Category: Today @ The Gathering

Today at The Gathering we continued in our current series, “4 Dumbest Things We Do In Down Times,” with installment number three, “We Sell Short And Get Short-Changed.”

You know what selling short is; it’s buy at one price, sell at a loss.  And you do it, not because you want to, but because you’re afraid. You’re afraid of what the future might hold.  That is what is so devious about the hold that bad news people have on us.  There are three characteristics of bad news people:

1.    They feed off of fear.
2.    They fuel on uncertainty.
3.    They foster doubt; not just doubt in the world out there – government, the economy, and global transition – but doubt in myself.  And self-doubt always leads to passivity, that is, doing nothing; that stuck feeling.  Oftentimes we’re stuck on stupid.

To illustrate the counterpoint to this we talked about what Solomon teaches us in the Old Testament; that there is nothing new under the sun; that what most people do is to chase the wind.  We talked about the difference between chasing the wind, and chasing the win. Everyone wants to have a winning life.  Who wants to be a loser? But oftentimes we are because we ignore one of the three following things that are never, never, never true during good times or bad times.

1.    It is never true that those who opt for the quick fix win.
2.    It is never true that those who take short cuts win.
3.    It is never true that those who think with their stomachs win.

We looked at the story in the Old Testament between two brothers, Jacob and Esau.  Esau, because he couldn’t see any value in his birthright, his long-term investment in the world, sold it for a meal.  How short-sighted!  And how short-sighted are we when we sell short just because we’re afraid in a volatile world.

We talked about three things that are mostly true, but not always true.

1.    It is mostly true, but not always true that you can begin again.  Sometimes, indeed, you cannot.
2.    It is mostly true, but not always true that life is a do-over.
3.    It is mostly true, but not always true that there is always next year.  Sometimes you just simply don’t have enough time, energy, and resources to waste on repeating the same old bad habits.

We talked about the three unbreakable laws.  These are laws that were true a thousand years ago, they are true today, and they’ll be true if the world lasts another five, six, seven thousand years.  They will always be true and they are things on which you can build into the future.

1.    The law of cause and effect.  The Scriptures are right when they tell us that if you don’t want to be judged, don’t judge.  If you want to be forgiven, forgive.  If you want to get, give.  Cause and effect always is true and cannot be broken.
2.    The law of sowing and reaping.  If you’re stingy, you’ll reap a stingy life.  If you’re generous, you’ll reap a life of generosity.  If you’re loving, you’ll get love.  If you sow apples, you get apples.  If you sow wheat, you get wheat.
3.    The law of delayed gratification.  And that is that we reap the benefit of these two laws over time, and not overnight.

And this is why we live in a culture that is so wrapped up in the quick fix, the shortcut, and make me feel good now. Cause and effect, sowing and reaping always take time.  But once the harvest comes in, oh what a harvest it is!

Next weekend we’ll deal with the fourth dumbest thing: “Waiting It Out And Letting The World Pass Us By.”

Today at The Gathering we talked about the second dumbest thing we do during down times.  It’s called downsizing.   We hear a lot about it as corporate America tries to adjust itself to the new realities of the wall-less, wireless, worn-out world.

The first thing we talked about were the three living landscapes that we all occupy during our lives:

1.    The organizations that we work for and live in. Most everyone works in an organization.  How big does it have to be? More than one.  If you have two people you have to have some form of organization.  Organizations are not bad, but oftentimes unattended and over time they calcify and lose their vitality.

2.    The families we live in: ever-changing, adding, subtracting; sometimes joyful, other times dreadful.  These families have a life cycle just like the organizations.

3.    We also do life in what I call tribes. These are groups of people we associate with because we share a common passion; an idea.  The Gathering is a tribe; a tribe of people who come together and want to help connect people to God and each other for the purpose of changing the world.  The Gathering is a unique place.  It’s for people who don’t feel comfortable in traditional, religious environments.  They want something fun, exciting, and practical; a place where people are accepted for who they are and loved through their pain; where judgment is replaced with acceptance, where condemnation is replaced with compassion.  We find our tribes, and we stick with them.

