Gateway Church Austin

You matter. Your story matters. Others’ stories matter. God works in the hearts and lives of people. As you hear from a well-known tech executive and some of our young leaders during the Voices series, you will be inspired towards a deeper faith, a greater love, and more hope.

What if 2021 was a year that you Thrive and not just survive? Carlos Ortiz walks through six ways to help you experience life in the new year so that you finish the race strong and never give up. For resources to help you Thrive you can go to: https://thrive.gatewaychurch.com/

Often times when a new year comes we place God or faith or church as a New Year’s resolution. But what if what He desires is so much more than that? Discover how to place God at the center of our lives, and what happens when we do.

The Christmas story brings peace, love, and joy to each of us who have an open heart and open mind. The story of Christmas is about the birth of a baby who was so much more than that. God relates to us because He chose to walk among us, and His name was Jesus. Discover how you can connect with God personally and help others do the same.

God is the God of all people, and what He was doing that first Christmas was for all people. He did not come to the mighty, the powerful, or the “religiously superior,” but He drew foreigners known as the Magi to come to worship Him and the poor unseen shepherds. Even in the people God chose to include in the celebration of His coming, He showed us His heart and character. God is with Us even when we feel outcast and marginalized. The story of Christmas brings hope for each one of us.

How do we respond to God when He does things that confuse us? Let’s be honest, God’s ways are mysterious, but we can discover how to discern what God is doing. The story of Joseph helps us learn how to walk by faith and trust the character of God revealed in the Scriptures when we aren’t sure what is going on in our world.

Mary loved God and was faithful to him. God honored her faithfulness and he also honors our faithfulness. When we are willing to let God lead us into uncomfortable situations, he begins to trust us with more and more. What will you let Him lead you to today?

Have you ever made a poor decision that left you isolated, even ostracized? Maybe it wasn’t even your fault. What’s your next step? How can God take your situation and turn it around? This Sunday, we’ll be talking about how God works His purposes even when He allows all of us to make our own decisions.

Ever felt like God was asking more of you than you could handle? This week we will explore someone in the Bible that experienced just that. He stepped into the situation with trust and saw God come through at the last minute. What are you experiencing right now? Do you feel that God is absent? Discover how God may be wanting to take action in your life just in time.

At times, it can be hard to keep believing that God truly has a plan, and if we could know what it is. The Scriptures reveal that God is at work to accomplish His purposes. In fact, the Scriptures share a unified story that points towards Jesus. He is God’s plan to rescue humanity. This was not an afterthought nor an accident. From the beginning pages of the Scriptures, we can see God at work to redeem His creation. This gives us hope that He is at work in our lives even now.

Whether you’re elated, mourning, or indifferent to where we are as a nation, God does have a plan. First, if you call yourself a Christ-follower, we are children of the King of Kings, the president of the universe! Nothing can stop that plan when we cooperate with Him. Don’t put your hopes in a lesser plan and let’s move forward together!

Ever find yourself standing paralyzed, not comprehending how so many things around you seem to be stacked against you? Or, maybe you simply want to run away? This has been a tough year, a catastrophic year for so many. A global pandemic. Racial injustice. A divisive election. What is God’s plan in all of this? How can we trust that He is in control?

You’ve heard that practice makes perfect, but what about purpose? What is God’s plan for us? This week, we’ll be exploring how to incorporate regular spiritual practices into our lives that will help us live out a restored life with God and others.

As we start digging into things that seem to keep us stuck in our lives, we often discover relational brokenness. Others have hurt us. We have hurt others. This week, we’ll learn how to take the steps necessary to live at peace with those around us.

Ever experience the release that comes from patching up a relationship or work situation after making a big mistake? It’s like a huge weight has been removed. The problem comes when we repeat the same mistake no matter how hard we try to do the right thing. How can we experience true restoration from our failures and find lasting freedom from our missteps?

When taking an inventory of our life’s realities, we must dig into the past to create a path forward. Getting honest with the impact we’ve had on others and the impact others have had on us is key to opening the door for God to take charge of our lives. How can we learn to trust and follow God as He helps us confront and overcome the brokenness of our past? Work through the following questions and scriptures on your own, and get together with your running partner, life group, or friends and family to talk through what you are learning.

Life can sometimes feel like you are swimming upstream in a river capped with white waves. You come to realize that you can’t manage it. That realization is key. What must we do to realize that we can’t do life without God? How can we turn life over to Him to manage our unmanageable lives? How can we learn to let go?

Have you ever asked God for something and felt that he didn’t respond? Maybe He did, but your view of Him kept you from understanding His answer. Could a misconception or a faulty understanding of God be getting in the way of living your best life, the life He created you to live? Let’s explore how to look to a power greater than ourselves to work out our unmanageable lives.

Living right is hard work. In fact, it’s impossible. The more honest among us are open about our struggles with things that always seem to knock us down. The rest of us attempt to play the part of a good person on the outside, but deep down realize we are living a lie on the inside. It’s time to get honest about how powerless we truly are in managing our lives. Let’s explore how to take that first step toward truly becoming the person God created us to be.

Are you already tired of this election season? The social media arguments, news coverage, family bickering, and lawn signs are constant reminders of our starkly divided communities. As a follower of Jesus, we are called to love our neighbor which can be difficult when we disagree. Thanks for joining us as we close out two weeks of learning to unite through the words of Scripture and to prioritize relationships over politics.