ISSUE 18 FALL/WINTER 2016
Sunday CELEBRATIONS (see pages 3-8)
Ministries & EVENTS (see pages 9-16)
send us an email info@gateway.ac
visit our website gateway.ac
Watch church news gateway.ac/church-news
listen to our podcasts
Connect on Social Media
AUDIO
gateway.ac/category/podcasts/
VIDEO youtube.com/user/gatewayyeg/
facebook.com/gatewayalliancechurch
Instagram @Gatewayedmonton
Twitter @GAC_Edmonton
VISIT GATEWAY.AC // 3
Very often - in our personal lives, our families, our hobbies, our careers, or our faith and church involvement - we have things that we want to change, or that we want to achieve, or learn about, or grow to a new level in, that we just never seem to get around to. You know the pattern. Either something is causing you some frustration and it has become more than apparent that its time to make a change, or boredom has settled in to an area of your life and it seems clear that you have been at that “level” far too long, or maybe a new desire or interest has caught your attention and you feel that this is a direction that you should be traveling now. But - and it’s a big but (and I do not lie!) you just never seem to get around to it. Maybe you start, and stop, and start, and stop. Maybe you never actually start. I have been there lots of times in lots of different areas of my life. I’m sure you have too. Take this short article. I wanted to write it. I made a decision to write it. I knew that I had to actually set some time aside to write it. But other things kept coming up. When I had some time, I was totally drained of energy from all the other things, and I couldn’t concentrate. Furthermore, there were (and still are) a whole lot of other things that I want to do, need to do, and will have to make some time to do - and a few of them are way more urgent than this article. 4 // GTWY MAG FALL/WINTER 2016
To make matters worse, they are all in different areas of my life. Can you relate to all of this? It builds up, doesn’t it? I can tend to waste time trying to work out a list of priorities, and a schedule to tackle all of these things, but the problem is that when our “energy” is being diverted to multiple channels at the same time, every area only gets a trickle, and that accomplishes nothing but frustration. Get fired up! That is the secret to achievement. It’s when we get a fire in our belly about something, and focus that fire into that one area that we suddenly find the internal resources to tackle an issue and deal with it - from start to finish. I want to be clear here - I am not talking about “motivation” or getting all agitated, and psyched up, and forceful with human effort - what the Bible refers to as “the flesh”. I am not saying “get yourself all worked up about something and then burn yourself out achieving it”. That will kill you. That will create mood swings - from high-achievement to exhausted depression. The fire that I am talking about is the internal fire of the Holy Spirit.
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” Matthew 3:11 “They saw what looked liked flames of fire that came to rest upon each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” - Acts 2:3-4a
“I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you” - 2 Timothy 2:6 “Do not quench the Spirit” - 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Everything that we do should flow from a strong, deep, and peaceful internal trust in God, which is always there like a pilot light that never goes out and can be “fired up” at a moments notice, when needed. To have a flame that burns within us, we need to first be “ignited”. When the flame that is getting us “fired up” is God’s Spirit - it doesn’t drain us, it doesn’t cause us to be agitated or manicly “driven”, and it doesn’t leave us feeling burned out. Things just fall into place, and we see what the next task to tackle is - and it “flows” from us almost effortlessly. I want to encourage you to put God first in your life. I don’t mean start a “driven” relationship with God. I mean “rest, and be blessed”. I mean seek God in nondriven, non-achieving, simply-receiving prayer. Spend time soaking in His presence - meditate on some short passages of scripture, put on some worship music and sing to it, or pray with it in the background, or simply lie on the couch and listen to it. Pray in tongues. Let your imagination be quickened with mental images and meditations of God doing good things for you and to you. Let His Spirit fill you. (If you have never asked God to fill you with the Spirit and release His fruit & gifts in your life - now would be a good time to do that. Maybe ask a Christian leader or friend to pray with you). Let God’s Holy Fire burn within you - and you will be amazed at how your priorities change, how things fall into place, and how you will get way more done - not by trying to do more, but by letting God Himself “fire you up” more.
“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God.” - Hebrews 13:15 Often as a member of the congregation, we can easily forget the part we play in creating a culture of worship in the church. Though our leadership teams do their best to create an atmosphere of praise and worship in the church, the reality is that each one of us has a part to play in creating this atmosphere. A large part of our vision as a Creative Arts team is for each individual member of our congregation to be inspired and compelled to bring praises to God, and to be actively engaged in Worship (even when we don’t feel like it this is why it’s called a sacrifice of praise). JOINING OUR TEAM We are always in need of more people. If you are gifted creatively, please do not hesitate to contact me, as we need more people! Here are a few examples of what we need for our Sunday Services. Instrumentalists - Keyboards, Drummers, Guitarists, Bass Guitarists. Technicians - Media technicians, camera operators Production - Graphic designers, Video editors/Directors If any of these interest you, contact me at mitch@gateway.ac or 587-772-0515.
