January 20, 2024
Remember when I said last week, “Wherever Jesus is is the best place to be. Whatever Jesus says to do is the best thing to do. Whatever Jesus says is the best thing to believe.” That is still true, and I still believe it. What you and I know to be true is that life can change in profound ways in a moment, and I dare say many of us have this in common because it’s happened to us.
If you haven’t heard by now, yesterday, a gentleman stood outside the church, called 911, wielded a knife, and chose a confrontation with the West Haven police department. As the Pastor of this beautiful congregation, words can't accurately capture the depth and genuine thanks I have for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, our volunteers who worked diligently to ensure the safety of our children, teens, and adults, and the West Haven Police Department. My soul aches for the man arrested. Whatever happened in his heart, soul, and body took him to desperate places. We willingly and compassionately forgive him and pray that King Jesus, our medical community, and his family and friends will work hard to help him get all the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual help he needs. I have contacted local law enforcement to see if I can visit the man and express our love to him.
Let me take you behind the scenes of my heart, soul, and spirit. When I awoke this morning (Monday, January 20th), I asked myself the existential question that people much more intelligent than I have asked and answered for millennia: “If God is good, why is there evil in the world?” In my heart, I responded to this question with, “Why do wolves eat lambs?” That’s a strange answer, but the honest reality is that that is what wolves do. To do anything else would violate their natural survival instinct. Like many other predators, wolves hunt for the weaker species to satisfy their hunger and survive. This answer seemed simple enough, maybe too simple, until I sensed the Spirit of God speak this, “Evil in the world is the wolf. This is what evil does. It hunts. It looks for the weaker species. It sniffs for the blood of fear, pride, and self-sufficiency, and then the wolf, aka evil, strikes. This evil has a name: Satan, the father of lies, murderer, tormentor, accuser, thief, and destroyer.” So I pondered the scriptures I know and thought,“What did Jesus do about the devil, aka the wolf, aka evil? Colossians says he made a public spectacle of him. 1 Corinthians 15 says we have victory. Hebrews tells us he is the high priest who will forever redeem us from the curse and make intercession for us. Romans and Galatians tell us we are liberated from the curse of the law and have become sons and daughters of God. Ephesians reminds us that we have been chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, seated with Him, made into a new creation family of God, given the assignment to demonstrate God’s kingdom, not as a matter of behavior, but as a result of the internal transforming work of God’s Spirit. In this hour of difficulty, we are to stand clothed in Jesus, aka the armor of God, and when we don’t know what else to do, we must keep standing. Through his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, our Crucified Savior defanged the wolf, the devil, making atonement for the sins of the world. Jesus dealt with the personal nature of sin and defeated the very power of sin.” Beloved family and friends, sin has power in our lives because we give it power. It’s inaccurate to say Jesus destroyed the power of sin and then say sin is powerful. Sin is powerful when we empower it with our agreement through selfish desire, carnal decisions, and living according to the flesh and not the Spirit. I want you to find the confidence in God to live victoriously, compassionately, courageously, generously, and as loving as Jesus. Gateway has a bright and glorious future! Not because I said so but because God says this is the prophetic future of His saints. We don’t need a knife-wielding man in front of our church to remind us that the world is hurting. Still, God, in his loving kindness, turned on a neon sign before our faces yesterday, saying, “Be a family for the lonely. Be a hospital for the hurting. Be an equipping center for the ready. Go and make disciples. It’s not convenient. It’s a calling.” I’m ready. Are you?
GATEWAY EVENTS: Click here.
WHERE TO ENGAGE:
Gateway Groups (a community where you can experience, be family, and share the love of Jesus with others)
CHURCH FINANCIAL REPORT:
Giving Report: (*weekly income needed $23,000)
January 5: $14,086.35
January 12: $21,473.62
January 19: Office closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance
Greater Things YTD 2025: $2556.31
Current Mortgage Balance: $500,560.45
Thank you for your faithful giving. To learn more about Greater Things and participate, click here.
Stay hopeful and healthy. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Transforming Lives Together,
Lance Bane
Lead Pastor
Phone: 203-934-0880
Email: office@yourgateway.com