Gateway Church - MO

Greatness. We all want it. We may have different ideas of what makes us great, most of them involve popularity, wealth, power and prestige. Movie stars are great. Presidents are great. CEOs are great. But Jesus had a different perspective. Jesus said that if we want to know what true greatness is then we have to become like children; insignificant, lacking power, and unassuming. It's completely backwards from what the world expects and demands. But until we learn to be humble and serve others the way Jesus served us, we'll never know what true greatness is.

Most of us like to do things ourselves. We like to be independent. We like to think that we can manage things just fine on our own. But the truth is, we can't. Even on our best days, whether we admit it or not, we need a little help. This is especially true when it comes to our connection with God. We can't do enough, say enough or be good enough to make things right with God. We can't get right with God on our own We need help. The good news is that Jesus came to give us what we need and to do what we couldn't do.

Jesus offers an open invitation for everyone to come and worship him and experience a genuinely transformed life. But sometimes we get in the way others accepting that invitation. Whether intentional or not, our actions, words and attitudes can become a roadblock to others experiencing a life-changing encounter with Jesus. But Jesus doesn't let us leave those roadblocks in place. He calls us to remove the roadblocks so that anyone who wants to can come to him and have new life.

Sometimes we forget that the small stuff matters. And sometimes what feel like small stuff to us is not the small stuff to someone else. Jesus never forgot that. When they ran out of wine at the wedding in Canna, it may not have been a big deal to some, but to the hosts it mattered. A lot. But Jesus isn’t concerned about how big or small our problem is. He chooses to love us and step into our need, regardless of size. By caring about the small stuff, he opens the door to real lift change. He challenges us to do the same.

Jesus frequently asked questions. One of the most powerful questions he asked people was, “What do you want?” When he asks that question, it isn’t because he doesn’t know what we need but because he wants to know if we want more of us or if we really want him. The question we have to ask ourselves is, “What do I want?”

Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose to be baptized. He hadn’t sinned. He didn’t need to repent; he wasn’t starting a new life. So why did he get baptized. Jesus chose to be baptized in order to identify with sinful, broken humanity. And he calls us to do the same. We need to learn to connect with our culture without becoming stained by our culture if we are going to reach others with the love of Jesus.

Most of us tend to be independent. We want to exercise our rights and we don't want anyone telling us what to do. Submission doesn't come naturally to us. But if we are going to imitate Jesus with our lives, then we need to learn how to humbly submit to others. Jesus, the Son of God and creator of the universe, show us what humble submission looks like. When we watch Jesus, we learn to honor him by submitting to others.

IF JESUS IS A FRIEND OF SINNERS, THEN WE MUST BE FRIENDS OF SINNERS.

We have been working through a teaching series called Sweet Little Lies. Through this teaching series we have found several common sayings or phases that we as Americans use quite often. Most of which makes us feel better about a situation or kinda dismiss our poor behaviors, or even give us an excuse when we aren't living very Christ like. These are saying like “it's the thought that counts” or “as long as you are happy.” But can sincerity be a bad thing? Can there be a negative connotation surrounding sincerity? Why might being sincere lead us astray.

‘I’m not THAT bad.’ We all think it and some of us say it. When we look at the culture around us and compare ourselves to that standard, most of us feel pretty good about ourselves. But the world is not the standard we are to be measured against. When we compare ourselves to the standard of Jesus, we recognize that we all are in need of God’s amazing grace and infinite forgiveness. It’s only through the righteousness of Jesus that we have any hope of righteousness at all.