The interesting thing is as we advance through these three environments or landscapes, some predictable things happen.

1.    We accumulate stuff.

2.    We attach value to those things; emotional value that stays long after they’ve outlived their usefulness.  It’s like a suit that you bought and love, but you’ve out grown and you can’t wear it, but you don’t want to throw it away because it has sentimental value.

3.    We avoid the brutal truth.  The accumulation of stuff and the emotional attachment to that stuff over time results in bloating.  We just have too much stuff to carry around. And the decision we face is, do I change or continue on the same course I’m on, which eventually leads to death?

We talked about the two options: The option to downsize, which basically has four characteristics.

1.    We conduct an irrational cost-cutting crusade regardless of effectiveness and productivity.

2.    We turn inward and attack people’s motives; why they don’t work hard and why they’re not as successful as they once were.

3.    We sever trusted connections in order to conserve cash on hand, realizing that the greatest cash we have on hand is the trusted relationships we’ve developed.

4.    We ride the organization, business, church, or family down, siphoning all the resources that we can and jump ship just before it crashes.  And we blame the economy, the government, anyone but us.

The Bible offers a different option to downsizing.  It’s called right-sizing. We dealt with the Old Testament story of Gideon and how he started out with 52,000 men and God pared it down to only 300; three hundred men who he knew he could trust in battle.  So in the effort to right-size, you can ask yourself four questions.

1.    What are we doing here? Oftentimes we show up in activities that have long since lost their mission.

2.    Who are we doing it for? Often we do it for other people who are doing the same thing we do.  We’re trying to impress other widget-makers rather than the people for whom the widgets are made.

3.    Who do we need to be great? The word great here is used on purpose.  You can take average people and with great leadership they can do good work.  But average people, no matter how great the leadership will never do great work.  So you need to ask yourself, “Who are the people we can go into battle with?”  As God told Gideon, “You have too many people.  You don’t need 52,000 people; you need 300.”

4.    Why does it matter? God told Gideon that if he went into the battle with a huge army and they won, they’d take the credit.  So the question is, why does what we do matter?  Why does what you do matter.  You have to answer that question, because if you don’t, there is no place to hide in the brave, new, wall-less, wireless world.

Today @ The Gathering we officially kicked off the Christmas season as we began our brand new series entitled, “Surviving Christmas: How to get through Christmas in one Peace.”

The whole theme of Christmas is Peace. The world needed peace, cried out for peace, was dying for peace, destroying itself for peace, and what did God do?  He sent us, in His Son, the Prince of Peace.

It’s simply unacceptable that this time of year should lead us to depression.  It should lead us to joy.  So during this season, in this series, we will use five culturally relevant movies that illustrate the true meaning of Christmas, the provision of peace.

This week we dealt with the movie called, “Christmas With The Cranks,” a movie made for the great book, “Skipping Christmas,” by John Grisham.

The whole point of the movie and the book is that a family decides they will skip Christmas.  They’ll not give presents, or celebrate, or decorate, or contribute; that they will exclude themselves from their normal community or tribe, and stand alone.  It’s an illustration of how important Christmas is to our lives.  And though we get weary of the hustle and bustle, we would lose so much without it.

We were asked this question: “What is Christmas to you?” There are five ways people answer it.  For some, Christmas is a season of hurry and worry.  For others, it is a season of unmet expectations.  Still others see it as a season of firsts.  Some people view Christmas as a season of forced spending.  Then there are those of us who see Christmas as a season of celebration and anticipation.

We also talked about what we would be without Christmas.  And we listed four things:

We would be without permanence of hope.

We would be without the Prince of Peace.

We would be without a plan of salvation.

We would be without the promise of love.

