Please take some time to read through our site. Below you will find thoughts and ramblings from the staff and guests. Occasionally we add important announcements to the front page. Find our more about us in our User’s Guide.
Worship is Sunday mornings at 9 & 11 a.m.
Contact us:
765.287.9745
info@thegatheringmuncie.org
9512 North Walnut Street
Muncie, Indiana 47303
We live marginless lives. No time. No space. No room for God or anyone else. This month we are talking about finding margins in our time, finances, relationships and health.
January 8 Time
January 15 Finances (with guest Chris Cook)
January 22 Relationships (with guests David & Christina Smith)
January 29 Health
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV 1984)
I have seen so many lists already this year: “30 things to stop doing,” “12 things to do in 2012,” My resolutions from last year (updated for this year.” It is too much. Literally.
I am convinced we can only really change one thing at a time. So have a list. Just make it one thing.
And we should do that one thing for God’s glory.
This is what I had to say about this (Sunday, January 1):
We are so excited! Our children have been practicing since the beginning of November and they are now prepared to lead us into worship. Those who have heard the practices know the children are talking about worshiping Jesus during this season of Advent.
Please note: If you have children in the choir there is a practice this Thursday, December 15 at 7:00 p.m. in the Warehouse. Also, all children need to be in the Warehouse by 8:15 on Sunday.
Sarah will be leading us in worship as we continue on the journey of Advent. She has been thinking about this journey as she prepared her Christmas CD. Here are her thoughts:
I love the antiquity and tradition of singing old Christmas songs corporately, but I also love the spontaneity and movement of creating new choruses and instrumental sections in a group setting. Both are so beautifully moving! I am working on combining the Christmas hymns of old with new original choruses so that we can experience this merger of ancient and modern, of familiar and new.
I just finished tracking a new Christmas CD with this merging in mind and also am leading worship for some Christmas events this November & December. The idea behind the project and the events with which I’m privileged to join is what I’m calling the dynamic nativity. Historically speaking, the nativity we picture and the one we set up in our homes and churches, as recreated by St. Francis of Assisi long ago, is static. It is the picture of characters that have come to the manger and, in our portrayal, stayed there for a glorious night or season. As I prepared for a recent trip to France, I decided to take a refresher course for a semester on the French language. Part of our studies included how the French typically portray the nativity. I was inspired by their inclusion of the hillside, of beautiful figurines on their way to the manger. It reminded me that we are all sojourners, sometimes on mountains, sometimes in valleys, but always children of a King needing to make our way repeatedly to the manger where the Lord makes all things new. It is this idea of a dynamic nativity that has inspired the writing and my desire to celebrate what it means to come to the manger, to the altar, to the place where God is truly making all things new, restored, and complete.
I am very eager to spend this time gathered celebrating God making all things new and how we see that so clearly at the manger.
Blessings on you this advent season! You can visit our store to purchase the new Christmas project, “The Bright Midwinter”. I hope that you’ll stop by our tour page and then join us for a time of worship and celebration!
~ Sarah ~
On Sunday, December 4 we continued our Advent Series -Generous Living- by asking ourselves if our love for God and others is more than words. We looked at 2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5.
If you missed it, you can listen here…
Jack Ruff was an elder in the church where I grew up. His wife was one of our worship leaders. They started “dating” in elementary school and where together until the day she died.
Jack would eventually be part of the staff at our church. He was in charge of visitation. Even when I was in college facing surgery, Jack came to visit me. It made things easier. A bit less scary.
Jack would teach the “membership” class during Sunday School. He would talk people through the history of our church and help them to see their place in the scheme of things.
Everyone looked up to Jack. People would tell his kids (In their 60s, by the way) how lucky they were to have Jack as a dad. They would laugh. ”You should have known him before!”
You see, Jack had matured. His faith in God had grown and he had grown right along with it.
At the Gathering we often say, “The expectation is for us to become mature Christ-followers.” Ok, I’ll say it- What does that even mean?
Take a moment and read Philippians 3:12-21.
Did you notice the phrase “take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you”? This got me thinking about Jack again, and the large number of Christ-followers I have known who have matured and had impact on my life. I began to ask myself, “What did they have in common?” ”What was their character?”
So far I have come up with 7 characteristics of maturing Christ-followers/Christians:
I felt like God set me up today. I think he does that sometimes when he really wants us to pay attention.
Tuesday afternoon I met with Jenny Collins. Her heart and passion for God’s work (missions) both locally and globally is humbling and impressive. So, I wanted to pick her brain. Two things she said really stuck out to me:
I have been thinking about those things for the last couple of days. There were on my mind this morning as I drove to Ohio to hear about a ministry in the Middle East. Within the first five minutes I heard:
I whispered a prayer, “Father, you have my full attention.”
I was reminded today how much God loves our world. We know the verse (John 3:16). We sing songs about it. We sometimes even pray about it. However, I don’t think we always get how true it is. God loves this world.
And the world he loves? It’s people.
I heard something today that proved it to me even more. Apparently many Muslim converts begin following Jesus the same way. They have a vision or a dream of Jesus. Then they seek out a Christian to explain their dream to them.
I am going to let that sink in for a minute.
The God of the universe loves the people in the Middle East so much that he is appearing to some of them to let them know. In nations where conversion could mean the death penalty, Jesus is showing up.
This reminds me of something else Jenny said, “Prayer is the work of missions.”
Will you pray with me?
Father,
I pray that you fill the dreams of those who are far from you.
I ask that you would speak to my neighbors, the people who are different from me, and all those around the world.
Help me to be ready to answer unexpected questions about you.
Give me your heart for the world.
Amen.
The Greenhouse is looking for people who are interested in helping with the children at gathering this school year. Individuals interested can help with infants-2 year olds, 3 year old-Preschool kids, elementary age children, children with special needs, or administrative help (such as supply preparation or check-in). Volunteers are needed on a month on-month off basis, as well as substitutes.
To contact Chris Sherck, You can email him at chris@thegatheringmuncie.org or call him at 765-287-9745 (office).
The backyard was a mess.
Sure the front lawn was meticulously mowed. The bushes were trimmed, There was not a single weed in the flower beds.
Dandelions ran in fear.
But a peak of the six foot high privacy fence revealed a deeper truth:
Last Fall’s leaves still hung in the corners. The deck hovered over a sea of weeds (any grass gave up the fight years ago).
The only winners were the chipmunks. They had free range of this suburban paradise. The neighbor’s cat was too afraid of being lost forever in the green abyss…
How are things behind the fence in your life? How is your thought life? Your prayer life? The things done in secret?
In Matthew 6, Jesus is talking about giving (to the needy), praying and fasting. He tells us to do those things without grabbing attention. He says, “your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Is the opposite true? I know Jesus is talking about good things here in this passage. However, the truth is the Father “sees what is done in secret”- good or bad!
Let’s take a moment today.
This minute.
Think about your thought life.
The things in your life that are “done in secret.”
Be honest.
If necessary pray and ask forgiveness. Make the changes necessary.