Dr. Martin Trench, Lead Pastor
VISIT GATEWAY.AC // 5
Harold and Linda Eberle
Jonathan Welton
Harold is known in churches around the world as a popular conference speaker and visiting instructor at numerous Bible Colleges, and as the author of over 25 books dealing with various areas of theology and Christian living. Linda is an elementary school teacher, but travels with Harold throughout the summer and during school breaks. Harold has ministered in dozens of countries, with special focus on three regions: the Philippines, Africa, and more recently his focus has been on the Middle East, where he continues to work and invest time ministering in the Muslim-dominated areas of the world. Harold and Linda have been married for over 33 years and now live in Yakima, Washington, US. They are good friends and great encouragers to Martin and Christine Trench, and it’s a great pleasure to have them back with us at Gateway.
Jonathan is a fifth generation believer with a strong Christian heritage. He seeks to help bring individuals and churches into a new understanding and fresh experiences of Kingdom realities, by teaching Biblical truth and moving in the prophetic anointing, with a dual calling of teacher and seer. Jonathan is the author of 11 books on various topics, focusing mainly on the New Covenant, the Kingdom of God, Fulfilled Eschatology, and the Prophetic ministry.
They will be speaking and ministering to leaders and aspiring leaders on Sat, Nov 26th and will minister to the whole church on Sun, Nov 27th.
Sunday, November 27th 10am - Worship & the Word Our Main Service 6pm - Conference Night An Extended Time of Spirit-Filled Worship and In-Depth Teaching Admission free
6 // GTWY MAG FALL/WINTER 2016
This will be Jonathan’s second visit to Gateway, and we look forward to experiencing both his teaching ministry and his prophetic-seer ministry, bringing clarity, freedom and a fresh anointing of the Spirit. This is Thanksgiving weekend, and we realize that some of the Gateway family will be away, but we strongly encourage all who are able to make it to be a part of this exciting day.
Sunday, October 9th 10am - Worship & the Word Our Main Service 6pm - Conference Night An Extended Time of Spirit-Filled Worship and In-Depth Teaching Admission free
Are you looking to take the next step in your faith journey? Do you want to RISE HIGHER in all that God has for you? Much like a ring signifies our commitment to the one we love or wearing a team jersey shows we belong to that team, baptism is the outward expression of an inward decision to follow Jesus, and thus, to RISE HIGHER in your faith. If you are ready to take this next step in your faith journey, we want to celebrate with you! If you want more information or are ready to take this step, contact Pastor Drake at pastordrake@gateway.ac.
Have you been thinking about joining a group and getting plugged into community, but not sure how or where to start? Come out after the service on January 15th as we will be having a MASS HOUSE PARTY! This is a great informal time to fellowship and meet some new people and get a feel for community at Gateway. There will be plenty of time for food, fun, laughter and visiting. We will also take a short time to share a little bit about what House Parties are all about, introduce our leaders and also hear a bit about what is coming up in the New Year at Gateway. This is potluck style, so be sure to bring your favourite dish to share!
VISIT GATEWAY.AC // 7
gatewaykids
belong. believe. become.
TEAMs Here are some of the teams that you could be a part of! NURSERY (ages 0-3)
At Gateway, kids matter! They are respected for the way God created them to play, discover, question and have fun! So we at GatewayKids are all about helping kids to BELONG, BELIEVE and BECOME what God made them to be. We believe in kids and have a passion for kids and all that God has for them. We want every experience here at GatewayKids to have an eternal purpose behind it.
PRESCHOOL (ages 4-5)
We provide a place for kids from 0 all the way to grade 6, with our nursery and toddler room, preschool, early elementary and preteen programs. Check out the KidCheck centre and talk to one of our GatewayKids team members on a Sunday morning for more information or email GatewayKids@gatewayalliancechurch.com.
ON CALL SUPPORT Members of this team are not regularly scheduled in the rooms, but are ready to jump in once in a while if one of the scheduled volunteers are unable to make it, or if extra help is needed!
JOINOURTEAM Get plugged into an action packed ministry where you will find community and mentorship as you contribute to the care and support of Gateway’s little ones and their families! For more information on where and how YOU can get involved, check the column to the right for some of the teams that you could be a part of and contact Lauren Reid at lauren@gateway.ac or (587) 772-0539.
