Gateway Church Austin

There are lots of times in life when we need a safe place: when we feel beaten down from the pace of life, when we feel we can’t live up to people’s expectations, when we’ve made a terrible mistake and have no place to turn, when we feel chained to an addiction or stuck in sinful patterns that hurt us and harm others. But where do we turn when we need a safe place?

It seems there’s constant crisis with war, poverty, sickness and natural disaster in our world today. Likely, most of us feel powerless in the face of so much chaos, so we tune out the pain and focus on the near and familiar. However, with refugees here in our own city, it’s harder to ignore the needs that are practically on our doorstep. How can we raise our heads above our own self-interest to see those desperate for us to care?

While most of us are preparing for Christmas, millions of displaced people around the world are wondering what the future holds and whether or not they’ll see home again. It’s a sobering thought. The question is — should we care? Does this matter to us? And why would we talk about this leading into Christmas?

For what are you striving? What are you clinging to in order to get to where you want to be? Me-centered living often seems the best way to live. It can work for a short while, but it ultimately fails us. So how can we put God at our center trusting Him with all things and live a more profound yet Centered Life?

One of our top fears, according to Gallup and other polls, is losing everything. Most of us are wealthier than 6 billion people and yet it’s never enough. We still fear and don’t feel rich when in fact we are. Why is it never enough? It’s ironic. We fear God wants to take from us, when in fact God wants to make us rich — truly rich. But what is truly rich?

Whether single, married, divorced or somewhere in between, we likely all have strong feelings about the idea of marriage. What is God’s perspective? How do we find hope a midst our relational challenges and failures?

There’s a reason the saying, “To err is human,” exists — we all make mistakes. However, there’s a big difference between letting mistakes become a pattern versus allowing God to turn those mistakes into lessons from which we can heal and grow. So what perspective can we gain about the times we’ve had moral failures?

Failure goes with the territory of being human, and the workplace is a hard place to fail because it’s so easy to allow our work, our title or our role in some other arena of life to define who we are. Can God really turn the epic fails of our careers into something that can bring Him glory, and even bless us and others through them?

Sometimes when we make a dramatic spiritual commitment, like doing the 60/60 experiment, we experience a spiritual high. We feel closer to God, more loving towards people and have a renewed passion and purpose. However, the hard part afterward is to risk answering the question, “what now?”

Just like we’re not meant to live without oxygen, we’re not meant to live life without God. Without God in our lives, we’re spiritually dead. Through Jesus, we can have a relationship with God, which makes it possible for us to stay connected to the spiritual oxygen God gives to live life to the full. How do we though keep remembering to breather in this “oxygen”?

We all know there are good things we should do that we resist doing. Fear, pride or stubbornness keep us focused on doing things our way instead of God’s way. How can we surrender our desires and wills to God, who knows what’s truly best for us?

A joyous, intimate, fulfilling, exciting life with God — many of us want it desperately, but we often feel as if it is unattainable. We crave His guidance for our decisions, comfort in our pain, provision in our need, companionship in our loneliness and inspiration in our search for purpose. As we make an intentional effort to invite Him into our lives through the 60/60 experiment, perhaps we’ve had an encounter with God that requires a response. Are we willing to take a risk by obeying His voice?

Do you believe God speaks? Although we may not hear an auditory voice from God, we can know His voice. The Bible is a record of His words. His words were the genesis of all that we see. He is the word. We have nothing else but His words and faith that He is who He claims to be. So how then can we hear His voice?

As we commemorate the 15th anniversary of 9/11, our question about whether the tragedy made us stronger as a country raises an even more important question. How does God turn evil that affects our own lives into something good? How do we experience “eucastrophe” (Tolkein’s word for joy breaking forth from tragedy)?

The Apocalypse… It’s a Greek word that combines two roots, 'apo' meaning “away from” and 'calypsos' meaning “veil.” The Apocalypse, therefore, is the revealing of God’s great hope and purpose. All of history is heading toward a fulfillment, a culmination of all God’s promises. Most of our lives are spent thinking about the here-and-now –- paying our mortgage, doing our work, loving our families, enjoying our weekends. When you think about the Great Apocalypse, the return of Christ, does it fill you with hope? Or are you confused by what you see in Scripture.

Do you sense the tension between faith and works? We don’t have to prove our worth to God — He proved our worth through Christ. What He wants is our faith, our trust in Him, but as God draws us close and assures us of His acceptance and love, we follow Him doing the good works He created us to do. This tension of assurance is what you’re invited to wrestle with this message.

For what am I destined? Does God have a plan for my life? If so, am I on the right track, or did I screw it up with bad choices? Though if God knows the future and has a plan laid out for me, then what difference do my choices make anyway? If God knows, does that mean all is predestined even evil acts? But if I can choose good or evil, how can God be in control and give me confidence my future is secure? Is your mind blown yet? This week we’re looking at the challenging question: Do we really have free will or is everything predetermined?

The life of the Apostle Paul is one of hardship, pain and uncertainty, and yet his letters to the early churches are filled with expressions of peace and joy! How did this man, who endured so much, encourage so many to have joy in all circumstances? Let’s take a look at his letter to the Philippians and find out.

We were created for community with others, but building and maintaining strong, healthy relationships can be really hard work, especially when other people are involved! And what happens when those people say or do things that offend us or when we offend them? How are we able to still love them?

Jesus didn’t come to add another religion to the many that were already present. He came to bring something different, a relationship with a loving God. Throughout history, people have tried to earn their way to God, but Jesus was coming to rescue us because He knew we couldn’t make it to Him. With this in mind, how can we engage with our neighbors of different religions and demonstrate Jesus’ love for them?