Leaders from Gateway Church have gotten together this weekend for our annual Advance Weekend. With the theme being “yield” we couldn’t help but notice the irony. So which is it?! Advance or Yield?
Throughout the weekend the 1211 band, the conversations with leaders, the times for prayer, the stories shared from the stage, and the times in the Scriptures were encouraging and life-giving.
Here are some of the highlights:
Sherilyn Villareal pointed out the difference between groaning (a calling out to God for help) and grumbling (a frustration with God for our circumstances). When we fast, we need to groan for what we need from God. Many times, our prayers are more like grumbling when they should be more like groaning.
Rick Shurtz shared about trusting God with obedience, with our well-being, and with the harvest. Rick shared: “God is up to something! Deep within us, God placed a desire to be at the center of the action. Too often, we give our time & attention to the subplots of our story. We need to trust God with the ability to trust God!”
Melissa Fisher shared about coming to the lowest point in her life, so she turned to God. She promised to do whatever God asked her to do over the course of a year while threatening to walk away from Him if she wasn’t in a better place after that year. She has been amazed at the change in her life AND in the lives of those around her. She talked about the power of inviting her network, her community, to help her love, serve, and influence her neighbors and co-workers.
John Burke reminded us that we are the church and able to make a bigger difference than we could imagine. He asked: “What might God want to do in our lives? Imagine what that could look like in your workplace? In your neighborhood? What are we asking for? Whatever we dream up, God can do more! Think bigger! Our heart determines what God can do through us. The yielded heart produces much fruit.” Later he shared: “We believe in Jesus, but do we believe what he says? If so, we would take him seriously when he calls us to serve. To be the greatest requires being the least.”
It was a great time and incredibly inspiring! One of my next steps is to ask myself this question each day this week: what is God calling me to sacrifice today so I can serve?
For those of you in Austin and part of Gateway or disconnected from church, join us at Gateway in the morning and/or the network rally tomorrow night (or both)!
