Pastor's Blog - July 2013

Greetings Family of God!

Amazingly we are now in the month of July; the heat has come and summer is definitely here in Southern California. Youngsters are enjoying their break from school and many of us are looking forward to vacations and a little rest from our labors.

Our Children’s Summer Camp was incredible. All the children were radically touched by the Lord Jesus Christ. Many kids gave their lives to the Lord, many others felt the leading to recommit their hearts to Jesus, and a large number of children were baptized in the Holy Spirit. And, of course, they all had a great time of fun and fellowship at Big Bear.

A special thanks to all who prayed and financially supported the camp; our children will forever be changed by your sacrifice!

Family, I pour my heart out to you about a matter that is of great importance…

The Gathering finances!

Thank you for always staying faithful to the Lord with your giving and tithing!

During the summer often many forget that church expenses continue. Please stand with us in prayer and tangible ongoing giving, keeping The Gathering purposes alive and well during the next three months.

I realize that with vacations and family expenses, it seems to add another weight when looking at giving. But I am certain if we put the Lord first in this area, even above our own needs, we will be blessed exceedingly!

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” and that He loves “cheerful givers.” When we give a good measure, the Lord will see to it that your return is increased and that men will give unto your bosom!

I pray you enjoy this season and grow in the Lord’s grace…

With Christian Love,

Brother Ken

 

Pastor's Blog - June 2013

Family of God,

 It has been exciting to watch the Lord transform our fellowship from a single pastor headship to a plurality of leadership over the last year. At first I was concerned as to how the New Testament fivefold ministry would function, having only been acquainted with the traditional protestant order. Now, I have come to understand why this is the way the 1^st century church was organized by the Holy Spirit. Simply stated, believers were never intended to become “do nothing Sunday morning pew sitters,” but rather, ministers - filled with the Holy Spirit - trained and released to effectively evangelize the whole world. This revelation has given me a new found urgency to a change that must occur within each of us.

I want to encourage each of you to realize that you have a vital part to play. You were created for this moment in time by God himself (Acts 26:16). Your whole life has been directed by God so that you have arrived at the right place at the right time with the right talents (giftings) to achieve all that God needs within His Kingdom. The only thing that you need to supply is a complete surrender to God’s plan.

 Remember that there are no insignificant roles to be played (1 Cor.12:12-26).  So, let’s ALL get involved and make a difference for God’s Kingdom. I encourage you to make this a matter of prayer and be prepared to hear from God like little Samuel who humbly answered God by saying, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

YOU make the difference. God needs YOU!

In His Service,

Dan Buckley

 

Pastor's Blog - May 2013

Dear Church Family,

What an awesome feeling to know our Heavenly Father truly loves us as His children. There are many examples and verses the Bible shows us about Christ and His love for us.  For this very reason we should show others this same love.

As a family of believers, we must be willing to look past our own selves and the circumstances we may be facing in order to possess God’s type of love for our families, our friends, our church family, and most importantly love for our Savior, Jesus.

In Matthew 22: 37-39, the scribe asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was and Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it:  ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Let’s remember why the Lord laid down His life for us, because He loved us and we should be willing to do the same for each other.

1 Peter 4:8-9 says, And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”  Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and go to someone you do not know and show them Christ’s love.  This could be someone at church, the grocery store, convenience store, gas station, or anywhere the Lord places you.  Let’s go above and beyond because Jesus did for us.

In Christ’s Love,

 
Jeremy Lawson

 

Pastor's Blog - April 2013

Dear Church Family,
                 
It’s been several days since our Resurrection Sunday celebration and my heart is
still filled with the joy of the Lord. He is Risen! A shout of praise! ……. “HE is RISEN!” 

Such a joyful noise we made in joining with La Reunion to praise and worship our King, the Lord of ALL! Truth is, my spirit is soaring……..

The tangible presence of the Spirit of God was evidenced by numerous first-time
salvations and many coming forward to rededicate their lives to the Lord.

