January 8th, 2021
by Amy Sanders
by Amy Sanders
January 8, 2021

Gathering,
I am hopeful.
You read that right.
I am hopeful.
That sounds a little strange. After all, we still have a pandemic raging. We witnessed violence and chaos in our nation’s capital. Many of us still feel isolated and disconnected. The holidays have come and gone, and some of us are still waiting patiently for life to turn around. So where does the hope come from?
In part, hope comes from seeing not only that which is wrong, but also seeing that which is right. I am hopeful that there is a vaccine beginning to be distributed (my wife, Jessica, who is a frontline healthcare worker gets her second dose in just a couple weeks). I am hopeful that our country’s institutions (and many of our leaders) are strong enough to resist the incitement we witnessed. I am hopeful that all around me, I experience people looking out for one another. Ultimately, I am hopeful because I know a God that has brought people (including me) through the “valley of the shadow of death” to green pastures on the other side. This is the God who is with us in Jesus. That isn’t meant as a deflection. I don’t want to ignore the hardship of our present time. It is rather a statement of faith. That on the cusp of a new year, my intention is to hold on to hope, and look for the ways God is calling me to be light in our present darkness. That gives me a purpose beyond simply noting what is wrong or wringing my hands over that I cannot control.
2021 can and will be different, but not because we are guaranteed changed circumstances. We know we cannot control those. The new year will be different because Jesus can help us change our heart and our minds. Jesus changes our frame of mind. Beginning this weekend, I am starting a new series called…Frame of Mind.
Each week, we will explore one question Jesus asks his disciples that can change their perspective on life. Jesus helps us form a new frame of mind, and this can change everything. This Sunday, I will also be celebrating the results of our Christmas Eve offering (100% of which will fund clean water in Mozambique), and we are launching a few new online worship tools that we are excited for you to see.
I hope you will start the new year by making worship a more central priority in your life. I know many of us drifted in the past year. We got distracted or maybe got out of the habit. But, this is a new year and a great time to get back to practicing faith more intentionally. Along with this, it is a great time to offer an invitation for someone else to join you. Share this video with a friend that you think might need a new frame of mind for the year ahead.
Before we go, here are a few updates that I want to share with you:
There is reason to hope. Hang on and remember that you are not alone. I look forward to worshiping with you all this Sunday right here live at 8, 9, 10, and 11am or anytime OnDemand. Have a great weekend.
Matt
P.S. Some of you may have heard I started a new thing in 2021. In partnership with The Big 550 KTRS, I am now doing a weekly radio show and podcast called The F Word: Conversations on Faith. I am exploring topics related to faith and spirituality that I can’t always tackle in the pulpit. Along the way I am interviewing some really interesting experts in all sorts of various fields. I hope that you will tune in Sunday afternoons at 3 on 550 KTRS or subscribe to the podcast and listen anytime. The easiest way is to just search my name wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes will drop each Sunday afternoon!
I am hopeful.
You read that right.
I am hopeful.
That sounds a little strange. After all, we still have a pandemic raging. We witnessed violence and chaos in our nation’s capital. Many of us still feel isolated and disconnected. The holidays have come and gone, and some of us are still waiting patiently for life to turn around. So where does the hope come from?
In part, hope comes from seeing not only that which is wrong, but also seeing that which is right. I am hopeful that there is a vaccine beginning to be distributed (my wife, Jessica, who is a frontline healthcare worker gets her second dose in just a couple weeks). I am hopeful that our country’s institutions (and many of our leaders) are strong enough to resist the incitement we witnessed. I am hopeful that all around me, I experience people looking out for one another. Ultimately, I am hopeful because I know a God that has brought people (including me) through the “valley of the shadow of death” to green pastures on the other side. This is the God who is with us in Jesus. That isn’t meant as a deflection. I don’t want to ignore the hardship of our present time. It is rather a statement of faith. That on the cusp of a new year, my intention is to hold on to hope, and look for the ways God is calling me to be light in our present darkness. That gives me a purpose beyond simply noting what is wrong or wringing my hands over that I cannot control.
2021 can and will be different, but not because we are guaranteed changed circumstances. We know we cannot control those. The new year will be different because Jesus can help us change our heart and our minds. Jesus changes our frame of mind. Beginning this weekend, I am starting a new series called…Frame of Mind.
Each week, we will explore one question Jesus asks his disciples that can change their perspective on life. Jesus helps us form a new frame of mind, and this can change everything. This Sunday, I will also be celebrating the results of our Christmas Eve offering (100% of which will fund clean water in Mozambique), and we are launching a few new online worship tools that we are excited for you to see.
I hope you will start the new year by making worship a more central priority in your life. I know many of us drifted in the past year. We got distracted or maybe got out of the habit. But, this is a new year and a great time to get back to practicing faith more intentionally. Along with this, it is a great time to offer an invitation for someone else to join you. Share this video with a friend that you think might need a new frame of mind for the year ahead.
Before we go, here are a few updates that I want to share with you:
- We are continuing online worship through January. We are preparing for the possibility of starting one in-person worship service per site in February. I will update you as this month progresses and as we determine the best time to restart in-person worship.
- The Gathering now officially has an Online Site via a Facebook group. We already have 425 members that have joined. This group helps connect us during the week and we post daily practices and ways to grow in faith. If you have not yet joined, just come check it out and hit join.
