CONNECTING PEOPLE TO JESUS CHRIST AND TO ONE ANOTHER.

Transcription

1 CONNECTING PEOPLE TO JESUS CHRIST AND TO ONE ANOTHER. Christmas Eve Christmas Eve 01 was an incredible time of worship, music, reflection, hearing and preaching of the Word, inspiration and pure delight. Twenty-one hundred people, over five services, enjoyed Christmas at its best a Christ-exalting celebration. One of the joys of our Christmas Eve worship was seeing so many unfamiliar faces. We may not know the story behind all of our visitors, but we can be sure that many of them are outside the family of God. And that fits our philosophy of Christ-centered worship that speaks to the heart of people who are not yet connected to God. Pray with me that the Holy Spirit will use the afterglow of a very special evening to win people to His Son! AMEN! Christmas Eve Offering Our Christmas Eve offering was $19, All that money goes to the Philemon Project in Beirut, Lebanon, a work of compassion and teaching for the children of migrant workers and the children of parents fleeing the civil war in Syria. In this issue: Christmas Eve 1 Building Update 1 Thank You 1 Primary Things Life Groups Gateway Mom s Ministry Upcoming Events Dominican Republic Zoo Church League Basketball Dominican Republic Trip 4 Baptisms 5 Left: Christmas Eve 8-Team. Right: Congregation at Christmas Eve Candlelight services. Building Update January 1th will be our next congregational view of where we are with our Building project. Thank You The Gateway staff once again thanks you for the many cards, gifts and treats that were given to us. We appreciate being loved. Like us on Facebook 1

2 Primary Things Life Groups Red, yellow, and blue are primary colors. These colors are foundational to the artistic world. By mixing these colors in different amounts, a marvelous array of brightness can be formed. Lines, angles, and curves are foundational for developing shapes and architectural awe. Without them, our world would lack structure, order, and creative design. Likewise, there are also three primary elements to biblical community: Faith, hope, and love. God grants Christ-followers faith to believe in things unseen, namely Himself. He offers an everlasting hope that can never be lost or taken away. And God also shows His love by giving...his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John :16, NIV). At Gateway Church, these are the primary things. These are the things that God uses in our lives to point us to Himself and one another. One of the ways these things are cultivated and drawn out is through Life Groups. Life Groups are small groups of about twelve people, which gather to connect people to Jesus and one another. They provide a safe environment for people to connect with one another, learn the Bible, and serve others. God has proven to transform primary things into something great. Will you allow God to do that with your life? If you are not yet connected to a Life Group, join us for Group Connect in the Gateway Library on Sunday, January 7 at 11:5 a.m. (during the 11:5 worship service). If you have any questions, please contact Rosemary: Rosemay Lyon rlyon@gatewayepc.org Mom s Cookie Decorating Party Upcoming Events Tuesday, January 15 Tuesday Morning Ladies Bible Study Weekly from 9:0 11:0 a.m. Friday, January 18 Ladies Scrapbooking Night from 5 11 p.m. Saturday, January 19 Upward Basketball Games Begin Sunday, January 0 Pistons v. Celtics Youth Group Trip RSVP to David Rath ASAP Kristy St. Amour is sharing the gospel to the little children who came to play and decorate cookies with their moms. Tuesday, January SEW*QUILT*SHARE at 1:00 p.m. Friday, January 5 Spa for the Soul from 7 10 p.m. Sunday, January 7 Group Connect at 11:5 a.m.

3 Dominican Republic Zoo Gateway Church featured in December 11 issue of The Courier. Stuffed animals and books were collected by the Gateway Church Youth Group after the directors of a school in the Dominican Republic said they were short on resources to teach children there about animals of the world. Shelby Eddington and Mackenzie Lyon with some of the stuffed animals and books that were collected for their trip to the Dominican Republic. Church League Basketball The Gateway Men's Basketball team finished the Findlay Church Basketball League regular season in 1st place with a 10-0 record and earned the #1 seed in the tournament. They went on to finish the Findlay Church Basketball League as tournament champs! They lost to St. Michael in the winner's bracket semifinal game then won three games in a row: 8-7 over First Assembly of God, 5-4 over St. Michael, and 5-49 again against St. Michael in the championship game. Regular season and Tournament Champs!

4 Dominican Republic Trip In December, a team from Gateway Church joined with a Mission Possible team from Canada, Texas and other parts of Ohio to travel to Barahona, Dominican Republic. In Barahona, Mission Possible has a school and church in a predominately Haitian part of the city. This team had several different focuses, including: Presenting an abstinence seminar to the older elementary and middle school students Continuing construction on the creole church building Taking photos of each student for student sponsorship, and Delivering the stuffed animal petting zoo. (Provided by the Gateway youth group, which raised funds to provide teaching resources for the preschoolers.) The students in the abstinence seminar were taught not just to wait until marriage but to focus on pleasing, loving and serving God instead. Many of the students accepted that challenge. Team members who presented the teaching supplies of stuffed animals and books had the opportunity to interact with the preschoolers, reading to them in Spanish and teaching a little about the animals. At the construction site, we finished the digging and preparation of the Creole Church foundation, moving nearly four dump truck loads of dirt by shovel and wheelbarrow. By our last day in the country, everything was in place to pour the concrete for the foundation. When the building is complete, it will be a tool to reach many Haitian Creole speaking students at the local university and will provide a more suitable place for the Haitian Creole speaking church to meet and worship. The church currently meets in an abandoned house, where you will find women and children packed inside, while the men stand outside, listening through the windows and doorways. Shelby Eddington and Mackenzie Lyon share some of the books they collected with a classroom of grateful children. 4

5 Baptisms The Gateway family celebrated with several members as they publicly declared their faith in Jesus through baptism. Kortni Blair Craig Corbin Stephanie Cramer Jacob Dukes Jason Dukes Audrey Evans Kale Fuller Michael Gossard Patti Hershey Autumn Nofziger Jake Powell Megan Rauschenberg Allison Snider Jessica Thibodeau Tim Thibodeau 5