Sunday Morning Messages

The Holy Spirit lives in Christians to lead us to become more and more like Jesus. The Spirit is seeking to transform us to think, act and be like Jesus, and therefore be different (holy) from the world around us, so that loving God, loving our...

Do you ever wonder, "How can an ordinary person like me, become more like Jesus"? The Book of Acts tells us how the Holy Spirit transformed the lives of thousands of believers in the early days of the church. Ordinary people were empowered...

With the coming of the Holy Spirit, a new community was formed that placed their faith in Jesus Christ and was empowered by His Spirit. This community, which would later be called the Church, was critical to God's plan to equip and empower the growth...

The Spirit's coming was a miraculous event with sounds and wind and the disciples speaking in other languages. But the primary work of the Spirit wasn't external actions but virtually always through people, such as Peter's sermon in Acts 2, or the...

Today we dive into Acts 2 and the actual coming of the Holy Spirit on what is called Pentecost. It was a wild, crazy event, and all those who witnessed it asked, "What does this mean?" And that's still a good question for us today! What...

As we prepare to begin our in-depth study of the first eight chapters of Acts and the Holy Spirit, today we look at a little of the background of Acts. We'll also explore some of the key verses in chapter one in which Jesus prepares us for what...

Gateway is seeking to be faithful to Jesus' commands in the Great Commandment and Great Commission to lead everyone to become more like Jesus, because everyone needs Christ in their lives. So, today we'll dig into what God is calling us in...

Lights are a big part of many of our Christmas decorations, and many of us tour neighborhoods shining brightly with lights as part of our Christmas traditions. But why is light an important part of our Christmas celebrations? Does it all relate back...

May may have a Grinch-like relationship with the tradition of gift-giving. After all, isn't it to blame for the commercialization of the season, distraction from the Christ child, and our empty pockets? Today, we will unwrap the reasons we do...

One of the historic traditions of Christmas is singing Christmas carols. For many, they send us back to nostalgic memories of Christmas in simpler, less secular times. Yet, carols still play an important function in focusing us on the real meaning of...

Thanksgiving is almost here and will be soon over; however, the act of giving thanks should be an ongoing action of Christians. God calls us to always give thanks and to give thanks in all circumstances. This seems impossible when devastating...

A difficult faith concept to accept and practice is the "forgiveness of others". When someone has hurt us, and possibly did it intentionally, God tells us to forgive them. Though it may not seem fair, there is more to the relational...

The forgiveness won for us on the cross by Jesus Christ is an amazing gift, but because it is a gift, it's not ours until we accept it. It sounds easy, but in practice, it seems like everyone struggles with it at one time or another, because we...

What is forgiveness? Why is it needed? Do I deserve it? How can God offer it? What difference does it make? These are just a few of the questions that swirl around forgiveness. Today, We want to explore some of these so that we can better understand...

God created us to be in community together, but not just to enjoy each other's company, but also to serve alongside each other, as well as serve each other. God uses serving to build and grow relationships as well as grow us spiritually. He uses us in...

The Mercy of God Jonah was angry that God would show mercy to Nineveh, but, as we'll see today, God also shows mercy to Jonah. In fact, it is God's desire to be merciful, even when that mercy doesn't appear justified, that demonstrates how relentless...

The tiny child stomps his foot, shouts "NO" and tromps off in a huff.. "I will NOT take cookies next door when all they have done is be mean". Children! So immature. But what about us? What do we withhold from those we deem...

Are there people around you who aren't following Jesus Christ? Do you think that matters to God? Is it possible that you're in exactly the right place to be used by God right now? How often are we like Jonah, who had no interest in obeying...

Today, we are going to conclude our "It's A Mad, Mad World" series by exploring what it means to be Salt and Light from the book of Matthew 5:13-16

Mid-term elections are approaching, and politics seem to get uglier and more mean-spirited with each new campaign season. But, disciples of Jesus need to consider our role in politics. Should we just give up and withdraw from participating, or go...

The world around us encourages us to take short-cuts that short-circuit the way God intends us to live. Those short-circuits can lead us into dark places in our lives, where we're enslaved to sin and struggle with things like anger, bitterness...

Have you ever felt like things are so out of hand that you just want to cut your own pathway to anywhere but here? We've all felt it. We shut down, we shut out, we numb out, we check out.... the list goes on. Our responses range from addiction to...

There seems to be a spirit of anger and hatred pervasive in our culture today. Whether in politics or social media or in schools, anger seems to be rampant and even out of control. How can disciples of Christ be "in the world, but not of...

Today is a special day. A day of imagination. A day of celebration. A day of fun for the whole church family to enjoy. Today is promotion Sunday for all kiddos from birth to Seniors in high school and its a time of new possibilities and...