- The Literacy Project is looking for virtual mentors for the second semester! Serving is a great way to get in a new frame of mind this year. Learn more & sign up here.
There is reason to hope. Hang on and remember that you are not alone. I look forward to worshiping with you all this Sunday right here live at 8, 9, 10, and 11am or anytime OnDemand. Have a great weekend.
Matt
P.S. Some of you may have heard I started a new thing in 2021. In partnership with The Big 550 KTRS, I am now doing a weekly radio show and podcast called The F Word: Conversations on Faith. I am exploring topics related to faith and spirituality that I can’t always tackle in the pulpit. Along the way I am interviewing some really interesting experts in all sorts of various fields. I hope that you will tune in Sunday afternoons at 3 on 550 KTRS or subscribe to the podcast and listen anytime. The easiest way is to just search my name wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes will drop each Sunday afternoon!
Recent
Tornado Recovery Benefit Concert TONIGHT // M-Note 6.30.25
June 30th, 2025
Happy Pride Month // M-Note 6.14.25
June 13th, 2025
Self-Reflection Guide | Multiply - Part 3
June 6th, 2025
Is It Time for a Pilgrimage? // M-Note 6.7.25
June 6th, 2025
Self-Reflection Guide | Multiply - Part 2
May 30th, 2025
Archive
2025
January
Happy New Year // M-Note 1.4.2025Cancel the Noise // M-Note 1.11.25Cancel the Noise Discussion Guide - Part 1The Beloved Community // M-Note 01.18.2025Cancel the Noise Discussion Guide - Part 2What A Coincidence // M-Note 1.25.25Cancel the Noise Discussion Guide - Part 3Cancel the Noise Discussion Guide - Part 4The Original Influencer // M-Note 2.1.25
February
The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 1Exploring New Sites…And You’re Invited // M-Note 2.8.25The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 2Uncovering Implicit Bias // M-Note 2.15.2025A "Flurry" of Activity // M-Note 2.22.25The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 3The Beloved Community Discussion Guide - Part 4
March
Beloved Community Action Steps // M-Note 3.1.25Vulnerability & Wilderness | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 1Trusting the Spirit's Lead | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 2Courageous Connection | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 3What's Your Emotional IQ? // M-Note 3.8.25The Spaces Between Us | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 4Emotional Rollercoaster Discussion Guide - Part 1Jesus Weeps With You | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 5When Sadness Lingers | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 6Lurking in the Shadows | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 7Cycles of Life and Death | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 8Inked in Memory | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 9The Void of Grief | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 10Sending Forth // M-Note 3.15.25Emotional Rollercoaster Discussion Guide - Part 2Journey Not Alone | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 11Friends Along the Way | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 12The Loneliness of Fear | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 13Not Through With You Yet | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 14Clinging to Hope | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 15Bring It To The King | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 16Pray When Unsteady | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 17Courage to Stand for Faith | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 18Emotional Rollercoaster Discussion Guide - Part 3A Holy Rage | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 19Focus on What is Holy | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 20Fast for Justice and Kindness | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 21The World is Harsh and Beautiful | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 22I Feel Sorry for Jesus | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 23Emotional Rollercoaster Discussion Guide - Part 4i flipped a table once | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 24Ain’t Got Nothin’ | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 25Spring Forward in Faith // M-Note 3.29.25Visio Divina | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 26Everlasting Joy Sealed in Your Heart | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 27
April
Sometimes Joy is Simply Doing Your Best | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 28An Unexpected Gift of Spring | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 29When Joy Flows Freely | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 30Easter Challenge // M-Note 4.5.25Joy Even When It Rains | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 31Emotional Rollercoaster Discussion Guide - Part 5Joy Entwined with Loss | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 32When Betrayal is Part of the Plan | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 33Healing From Disappointment | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 34Betraying Others is Betraying Yourself | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 35A Sarcastic Jesus | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 36Have Compassion for Yourself | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 37Another Easter Challenge // M-Note 4.12.25A Disappointing Disciple | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 38When We Disappoint Others | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 39Emotional Rollercoaster Discussion Guide - Part 6The Belief of Jesus | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 40The Value of Praise | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 41Through the Eyes of Those Who Knew Him | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 42Feeling Called Out | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Day 43Where Was Judas? | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Maundy ThursdayEaster Discussion GuideEasterSTL @The Factory Pro-Tips // M-Note 4.18.25Today is Not the End of the Story | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Good FridayThe Burning Pain of Hope | 2025 Lenten Devotional | Holy SaturdayHe is Risen | 2025 Lenten Devotional | EasterMuch to Celebrate Post-Easter // M-Note 4.26.25CoreGroup Guide | We Just Click - Part 1
May
Come to Egypt with Me // M-Note 5.3.25CoreGroup Guide | We Just Click - Part 2Celebrating Our Mozambique Partnership // M-Note 5.10.25CoreGroup Guide | We Just Click - Part 3What Season Are YOU In? // M-Note 5.17.2025CoreGroup Guide | We Just Click - Part 4Serving Our City // M-Note 5.23.25Self-Reflection Guide | Multiply - Part 1Congratulations to Own Own Martin Leathers // M-Note 5.31.25Self-Reflection Guide | Multiply - Part 2
2024
January
No Comments