Next

Series: Next
Connect by John Burke, January 27, 2008

We’re starting a new series this week designed to help us figure out where we are on our spiritual journey, and where we need to be going next. John’s message to day started where the original church started directly after Jesus sent the Holy Spirit: they started together. At the heart of the early church was connection. So that’s the focus of this discussion.

1. John began by describing what can be a defining experience in making connections for many of us: Junior High (aka Middle School). You can use this to relate some of your own early experiences in making connections. Try this exercise: Think for a minute about one word that describes your own Junior High experience – or at least an important aspect of it. Then, go around the group, relate your word, and explain something about why that word fits your experience. (10 minutes)

2. One of the things that usually describes many connections at Junior High age is “cliques”. But, getting locked into “us” and “them” thinking is certainly not limited to Junior High. Why is that? What are some of the reasons that we tend to lock ourselves into a set group or groups? Spend some time talking about the things (needs, fears, aspirations, etc.) that lead to this type of behavior. (10 minutes)

3. As John talked about in the message, it is so common for people to feel like they are on the outside looking into other peoples’ groups. Have you ever had the experience of being “left out” of a group? Take a few minutes for the people who feel comfortable to talk about what that feels like? (5 - 10 minutes)

4. Despite the “challenges”… most of all get into one or more groups someway or another. Think for a minute about a group you belong to that is important to you… What got you ”connected”? (Or maybe you have an example of a time where you brought another person into one of your groups… or helped them settle into a group.) Discuss around the this group and keep a list of the types of things that make connections happen. (10 minutes)

5. John used the book of Acts in the Bible to describe the early church (see the passages below). As John noted, one of the words that keeps coming up is “together”. However, too often the church can feel like Junior High. Why is that? What are some of the reasons that people don’t get connected at Gateway? (5 - 10 minutes). Since this is clearly NOT what God wants for the church, try to come up with some practical ways we can better get our act “together” and help make connections at Gateway? (5 - 10 minutes)

6. Close with some personal application… but today try two different applications. First, John asked us to begin to think about where we are on our spiritual path: discovering, developing, or deepening (more info on this at the Gateway website on Next. We’ll explore these more over the next few weeks, but for now, do you have an idea which of these might best describe the stage you are in right now? If so, note that, and plan to recheck this in the coming weeks to see what’s next for you. Second, where are you in terms of connections? Is there a step you feel you should make to have more connections in your spiritual journey? (The website above or bulletin has some options ). Or, is there something you feel God wants you to do to help other people get more connected? Write down any thoughts/actions you can commit to and pick a day and time to check in with God in the next week to ask for His help in making this next step toward building connection. (5 minutes)

Bible verses from the message:

Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
Romans 15:7

They spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread and prayed together…All the Lord's followers often met together, and they shared everything they had…Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another.
Hebrews 10:24-25

Get more - go further:

• Consider the questions at the Next Steps site to help you decide where you are on your path.
• Check out connections options at Gateway.
• You can search for related books on-line at the Gateway Bookstore or look for books at the "reality" bookstore in the "Garage".
• Remember - each Sunday's message is available by 5 PM on the day of the message. Past messages are also available for listening and download. Just go to Gateway's Sunday Messages. Free CD's of the messages will be available after the services at Gateway the following Sunday.
  
  

Bandwidth: Energize

Series: Bandwidth
Energize by Ted Beasley - January 20, 2008

If we want more bandwidth in our relationship with God, we need to find a way to energize the relationship. How to do that was Ted’s focus in this message. Based on Bill Hybel’s book Spiritual Pathways, Ted outlined seven possible approaches to capturing or recapturing a more alive spiritual connection.

1. Most this discussion will be centered around identifying and then applying your own spiritual pathway. But first, start with the idea of personal spiritual responsibility that Ted developed at the start of his message: Ted talked about how most of us had someone or something that “fed” us spiritually. Did you? What were you fed in your spiritual babyhood, and who did (or does) your feeding? Are you trying to feed anyone now? In the group, spend some time to talk personally or “in general” about how people get spiritual feeding before they begin to feed themselves spiritually. (10 minutes)

2. Ted said he was 15 year old, and away from home and church before he decided to really start feeding himself spiritually. How about you? Have you reached that point – (or points for some of us…)? What motivated you to take that step? Think about that and then talk about the types of things that motivate people toward a “turning point” in their relationship with God. (10 minutes)
3. The main point of Ted’s message was that we all have basic “roads” we take toward God… a spiritual approach that just feels "right" for each of us. For the rest of the discussion, you’ll focus on identifying your own pathway, along with some of the best “travel aids” to use on that route. First, review the spiritual pathways below. Can you pick out one as being the one that best energizes you to move toward God? If your path is not on the list, what does work for you?