Be sure to join us next weekend at either the 9:00 or 10:30 for the message entitled, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” when we talk about how everyday generosity can save the world.

Today at The Gathering was an exciting time as people gathered from all over metro Nashville to experience worship in a loving, safe, caring environment.  It really is true that The Gathering is becoming a great church people love going to.  It’s evidenced in what you see going on in the hallways before and after the two services.  People are standing and talking and relating and laughing.  And people are coming up and asking for more information:  How can I get involved?  How can I volunteer?  How can I do something that makes a difference with my life as The Gathering continues to grow more vibrant and significant with each passing week?

We heard a timely message in our series “Mastering My Emotional Monsters” with the talk entitled, “What To Do When You Feel Dumb.”

We talked about how we get into situations where we do really dumb and desperate things.  Here are four:

1.    We do really dumb things when we make the wrong compromises.
2.    We do really dumb things when we make the wrong comparisons.
3.    We do really dumb things when we use the wrong measurements.
4.    We do really dumb things when we listen to the wrong people.

We highlighted right out of the Scriptures, God’s prescription for what you do after you’ve thrown away your job, your life, your career, your family, your marriage – anything that’s sacred and valuable that gets lost when we make sinful choices.

What do you do after dumb?

1.    Turn to God.
2.    Forgive yourself.
3.    Find a tribe.
4.    Be an inspiration.

As you read about the good things that are going on at The Gathering, remember this: it is God’s idea that we gather each week to worship Him. Gathering is in our DNA.  It’s what we were made to do.  Life is not a solo sport.  You can’t learn or grow and mature in isolation.  Remember The Gathering is a great place, a great church made up of real, ordinary people; sinners, broken people, people who are winning more than they are losing, people who are gaining on their demons.

This would be an excellent place for you if you are looking for a real, revolutionary, life-changing relationship with your Creator; not just a set of dead rules, not some dusty to-do list, but real-life, everyday, where-rubber-meets-the-road help from the sacred Scriptures and from the tribe of grace.

Before I say anything about what happened today at The Gathering, I’ve got to stop and give a big shout out to all my Gathering brothers and sisters on our amazing baptism service last week.  We went out and did exactly what I hoped we would do.  And that is, we had a baptism right in the public square, the market place; a brand new fitness center called Prairie Life Fitness here in Franklin.

When we called and asked if we could use their pool to do a mass baptism, they weren’t just ok with it, they were enthusiastic. When we got there, they were glad that we were there.  They welcomed us in.  What an exciting time!

Right outside the pool there is a snack bar where we gathered and had food and talked and relaxed and had fellowship.  And then going into the pool area, it was perfect.  We cheered each and every person: young, teenager, grown-up, all being baptized.  Men, women – it was an exciting time to see the tears, the joy, and the laughter.

One guy who left said, “That is the most irreverent baptism I have ever been to,” with a big smile.  And I said “AMEN!”  This is a time for rejoicing, not dry, dusty formalism.  I’m sure if you go to our Gathering web site, g3church.com, you can see some of the pictures.  But I just have to say “Yea God” for this baptismal service.  I can’t wait until our next one.

This weekend at The Gathering we continued in our series, “Mastering My Emotional Monsters” with the message “What To Do When You Feel Depressed.”

We talked about the three things depression feels like:

1.    Depression feels like a deep hole, a place that you’re never going to get out of, a place that you slipped into and there doesn’t seem to be a bottom, or a ladder that you can get out on.
2.    Depression feels like a dark place.  That’s why depressed people like to sit in the dark.  Remember that the dark is a place for hopelessness where shame and self-condemnation breed.
3.    Depression feels like a permanent condition. It seems like it’s never going to be any better.  You can’t see that given your job, family, personal history, how anything’s going to change.

And that’s exactly what Satan wants you to feel, that you’re in a deep, dark place that will last forever and you might as well just give up.

