God is at work where you work! God is in the business of restoring people. In fact, one of the primary places you can worship God is where you work. How you interact with your boss and coworkers is actually a profession of your faith.

What happens at a church building on Sunday is just a pep talk for the game you are in 40-50 hours a week. Consider Daniel and his friends who were captives in Babylon. They were in an impossible situation. In Jeremiah 29:4-7 God told the Israelites to live and work for the prosperity of the city and king they were in exile to.

• What’s your impossible situation?
• Who are you ultimately working for?
• Can you be on mission with God wherever you are?
• How good of an ambassador are you for God where he has you?

Verses to consider: Daniel 1, Matt 5:44-45, 2 Cor 5:17

For the entire message from John Burke’s sermon on August 18, 2013, click here.

The idea of walking across the street when you see your neighbor rather than just waving came from The Mud and the Masterpiece field guide.  What a great way to change the habits around how we interact with our neighbors!

So today when I saw my neighbor, rather than just waving I went over and said ‘hi.’ Which started a conversation about where I had just come from… church services… which started a conversation about what we are doing for Easter… celebrating Jesus death and resurrection… which led to an invite to sit together at Easter Services next Sunday.

What if each conversation with my neighbors ended with great next steps like that?

I had a chance this summer to serve as a sponsor for a group of kids at camp.  Here’s what I learned, what have you learned as you serve the next generation?

1. Camp provides an escape for many kids who don’t have a good situation at home.
2. Its amazing to see kids who are hurt and broken ministering to other kids who are broken.
3. It’s a great place for kids to be kids: sing, dance, play, and just be goofy.
4. Almost all kids in my group were in broken or blended families that aren’t cultivating a deep love  for God. Sad. How do we change this trajectory?
5. The volunteer leaders role is just to love and pray for the kids, not to change them. Only God can change hearts.
6. Volunteers who take a week off work to work with kids are amazing people!
7. When you see kids pouring out their heart in worship, it makes you smile, and I’m sure it moves Gods heart.
8. You wrestle with great questions like: ‘Do you have a little faith or a big, bold faith?’
9. Some kids are just lanky and awkward, but God loves them just as much as the cool kids.
10. Don’t be frustrated on day 1 or 2 with how your kids are behaving, because God’s doing something in their hearts that you’ll get to see by day 3 & 4.

Since our meeting last week, we had an intense Advance weekend. For Gatewayers, this is a weekend where we discuss how we’re going to play our part in seeing the church raised up out of the culture. This year the theme for Advance was ‘yield.’ What does God want me to personally yield (John 12:24) and what kind of yield does God want to have through me (2 Cor. 9:6-9)?

For me, one area God is hitting me on is yielding my agenda for my life, my agenda for Gateway, my agenda for my neighbors… and trust that God’s agenda is far better. I’m struggling with the tension of what’s my responsibility and what’s God’s responsibility. I don’t have that fully resolved.

So, what is God showing you that you need to yield?
What kind of yield is God wanting to produce through you in the next 6-12 months?
What’s your next step with either type of ‘yielding’?

This week we’re talking about training. If we’re going to do anything for any length of time and have some degree of success, we have to train for it.

Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

2 Questions this week:

1. What are you doing to train in these areas of your life so that you won’t be ‘disqualified?’ You could think in terms of resources, relationships or experiences in each of these areas.
1. Spiritual – connection with God, scripture, prayer, worship, etc.
2. Emotional – time and space to process how your feeling
3. Intellectual – stretching your thinking, challenging you to grow professionally, etc.
4. Social –meeting new people, keeping a balance between social and solitude
5. Physical – staying active, caring for your body, etc.
6. Sexual – purity, and if married growing in your love for your spouse

2. Do you have a person (or people) in each of these areas who serve as your personal ‘board of directors’? Or put another way, these people form ‘Team Charles’ and are encouraging me, rooting me on, challenging me. It could be the same person or you may have different people you’ve asked to keep you accountable or someone you can lean into for wisdom. If not, consider asking someone (or multiple people) to walk with you in each of these areas. Share who’s on your ‘Team’ with your RP’s or what your next step is to form your team.