that you did.
Look at how God is using you to share the Good News with others and to serve those in our community who are in need. And — to those of you who make up that thirty-seven percent who’ve had six more conversations about Jesus with non-Christians — you are our evangelistic heroes. I’m so thankful that God has brought you into our faith family.
So far we’ve been focusing on adults — now it’s time to focus on the next generation who are a key part of our church family.
But — before I bring out our next presenters — one new initiative we tried this last year was our internship program. Because of your generosity and desire to be a church that raises up the next generation — we were able to give five interns experience on staff this summer. They represent five different colleges in three states and our hope is that their time with us will impact their ministry for decades to come. God is using us to be a church that is raising up the next generation and — to continue our update on the next generation — here’s Martha and Morgan.
Gospel Project: Morgan
The curriculum we use on Sunday mornings, called the Gospel Project, points kids to Jesus each and every week. And, as a mom of three, I’m thankful that our curriculum cycles through the whole Bible chronologically every 3 years. I also love that all the kids, from 2 years old through 8th grade, are learning the same Bible story each week - so if you also have multiple children it’s easy to talk about what they learned that day since they all have had the same basic lesson, just at a different level depending on their age. This really helps us to be Word and Spirit Christians.
First Grade Bibles: Martha
One of my favorite Sundays each year is our 1st grade Bible Sunday! Because we are disciples who make disciples, all of our 1st graders at both our North Main Campus and County Road 9 Campus are given their very own Adventure Bible to keep. This year, we had the privilege of giving out a total of 42 Bibles! We challenged the kids to do two things with their Bibles. First, we encouraged them to read their Bibles regularly. We also asked them to bring their Bibles back to church with them each Sunday so they can learn how to use them. One added bonus this year was that our Sew Quilt Share group used their amazing sewing skills to make small cloth bags which were just the right size for a Bible to fit inside. These make it easier for the kids to carry their Bibles with them to church each week. The kids got to pick out their favorite bag and were excited to have many different colors and patterns to choose from. Thank you to all the Sew Quilt Share ladies for using your talents to sew the bags and for your generosity in giving them to our 1st graders.
All City Youth Gatherings: Morgan
As a church that values being Kingdom-minded, it was encouraging to see the youth try something new with the All City Youth gatherings over the summer. Gateway Church along with The Naz and Living Hope all took a turn hosting the surrounding youth groups for a fun night of worship, games and community. We had a total of 5 different churches in attendance. One leader said “It showed some students there are more christians at their school than they initially thought and it shows our students that the family of God is so much more than just their congregation.”
VBS: Martha
As many of you know, the theme for VBS this past summer was Breaker Rock Beach: God’s rock solid truth in a world of shifting sands. The number of children who attended VBS at least one night this past summer was 516. What an amazing opportunity it was as a church family, to come together and challenge kids to discover that God’s truth never changes, everyone needs Jesus, and they learned to speak the truth in love.
As the gospel is shared throughout the week, one parent shared this story. “Because of VBS and what they were learning, our 3 year olds asked a lot of questions. They were able to share a gospel conversation at home because of VBS.”
It was also a blessing to see the number of couples who chose to serve together that week.
I had the opportunity to ask questions to a few of them.
When asked 'What do you enjoy about serving together as a couple?’, one responded with,“It showcases teamwork as a couple, and it usually provides a lot of discussion with one another as we reflect on how the time of serving went.”
When asked ‘What advice would you give to couples within the church about serving together?’ one person wrote, “My advice would be to get involved! We were hesitant about the commitment at first with two young kids and a baby on the way, but serving at VBS and on Sunday mornings has been such a blessing in our lives! The time spent is well worth it disciplining our youth.”
Morgan: Now we will turn things back over to Pastor Josh.
Thanks Martha and Morgan. Laura mentioned our internship program — we started it because raising up the next generation of leadership is a priority for us as a church. As Paul wrote to Titus, “I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you.” - Titus 1:5 (NLT)
Paul tells Titus that the work of raising up the next generation of church leadership is so important that “I left you in Crete to make sure it was done.” And with our vision of being disciples who make disciples — and my prayer that we’d be a church that raises up the next generation of pastors, church leaders, missionaries, and Christians — I’m grateful that you see this as something we value as revealed in the survey results where ninety-six percent of you stated that you believe Gateway is empowering young people to become leaders.
An area where we know we have room for improvement is making the leadership pathway more clear. Our leadership pathway begins with our discipleship process — our worship, connect, serve, and go ministries — and by becoming a member. Even if you’re not interested in being a leader in the church — your discipleship pathway is still our worship, connect, serve, and go ministries and also becoming a member.