We also talked about how you get depressed:

1.    Internalize your hurts.  It’s amazing when you talk to people how much of their present life is being controlled by something in the past.
2.    Idolize glamour and glory.  Women go for glamour.  Men go for glory.  Bottom lion is they are both, even at their best, disappointments.
3.    Rationalize your choices.  How many times have we seen people do stuff that’s really stupid, even scandalous and stand up and say, “It was a mistake”?  No it wasn’t.  It was a choice.  You did it to yourself, and until you own up to your own behavior, you’re never going to get past it.
4.    Specialize in whining. That’s a great way to be depressed.  Depressed people in public, whine.  And in private, they sleep.

We talked about the three ways to get up.

1.    Connect to God as a conscious person.
2.    Cultivate below the surface.
3.    Commit to a noble cause that demands your all.

Most people I’ve met, not all, but most people I’ve met who say they’re depressed are basically bored.  And life should be anything but boring.  Remember the Scriptures when God throws down the gauntlet of the challenge and says, “Call unto me and I will answer and show you great and mighty things which you don’t know.”

Today @ The Gathering we continued our new series entitled, “Mastering My Emotional Monsters” what to do when you don’t feel the way you want to.  During today’s message, part two, we talked about “What To Do When You Feel Lonely.”

During these kinds of uncertain times, both political and economic, we need each other more than ever.  And yet the tendency to be isolated and stay home, to pull in and to close in and to try to protect yourself is more prominent than ever.  It’s the worst thing we can do.

The key to our society and culture’s future is to be able to build and maintain trusting relationships over time.   There are forces – evil forces among us that want to keep us apart, want to keep us isolated, living in apartments together, yet alone.

Today we talked about the key to building the kind of networks, support, and community that are absolutely necessary, and always have been at the heart of God.

We learned the 3-step cure for loneliness:
1.    You must start showing up.
2.    You must inconvenience yourself.
3.    You must identify what you want and then give it away.

If you’re wondering what the best thing you can do to get us through this crisis, the very best thing you can do is gather with other people seeking the face of God and learning His ways.  Listen to today’s message again and share it with your friends and family.  And you’ll find the courage to reach up to God and seek an authentic relationship based on faith through grace, and reach out to others in spite of the fear of rejection.

This is an exciting series and you won’t want to miss next week’s message, “What To Do When You Feel Betrayed.” If you know someone who can benefit from this series, just send them to iTunes to subscribe so they can have them downloaded straight to their iPod or computer .  At iTunes they can get a video or an audio version.

Today @ The Gathering we began a brand new series entitled, “Mastering My Emotional Monsters” what to do when you don’t feel the way you want to.

I’m always sad to see one series go, in this case, “Chasing Balance.” What a great time we had discovering the seven positive principles that you can apply right now, in the pressure-cooker we’re all living in.

Now we begin a brand new series that really dove-tails on the past to help us know what to do during crisis times when people tend to be emotional and irrational.  Today we began with “The Top 6 Emotional ‘Musts,’” the things that I absolutely must do in order to not just get control of my emotions, but to build strong emotional muscle.  And that’s really what we want to do.  That’s the key to understanding emotions.

We started the day by asking you to identify which you are:

1.    Are you a feeling, acting, thinking person?
2.    Are you an acting, feeling, thinking person?
3.    Are you a thinking, acting, feeling person?

Here’s why it’s important to identify.  You cannot feel your way into acting, but you can act your way into feeling.  And the feeling that you get from the right actions that you take, then become the motive and motivation to continue the pattern.  And when you become a thinking, acting, feeling person over time, you build emotional muscle.

We talked about the six musts of emotional strength.  Look at these and see where you stand.

1.    I must bully my body.
2.    I must master my motivation.
3.    I must watch my words.
4.    I must manage my money.
5.    I must take control of my time.
6.    I must restrain my responses.

