WOW!!  

Can You Believe that is OUR NEW CHRISTIAN BOOK STORE in Sevier County,right in our CHURCH FOYER. We have named it, Jacob’s Well, is that not exciting to see what God is doing. We are getting close to our soft opening, and then are Grand OPENING EASTER WEEKEND. Please continue to be faithful in your regular giving. Keep a close eye on your GREAT INVESTMENT pledge, as we march toward this AWESOME DREAM becoming a LIVING REALITY.

“THE GATHERING NEW CHURCH HOME” 

So PROUD to be your PASTOR

This has been quite a historical day in the history of our great nation! We now have as of today, January 20, 2009 at 12:00PM, a new president overseeing the safety and well being of our country. Historical because our new president happens to be African American. That may bother some people but I love the statement Martin Luther King made when he said, “I have a dream where a man is not judged by the color of his skin, but by his character”.

I heard President Obama use words today like Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Decency and Dignity. Statements like, “Its not about me, but the American people”. Our responsibility as Christians living in a Christian nation is to pray for our new president! Pray for his family! God’s word tell us that “All governments have been placed in power by God”, Romans 13:1. One of the signs of a mature believer is that we pray for the leaders of our country, not criticize them. I am reminded in 1 Peter 2:13-14 that; “For the Lord’s sake, accept all authority-the king as head of state, and the officials he has appointed…. . President Obama has a long hard road ahead of him and we must pray for his safety and the ability to lead our country through the tough and unstable months/years ahead.

As believers we are told to pray often for the peace of Jerusalem. May we also remember to pray for the peace of the United States of America!

Pastor Gene

What a blessing my two boys are to my life! They are growing up right before my eyes. Corey, my oldest LOVES sports so (due to the generosity of a friend) we recently were able to spend time together at the Florida vs. Oklahoma National Championship game in Florida and had a great time together. My youngest son Seth has discovered he LOVES to coon hunt. I took him and his buddy, Kobe McGinnis, on his first coon hunt and he had a ball!

Every day it seems that growing demands on my life try to take away from my time with my two sons so I have had to MAKE THEM A PRIORITY no matter what else comes up.  Spending time with my sons now by doing what they like to do and going where they like to go is vital to their transition into manhood.

I have decided that spending quality time with my sons while they are still impressionable is a priority I can’t afford to surrender to someone else. I only have one shot at being a father to my boys so I am going to make the most of it. They will be grown men one day and leading their own lives and I will never be able to capture this moment in time again.

I have come to cherish the moments I spend with them!

Gene

2009 holds some very exciting things for the people of The Gathering.

We saw it this last weekend that everyone is coming back to church!  It’s exciting to know that we only have a few short months left in our current building before we make the move out to our new church property!

It is obvious that we are continuing to grow and God is blessing us beyond belief!  With that in mind I want to ask many of you that “Love” The Gathering and who come on Sunday mornings to do me a huge favor.  I am asking as many of you that can to come on Saturday nights to our 6:30 service. We see it over and over again, if people who are far from God visit The Gathering they usually visit one of our Sunday morning services, usually 10:30 or 12.  So we want to be able to free some seats up in those services for those who are going to experience The Gathering for the first time.  I know many of you will make the move to Saturday nights for these next few months to help us with this.  Also, we have some exciting things planned for Saturday nights over the next few months and you will want to experience them!

So,  below I have posted the top 10 reasons to come on Saturday nights, read and enjoy!

10)       SEC Football is over for the season

9)         You can tell all your friends you’re a better Christian because you went on Saturday night

8)         Hear what Gene says from the pulpit BEFORE Karen censors him on Sunday morning

7)         Jesus would come on Saturday night

6)        No long waits in the lobby!

5)        Sleep in on Sunday Morning!

4)       There is no competition from the other “church folk” for a restaurant on Saturday night

3)        It’s just better!

2)       We give away free stuff at the 6:30 Saturday Night Service!!!

1)        YOU FREE UP A SEAT FOR SOMEONE FAR FROM GOD TO SIT IN A SERVICE ON SUNDAY MORNING!!!!!!

gene

During the Christmas holidays, we all focus upon gifts and giving, but once the New Year rolls around, the tradition of a new beginning, of making resolutions quickly captures our attention. Thinking upon the two traditions of giving and making resolutions prompted me to combine the two of them by giving you the gift of knowing how to make resolutions or how to make goals that ultimately offer you a road map for success in all areas, such as:

• Family and Home
• Spiritual and Ethical
• Financial and Career
• Physical and Health
• Mental and Educational
• Social and Cultural

So . . . my gift to you comes in the form of mini-lessons for keeping your resolutions by helping you to understand the principles behind making goals. Most of us, if we write down any goals at all, think it simply means jotting down a few hasty words. That’s why the wishful thinking of 99.9% of New Year’s resolutions does not work. These mini-lessons are being given to help you learn how to master the art of writing SMART goals, which is an acronym for the following elements:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-bound

The above acronym will aid you in writing your goals; however, it will take several mini-lessons to learn how to implement the five elements of SMART into your goals. For that reason, these “teachable moments” about SMART goals will be printed up in mini-lesson formats and handed out after each service so you can take them home as a handy reference for actually writing your goals. And additionally, these mini-lessons will appear on my personal blog throughout my upcoming I’ll Say YES, LORD sermon series in the month of January. One component of saying YES to the LORD is in walking out our response to HIM through the fulfillment of our goals.

But! But!

If we do not understand the concept and importance of writing down our goals, then like our New Year’s resolutions, which fall so easily by the wayside, and like the sower’s seed in the gospels that fell by the wayside, so will our saying YES to the LORD likewise fall by the wayside.

So in the scope of eternity, we do not want to get to heaven and look back and see our lives as wasted seed that fell by the wayside. Rather, we want to strive to reach excellence in all areas of our lives. One of the vital keys to excellence and success in life is learning to write and achieve our goals.