Regarding how we’re developing future leaders after all of these steps — the elders are trying a leadership development experiment this fall. This is a trial run — so we’re not advertising it — we want to see what may need to be tweaked before we roll it out more publicly. But know that making the leadership pathway more clear is on our radar.
And now we turn to our business and operations department. Let’s return to the survey and talk about our finances. The average US adult scores a sixty-two on the survey’s financial flourishing scale. For US adults who attend church that number increases to sixty-eight. However — according to your survey results — our financial flourishing score average is an eighty-nine — over twenty points higher than the national average.
But here’s something else the survey revealed. Though many of us are flourishing financially — when asked, “How often do you worry about being able to meet normal monthly living expenses” — eight percent of you said this was often the case. Nearly the same percent who said you “often worry about safety, food, or housing.”
As a church we value being a family and being generous. So — if you’re struggling — I want to make sure you’re aware of our benevolence ministry. Our deacons are here to help you when you’re in need. Please call the church office and give us — your faith family — an opportunity to practice being generous.
For more from our business and operations department — here’s Jon McKanna.
Over the past twelve months Gateway Church has gone above and beyond to show that "we are generous." It all started with a $250,000 gift to our local ministry partner, Women's Resource Center. Many of you may remember us showing a video of Pastor Josh giving their board a check. At the same time we set aside $100,000 for adoption scholarships for children in the state of Ohio. We've been able to give $20,000 of that money to families from our church. Shortly after that another $250,000 was given to various ministry partners around the world who focus on serving unreached people groups.
Our generosity as a church has also allowed for projects, both big and small, to be completed at both of our campuses. This isn't glamorous at all and typically isn't celebrated. Yet we all expect to find a place to park on the weekends and we really want restrooms that have adequate amenities that all function properly. And when you have given here at Gateway Church over the last year, you've played a part in the many updates that we all get to enjoy.
As of right now our giving is approximately $170,000 (adjusted the week of) over what we projected. This is probably my favorite example of how we are generous as a church. This happens year after year…so thank you for the faithful and generous giving.
Not only are we generous, we are also Kingdom-minded and we are disciples who make disciples. This is seen in the resources that we offer like our website, Gateway News articles, sermon resources, and podcasts. Gateway Church has been able to provide a sermon stream to another EPC church who is searching for a new head pastor. There are far more people watching our sermons online. In fact, over the last year there have been 13,384 sermon plays and 3,437 podcast plays (adjusted the week of), through our website alone. We have seen over 100 users from 10 different countries taking advantage of these resources.
One reason I share those numbers or statistics is because of the many points of contact with people and the stories behind them, most of which we will never hear. But one one of those points of contact we did hear about came from our podcast. Someone listened to Randy MacDonald tell his story through an interview with Shaun Meloy on our Gateway Podcast, Stories edition. His willingness to share that story allowed someone else to hear and connect with it. That gentleman saw Randy at church one weekend and struck up a conversation with him about the podcast. He and his wife then visited Randy and Kathy's lifegroup and got to see what it was all about. I say with confidence that I look forward to hearing that man's story in another year or 5 years of connecting with people here at Gateway Church and the stories about how God has worked through his life to impact others.
As we look forward to the next year, the Operations Department is excited to come alongside all of the various ministries here at Gateway Church and serve them by leveraging resources needed to continue carrying out our mission. We are thankful for the opportunity to steward all that is given and serve the church, minister to our community, and support ministries around the world.
Now I’ll turn things back over to pastor Josh.
Thanks Jon. There’s one data point our church survey revealed that I wanted to mention after Jon had shared all of the many ways your generosity has positively impacted our ministry as a church. The survey asked about giving to the church on a monthly — or regular — basis. And thirteen percent of you indicated that you don’t regularly give to this church.
First — a reminder from God’s Word.
You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully. - 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NLT)
“See, Josh, it’s up to me to decide in my own heart how much I’m going to give. Don’t pressure me.” Not trying to pressure you — I promise. But I was a bit sneaky. I purposely read verse seven out of context.
Paul begins his thought with these words. “Remember this — a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.
Which sets up everyone’s favorite verse on giving.
7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
And Paul concludes his thought with...
8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others - 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (NLT)
Paul’s point is that a person who gives generously will experience God’s generous provision of everything they need — with plenty left over to share with others.
So — back to the part about each of us deciding how much to give: The concern isn’t about the amount you give — but how generous you are in your giving.
I bring this up now — after we’ve celebrated the generosity of many in this faith family — as a challenge to those who aren’t giving generously. Everything that Jon highlighted is the result of the generosity of many among us: The generosity of many — but not of all of us.