This is going to be an exciting series and it was great to see so many new faces today at The Gathering.  These are truly exciting times.  If you know someone who can benefit from this series, just send them to iTunes to subscribe so they can have them downloaded straight to their iPod or computer .  At iTunes they can get a video or an audio version.

Today @ The Gathering we completed our series, “Chasing Balance” with the seventh principle, the principle of renewal.

We discovered the four enemies of balance in our lives.  They are:

1.    The enemy of greed.
2.    The enemy of jealousy.
3.    The enemy of entitlement.
4.    The enemy of apathy.

We took an assessment to see if one of these enemies is throwing our life out of balance.  Greed makes us hurry and go constantly with no rhythm, release, joy, or sense of accomplishment in our lives.  Jealousy is the pain we feel over the achievements of others that we think we should have.  It’s not against the person, but against God who has been unfair.  The enemy of entitlement is the idea that I deserve something for which I haven’t worked or put for the effort.  Apathy ultimately is the end game of all three.

So on the basis of those four enemies, which are you?

1.    Do you live “have to” or “get to”?
2.    Do you live “could do” or “must do”? How many of us know people who, when they see great achievements say, “I could do that.”?  Maybe even, “I ought to do that.” But it’s the people who say, “I must do it” and get up and do it who make the difference.
3.    Do you live as a “victim” or a “victor”? The difference here is one is a reactor and another one is a responder.  One is apathetic, and the other one gets up and does something.

In order to bring constant renewal into our lives we were reminded of the four dimensions of renewal.

1.    The renewal of the mind.
2.    The renewal of commitments.
3.    The renewal of affection.
4.    The renewal of energy.

Next week we’ll begin a brand new series entitled, “Mastering My Emotional Monsters.” During this series we will learn what to do when your emotions get the best of you:

Today @ The Gathering was incredible and both services were exciting with so many new faces coming from all over to hear the message of hope.  Our vision that The Gathering would come to be a great church that people love coming to has come true right before our eyes.

This week we continued in our Chasing Balance series by being reminded of the three things that everyone chases.

1.    We chase after meaning.  Without meaning in our lives, it’s difficult to press forward.

2.    We chase significance.  Significance is something far more than success, though it includes it.  Significance is about relationship and making a difference in the lives of other people.  It’s not being important to important people.

3.    Chasing balance. If we have meaning and significance, but we don’t hold those things in balance, we become obsessed, fanatical, and worst of all worn out, depleted, and depressed.

We talked about why reserves are important and highlighted four reasons.

1.    Reserves are important for times of sickness because your body emotionally and physically needs to have enough strength to fight off disease.

2.    Reserves are important for times of injustice.  When someone betrays us, accuses us, when something is lost unjustly, it’s like being hit in the stomach unexpectedly.  It knocks the wind out of us.  If you’re living on the ragged edge of life emotionally, spiritually, or physically, injustice can be overwhelming.

3.    Reserves are important for times of temptation.  How many people have done really stupid things they would never have done if they weren’t tired, worn out, or angry?

4.    Reserves are important for times of opportunity.  Sometimes God sends something your way; a moment that needs to be seized.  And once you do it, you have a breakthrough.  But you need reserves in order to seize these opportunities and expend the extra energy.

During this talk we learned four practical ways to build up our reserves:

1.    Before you work, worship. Worship is the way we reconnect to God.  And while we worship God, we’re energized by the process.  We sense God, and then out of the joy and wonder, we serve Him.

2.    Before you try, train. We’re reminded that trying is one thing, but training goes before trying.  If you’re going to run the race, you have to go into training before you actually run it.  Just showing up without training makes trying drudgery.

3.    Before you quit, finish. We talked about the importance of prevailing through the quitting moments.

4.    Before you worry, wait.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast of this series so you won’t miss any of these important messages.

Today @ The Gathering we continued in our present series, “Chasing Balance” with installment number four, the principle of “Rhythm.”

If it’s important to work, it’s also important to rest. Striking the balance of working enough and resting enough is a lifelong discipline.

