Now it is Our Turn // M-Note 9.26.26

The choices we make today will shape the Gathering of the future. We make decisions now that will become defining moments for others that aren’t even here yet.

A year ago, I began a sermon series called Much Given, Much Expected. It was based on Jesus’ words when he told his disciples:


We have been entrusted with an incredible church. What God has done through The Gathering over the past 20 years is incredible. But if we only celebrate what has happened and what we have already gotten to experience, we miss the purpose of remembering. Jesus reminds us that, because we have been entrusted with such a unique church, God expects us to do something with it. As the author of Hebrews puts it, now it is our turn to run the race God has set in front of us.

So a year ago, rather than resting on what we have already done, I shared 3 specific new ministries that I thought God was calling our church to invest in:

1. We believed God was calling us to create more space for new people through 2 new sites in the Metro East and West County.
2. We believed God was calling us to welcome and create a ministry for people experiencing addiction or who are in recovery.
3. We believed that God was calling us to create ministries that welcome people, and especially kids, with disabilities.

I ended that series by asking all of you to make a 2-year commitment to give financially to the church so that we could invest in these new ministries.

It has been nearly a year since so many of us made those commitments, and I want to remind you of what has happened because of that choice:

1. We launched our Metro East site in January of this year, and it is already growing and reaching new people in Illinois. Our West County site is having monthly preview services and preparing to launch weekly worship this winter.
2. Every Wednesday night, nearly 100 people in recovery or experiencing addiction worship together at Gathering Underground, with groups that meet afterward. People who thought they wouldn’t be welcomed in church are now sharing their stories from the stage.
3. We now have a Buddies Ministry so that kids with disabilities can be part of Sunday morning Kids Ministry, and our Respite Nights are happening quarterly with the most recent event welcoming 50 kids.

All of that has happened in just 1 year. New people, including kids, are experiencing the love of Christ and having defining moments because of a choice that so many of you made a year ago.

That is powerful. And guess what, God is not done yet. This weekend I will talk about the future of The Gathering as we finish our 3-week celebration of The Gathering’s 20th anniversary.

I hope all of you that love this church will be there for this very special finale to the series. Now go outside, enjoy this weather, and I will see you Sunday.

Peace,

Matt

P.S.. If you are new since last year, please check out our Much Given, Much Expected vision here. It isn’t too late to be a part of it through your commitment to give.