Let us all continue together in unity. We are clearly in a season of fruitfulness and

victory!

I pray for all of us, just as Paul did in his letter to the Philippian church:

Philippians 1:9-11

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and

all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may
be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of
righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

With great joy!

 

Paul Murray

 

 

Pastor's Blog - March 2013

Dear Family of God,

Greetings and blessings from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

 I want to personally say “thank you” to each and every one of you for the honor and privilege it has been serving you these past eight years!

You have been my joy and delight as we have walked this journey into God’s fullest purpose.

I am so very excited about the Lord’s choices of leaders and those He has called to the Five-Fold Ministry.

It feels as though the Lord has released the Joshua generation into the conquering mode!

Please continue to be willing in heart for all the Lord has for you individually and certainly the opportunities corporately.

What a joy to be a community of believers!

“Common” and “unity” are the two words I think of when speaking of “community.”

We have so much in common! We all love Holy Spirit and His wonderful gifts. We all love to

worship Jesus! We all are amazed at our Heavenly Father.

And now we are walking in unity. So much is possible through the unity of the brethren.

Remember to pray daily for all of our Elders and especially Pastors Ryan and Holly.

Lift up the Will of God everyday in prayer for The Gathering.

Stand firm in the storm; raise your sails in the wind. And God will certainly fulfill your heavenly desires.

With much love,

Pastor Ken 

 

Pastor's Blog - February 2013

Greetings Family of God!

 As I sit down to write this, I am reflecting on the tremendous things God is doing in our body.  He has shown Himself faithful to our church and in our lives.  He has been faithful to send his Holy Spirit to move amongst us during our corporate gatherings. I am thankful that as a body we are choosing to press in to His presence and in to the things of the Spirit.

The Lord has shifted our body into the five-fold ministry, which will begin to bring the purposes that God wants for us closer to being fulfilled.  The Elders and I sense excitement in the atmosphere and we are encouraged to see many of you stepping into the callings of God on your life.

Ephesians four has been an area of scripture the Lord has been recently bringing to the church.  In verse three, Paul writes that we are to be “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  The word endeavoring here means to be eager, to make every effort, to do one’s best, be zealous.  As we move forward in these exciting times, I want to encourage you to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit because when there is unity, there is the commanded blessing of the Lord – Life Forevermore (Psalm 133).

Continue to seek Him, press in, strive for unity and fulfill the purposes that God has for you!

Please join us February 24th at 2:30 p.m. for a Round Table Meeting in the sanctuary as we share the direction the Lord is taking His church.

Blessings,

Pastor Ryan

 

Pastor's Blog - January 2013

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
to which you were also called in one body;
and be thankful!  Colossians 3:15

 

Have you ever had one of those days when there was so much confusion whirling around your head that you felt like screaming, “STOP!”?

From time to time everyone has that kind of day, and when you do, your temptation is probably either to get in the flesh and react to someone in an ugly way or to get depressed, go to bed and forget about it all.

However, we know that neither choice will help you solve the problems you are facing.

Rather than throw in the towel and let your emotions get the best of you, why not stop right now and make a decision to let the Word of God rule you today?

When I say “rule,” I mean the supernatural peace dominating and governing every emotion and situation that confronts you. If you don’t make this decision and follow through with it, worry, fear, insecurity, doubt and many other emotions will try to take control over you.

 Instead, let the peace of God rule in your heart as Paul wrote in Colossians 3:15.

The word “rule” here describes an umpire or referee who moderated and judged athletic

competitions.

Paul is saying that God’s peace can work like an umpire or referee in our hearts, minds and emotions.

When feeling overwhelmed, just stop a moment and deliberately set your heart and mind on

Jesus and the Word of God.

Confession:

I confess that God’s supernatural peace dominates me. When I am tempted to get upset and my emotions try to take control of me, I put these emotions aside and allow the Spirit of God to release a supernatural, dominating, moderating peace to rule my heart, mind and emotions!
I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!

Bless you all,

Pastor Ken