Photos
needed! During
the month of February, we'll be celebrating
Gateway's heritage -- one of several special
celebrations we'll be having this year, as we
"possess the land" at our new location.
You can help with the February celebration by
looking around for any photos you have of Gateway's
past (especially back in the days when we were
known as Boggs Chapel).
If you have photographs (or a "historic" videotape
of some event), please send an e-mail
to the church office. Or give your materials
directly to Joseph Slife (he will get 'em back to
you ASAP).
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Pro-Choice?
Pro-Life?Perhaps
no issue in our culture is more polarizing than the
issue of abortion.
Though the issue is as current as today's
headlines (the battle over who will sit on the
Supreme Court is largely over this issue), the
practice of abortion has existed for thousands of
years.
This Sunday (Sanctity of Human Life Sunday), lay
speaker Joseph Slife will deliver a sermon
exploring the Church's historic teaching on this
issue.
He will examine both sides of the current debate,
and discuss Scriptures that give guidance for those
who aren't sure what to think about the practice of
abortion.
The sermon will include words of encouragement and
grace for those who have had abortion, or who have
helped someone else get an abortion.
Recommended background reading: "The
Sanctification of Human
Life"
(excerpted from How Christianity Changed the
World by Dr. Alvin Schmidt, published by
Zondervan).
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New
discipleship seriesYour
view of God shapes the way you think about life and
the world around you.
The Bible reveals the
true
view of God, the one view that can help your live
an abundant life in a world that's often full of
pain and difficulty.
Find out who the true God is in "God Views: Seeing
Clearly the One Who Loves You Most," a video-based
series featuring teacher, actor, and writer Curt
Cloninger. It begins this Sunday Morning at 9:15 in
the sanctuary.
Download a preview here
(3MB
QuickTime file).
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Getting
ready for EasterYes,
it's only January, but Easter will be here before
you know it -- and the Gateway choir is getting
ready!
Next week the choir begins rehearsing a new Easter
musical titled, The Power of Christ in Me: A
Celebration of the Resurrection.
If you want to worship the Lord in song, join the
choir!
Rehearsals are Wednesday nights at 7:30. The choir
also will have a few Sunday rehearsals.
You can hear excerpts from the musical
here
and here.
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The latest
edition of Gateway Today, our quarterly
e-magazine, is now online. Here's what's in the
Winter 2006 issue (click a title to
read):
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For
Pastor Jerry Varnado and son Aaron, away
on a hunting trip.
For the continuing transition to our new
building. Specific needs:
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Relocation
of the trailer from the old
property (this will be come our
youth building)
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Construction
of playgrounds
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Installation
of window treatments in the
sanctuary and offices
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 This
Fri. Jan. 20:
Food
Bank
distribution at Gateway (old bldg.) - 1:30 p.m.
(Contact: Jan
G.)
Sun.
Feb. 5:
Confirmation
Class celebration
Sun. Feb. 5:
Ministry at Lee Arrendale State Prison in Alto
Sun.
Feb. 12:
Church
Council
mtg. - 6 p.m.
Fri.
Feb. 17:
Youth
fundraiser event - Details TBA
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'The
steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His
mercies never come to and end. They are new every
morning. Great is Thy
faithfulness.'
(Lamentations 3:22-23 RSV)
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Sunday,
Jan. 15
Sunday,
Jan. 8
Sunday,
Jan. 1
Sunday,
Dec. 25
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A
debt to C.S. Lewis
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Bishop
Davis
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Decades
ago, when C. S. Lewis and J. R. Tolkien were eating
"pub grub" and having intellectual discussions at
Oxford, I doubt either one would have anticipated
their "rock star" popularity in the 21st
century.
But now, after the film success of Tolkien's epic
story, The Lord of the Rings, it's the
imaginative literature of Lewis that's capturing
the attention of
Hollywood.
I'm
ashamed to admit it, but I've never read The
Chronicles of Narnia -- or any of Dr. Lewis's
fantasy stories for that matter. But I have read
almost everything else that he wrote!
His book, Mere Christianity, was an
important part of my spiritual journey. Reading
Lewis put "intellectual meat" on the "bones" of my
faith.
His works, The Problem of Pain, The
Screwtape Letters, and Surprised by Joy,
have influenced my thinking as much as the works of
any classic theologian.
Thanks to C.S. Lewis, I came to understand -- on an
intellectual basis -- that I had a choice to make.
Dr. Lewis put it this way in Mere
Christianity: Jesus Christ had to be one of
three things -- "a liar, a lunatic, or Lord."
Faced with that choice, I decided Jesus was Lord --
of Lindsey Davis and of all creation!
I pray that the current Narnia film will
lead people to read more of Lewis, and find faith
and hope in Jesus Christ.
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In
Christ,
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Bishop
Lindsey Davis
North Ga. Conf. (UMC)
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