Usually, most Americans err on the side of working too much, or at least being in a perpetual sense of activity and motion. With technology affordable and accessible to everyone, we are more plugged in than we’ve ever been. We’re also more tired and stressed out as well.

We learned about the three conditions that occur in our lives when there is no sacred space for rest and worship. They are:

1. Without sacred rhythm life feels more like and existence. That is, going in a perpetual circle of activity.
2. Without sacred rhythm life feels more like a treadmill. We just continue to turn the dial to the right and go faster and faster, hoping that we’ll achieve enough one day to feel as though we’ve earned the right to rest without feeling guilty.
3. Without sacred rhythm life is like a constant sound of static and noise that keeps us distracted and therefore stressed out.

We talked about the fact that God created the heavens and earth in six days and rested on the seventh; not because He was tired, but because He wanted to set an example and to hand to us the Sabbath principle. We highlighted four different aspects of the Sabbath.

1. It is not a particular day. In a world in which everything is open 24/7, many think we can’t use Sunday as a day of rest.
2. It’s not a religious straight-jacket. It’s not something we do for God that meets a need He has, but something He gives to us.
3. It’s a gift. God says that if we work in full engagement for six days, then one day we simply are not available for other people. We go off-line and give attention to our soul to renew, recharge, and relax.
4. The Sabbath principle is a reflection of reality. God created the world to operate in rhythms and seasons: times to be on and times to be off, times to have full engagement and times to pull back and to rest, relax, and renew.

Next week we will continue this series with the principle of “Reserves.”

Today @ The Gathering we continued in our present series, “Chasing Balance” with installment number three, “Engage,” striking the right balance between trying and trusting.

It was David’s son Solomon who made this profound statement: “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. It is a gift of God.” God made us to work. And this weekend we talked about the importance of full engagement; of bringing our lives and our strengths into focus onto one compelling thing that defines not who we are, but what we contribute while we’re here.

We learned the 7 reasons why we work, and what each reason builds on top of the other to give us a work ethic that allows us to move out of our churches and homes into the marketplace of ideas and competition, to be salt and light in a world in desperate need of both. Jesus said that those of us who follow him are like a light on a hill. Salt and light; light on a hill: those give me the idea that what it means to be a Christian is very public.

Way too many people think that a relationship with God is personal but never public. It’s both.

Here are the 7 reasons we learned about why we work.

1. Working is God’s ideal.
2. Working supplies my need.
3. Working develops my character.
4. Working allows me to be generous.
5. Working shows who I am.
6. Working allows me to earn my self-respect.
7. Working honors God.

This would be worth going back and listening to several times, helping you to transform your view of work. Too often we think it’s the work and not the worker. The truth is, it’s both/and. You must do work that you feel like you must do. And you must do that work with as much excellence as you are able to bring to the table. We do this for the glory of God and for the good of mankind.

We also got an update on our Upgrade program. Go to g3church.com and click on “Upgrade” to know exactly what is going on and how you can be a part. This is a great time to get it done.

We were also encouraged this weekend to go to www.davidfoster.tv and sign up for his bi-weekly Dave Rave and also go to g3church.com to sign up for weekly updates to keep current activities and events @ The Gathering coming straight to your inbox so you won’t miss all the exciting things going on.

Today @ The Gathering we continued our new series entitled, “Chasing Balance” with positive principle number two, the principle of “Flow.”

After having built a solid foundation, we’re able to live each and every day out of the overflow of that relationship. What relationship? The relationship to the word of God, the purposes of God, the presence of God, and the promises of God. These are all relationship issues.

We asked four probing questions that each one of us have to confront each and every day.

1. Do I live each day out of that day’s strength? That is, do I get up every day just trying to muster up enough strength to get through?

2. Do I live each day on the reserves of the past?

3. Do I live each day by stealing from the future? Stealing from the future is the idea of being stuck in the past, being passive, not planning, dreaming, hoping, and not willing to put action to your plans.