At Gateway we take our kids’ safety seriously. All workers are screened and trained in Plan to Protect Policies. Parents, please create a KidCheck profile at: www.kidcheck.com/signup.aspx
8 // GTWY MAG FALL/WINTER 2016
EARLY ELEMENTARY (gr. 1-4) PRETEENS (gr. 5-6) KID CHECK-IN HOST
ROOM PREP A lot goes into making the rooms fun and exciting for our kids on a Sunday morning! If you enjoy showing up a little early for church and like to pitch in, this is the perfect place for you! PARENT HELPERS If you are a parent, this is an opportunity for you to join your child in their own Sunday service! You can pick one or two Sundays a year to lead a craft, game, or to just enjoy spending time with your child and their friends!
VISIT GATEWAY.AC // 9
At Gateway, we believe the community we share is a partnership. In this partnership, we are asking you to partner with Gateway in the vision, mission, and work that God has called us to. On the other hand, Gateway is partnering with you, offering discipleship, and walking with you in your growth Journey in life and faith.
Partnership with gateway, really means three things: • You identify Gateway as your Church home • You unite with Gateway in your presence (attendance) & prayers • You support Gateway with your gifts (talents & service) & giving (financial) If you would like to become a partner and dig your roots deep, or would like more information. Please contact pastordrake@gateway.ac. We will be doing a partnership event during our Vision Sunday Service on November 20th where we will be sharing all the exciting things coming in our next season.
10 // GTWY MAG FALL/WINTER 2016
This season we have two evenings of deeper Biblical teaching taught by Martin Trench that are open to everyone. We are seeking to make these evenings as accessible as possible, so the content will be presented in a way which will make sense to “beginners” in Bible study, but will also have enough “meat” for those who have been studying scripture for many years. We are also making these evenings available free of charge - but there will be an offering box and envelopes available for those who wish to give to help cover the cost of notes etc. There will be two 1 hour sessions with a coffee break between. Our theme this season is:
The New Wineskin Restoring the New Testament Church Today Come and find out what the early church looked like, how it operated, how it was able to grow and spread, how different it is from our models of church today, and how we can restructure todays congregations to fit the Biblical model and achieve the Biblical results.
Wednesday, October 19th • 7pm-9:30pm The Equipped Church: The Five-fold Ministry The Governed Church: Biblical Elders (& Deacons)
Wednesday, November 16th • 7pm-9:30pm The Two-winged Church: House Churches & the Whole Church The Spirit-filled Church: Body Ministry and the One-anothers
Like most churches, we have had various different kinds of “small groups” over the years. A couple of years ago we began a new kind of group, with the plan to see these new groups gradually grow and evolve into the kind of “groups” that we see in the early church as it is depicted in the New Testament. There we are shown a church which met in homes as “house churches” which were “overseen” by “elders” (lay-pastoral-leaders). These “house churches” were based around food & fellowship in an informal setting, but had prayer, communion, spiritual gifts and scriptural encouragement take place as well, in a natural and spontaneous way. They were occasionally visited by teachers, apostles, and prophets, and the elders were mentored and guided by apostolic input. These “house churches” would gather together in their city or area to meet as the “whole church” in that community for corporate worship, preaching, baptisms, and healing ministry.
(See the Acts of the Apostles, 1 Corinthians 11-14, Romans 16:5, Colossians 4:15 & 1 Corinthians 16:19).
When we started our House Parties, we made them larger than the average “small group” - aiming at 20 people (some are slightly smaller, some are larger) and we chose the name “Party” to describe the kind of informal, potluck based, community that were are seeking to create. We are now moving on to the next phase of development and are in the process of restructuring our House Parties. We are still not at the place that is described above as New Testament House Churches, but we are on our way to that destination. Every House Party is different in style and demographics - some are youth, or young adults, or ethnic or language based. Some are focusing on particular content - like marriage enrichment or new believers discipleship. Most are a mix of ages and life & faith stages.
For more information of what is available, please see www.gateway.ac/community-life or email Pastor Drake at pastordrake@gateway.ac
VISIT GATEWAY.AC // 11
Sr. High House Party
Sr. High House Party
Sr. High House Party is for students in Grades 10-12 and takes place on Wednesday nights from 7-9pm. This weekly gathering takes place in a private home, hosted by a mature couple and led by youth leaders. The house party is an informal social gathering where spiritual growth, pastoral care, and discipleship can take place naturally.
Jr. High Takeover
Fri. Sept. 16 - XLR8 Youth Fall Open House @ Gateway Fri. September 23 - Encounter @ Gateway September 28th
September 30th
October 5th
October 7th
October 12th
October 14th
Fri. October 21 - XLR8 Arcade @ Gateway
Jr. High Takeover Jr. High Takeover is for students in Grades 6-9 and takes place on Friday nights from 7-9pm. Jr. High Takeover is a high-energy, actionpacked night that provides younger students the opportunity to “takeover� the church. The purpose of this night is for youth to feel free to be themselves and for their energy and enthusiasm to be celebrated and channelled in a positive way, while also being exposed to the Gospel and challenged in their faith.
