Gateway Church Austin

God is changing the world, life by life, as He builds His Church and works through all of us together. He makes epicenters of impact that ripple out from every life—your life and our lives connected to other lives around the world. But when you hear the word “church,” is that what you picture?

Jesus is the ultimate hero. He left the comfort of heaven for a new land on Earth, began working miracles at age 30, and He sacrificed His life for all of humankind—present and future. Jesus’ story is the best story ever told, but did you know each of us has a role in that story? Depending on our decisions, we can be a character who disappears after the first chapter, the villain or the hero of our own story, or friend and family to the ultimate hero, Jesus Christ. How will your story intersect with God’s?

The Bible is an epic story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration, but it’s also an intimate story describing God’s pursuit of a love relationship with each of us as individuals. We need to understand the big picture so that we don’t miss the personal application. Where do we fit into God’s big picture?

When something painful or unfair happens, the natural tendency for many of us is to get caught in the why—what did we do to deserve this? We often feel like victims and become resentful toward the situation, the people involved, and even God. But Jesus offers us a command with a promise: keep your eyes on Me, and I will reward you beyond your wildest dreams. Is it worth it to trust God in life’s most challenging situations?

When it comes to money, the definition of success in our culture is one that’s unattainable. How much do you need in order to say “enough” or before you feel secure? It doesn’t matter how much or little you may have; the answer is always “more.” But what if there’s a way you could really succeed with money? How might it look to follow God’s plan for our finances, and does His plan really lead to rewards we can count on?

Few people have jobs they would consider glamorous. Some have jobs they like — most days. And a handful despise every minute they’re at work. But we all have one thing in common: God wants us to invite Him into our work. If we take the focus off ourselves, off our earthly bosses and co-workers, and focus on working as if the rewards that truly matter are eternal, we’d have clarity and purpose that lightens the load.

Across the globe, money, position, and power are the currencies and driving forces that bring success and rewards. Those things are not bad in and of themselves, but we often fail to realize that there’s a Greater Economy that governs us, and it’s important to be conscious of how we use the world’s economy to gain the Greatest Reward. How do we live for heavenly rewards and not just earthly rewards?

When you look around the world and see destruction, oppression, injustice, racism, and abuse, it seems as if there is something bigger at play. If there is a real war being waged in a realm we can’t see, and there are dark forces at work in this realm, should we be afraid? Can we really say “the devil made me do it,” or is this a battle we can win?

When our friends or acquaintances are going through a hard time, most of us struggle to know what to say. Too often, we fall back on well-meaning clichés to try to cheer them up, but they often do more harm than good. For example, a common phrase we’ll offer is "God will never give you more than you can handle." While we probably mean for that phrase to encourage others to trust God, is this old saying even true?

When times get tough for people around us, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out what to say. We often resort to trite sayings like "God never closes a door without opening a window," hoping to offer comfort and a sense of direction in times of uncertainty or disappointment. But since sayings like these are often misattributed to God and His Word, is the saying even true? When God does seem to close a door, how can we make sure that He’s the one guiding us to our alternate destination?

Scrolling through photos on your phone or computer often brings a few surprises. Some photos churn up memories that aren’t so pleasant to think about. Just like the annoying acquaintance who photobombs every photo, there are things in our life that always seem to show up, seldom welcomed. Whether it’s others reminding you of past mistakes, the family that can’t trust that you’re sober now, your own self-condemnation over secret sins, or the sins themselves — they photobomb our lives. What if you could delete them all with one fell swoop? God has given us a way, through His son Jesus.

New drivers are taught to check their blind spots because they can’t see everything around them in their mirrors. Not only do we often misjudge how others see us, but it’s also all too easy to have misperceptions when it comes to how we see ourselves. How do we start to recognize the blind spots in our lives and move closer to how God views us?

We all grew up afraid of something as children, perhaps monsters in the closet or spiders crawling outside. But generally our parents would make us feel safe. Now, as adults, we have to encounter a whole new set of monsters, like relational conflict or financial ruin. But God offers us a totally different perspective, one where we are more than conquerors. Will we run and quake with fear, or will we find boldness in the security that God offers us?

Have you ever used a filter to project an image that was different from reality? In life, we can end up seeing the world through a filter that actually distorts reality and hurts our ability to live in the fullness of all God intended. God is the only one who sees reality fully, so how do we remove these negative filters and see the world from His perspective?

The Church isn’t a building or a program; it’s people. And surprisingly enough, it’s primarily run by volunteers. God gives us gifts, and we can use them in great ways, especially to serve others both inside and outside the church. How will you use the gifts God’s given you to get involved?

Above all else, we are to love one another, but this turns out to be a lot more difficult than it sounds. Everyone nods in agreement that they want to love one another, until it gets difficult. How do we practice love that is other-centered and not self-centered?

Relationships are a wonderful thing. We find companionship, comfort, wisdom, strength, intimacy, and so much more with other people…until conflict happens, that is. But when others hurt or anger us, we sometimes feel excused from loving them if that means speaking the truth with gentle grace, which God has commanded us to do. So is it worth it to push through our fear, hurt, and anger to pursue reconciliation in our relationships? How does God want this process to look in our lives?

Despite the fact that most of us may not like change, and even resist it, there’s probably something in our lives we want to change. Change doesn’t come easily, and trying hard can only accomplish so much. If you really want to see changes in your life, you have to train for it and be challenged by the people closest to you. So what does spiritual training and challenging others in love really look like?

God is for us—not against us, and He wants us to be for each other, not tearing each other down. We all want this kind of encouraging environment, but it takes effort to create and sustain it. How should we be encouraging and building up the people around us as God intended?

God allows us to be His partners in helping people find life and freedom in Christ. He often does this through the Church, but churches are made up of imperfect people, and people tend to be both a church’s greatest asset and greatest liability. How do we build others up when we so often need to be built up ourselves?