• Intellectual: stretching your brain with new thoughts about God and His ways


• Relational: deeper closeness with God when sharing the experience with others


• Service: helping others brings you closer to God’s heart for service


• Worship: thinking, singing, praying about how good God is


• Activism: spiritual connections with God strengthened when you’re making a difference in the world


• Contemplative: getting energy from time away thinking through God’s role in the world and your life


• Creation: closeness to God when in nature and appreciating His creation.
  

Take some time for each person to talk about their own spiritual pathway. As you go around, be sure to talk about the specific kinds of things that really energize you on your journey. If none of these fit, can you describe the kinds of things that DO make you feel energized spiritually? (30 minutes)

4. At the end of the message, Ted challenged us to step up and take responsibility for our own growth. He also suggested that we develop our ability to see God through routes that are not our own well-worn paths. Close with some personal time for each person to think about that. Are you thinking that maybe you need to start your own feeding rather than waiting for others to push you along? Or maybe you need to re-energize your walk? If so, what is your best route forward? If your are pretty charged up right now, maybe there is another way you can start to know God through a different path? Is there a new/different route you think God is prompting you to use to come to Him? Whatever your place or path, write down one thing you can do in the next week to start down that road, and then pray and ask God to energize you to take that step. (5 minutes)

Bible verses from the message:

My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day.
Galatians 5:16 – 17

You should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God's ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.
Hebrews 5:14

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
Philippians 3:8

For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.
Matthew 18:20

My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Psalm 108:1 – 4

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20

Get more - go further:

You can search for related books on-line at the Gateway Bookstore or look for books at the "reality" bookstore in the "Garage".

Remember - each Sunday's message is available by 5 PM on the day of the message. Past messages are also available for listening and download. Just go to Gateway's Sunday Messages. Free CD's of the messages will be available after the services at Gateway the following Sunday.

Bandwidth: Restore

Bandwidth
Restore by John Burke, January 13, 2008

Last week John talked about the importance of getting and applying God’s priorities to how we spend our time. In this message John talked about how to begin to get God’s perspective.

1. We all have other people who have ideas about how we should spend our time… but sometimes we assume people want us to spend our time on something that is really NOT what they want. Have you ever had a situation like that: You did something for someone else (i.e., your boss, your co-worker, significant other, child, parent, friend) only to later find out that it was not what they wanted from you? If you are in a group – talk about any experiences you’ve had like that…or just think about them if you are on your own. What happened and why? Could you have avoided spending time and effort on what was really not wanted or needed? If so, how? (10 minutes)

2. What about the idea that God would have ideas about how you spend your time: Does that seem realistic to you? Why or why not? (5 – 10 minutes)

3. Now, assume for a minute that God DOES have ideas about how people should spend their time. What are the kinds of things that most people THINK God wants them to spend their time doing? List as many types of things as you can. Do you think God “expects” any or all of these for everyone? Why or why not? (10 minutes)

4. In the message, John said that we often need to slow down before we can really know what God wants of us. But John said that it’s not just slowing down, rather it is slowing down in a way to deliberately get to know God better… by taking time to know God’s heart and experience His love for us. Sounds like a good thing to shoot for. Good, but not easy. Why is it so hard for so many people to slow down? Talk through as many reasons as you can. (10 minutes)

5. What about you? Do you have trouble slowing down? If so, what makes it difficult for you? Take a few minutes for those who want to, to talk about their own reaction to slowing down. And, if you are someone who has been able to slow it down, talk about how you did it… and how you KEEP doing it. (John showed us his water and mud jar that reminds him to get “still”. if anyone has any other devices or aids, be sure to talk about that. (10 minutes)

6. End with some time for personal reflection. As you do, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you find it hard to slow down and listen to God?
• If so, why?… what is the most important reason(s) for you?
• Do you believe God can set effective, loving, non-stressful priorities for you life?
• If yes, what is ONE THING you can do to begin the process? Write that down.
• If you don’t think God is in the priority-setting business… would you be willing to talk to Him about it… just on a trial basis? If so, make a note of when you will give it a try.

Take some time to ask God to remind and encourage you to take the step or spend the time you noted. (5 minutes)

Bible verses from the message:

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”
Matthew 11:28-12:8

“Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink…or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 29:12-14

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:9-11

Get more - go further:

You can search for related books on-line at the Gateway Bookstore or look for books at the "reality" bookstore in the "Garage".

Remember - each Sunday's message is available by 5 PM on the day of the message. Past messages are also available for listening and download. Just go to Gateway's Sunday Messages. Free CD's of the messages will be available after the services at Gateway the following Sunday.

Bandwidth: Simplify

Bandwidth
Simplfy by John Burke, January 6, 2008

Bandwidth… don’t we all think we need more and more and more of it? But it doesn’t work: time is still a limited commodity. As we keep adding things to our busy lives, often we end up cutting something out… and then feeling stressed and guilty that we’re not doing it all. Is there any hope to find a way to get away from the stress and get it all “under control”?