4. Do I live each day out of a relational overflow? That’s the key; to live out of the joy that comes with being rightly connected with God, letting that overflow in the lives of other people.

We went to John 15 and talked about Jesus’ admonition that we abide in Him, that we can produce no fruit without being connected to the vine. What a beautiful image! Our foundation of the deep roots of our faith in God and the relationship that results; the vine that grows out of that good soil is Jesus Christ, and we’re connected. Each one of us is the vine. This would be an exceptional talk to send to someone you know. Direct them to the iTunes and subscribe to get these messages delivered straight to their inbox each week.

We also received an update on our Upgrade effort to be able to raise $150,000 above our weekly giving in order to upgrade our equipment in our children’s and students areas as well as our ability to create the kind of environment that people can come into and experience the grace of God. Check out the web site g3church.com and click on “Upgrade” to see how you can be involved.

Today @ The Gathering we began a brand new series entitled, “Chasing Balance.” In this series we’re talking about the seven positive principles that will help you succeed in your pressure-packed life.

All of us face pressure. Too many of us think it’s bad and think that if we could take all the pressure away that we’d be happy. Well the truth is, pressure is good up to a certain point, and bad after that. It’s like everything else in life. It’s about chasing and achieving balance in three specific areas.

This series was introduced by talking about chasing the trinity; not the trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but the trinity of a truly successful life worth living. They are:

1. The chase after meaning: finding a reason to get up in the morning; why our lives matter. It’s not easy that we seek and hard that avoid; it’s worth it.

2. The chase after significance. We become a significant person; a person who makes a difference, a person who is needed, not necessarily necessary. And in the chase for significance we learn over time that it’s not about gold medals or games won. It’s about relationships, and people, and humility, and grace under pressure.

3. The chase after balance. How practical is the Scripture when it says in Proverbs 25, “If you find honey, eat just enough. Too much of it and you’ll vomit.” As the old saying goes, “There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.”

So to begin on this journey together to discover these positive principles that we can apply to our pressure-packed life, the first principle we talked about is about being “Rooted.” In being rooted, you strike the balance between deep and wide. The truth is you must go deep before you go wide. You must go down before you can go up. And if you do these two things, you realize that quality if it’s placed first, produces quantity.

We talked about the four aspects of the life well rooted.

1. A life rooted in the word of God. The Scriptures tell us that heaven and earth will pass away but the word of God will abide forever. The sacred Scriptures become our authority and our foundation on which we build our lives.

2. A life rooted in the purposes of God.

3. A life rooted in the presence of God.

4. A life rooted in the promises of God.

Next week we’re going to move onto the second principle which is built on the rooted principle, and that’s the concept of “Flow.” We live our lives everyday out of the overflow that we’re experiencing in our relationship with our creator.

We also re-emphasized our Upgrade program. If you’ve not heard about the exciting things that are happening there, go to our web site, g3church.com and click on “Upgrade.” Many people are getting excited about participating and you can see the changes each weekend as we gather.

One of the things we need to comment about is an intangible that is going on at The Gathering. It’s this Gathering joy, this expectation, this sense that God is going to show up and speak into our lives and transform us and change us. You can feel as people gather, the buzz as they talk, the smiles and joy and the freedom as we worship together in music. This is an amazing time right now at The Gathering. Continue to pray that God will use us as we make a difference.

Today @The Gathering we finished up our current series, “We Don’t Do Fear,” with a talk entitled “Let’s Make A Ding In The Universe.”

The mantra that was introduced is the branding statement for The Gathering, or what we want people to be able to say is simply, “The Gathering is a great church I love going to.”

In order to fulfill that goal we have to define what a great church is.

Today we defined a great church according to the teachings in the book of Acts.

