Why Gather?

Why gather? Why would we want to gather for a Sunday morning experience? Could it be that we need to bring our stories in to the light of the God story...to experience a renewed mind...to be transformed.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12.1

Erwin McManus, in his book Wide Awake states "while our imagination is not limited, our thinking so often is." Profound truth. Experience affirms that our thinking gets contained, restricted

...by our old tapes that inform our feelings and behaviors

...by our misinformed notions of God and life

...by our need for security, to keep things "normal", as we know it.

What we think is critical; relationships are impacted and navigated, decisions are made, and events or appointments are prioritized based on what's in our mind.

As Christians, we are called to be Christ-followers. Christian. We're called to live life as created beings, surrendered to our Creator. Pursuing his passions, his Kingdom, his will, his character, his agenda, and all that He is. We are called to renewed minds and lives, transformed and surrendered to whatever that means.

Why gather? We need to gather to renew our minds because it's easier to let people, culture, and "normal" patterns of living to suck us into their flow. It's easier to restrict God's will by expecting him to make us happy with our desires in our time frames. It's a tougher challenge to surrender to His will to transform our mind - to help us live from a core of truth about Him, the world,
ourselves, and others.

We gather to experience the Living God as we bring our life stories into the light of the Scriptures, God's story. We gather to re-imagine...life, love and legacy.