Celebrating how God is at work through our global partners, we also consider how to advance the Kingdom of God in our mission field – South Austin.
Digging Deeper:
Work through the following questions and scriptures on your own or get together with your group, spiritual running partners, or family to talk through what you are learning.
Message Video:
Message Notes from me and Austin Gillis:
As our senior pastor, Carlos shared last Sunday, there is so much to celebrate at Gateway in this season.
We’ve seen more people come to faith in Jesus and take powerful next steps through baptism.
Additionally, hundreds have joined the Journey to Generosity, coming together financially to accomplish more as a united church family than we ever could alone.
Today, we’ll be sharing even more about the impact that’s happening through your generosity!
We’re also stepping into a new season of vision and clarity.
Over the past year, we’ve simplified our focus to preaching the good news, investing in the next generation, and loving people through groups.
After months of prayer and reflection with our staff, board, and spiritual overseers, we’ve sensed God shaping a new framework for our future: Gather, Grow, Give, and Go. Rooted in Jesus’ words in Matthew 28 and the early church’s example in Acts, this framework builds on Gateway’s 27-year legacy of loving everyone life by life and being a safe place to explore faith.
Now, we believe it’s time to begin writing the second book of Gateway Church, preparing new wineskins for the new wine God is pouring out.
As we celebrate what God is doing around the world through our global partners, we can also make a difference in our own mission field – South Austin.
On mission trips, it is important to know how to listen to others’ story, share your own story, and share how to connect with God through Jesus.
Sharing My Story
So as I’ve shared my story about coming to faith before, but if you are new, let me share just briefly.
My extended family is from Texas.
My Dad’s parents grew up in small town San Marcos and small town Kyle.
My Mom’s parents grew up in San Antonio and St. Louis, but they lived in San Antonio.
As a Texan for generations, I grew up going to church, tragedy struck my family when I was 10 years old.
My Dad’s parents had a weekend place out on Lake LBJ.
When my grandfather retired at 56, they moved there full time.
They had big plans for their retirement – travel, life on the lake.
Sadly, my grandfather got sick all of a sudden and died at age 57.
My grandmother lived out at the lake alone for the next 20 years or so.
At age 10, I went to my first funeral. I saw my Dad cry for the first time. It was soon after that I was in a church service in Lubbock, TX at Bacon Heights Baptist Church (only in Texas would you have a church named after something so delicious).
During that service, I remember looking up and tugging on my Dad’s suit jacket telling him I wanted to go to the front of the church to tell the pastor I was giving my life to follow Jesus.
At that young age, I became convinced I needed God. Life and death were too big and too scary to face without faith.
Now I was young, but I truly remember that I felt a sense of moving from thinking of myself as being a Christian because I went to a church and my parents were Christians to having my own faith.
This is an important distinction.
It’s one thing to believe there’s a God, to believe Jesus revealed God in a form we could understand, but it’s a whole other thing to Decide “Okay God, I need your forgiveness for playing God and doing things my way, and I want what Jesus did on the cross to count for me—forgive me and come be God of my life.”
Have you done that?
In other words, have you stepped down as God and CEO of your life and asked God to come take His rightful place at the Center of Your Universe?
That’s the First Decision of Faith—it’s all God needs to forgive you for all wrongs, but also to come Do Life With You as a loving Parent and Friend.
Without that decision—God won’t barge into our lives and force us to Love Him or Obey Him. That’s what’s wrong with the world, we like to play God. But in hopes that we will feel the emptiness and pain of life our way, and Decide to love and follow God.
That’s the decision some of you can make today and, some who have made that Faith Decision are going public with that decision today with Baptism.
So I realized, God is real. Jesus revealed God, and I wanted God’s forgiveness and I wanted to Do Life with God.
Now it took some growing spiritually to realize this.
My life was quite compartmentalized. I lived one way on Sunday morning and lived another way on Monday at school and an entirely different way on Saturday with my friends.
But there was a distinct moment in my life at age 17 – I was at camp with my youth group when I surrender not just my heart to God but my life to God.
I wanted Him to lead me. It was almost as if at 10 I wanted Him to save my soul and at 17, I wanted Him to lead my life.
They are supposed to happen simultaneously, but I was a late bloomer in understanding that.
Camp can be such a transformative experience as we get away from all the distractions of our every day life and out in nature. That’s why I highly recommend camp for your kids between the age of 3rd grade and 12th grade!!
It was then that I started making more and more decisions including God, seeking God, in faith. As a result, I started to see personal evidence of God’s guidance and personal concern for me. My journal started to switch from a diary just writing about what happened in my life to more like writing down my prayers to God.