1. A great church is about new life. It’s transformative. People can’t go without being changed for good.

2. A great church is about anonymous generosity. Remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira when they lied about their giving in order to make themselves seem more important. God doesn’t tolerate pride in or out of His church.

3. A great church is about engaging the outsider. It’s amazing how many times in the book of Acts it talks about great multitudes and great numbers of people being converted. The most important people in any church are the people who are not there yet.

4. A great church is about being misunderstood. Early church was. That’s what brought about their persecution. Are churches understood today or even taken seriously? Statistics tell us most churches have no impact on current culture. They simply can’t be misunderstood. It’s too sad when the only time we make headlines is through a controversy, a split, or a blow-up.

5. A great church is about numbers. This is controversial for most people. I heard someone say this past week, “I don’t like mega-churches. They’re too big.” And then they followed that up by saying, “I go to a church that is a nice size.” And then I wondered, “What size is that?” What if we took that attitude in our churches and we turned people away because we’re already at a “nice size.” Bottom line: No one can determine how big a local church is going to be; not marketing, not a great speaker, not wonderful organization; only God through His Holy Spirit as He draws people together. Let’s quit worrying about how many is too many, or how few is too few and let’s start worrying about numbers because numbers represent people, and people always count with God.

We finished up with our three goals of a great church.

• Goal #1: To be the church gathered in worship.
• Goal #2: To build the kingdom as we’re scattered in service.
• Goal #3: To r<font color=”#00ff00″>un to the battle. And remember that the battle is not political, educational, philosophical, or social. It is for the hearts and souls of men and women. It is profoundly a spiritual battle. And to say it’s a spiritual battle doesn’t lessen its importance.

Next week we’ll begin a brand new series called “Chasing Balance,” seven positive principles for your pressure-packed life.

Today @ The Gathering we continued in our present series with a talk entitled, “Let’s Be The Change We Seek.”

The hope of the world is the message of the gospel. The only movement charged with the teaching and spreading of that gospel is the church of Jesus Christ. And even though the gospel is the change we seek in the world, it’s not just information; it’s transformation.

We talked about the one thing God wants from us that’s always denied Him. And that is the fact that we would be unified; that we would be together. God wants us to show the world that we’re changed by the fact that we love each other. It doesn’t mean that we’re always lovable. It simply means that the obligation to protect the unity of the church is always at the forefront.

We also talked about the importance of core values; those foundational truths that you go to, particularly in times of stress. We listed the four core values of The Gathering as:

1. Truth and the freedom it promotes. We quoted from John 8:32 when Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” The gospel is not some subset or theological doctrine that was handed to us by the authority of tradition. But it’s the real truth of God. And as truth-seekers, this is where we’re able to engage all those who are seeking truth as well.

2. We value people and the potential they possess. Jesus said, “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner whose life is rescued, than over 99 people who need no rescue.” Here is the real truth. People come in one variety: messed up. People are messy, broken, bruised, angry, hurt, mad, rejected, afraid, and isolated. But these are the very people who have the potential of being redeemed, restored, and renewed into good, godly men and women that can change the world.

3. We value hope and the future it promises. The Scriptures promise us that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. Hope in Jesus Christ is not only that we, individually can be redeemed, but that the world is being redeemed, and that God has a future in which real people will have a real life and a new heaven and a new earth; where there will be no more pain, no more cancer, no more sorrow, no more suffering, no more war; only peace in the absolute direct presence of our Creator.

4. We value joy and the strength it provides. The Scriptures remind us, “the joy of the Lord is our strength.” Oftentimes because the church deals with real life and the pain that comes with it, we get way too serious. And we lose our joy. Who wants to be around joyless people whose worship is nothing more than a weekly obligation?

So here’s the foundation on which we seek to be a great church people love going to. We value truth, people, hope, and joy. These are the things that will keep us on course; the motivation to give God the one thing He wants. Our unity is what will keep us moving forward, loving each other, caring for each other even though at times we’re messy and it’s difficult.