October 26th
October 28th
November 2nd
November 4th
November 9th
No Youth
Fri. November 18th - Encounter @ Gateway November 23rd
November 25th
November 30th
December 2nd
Fri. December 9th - XLR8 Youth Christmas Party @ Gateway
There are many ways to become involved in the XLR8 Youth Ministry here, at Gateway. Whether it is designing game sets, preparing meals/snacks, becoming a driver, hosting a Sr. High House Party, or directly breathing into the lives of students as a youth leader, become a part of a movement that strives to build up another generation of leaders. For more information on how you can serve the youth of Gateway, contact Jayelle at jayelle@gateway.ac or 587-772-0532. GATEWAY.AC/XLR8-YOUTH 12 // GTWY MAG FALL/WINTER 2016
GROUPS/XLR8.YOUTH
XLR8.YOUTH
Maybe you are a brand new believer and you are wanting to build a strong foundation for your faith. Or maybe you have been a follower of Christ for a while, but you want get back to the basics, get a refresher and build up the foundation you currently have.
This is a 11 week interactive study group, on Mondays starting at 630pm, that is also built around community and conversation. We will be starting in the fall and this season we will be going through the Alpha Course.
For more information email info@gateway.ac or sign up Then Foundations is the place for you. by heading to www.gateway.ac/community-life.
Christmas Eve - Saturday, December 24th at 5pm & 7pm We plan to make this one of our biggest and best services of the year and your opportunity to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas with the whole family in an inspiring and magical atmosphere! Come and enjoy! Festive Foods & Drinks • Multi-Media Message • Carols & Candlelight
14 // GTWY MAG FALL/WINTER 2016
At Gateway we seek to live out a simple message of being a place where people can BELONG, BELIEVE and BECOME people who LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE, and LOVE LIFE. But LOVE is a funny thing because it is not a passive reality, it is actually an active lifestyle. LOVE involves movement, action and PARTICIPATION. Jesus said, “If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you.” (John 14:15) and if we are going to take the idea of loving Him seriously, it means showing it. When we accept the call to follow Jesus, it means we move from being a spectator and become an active player in the Kingdom of God. This is what it essentially means to move from being a SPECTATOR to PARTICIPATOR--moving from one who is passively watching the action from the sidelines, to actively being a part of the winning team.
Are you ready to take your life and faith to the next level and become the PARTICIPATOR Christ is calling you to? This is the call Christ asks of His Church: to accept the call to be a part of something bigger than ourselves and grow even greater in our life and faith. If you are ready to take this step from SPECTATOR to PARTICIPATOR, grab a friend who would know how you might get involved in what God is doing in this place. Or, look at joining one of our ministry teams, groups, or seasonal classes for training for a community to walk with. Check out all the opportunities in this seasons magazine and take a risk and try something new. If you are not sure where to start, we would love to help. Simply email info@gateway.ac and let the adventure begin.
ENCOUNTER
September 23rd & November 18th at 7pm Encounter is a night geared towards young adults to meet with God. With stirring worship and resonating testimonies and messages, this is a night of opening up to the Holy Spirit, of embracing it’s agenda, and unleashing its power.
VISIT GATEWAY.AC // 15
DEC
NOV
OCT
SEPT
WINTER/SPRING 2016 EVENTS CALENDAR DATE
DAY
TIME
EVENT
18th
Sunday
10am
Worship & Word
23rd
Friday
7pm
ENCOUNTER
25th
Sunday
10am
Worship & Word
2nd
Sunday
10am
Worship & Word
9th
Sunday
10am & 6:30pm
Thanksgiving Sunday Speaker Jonathan Welton
16th
Sunday
10am
Compassion Sunday
19th
Wednesday
7pm
A.C.T.S. Academy
23rd
Sunday
10am
Worship & Word
30th
Sunday
10am
Worship & Word
6th
Sunday
10am
Worship & Word
13th
Sunday
10am
Worship & Word
16th
Wednesday
7pm
A.C.T.S. Academy
18th
Friday
7pm
ENCOUNTER
20th
Sunday
10am
Vision Sunday (and New Partners Welcomed in to the Gateway Family)
27th
Sunday
10am
Guest Speakers Harold & Linda Eberle
4th
Sunday
10am & 6:30pm
Worship & Word
11th
Saturday
10am
Advent Sunday - countdown to Christmas
18th
Sunday
10am
Advent Sunday - Countdown to Christmas
24th
Sunday
5:30pm & 7pm
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
25th
Sunday
No Service - Spend Christmas Day with your Family and Friends.