I also started reading the Scriptures, serving others, talking about my faith with other believers, and inviting friends to come to my church.
It’s amazing—you’ll see the same thing if you do this—God personally knows you and cares about you like no one else (no one knows you better or loves and cares for you more). But you won’t see that or live this Divine Adventure unless you grow in making more and more Faith Decisions.
Sharing How to Have a Relationship with God
What I believe to be the good news of Jesus is that God created this world.
- I have looked up at the sky on a clear night and have seen an infinite number of stars shining back at me.
- I have seen sunsets painted across the sky.
- I’ve seen oceans cover the horizon for as far as the eye can see.
- The miraculous birth of a baby.
- To me, there is unmistakable evidence of God’s existence.
For me, I have had an encounter with the risen Jesus!
I believe that God created all of this and all of us for a purpose to know Him and love Him. In fact, the Scriptures tell us God revealed His love to us in a remarkable way.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us – Romans 5:6-8.
Have you ever felt powerless?
God is there for you and to be in relationship with him He gave His life for us!
To be in relationship with him.
But, because of our sin, because of my sin, we are eternally separated from Him.
In Romans 6:23, it says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So, the bad news is that death is what I deserve, death is what I am owed, and that is just and fair. But, the story doesn’t end there. There is good news.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
I couldn’t get to God, so He came to us. He sent His only Son Jesus, to come, live a perfect life in order to be a perfect sacrifice. He then died a death that was owed for sinners, so that I could have a restored relationship with God.
Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
What you guys just heard in a matter of a few minutes was both the story of my encounter with Jesus and the message of Jesus also called “the Gospel.”
Back when I was new to faith, I went on a trip that entirely changed my life. I was invited to go to Brazil, and we went to an area where people lived in shacks made of metal and cardboard and with dirt floors. I had never experienced such poverty in my life. We were only allowed to go during the daytime and we had local to guide us and keep an eye out for us. These favelas have had trouble with gangs and crime. It was really spiritually dark.
But, as hopefully you guys have heard many times, God is always up to something.
Regular everyday people all across this country are faithfully living out all that God has called for them.
Each day, we were partnered up with local churches and volunteers from those churches. It was a church volunteer who served as my translator with me. Each day, we would go walking through the community, going to houses that they had been praying for and preparing. We would go in, and I would begin telling those two stories. One by one, sure enough, tears started flowing, people started confessing that they wanted a relationship with God through Jesus. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever witnessed!
How is it that these simple words could cause such an emotional stirring in someone?
How could someone hear these words, through a translator, and then be willing to uproot everything about their life to follow Jesus?
The only way I know to answer this question is through these two verses:
John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
These two verses show us what our role is versus God’s role. God is drawing people to Himself.
In my life, whether here in Austin, in Brazil, or across the world, I have seen so much obvious evidence of God at work. Friendship and then in certain moments in life, people will be interested.
God isn’t asking me to change people’s hearts. He isn’t asking for me to “win people for Jesus.” That is His job. My job is to plant good seeds and tend good soil. The rest is up to Him.
So for us we need to ask ourselves “What is God asking of me?”
We all fit into one of these two categories:
1. We have had an encounter with Jesus and now we need to tell that story and His story.
2. We need to have an encounter with Jesus.
Which one are you? Are you willing to acknowledge that and step into that?
I want to tell you guys about one of the stories I heard from our team that went to Cuba.
Our Mobilization Pastor, Austin Gillis went into a home where there was a mother and her adult son. The mom was a follower of Jesus, but her son had been really closed off to Jesus. Austin began talking with them both and learning more about them. All of a sudden, all of the neighbors started walking over. One of them stood out. He had no legs from the knees down, and only one arm. He had a smile on his face, but he was mostly quiet. Austin began to share his story and the story of Jesus with everyone. Several of them were not followers of Jesus, but had a lot of questions.
All of a sudden, the man with no legs asked if he could share his story. Of course, Austin was elated and told him to take over. He began to share that he grew up in the local religion that worshipped idols. He had never heard about Jesus or Christianity. His life was full of sin, and then one day, on the way home from work, he got into a horrible motorcycle accident. He found himself inside a dream where there was a man telling him about Jesus and that he should repent of his sins and give his life to Jesus. Next, he woke up in a hospital bed with both legs and one of his arms amputated. He was distraught until a pastor showed up to pray with him. He told him the very same story of Jesus that he had heard in his dream. He told the pastor that he wanted to follow Jesus, but that he worshipped idols and still had them at his house. He told the pastor that when he got home, the first thing he would do was to throw away the idols. He got discharged eventually from the hospital and went to do exactly that. His idols were in a room of his house that he kept locked, and only he had the key. He unlocked the door, walked in, but what he found was the main idol fallen over onto the ground, and its head had fallen off. As he was telling this story, each of us had our eyes and ears fixated on what he was sharing. He finished, and then two of the people there immediately said they wanted to follow Jesus. That week between each of our Gateway groups that went out, 312 people heard their stories and heard the story of Jesus, and 221 chose to follow Jesus.