1. Start with John’s question to us: What is something that worried you a lot in the last year? Do you still worry about it? Go around and see how many people are still worried about the same thing now that troubled them before. (5 – 10 minutes)

2. Take some time in the group to discuss the types of thing that people tend to worry about. Make a quick list of these. Next, go through your list and discuss how many are “real” (legitimate concerns about what is really happening or what is likely to happen) and of these, how many those people have any control over? (10 minutes)

3. Next, take a look at the pressures of life. Do you need more bandwidth? How full is your life? Make a quick stab at estimating your own life script: Take a look at the list below. Before each item are two blank spaces. In the first column, write down the approximate percentage of time you spend each week on that (just as a frame of reference… 40 hours (i.e., 8 hours a day of work or sleep) is 33% of your week each.

____ ____ Work
____ ____ Sleep
____ ____ Other commitments/obligations (i.e. home/family responsibilities/requirements, organization leadership, planned service, etc.)
____ ____ Health/working out/sports
____ ____ Entertainment (TV, movies, reading, etc.)
____ ____ Important personal relationships that are not “programmed” (friends, family, etc)
____ ____ Time with God/Bible study/Spiritual growth
____ ____ Other _____________

Now, in the second column, think about the approximate percentage of your time each week you’d LIKE to spend on each of these. My bet is that two lists of percentages are not the same,. So in the group, spend some time talking about why, for most people, these two lists are different: What keeps people from spending their time they way they would like (outside of normal real needs like basic income and the need for food and sleep)? (15 – 20 minutes for the whole exercise and discussion)

4. Last question: Do you think it possible for the average person to have a life that has enough bandwidth and and is not stressed? Why or why not? Discuss this in the group. (10 minutes)

5. Close with a couple minutes for people to reflect individually on any personal insights about time or worries they have. Is there anything you think God has spoken to you about? Write down any points you’d like to reflect on more. (2 – 3 minutes)


Bible versese from the message:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Matthew 6:25-27

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Matthew 6:29 – 30

So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Matthew 6:31 – 32

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:33 – 34

Get more - go further:

You can search for related books on-line at the Gateway Bookstore or look for books at the "reality" bookstore in the "Garage".

Remember - each Sunday's message is available by 5 PM on the day of the message. Past messages are also available for listening and download. Just go to Gateway's Sunday Messages. Free CD's of the messages will be available after the services at Gateway the following Sunday.

The End

The End by Betty Blake Churchill, December 30, 2007

In this message, Betty Blake Churchill asked us to look at plans for the new year in a new way by asking ourselves what needs are really behind what we hope to accomplish in the new year. We’ll get to asking that question here (and you’ll need some paper to answer) , but let’s start where Betty Blake started: the two kinds of people: those who make deliberate plans and resolutions and stick to them, and those that approach intentions with some hope but little resolve or action.

1. So which are you? A Tony Robbins person or a “whatever” person? Do you make new year’s resolutions or forget about it? Somewhere in between? Spend just a few minutes for everyone to reveal what sort of planner they are. (10 minutes)

2. Betty Blake used the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well to talk about Jesus and our needs (see passage from John 4 below). It’s was a great example of how we go for physical things and Jesus understands the spiritual needs behind them. She proposed a fill-in-the-blank exercise. Let’s try it. “2008 will be a great year if __________.” So, take some time to answer. Get some paper write down the most important things that would make 2008 a big success for you. Now, once you’ve got your list, pick ONE want and start linking it back to a deeper want by asking the question “WHY?”. Keep asking yourself why to each answer until you think you are at a core “want”. This will take some time, so don’t rush it. Go ahead and take 10 minutes or more to think through and write down each answer. Once you have finished the drill down of “whys”, pair off and talk about your answers with a discussion partner. (15 – 25 minutes)

3. While still in your pairs, talk through this: Is there either a spiritual dimension or spiritual analogy to the bottom-level “want” you identified? If so, discuss whether Jesus can satisfy that in any way. Suggest ideas with and for each other. (10 minutes)

4. In the group as a whole, go around and mention some of the different kinds of wants that came out of the paired discussions. Were any the same? Note any spiritual associations or ways Jesus can deliver on the “wants” that came out of your paired discussion. Were there wants that seemed like Jesus couldn’t provide for? Discuss that too. (10 minutes)

5. Close with some personal time to ask yourself the question Betty Blake asked of all of us: What do you want Jesus to offer you? If you have an answer for yourself, take a moment to talk to God about that. If you can, ask him to supply any spiritual need you have identified. Consider making that a new New Year’s resolution. (Also, take your list of 2008 wants with you to do any other “why” linkages that seem important to you.) (5 minutes)

Bible verses from the message:

Now he [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
John 4: 4 - 29

Get more - go further:

You can search for related books on-line at the Gateway Bookstore or look for books at the "reality" bookstore in the "Garage".

Remember - each Sunday's message is available by 5 PM on the day of the message. Past messages are also available for listening and download. Just go to Gateway's Sunday Messages. Free CD's of the messages will be available after the services at Gateway the following Sunday.