Gateway Church - MO

Learning to master a new skill is always a challenge. We usually do it wrong before we do it right. If we’re impatient, we’ll either give up or settle for less than excellent. But if we are willing to do the hard work of being patient, we become more than we expect. Maturing as a follower of Jesus is no different. If we are willing to be patient and remain in him, we will become more and more like him.

Sexuality is one of the “hot button” issues of our day.  It divides churches, friendships, and families.  It even divides some people against themselves.  But what does patience have to do with our sexuality?  In a world so much is not as it should be and where there seem to be more questions than answers, God promises that he is working to make all things new.  We must learn to be patient and just wait.

We've all seen examples of evil people who seem to prosper, and we wonder "why do the bad guys win?" We aren't the first to ask that question, in fact several of the writers of scripture asked the same thing. And while it seems that life can be unfair and that the wicked seem to go unpunished, God promises that if we will be patient, he will take care of it. When we have the faith to be patient in the face of evil, God reveals his justice and his mercy to us.

We all know that pain and suffering are a very real part of our journey. Whether from illness, circumstances or other people, pain is a part of life. We also know that there are times when we ask God to ease our pain and there doesn't seem to be any answer. Why is God silent when life hurts? Why, after turning to him does life STILL hurt? We may never know the answers to those questions, but we can know that God is good and faithful, and we can trust Him even in the face of pain. We can trust Him because we know He has a purpose in our pain. And, if we will learn to be patient in suffering, we will discover that God may not change our circumstances, but he will change us.

Sometimes if feels as if God is a million miles away and isn’t listening. Sometimes it feels like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. You pray, you ask God, and you get silence in return. What do we do when it seems like God isn’t answering my prayers? You keep on praying. It’s not easy, but patient persistence in prayer – even when God seems silent – will increase your faith and grow your resilience. 

“Live your truth” is the mantra of our day. We are all encouraged to live out what is true to us. But what happens when my truth collides with your truth? What happens when my truth collides with reality? You can’t build your life on a foundation that is constantly moving. The only truth worth building our lives on is Jesus; the Way, the Truth and the Life.

We’re constantly told to we just need to believe in ourselves. But even a cursory glance at our lives reveals that believing in ourselves only makes a mess. If we can’t believe in ourselves, then what should we believe in? Jesus said, “whoever believes in me will have eternal life.” When we are willing to deny ourselves and believe in Jesus, our lives become a life worth living.

"Just follow your heart" is one of the most popular and loved pieces of advice people receive today. It sounds great. There's just one problem: our hearts are a mess, and we can't trust them. Just follow your heart has led to all kinds of relationship catastrophes, deep wounds, and empty lives. Rather than follow our hearts, we need to focus on following Jesus who will change our hearts if we let him.

We frequently focus on getting just the right gift at Christmas. For many of us it’s about receiving. We drop hints or just flat out make it known that we want something spectacular for Christmas. We have expectations that we want met. And when we don’t get what we were hoping for, the disappointment is very real. And sometimes we make other people pay for our disappointment. But Jesus came to give himself as the perfect gift that would give us new life. When we imitate Jesus, we reshape the world around us for the better.

We often make Christmas all about the ‘event’. It’s the production that matters. Everything has to be just right. We will run ourselves ragged trying to make it all perfect. We fill the holidays (and our lives) with anxiety, stress, and anger, often running over the people around us. Jesus wasn’t focused on events. He was focused on relationships, especially the relationship between man and God. Jesus brings peace and draws people together.