As schools prepare to begin, the reality of violence in and around our schools continues to be real. Santa Fe brought it home to us in the Bay Area. How can we be "in the world, but not of it"? How can we be Christ's ambassadors for...

How are disciples of Jesus called to live in "a mad, mad world"> Do we withdraw, do we attack, or something else? One answer Jesus alludes to, is to be in the world, but not of it. Yet, that seems somewhat cryptic. What does that mean?...

Worship - It's an industry all its own with concerts, merchandise and the bands we follow. But it was never intended to create any kind of following at all. Worship God's way involves obedience, sacrifice, and total adoration of the One who...

Probably the most quoted verse in the Bible, John 3:16, says, "God so loved the world that He gave..." Giving is fundamental to who God is, giving us Creation, our very lives, Jesus Christ, and eternity with Him for those who put their faith...

The Bible is God's own self-revelation of Himself and His love for us. So, if we want to "dive in" as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have to spend time studying the Bible. Whether in small groups, worship services, or time alone with...

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me" is often repeated, especially to our kids, but the truth is that words have great power to harm as well as to encourage and lift up. Love, availability, encouragement...

Today kids take over the Auditorium as we CELEBRATE all that has happen this week with Summer Kids Club 2018 - AGAPE Studios.

There are people in our world today who are so hungry for respect and honor, but to gain it, they think they have to put others down to raise themselves up. Yet this is so destructive for building healthy, growing relationships. Everyone appreciates...

Everyone experiences pain at various points of life and that is bad enough. But being all alone in pain can be unbearable. What a difference it makes when we as Christ followers - by faith - are unafraid to enter into another's pain. We can...

The world encourages us to look out for number one above all else. Ads tell us we deserve so much more than we have. Our world is increasingly encouraging us to be self-centered. But this is a recipe for minimizing, even destroying...

Lots of books have been written on motivating people. There's often a tendency in our social media-driven culture to criticize and condemn. Yet, the Bible, authored by the God who created us, who knows us best, tell us: "..encourage one...

The world around us has many understandings of love and is importance in relationships. But, the Bible points to a particular kind of love - a love that gives, that focuses on others unconditionally and that is necessary to build successful...

Today we welcome Laurie Cole, who has been a speaker for more than 25 years (including our recent Women's Retreat) and is the author of four Bible Studies (including one that our teen girls just completed). Laurie and her husband Bill have been...

A good friend once told me, "If you see something missing, maybe it's you". This challenged me in a big way. Suddenly, I was aware of how often I was acting as a critic and not an agent of change. I was in a cycle of cynicism and this...

What happens when life sucker-punches the breath right out of you? Or, theres a slow leak in your spirit, like helium whispering out of a balloon. And there you are- deflated, deep in a valley, hopeless. It comes to all of us sometime, in different...

We are all searching for hope, but so often, we try to find hope through our own means and actions. True hope can not be achieved through what we do, but it can be found in God and his promises. Today, we will look at the story of Moses, the promises...

It's easy to feel hopeless in at least some parts of our lives. Over time we've come to believe that we can't change, that that's just the way we are. Yet, this hopelessness is not who we have to be! The Bible promises that in...

We all need hope, for hopelessness crushes the spirit. But, that doesn't mean that every word of hope is true or will come to pass. The prophet Jeremiah warned that other prophets were telling people what they wanted to hear, rather than the...

What appeared to be a cruel April Fool's joke was turned around against Satan, sin and death. The Tomb was empty, and Jesus promised, proving nothing tis too hard for God! Jesus' cruel, unfair death didn't define him - his resurrection...

John 15 tells us that disciples of Jesus Christ "abide" in him, as he abides in us. Yet, abiding isn't the end goal if Jesus for his disciples. Ultimately, he wants us to imitate him, to make disciples and love God and love out...

Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing". (John 15:5 ESV) One of the keys to understanding what it means to being a disciple...

The short Book of James touches of the topics of endurance, faith, humility, purity, self-control, action, wisdom, and understanding. James concludes his letter with a call to pray, confess and minister to one another. These are the same actions in...

Is there a difference between making our own plans and asking God to bless our plans, versus praying to God that He guide us in the actual making of future plans? Is there a difference between doing something that seems good and even valuable, versus...

James tells us there are two fundamentally different ways of seeing our world and ourselves. These two "worldviews" are as old as the Bible, but as current as todays headlines. And the worldview we "see" influences and affects...

The tongue, representing what we say, like many things in life, can be used for good and for bad. In fact, James says the tongue, though small, and our words, though simply words, carry much more weight than they would appear to. It's easy to...

We live in a world that makes judgements based on outward appearances. Finances, race, status, job, etc, all too often become standards, but they aren't God's standards! When we move from being hearers of the Word to becoming doers of the...

As James opens his letter, in verse 2 he offers what seems to be one of the most ridiculous statements anyone could imagine: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds". How can trials be a reason...