This is obviously a really incredible story. There are countless just like it.
So what’s the point? What am I getting at?
The point of today is to show that God’s plan for the world is His Church being activated and sent out. His Church is made up of normal, everyday people. People with no arms and legs. People who are outcasts from society, like the Samaritan woman. She is my favorite example in the New Testament for what is expected of us. She encounters Jesus and immediately goes to the town to tell them her story and the story of Jesus.
John 4:39 “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”
John 4:29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
- What would our city and world look like if each of us in the room identified our next step this morning, right now?
- What would happen if you asked God to reveal Himself to you? To show you the truth about His Son Jesus?
- What would happen if you truly opened your heart to the restoration that Jesus wants to give your heart?
- For those already following Jesus, what would happen if you began asking the Holy Spirit, “What do you want from me?” and began to share both your story and the story of Jesus?
The truth is, this is already happening already all over the world, and the results are incredible.
Because of your generosity, we are able to support church planting movements across Spain. It is one of the many ways that we are able to move things forward both here in Austin and across the world.
God uses everyday people who have said yes to His mission to change the world.
Our role is to sow good seeds (our story and the story of Jesus) and then tend good soil (meeting physical and relational needs).
God’s role is to produce the fruit.
Again, I want to keep asking this question:
What would our city and world look like if each of us in these rooms encountered Jesus, began to abide in Him, and then told people in our spheres of influence about our encounter?
Our city and world could be transformed.
This is not a hypothetical question that I am asking, either.
I genuinely am asking each of you individually to answer this question.
You can answer to yourself, to your friend, to your spouse, your coworkers, whoever. Each of us has to answer it, though.
What would our city and world look like if each of us in these rooms encountered Jesus, began to abide in Him, and then told people in our spheres of influence about our encounter?
This year, on July 6, we are doing something called “The Church Has Left the Building”. In years past, we have done some really amazing things.
We have packed thousands of meals for kids in Haiti.
We’ve packed survivor bags for families in crisis after disasters.
We have packed medical bags for refugees in need of care.
I want to reiterate that these things are good.
Followers of Jesus should be known for our love and how we care for others in our lives. These things are really good. We will continue to do these things each year, throughout the year. This year, though, specifically for The Church Has Left the Building, we are also creating opportunities to also meet spiritual needs. We are asking the very same question. On July 6, or even the week of July 6, what would happen if an entire group of people committed to going into our city, neighborhoods, and workplaces with the sole intention of telling our story and telling the story of Jesus?
The answer, I think, is that something really cool and radical would happen.
As I have talked with many of you and observed many churches across our city and world, I have concluded that there are a few reasons why people don’t actively share their story or the story of Jesus confidently and regularly.
I think we are afraid, we feel ill-equipped, and we don’t have anyone to do it with.
We hope to eliminate each of those barriers here at Gateway.
In June, at each campus, we will have a training on “how to share our story and the story of Jesus,” as well as what each of us will be doing the week of July 6 for Church Has Left the Building.
On July 6th, we will not have regular inspire services at our physical campuses.
Instead, we are going OUT into our city to be a light. To serve others. And when the opportunity comes up, to share our stories. To share the story of Jesus.
All we are asking you to do today is text the number on the screen. I give you full permission to take your phone out and text this number. From there, you’ll be able to sign up to be a part of CHLTB. It will give you details about the training at your campus, as well as short videos from us that will be sent to you each week with next steps and encouragement.
In Revelation 3:20, it says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
John 20:21 “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.'”
For some of you in the room, your next step is to just sit and stare at this verse from Revelation and let your heart be open to what God wants to do. Do you want to know God? Do you want to discover the life, forgiveness, hope, and purpose that he brings? Do you want to be part of bringing more of heaven to earth to those you love? Do you want to trade the death that is owed for your sin for Jesus’ death and, through Jesus, have a restored relationship with God?
For others in the room, it is staring at the verse from John and asking God “What do you want me to know about this?” God, if you are sending me, where are you sending me to? To whom are you sending me? If you are sending me, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to say?”