Now I know — because I highlighted this earlier — some of us aren’t in a place where we can give — right now you’re in need of financial help — I’m not talking to you. But — for the rest of us — us who — according to the survey — are financially flourishing much more so than others in our country — let me encourage you to give — and to give generously. For this is our vision for you as a disciple of Jesus: To be generous. And not because we need your money — Jon made that point already. We want you to be generous because it will help you spiritually flourish as a follower of Jesus and — in being generous — you will glorify your God who’s been generous to you.
Some final results from the survey. When it comes to your vocation — your experience of purpose and meaning — whether that be in your workplace, at home, or in your free time — the US national average vocational flourishing score is seventy. US churched adults score an eighty. And our score was an eighty-three.
This score comes from being asked if we “understand our purpose in life” — which ninety-five percent of you agreed with — and from the ninety-six percent of you who feel that “the things you do in life are worthwhile.”
When it comes to well-being — which is defined as a person’s overall physical and mental well-being — the average US adult scores at sixty-eight compared to seventy eight for US churched adults — which is also what we scored.
And — for those of us who acknowledge struggles with our mental health — we have pastor Robert on staff — who has dedicated time in his week to meet with you to offer counseling, biblical advice, and can point you in the right direction to other services you may need. Call the church office and give Robert the opportunity to help you.
Finally, when it comes to being future-focused — compared to churches in the US who — on average — score an eighty-seven — based on your survey results — our future-focused score is a ninety-five. This future-focus score is based on the clarity of our vision for the future and the extent to which you feel the next generation is essential to our path forward.
I’m so thankful that we are future-focused. We love our past — we honor our past — we appreciate our past — as we look forward to the future with great hope and anticipation of what God will do in, through, and among us. Which leads us to the last part of this ministry celebration.
In the Bible — so often the call to remember God’s past faithfulness — happens when God’s people find themselves in a situation where they need to trust in his present or future faithfulness to them. We’ve celebrated God’s faithfulness to us — and now we look ahead — trusting in his faithfulness in the year — and years — to come.
Since becoming your senior pastor in late 2017 — we’ve made our way through Mark, Acts, First John, and Daniel together. We completed our Finding Jesus series — a series with a sermon on every book in the Old Testament. During our worship services — we set aside a significant portion of time to hear the preached Word of God and we do so because we desire to be Word and Spirit Christians. Afterall, God’s Word tells us that…
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Unfortunately — there’s a chapter break at this point in our Bibles. Paul continues his thought with...
2 Timothy 4:1-4 (ESV)
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
In a time when people’s ears are itching to be entertained by folks who will tell them what they want to hear — God’s Word is to be faithfully preached. So know that we’ll continue to center our worship services on the preached Word of God. We’ll be returning to the book of Romans starting next week and — between the rest of this year and most of next — we hope to finish the book. We plan to do a series that will look at following Jesus’ example of practicing Sabbath rest, fasting, and solitude. And staff and elders will continue the Westminster Shorter Catechism series on weeks I’m not preaching.
Back in April we started our church networking relationship with First Presbyterian Church of Bucyrus. They’ve been without a pastor since Easter of this year. They’re not a Gateway campus — but were interested in getting our sermons live streamed to them and — being a church that’s Kingdom-minded — this was a no brainer for us.
Know that we’ve postured ourselves to be ready to help other churches in this way. So — if in the next year — you hear me welcome some other churches — know that this is us — together — being a Kingdom-minded church.
Finally — and this has been a dream of mine for quite some time — since our vision is to be disciples who make disciples — we want to make it easier for you to find resources that we’ve created. I can’t tell you how many times someone’s contacted me trying to find an old sermon or podcast episode and not having any luck. I read once that churches are great at being content creators and are not so great at being content curators. Meaning — we’ve got years of content we’ve created that’s difficult to find — and we’re going to fix this in the coming year.
We began this ministry celebration service by repeating again and again, “His faithful love endures forever.” And today we’ve been reminded of many ways we’ve seen God’s faithful love endure in, through, and among us this past year.
Gateway — are you thankful for God’s faithful love towards us? Are you amazed at how kind he’s been to us? How gracious he’s been in using us — in using you — to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ? I know that this ministry celebration has been an encouragement to me and I hope to you as well. And what better way to continue celebrating God’s faithfulness to us — than by turning to the Lord’s Table at this time.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise.
Leader: With joy we praise you, gracious God, for you have created heaven and earth, made us in your image, and kept covenant with us — even when we fell into sin.
Congregation: We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who by his life, death, and resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation to proclaim the glory of your name.
At his last supper — Jesus took bread — and when he had given thanks — he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup after supper and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this in remembrance of me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Leader: Therefore we proclaim our faith as signed and sealed in this sacrament:
Congregation: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
May you go with hearts full of gratitude to God and for his faithfulness to us. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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